I also have a Schrade 885UH. Actually, I have two. One made by Schrade-US. The other made by Taylor Schrade in China.
►Neither has a deformed pin. Both have springs which are not quite flat in the closed position.
►The Chinese sheepsfoot and Spey are thinner because they are designed to be offset instead of crincked. I did not find them flimsy. Rather, I found them to be very good at slicing. Partly because of the absence of crinking, the Chinese Sheepsfoot sat lower in the handle in the closed position. I found it more comfortable in the hand when using the other blades compared to the US model. Also, because the sheepsfoot is offset instead of crinked, I find the blade easier to use because it comes straight out of the knife instead of coming out at an angle.
►Both the Chinese and US Uncle Henry knives have plastic covers. The coloration on the Chinese covers is a bit different than that of the US covers. I personally appreciate that. You can tell at a glance that the knife is not a US Schrade. But the cover material works just as well.
►The blade alloys are extremely close in composition. I have spent a lot of time doing side by side edge retention tests of various knives. I have a fair number of threads in the Testing Forum. I tested the two knives side-by-side cutting manila rope. The Chinese version held an edge at least as well as the US Schrade.
I agree that the original Schrade Uncle Henry and Old Timer lines were designed to put a decent knife in the hands of the average working man. The ones I have handled over the years had average fit and finish. I wish the company had not gone bankrupt. But, they did.
Taylor bought the name legally. Their early efforts at making knives in China were pretty sketchy. Their current efforts are both reasonable and of approximately the same quality as the US knives. Nostalgic, they are not. I don't collect them. I bought several to see if they currently make a decent pocket knife. My opinion is that they do.
The original post in this thread was about Taylor ripping off designs. I don't see that happening. They bought the names legally. They are open about what the knives are and where they are made. Whether someone wants to buy one or not is up to them. But I don't see any chicanery about Taylor's efforts and to answer the OP, that's why no one rags on Taylor Brands.
I thought this post would have ended the discussion.
To the OP: Taylor brands isn't selling clones they don't even clone the original patterns of the brands they own. From what I've seen they have made changes so they won't be confused with the originals.
Not made in America not a Schrade, Statements like this are false, it is Schrade. Taylor Brands owns Schrade, Uncle Henry, Imperial, Old Timer. Like it or not Taylor Brands is now Schrade.
I am old enough to have grown up with Old Timer & Camillus, I wish they had survived but they didn't & I got over it.
If you are going to blame anyone for these brands not being made in the U.S, you have to blame their original owners. For numerous reasons, they failed to keep up with a changing market and went bankrupt.
I can only speak about Taylor Brands, Old Timer slipjoints.
Taylor brands has given Schrade, Uncle Henry, Imperial, Old Timer their own market segment, with Old Timer being their flagship slip joint line. Within the Old Timer line they have two model levels, those made with 7Cr17 with wood and Delrin handles and those made with 9Cr18MoV with bone handles. If you want 1095 buy GEC.
I have heard that Taylor Brands had QC trouble at first but I believe that is behind them now as far as their Old Timer brand. Currently I believe they are building a nice slipjoint. I bought an Old Timer 8OTB ( 99Cr18MoV) for my son in law last year and it was built as well as the original Old Timers.
One thing I liked is that it was not a copy of the my original 80T, so anyone familiar with Old Timer would not confuse the 80T with the 80TB.
