Schrade 152OT Sharpfinger

I picked up a 152 today in a trade
I really knew little about this pattern, being a collector of folders mainly
After reading the information Codger provided, I am much better informed
Thanks Codger, that was a great read ( and now I want one with the original sheath, full serif 1, no serif 1, darn it )

Ray
 
It just depends on how far you want to go as a pattern collector. There are the Scrimshaw series, a bunch of limited editions, and several more production changes like the hollow ground stainless blades. And then an endless array of special factory orders, some with just a blade etch, some with custom tang markings, some with custom handle colors or materials. A complete collection of this one pattern might well number in the hundreds.
 
Here is a good example of the first issue Sharp Finger, circa 1973-74. Note the pointed retainer strap and logo on the box. That "shop sign" logo matches the one in the 1973 shortline catalog. It changed in the catalogs in 1977. We can't depend on the art in the catalogs for the sheath changes though. But they did update the logos in the catalogs and on boxes at approximately the same time.

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http://collectors-of-schrades-r.us/Catalogs/images/1973-CATS.pdf
 
Any information about the word schrade on the snap Codger? or anyone else? Date wise?
I have seen sheath snap with and without lettering

Ray
 
Any information about the word schrade on the snap Codger? or anyone else? Date wise?
I have seen sheath snap with and without lettering

Ray

Do you have a photo of one Ray? I've only noticed that on the sheaths of Taylor Brand imported knives as far as the Sharpfinger sheaths go.
 
Do you have a photo of one Ray? I've only noticed that on the sheaths of Taylor Brand imported knives as far as the Sharpfinger sheaths go.

No
I noticed the sheaths on several recent ebay listings for the model 152
The knives were pre 2004 USA marked
 
Laminated wood handles? Most are marked "SCHRADE U.S.A. LTD"? Those were leftover unfinished knife blanks which were sent overseas to be finished and scaled. Small brass compression rivets. Using up the stock of blue boxes and most often called "NIB". I guess the wholesaler (Blue Ridge Knives and/or Smoky Mountain knives) bought sheaths from Stewart Taylor? I really don't know for sure where they got their sheaths.
 
Ray sent me links to two closed auctions and the pictures are pasted below.

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Both of these appear to be sheaths original to the knives and both knives have the no-seriff "1" most often seen on the circa 2001-2002 knives. Somewhere in my memory, I remember us discussing sheaths with plain snaps, large and small, and snaps with the "SCHRADE" imprint. I do not remember the pattern though. It seems like it was the LB-7. At any rate, this is another minor Sharpfinger sheath component change to be aware of. Now I guess I'll dig out my boxes of Sharpfingers and play for a while.
 
Years ago, when I first started looking at Sharpfingers on Ebay, I noted a SFO 152UH with a blade etch art of running whitetail deer and text "On The Run". Recently I've seen two more knives with similar etches and different text, suggesting that they were an SFO series. The second is also running deer with text "The Getaway" and the third has deer bust portraits and text "Hunter's Companion". The most likely suspect as the customer, IMHO, is SMKW. I wonder if these three were all that there were in that series, or were there more? Was SMKW indeed the customer?

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I recently found a fourth variant of the blade etched deer themed series of Wolverines featuring a mule deer and legend "The Big Stag". I do wish I could locate back issues of SMKW catalogs to pin down which SFOs were made for them and when. They may even state the quantities of each made. Now, is four knives all that were in this series? Is SMKW really the customer and not Blue Ridge Knives or another retail customer?

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Laminated wood handles? Most are marked "SCHRADE U.S.A. LTD"? Those were leftover unfinished knife blanks which were sent overseas to be finished and scaled. Small brass compression rivets. Using up the stock of blue boxes and most often called "NIB". I guess the wholesaler (Blue Ridge Knives and/or Smoky Mountain knives) bought sheaths from Stewart Taylor? I really don't know for sure where they got their sheaths.

Someone at my local swapmeet was selling some of these, around $30 for knife and sheath, does that seem like a fair price? The handles were wood, but they seemed like a hardwood, not a laminate, the dealer explained to me about the blanks getting sold and re-handled by someone else, had to check his story out here, looks like he was correct.
 
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It is if that is what you are looking for. Where and how were they heat treated and ground? IMHO, they will never be collectable, or increase in value. One can acquire the real mcCoy for about the same price with a bit of diligence.
 
It is if that is what you are looking for. Where and how were they heat treated and ground? IMHO, they will never be collectable, or increase in value. One can acquire the real mcCoy for about the same price with a bit of diligence.

I see, I was under the assumption they had already been heat treated by schrade and were some of the last made in the USA sharpfingers, just prior to 2004, I would of thought that might make them of interest to some, guess not?
 
I have some of the blanks from the liquidation auction. They come in every flavor. Some are blanked, not stamped. Some are blanked and stamped. Some are blanked, stamped and heat treated. Some are partially ground. Most are not. They came from every part of the process from raw blank to finished. And even from the bins of reject blades. Markings and even steels vary. Personally I find the raw blanks more interesting for my collection as they illustrate the process and mark the July, 2004 closing. There may be some ecclectic collectors who find them interesting, a continuation of the story, as it were. But I do not. And too, they may be just fine as users, much as a Sharpfinger made from scratch offshore may be.
 
Here is another SFO. It was made in 1994 for the NRA, a limited edition run as you can see. There is oil on this blade, but unlike the "Friends Of NRA" gift set Sharpfinger (which used a production carbon steel blade), this one has a stainless blade and features a coined NRA shield.

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This is the "Friends Of NRA" gift set I mentioned. It is much like the standard SGS-1 gift set but with added blade etches and custom box cover.

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just got my first 152 and it feels very nice in the hand. has a nice big spot of rust on one side but this should sand right out with some fine grit paper.
 

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just got my first 152 and it feels very nice in the hand. has a nice big spot of rust on one side but this should sand right out with some fine grit paper.

Looks like a good one. Hopefully you will find your as useful to you as I have mine. It looks to be pre-2000. Be careful resheathing it. As you can see, that fine tip will sail right through the front of the sheath. That isn't so much a problem as when you are wearing it and it sails through the back of the sheath!
 
Here is another Sharpfinger SFO, the "other" MM152 "Master Mechanic" for True Value Hardware (Cotter). I already had one with the MM152 tang stamp. This one has only the blade etch added to the stock pattern, as seen on several folders sold before the custom tang stamps and shields were ordered.

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I haven't taken my own photo yet, but here's one I picked up recently. Blade etch is Sportsmen United for Conservation and Preservation, 1 of 500.

(link to ended ebay auction).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/180886337891?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Sheath doesn't appear to be correct, but the knife is unused/new condition.

Here is another Sharpfinger SFO, the "other" MM152 "Master Mechanic" for True Value Hardware (Cotter). I already had one with the MM152 tang stamp.
I've been watching for Master Mechanic and Craftsman Old Timer knives. Unfortunately it seems that Sears and Master Mechanic shoppers were knife users. [gasp!]
Unused examples are few and far between.
 
No, I think that sheath is original to the knife. That is a black SAS-19 (c.1983-86) as seen with my 1983 SFO Guns & Ammo a few pages back, though mine is brown, IIRC. These two knives (yours and my Master Mechanic) came from the same estate and were made during the same approximate time period.

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Errrp! On second look, yours may be for a different knife. The collector may have swapped them. Or the Estate seller did.

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The black slip-in sheath is really too narrow for the Sharpfinger.
 
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