That chart appeared in an article about Schrade’s 100th anniversary written by B.K. Brooks. Ironically the article appeared in the July 2004 issue of Knife World Magazine. July 31, 2004 was the day Schrade closed its doors forever.
The chart was a collaboration between the author, B.K. Brooks and Mark Zalesky the editor of Knife World Magazine. I have spoken with both of them regarding this chart and it was never intended to be a exhaustive list of Schrade tang stamps, just an example of some of the stamps they used in their 100 year history.
Mark has been after me for 3 years or more to write an article on Schrade Tang stamps; but the more I study & research on Schrade tang stamps, the less I know!
So far I have cataloged 5 different 2-line Schrade Walden tang stamps, 7 different 3-line Schrade Walden tang stamps and 2 different 4-line Schrade Walden tang stamps. That is 14 different tang stamps from the Schrade Walden era: 1946-1973. Those 14 stamps used in that 29 year period are more than were listed in the Knife World article and those stamps spanned the full 100 years of Schrade history in the USA. There is one thing I am reasonably certain of and that is that I do not have examples of all the Schrade Walden tang stamps that were used!
Now, moving on to the Schrade era, 1973 to 2004; there are so many tang stamps that the few hundred Schrades I have in my collection (about 1000), and the ones I have seen here on AAPK is far too small a sample to say I have seen anywhere close to all the various tang stamps Schrade used in that time frame. So far I only have about 2 dozen stamps cataloged for that era. I suspect there are probably at least a dozen more that I have not yet cataloged, perhaps more.
The number one problem is getting examples of all the tang stamps used and then trying to figure out what pattern it was on, and when that pattern was made. Then a person might be able to make an educated guess as to when each stamp was used. However there are a number of patterns that were made from 1973 to 2004, (8OT, 34OT, 152OT, etc), and other patterns were made for the majority of those years. So the amount of data to be crunched is absolutely massive. Many of the Schrade patterns were made in the millions of knives. I have several examples that have different tang stamps on the same pattern.
To make an exhaustive list of which tang stamps Schrade used and when they used them and on which patterns would require extensive production information from the Schrade factory and from all accounts I have heard, such records were probably not even kept; and if they were kept they have almost certainly been lost since the bankruptcy and the liquidation of all assets from the factory.
I don’t think there will ever be a complete list of Schrade tang stamps after the sale of Schrade Cut Co to Albert Baer in 1946. Schrade was a company that made tools; they did not primarily make collectable knives. Their offerings to the collector market were few and far between until the latter years. They were in the business to make and sell knives for use to cut things, i.e. cutting tools. They were not in business to sell limited edition 1 of 100 or 1 0f 25 knives, they were in business to sell lots of knives and that they did. Their primary focus was not on catalogs, nor keeping detailed records for collectors. They were there to make lots of quality production knives, and that is exactly what they did.
So after years of studying Schrade knives and specifically Schrade tang stamps, I know less about them now than when I started. There are a few things I can generally tell you about most Schrade knives for example; if you hand me a 34OT with the tang stamp SCHRADE/USA 34OT, I can confidently tell you it was made after mid 1973 (because the word ‘WALDEN’ has been dropped from the tang stamp) and before August 1, 2004, because Schrade closed its doors July 31, 2004. Between those dates, the 34OT was made and there is nothing in the tang stamp that can narrow down that date that I am aware of in spite of my years of studying. It is not a Case knife with nice xxs, dots, and different shaped letters and numbers that all nicely spelled out in company literature to tell you the year(s) it was made in which colors and handle materials.
It is just a Schrade 34OT one of many millions made, with proper care and a little oil it will last the original owner his lifetime and he can pass it on to his son or grandson. (I know, I have my grandfathers).
It is what it is,
and if that ain’t good enough, then you will probably be happier collecting a different brand that goes to all the trouble of documenting for you when it was made and in how many variations; but of coursed the price will be substantially higher to pay for all the record keepers!
The very first thing any serious Schrade collectors learns is:
With Schrade nothing is carved in stone!
You might occasionally find something etched in Jell-O, but nothing is carved in stone!
