Schrade Cut Co Stag Whittler

[JohnR]

Picked up this Cut Co stag whittler this week. Cleaned condition with blades slightly down when compared to a Schrade Walden 804. I did come across one that Roger has in the rare Schrade thread, Rogers still has it's etch, "Carpenters Special".
From what I can find these were known as the 4 pattern that later became the 804.

[tongueriver]

Nice catch. They did not make many of those in the 'CutCo' years and I have not found a catalog cut for the stag version. Here is what I did find.

[orvet]

That is a great catch!
I have not seen one in stag before.

[RalphAlsip]

Beautiful knife with exquisite stag.

[FRJ]

A beautiful Cut Co, John and great photos.

[Dinadan]

Wow, John. Very nice find. I was not aware that a stag version existed. And that peach seed you used for comparison ain't half bad, either!!

[doglegg]

JohnR, a most excellent pick up.

[black mamba]

Beautiful, John! By the time they became the 8041 Heritage whittler in the mid 1980s, they dropped the saber clip in favor of a full flat grind.

[tongueriver]

Beautiful, John! By the time they became the 8041 Heritage whittler in the mid 1980s, they dropped the saber clip in favor of a full flat grind.

I have handled 804s made before the 80's that had a flat grind. Craftsmans for one example.

[peanut740]

John that is nice!

[Duffer]

Wonderful John

[black mamba]

Cal is right about the grinds. I've seen Waldens with the saber clip, and others with the flat grind clip. If the catalog cuts are accurate, the last year for the saber grind was 1971.

[JohnR]

Thank you all for the comments and thank you Cal for the catalog scan. Wish it was a little easier to find vintage American made knives in stag, plenty of English companies used stag but American knives are fairly scarce.

[orvet]

Cal is right about the grinds. I've seen Waldens with the saber clip, and others with the flat grind clip. If the catalog cuts are accurate, the last year for the saber grind was 1971.

As far as the catalog accuracy goes, I don't believe the pictures nor the descriptions unless I have verified them myself and even then I am sceptical. One of the fillet knives grew and shrank over the years if one belives the catalogs. There are many examples of Schrade catalog inaccuracies.
Schrade was in business to make knives, catalogs seem to have been an afterthought.

[Hak1911]

I am not a learned individual catalog wise but my gut says that’s bone and not stag

[tongueriver]

I have a knife just like the OP knife, and after careful examination under good light a few minutes ago I still believe that it is stag, not bone. The dye is uneven and blotchy in places and looks just like the OP handles. One myth in common circulation is that stag does not show the Halversian canals that we see in bone. This is incorrect; they had to be there to nourish the antler when it was growing. They are not easily seen in the best quality stag, but I have seen a number of examples where they can be easily seen. In addition, I believe that some Schrade CutCo knives were advertised as having genuine buck horn handles. I think that they may not have always been Sambar antler. I am going with stag on both knives.

[JohnR]

I have a knife just like the OP knife, and after careful examination under good light a few minutes ago I still believe that it is stag, not bone. The dye is uneven and blotchy in places and looks just like the OP handles. One myth in common circulation is that stag does not show the Halversian canals that we see in bone. This is incorrect; they had to be there to nourish the antler when it was growing. They are not easily seen in the best quality stag, but I have seen a number of examples where they can be easily seen. In addition, I believe that some Schrade CutCo knives were advertised as having genuine buck horn handles. I think that they may not have always been Sambar antler. I am going with stag on both knives.whit2.jpgwhit3.jpgwhit5.jpgwhit6.jpgwhit7.jpg

Cal, I believe that is stag also and nicely matched, very nice knife that has not been cleaned like mine. That makes 3 that I know of, were these ever a catalog item?

[tongueriver]

...were these ever a catalog item?

I have not found them in the catalogs in stag. My example appears to have hammered pins, or at least not elegantly spun, as I would have expected in a latter-day knife.

[RalphAlsip]

Tongueriver, your Schrade Cut Co whittler is fantastic. it looks like old stag to me.

[Hak1911]

It’s a beautiful example no matter the handle material. If you don’t want it cause of the mystery.... I’ll take it.