Craftsman Knives

[jxr1197]

Last night, for best offer, I acquired both of these knives. One is a CRAFTSMAN 9494 and the other is a SCHRADE WALDEN 863 (possibly not stamped 863), with a CRAFTSMAN 9494 etched main blade. Both are 3 blade, swelled center, 3 5/8" closed, "whittler" pocket knives. They both look like they're in very good condition and won't need any cleaning. When I receive them, both will get a thorough inspection. I will take some pictures and post them in the appropriate location(s).

I was watching that 9494. That's the nicest one I have ever seen. Congrats

[New_Windsor_NY]

Last night, for best offer, I acquired both of these knives. One is a CRAFTSMAN 9494 and the other is a SCHRADE WALDEN 863 (possibly not stamped 863), with a CRAFTSMAN 9494 etched main blade. Both are 3 blade, swelled center, 3 5/8" closed, "whittler" pocket knives. They both look like they're in very good condition and won't need any cleaning. When I receive them, both will get a thorough inspection. I will take some pictures and post them in the appropriate location(s).

I was watching that 9494. That's the nicest one I have ever seen. Congrats

Thank you Jason.

[jxr1197]

Technically it's a Camillus but it was a Sears knife - so maybe we can sneak it into this thread?

[cody6268]

Technically it's a Camillus but it was a Sears knife - so maybe we can sneak it into this thread?


sta sharp coin.JPG

Wow. That's a new one to me. Most of those "coin" looking knives that I've seen have been French. Never saw a Camillus like that.

[jxr1197]

Wow. That's a new one to me. Most of those "coin" looking knives that I've seen have been French. Never saw a Camillus like that.

They were popular at one point. You can find them in the Imperial catalog too. Not my cup of tea but that etch was irresistible!

[kootenay joe]

"High Carbon Steel" with "Sta-Sharp" usually means Camillus, but does it always ? I have seen older (~1930's) Coin knives marked "Imperial".
Are there Coin knives marked "Camillus" in your collection or in a Camillus catalog ?
kj

[jxr1197]

"High Carbon Steel" with "Sta-Sharp" usually means Camillus, but does it always ?

From what I understand Sta Sharp was the premium Sears house brand that only Camillus made. Dunlap was mid range and Kwik Kut was 'affordable'. The Sears buyer, Tom Dunlap, was fiercely loyal to his vendors. I suppose it's possible he ordered Sta Sharps from other makers but I have never heard/seen evidence of that. I don't have any Camillus catalogs from the 30s, or Camillus coins for that matter. Maybe one of the Camillus guys around here could weigh in.

[jxr1197]

I just checked my notes on the knife with Codger (who knows infinitely more than me on all things Schrade and Camillus) and he was not aware of any other makers of Sta Sharp knives for Sears. The three lines I mentioned in the last post were created by Albert Baer specifically for the Sears account which he landed for Camillus. I think we're standing on firm ground calling this coin knife a Camillus. I found a pic of it in the 1941 Sears Wishbook.

[doglegg]

Good info Jason and extra good job on coming up with it listed in the catalogue.

[jxr1197]

Good info Jason and extra good job on coming up with it listed in the catalogue.

Thanks - the catalog is the '41 Wishbook which is dated November, just before Pearl Harbor. Maybe that has some influence on why you don't see these knives out there? They probably didn't sell much of anything that Christmas. Thanks for the comment.

[kootenay joe]

Good post Jason. I am aware and agree with what you say and i was following Codger as he discovered many of the Sears connections back around 2008 in BF.
Knife manufacturers often contracted out to each other for either the entire knife or some of the work. Camillus might of agreed to supply Sears with a Coin knife, knowing that Imperial was set up to make these and knowing they would get Imperial to supply these. (Imperial to Camillus to Sears)
But, if Camillus did make a Coin knife and therefore had the tooling needed, then they would have made it 'in house'.
The "Sta-Sharp" etch on the coin knife is in a 'style' i have not seen before. It is not the usual 'look'. Is this because the blade is small ? or because the etch was not done at Camillus ?
Who made what in 'knives' is often not straight forward.
kj

[New_Windsor_NY]

This afternoon, my trip to the post office produced these Craftsman knives. One is a CRAFTSMAN 9494, 3 blade, swelled center, "whittler" pocket knife (first 3 pictures). The other is a SCHRADE WALDEN 863 (not stamped or marked 863), 3 blade, swelled center, "whittler" pocket knife (last 4 pictures). It has CRAFTSMAN 9494 etched on the main blade. Both knives are 3 5/8" closed. No cleaning of either knife was necessary. I took some pictures, here are the knives.

[kootenay joe]

Skip, did you post 2 other Craftsman 9494 knives last week or so ?
Are you specializing in this pattern ? Very attractive knives especially with the saber grind clip blade.
kj

[New_Windsor_NY]

Skip, did you post 2 other Craftsman 9494 knives last week or so ?
Are you specializing in this pattern ? Very attractive knives especially with the saber grind clip blade.
kj

Roland, I posted these two knives a few days ago when I bought them and now, when I received them. I've posted quite a few Craftsman 9494 knives. Not necessarily in this thread, but they are ALL posted throughout this thread.
LINK: viewtopic.php?f=63&t=62956
I'm specializing in Camillus 72 knives and it's variations/clones. Currently I have 13, Craftsman 9494 pocket knives.
The picture below is of 7 of them.

[kootenay joe]

I think it is very neat to collect multiples of a favorite pattern. At one point i had close to 50 of the bone handles 2 blade EO jacks made during WW II.
Is the S-W 863 the exact size of the Camillus 72 pattern ?
kj

[New_Windsor_NY]

I think it is very neat to collect multiples of a favorite pattern. At one point i had close to 50 of the bone handles 2 blade EO jacks made during WW II.
Is the S-W 863 the exact size of the Camillus 72 pattern ?
kj

Yes, 3 5/8" closed.

[ea42]

Good post Jason. I am aware and agree with what you say and i was following Codger as he discovered many of the Sears connections back around 2008 in BF.
Knife manufacturers often contracted out to each other for either the entire knife or some of the work. Camillus might of agreed to supply Sears with a Coin knife, knowing that Imperial was set up to make these and knowing they would get Imperial to supply these. (Imperial to Camillus to Sears)
But, if Camillus did make a Coin knife and therefore had the tooling needed, then they would have made it 'in house'.
The "Sta-Sharp" etch on the coin knife is in a 'style' i have not seen before. It is not the usual 'look'. Is this because the blade is small ? or because the etch was not done at Camillus ?
Who made what in 'knives' is often not straight forward.
kj

Roland, ownership of Camillus didn't pass to Albert Baer until the early sixties. At the time the coin knife was made the company was still controlled by the Kastor brothers and had no connection to Imperial. If it wasn't made in house I would think the most likely scenario would be that they contracted it to their connections in Germany.

Eric

[jxr1197]

Roland, ownership of Camillus didn't pass to Albert Baer until the early sixties. At the time the coin knife was made the company was still controlled by the Kastor brothers and had no connection to Imperial. If it wasn't made in house I would think the most likely scenario would be that they contracted it to their connections in Germany.

Eric

Albert Baer didn't own all of Camillus until 1963 but by the time a seriously unbalanced Alfred Kastor forced Baer out of the company he had already bought all of Augustus Kastor's shares so he was essentially fired from a company that he owned 1/3 of! It must have drove Alfred crazy that Baer was making money from, AND competing with, Camillus at the same time.

The coin knife quest is taking on a life of its own. I keep changing direction on what I think it is. I have found other identical knives to this one online and it looks like they were Ambassadors - which is a Colonial brand. I sent Steve Paolantonino an email yesterday but haven't heard back yet. If he doesn't claim it as one of his own then I'll try the German angle. One of the Kastors German marks was Gold Coin. Could be just a coincidence. I'll post here again if I figure anything else out.

[ea42]

Very cool Jason, nice sleuthing! I never considered the Colonial angle.

Eric

[kootenay joe]

Eric & Jason, thanks for the historical info. I find it as interesting as the knives, but it is a complicated history and easy to get dates mixed up between Ulster, Schrade, Camillus & Imperial.
kj

[tnorton]

Bought a group of knives off ebay - this "OLD CRAFTY" 9545 was in the bunch - Delrin handles were bleached or discolored soaked in mineral oil overnight - helped some - still a fun little knife -- Clint

[doglegg]

Clint, fun is a nice description of that little knife. Congrats.

[TPK]

Bought a group of knives off ebay - this "OLD CRAFTY" 9545 was in the bunch - Delrin handles were bleached or discolored soaked in mineral oil overnight - helped some - still a fun little knife -- Clint

That's a pretty cool little knife Clint! I like it! Congrats on that interesting find!

[TPK]

Skip, did you post 2 other Craftsman 9494 knives last week or so ?
Are you specializing in this pattern ? Very attractive knives especially with the saber grind clip blade.
kj

Roland, I posted these two knives a few days ago when I bought them and now, when I received them. I've posted quite a few Craftsman 9494 knives. Not necessarily in this thread, but they are ALL posted throughout this thread.
LINK: viewtopic.php?f=63&t=62956
I'm specializing in Camillus 72 knives and it's variations/clones. Currently I have 13, Craftsman 9494 pocket knives.
The picture below is of 7 of them.

Man Skip, I love your 72's, Craftsman & other clones collection. Simply put, they are just really cool knives!
Wish I could collect those over here! Or Case knives, or Quenn, or Schrade or Camillus or...,
Only brand I can really find a Ton of is Victorinox. They are ok knives, but not exactly this cat's meow.
Or the "old school" metal gentleman's knives.

(I wonder if there is a strong enough glue that I could use to glue thin bone or stag handles onto the old metal knives to make them more appealing to me? And would that be a "crime" if I did glue handles onto metal knives? It probably would be. I need to give this thought more thought. Just thinking out loud. )
Any thoughts anyone?

[doglegg]

Tom when my Son lived in Freiburg and I would visit I was amazed at the lack of knives. I thought they would be everywhere but alas. So good luck in your hunting.