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Hi fellow Schrade Collectors. My question is, who has purchased any of the new Schrades made by Stewart Taylor, and were they worth buying ? Please tell me what model you bought and where it was bought if possible. I have only collected the old Scrades so far, but I am interested in how the company does now .
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Lots of good comments here lately! I still have not purchased any of the Taylor schrades yet, main reason being the USA ones are so plentiful on Ebay. When they run out , I may start buying the taylor brands.
I agree with Ricky, Lots of good comments here. Maybe we should have a sub category for Taylor Schrades? Ricky.....those plentiful USA Schrades are getting more and more expensive all the time, We better stock up while we can!
I note that most to all of the posts here are in reference to traditional models of knives .. stockmans , etc. I have purchased some Taylor Schrade knives ..but.. not traditional models. I purchased a # of SMEDY, SMEDB ..and.. SCALB, SCALY models.
They are inexpensive small & med size auto's. i.e. the SMEDY is Schrade MEDium Yellow, the SMEDB is Schrade MEDium Black,The SCALB is the small Schrade CALifornia legal Black, & the SCALY is the Schrade CALifornia legal Yellow.
They were VERY cost effective .. CHEAP. They were specified as having 440C blade steel. If so .. they were certainly NOT tempered as well as all my other knives with 440C blade steel. They did sharpen easily & held an edge reasonably well ..BUT.. not as well as my other knives with 440C
The california legal ones came with a lock that consisted of a small sliding piece of plastic that could be slid forward to form an interference fit or block in front of the button. I had a couple that simply didn't work straight out of the box & most of the rest failed rather quickly. i.e. they were plastic & could be easily overcome by simply applying heavy pressure to the release button. Once that was done .. they were worthless from that point on.
There were no locks present on the SMEDX units I had. I've seen where sliding locks were introduced on later models.
They used a 3/8 coil spring & operated fine from an auto standpoint .. the buttonlock mechanism locked both the open & closed positions securely. However .. the button was of the raised type @ in the absence of a lock .. were not the safest for pocket carry.
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NOTE: The views expressed above are opinions ..specifically.. mine.
Yours may & should differ on some ..perhaps all.. points.
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D ale
The one on the bottom looks kinda cute, Dale. What's the size on it?
Would you recommend those knives Dale ?
JJ .. The smaller one IS cute !! Further .. it is very lite & rides quite nicely in one's pocket. I'm pretty sure I sent Kaylin one of the SMEDx models ..for comparison.. I found the quality to be the same throughout both product lines.
J.J. Smith III said:
The one on the bottom looks kinda cute, Dale. What's the size on it?
Ricky ..short answer.. I would & I do.
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Longer answer = I've given a # of them away ..as.. they are inexpensive (as auto's go) & can make great lil one handed opening EDC's ..given.. the shortcomings I've noted above. Just go into it knowing .. the temper of the blade steel is NOT what one would expect from 440C blade steel. The lock for the button is PLASTIC & has a short life. Note: the buttonlock itself is all steel & locks up solid. That being said .. I found the quality CONSISTENT ..&.. I went through about 10 of ea model, i.e. both the SMEDx & the SCALx. They're actually pretty robust knives for an auto. Zero blade play when tightened properly ..&.. the blades are robust. The overall construction resulted in a sturdy knife.
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Note: I purchased them as simple buttonlocks & converted them to auto's with the simple addition of a 3/8 coil spring. As they arrived .. they had the cavity for the coil spring precast in the frame ..but.. there was a "washer" in place of the spring. I simply removed said washer & replaced with the easily sourced 3/8 coil spring used in many other autos. I sourced the springs from knifekitsdotcom ..but.. texas knife supply & others also hold them in stock.
Ricky L McConnell said:
Would you recommend those knives Dale ?
NOTE: one correction to my above stated opinions.
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The SMEDx models that I sourced do have the same plastic lock that slides along the spine & can (sort of) be seen in the bottom most posted pic of the SCALY .. along the spine @ the junction of the scale & bolster. JJ's daughter has an affinity for assisted knives & in an effort directed toward fostering that interest .. I gifted her a SMEDB. I just checked the verbiage of the letter I included with that package & noted I'd cautioned her about the fragility of the sliding plastic lock.
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Specifically .. I noted 2 issues ...............................
A). the sliding lock was difficult to fully engage i.e. required a cogent effort to insure full engagement.
B). if not fully engaged .. depressing the release button would "shave off" a bit of the plastic sliding lock & over time would certainly render the plastic slide completely ineffective.
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imo .. it is unfortunate the sliding lock was not made of metal. That would have greatly increased both its short & long term effectiveness .. imo
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Further .. I would add .........................................................
The frame consists of 2 solid cast aluminum pieces .. analogous to the construction of a BUCK 110 and/or 112 .. except the Buck is solid brass & these are solid aluminum. The knives are assembled using threaded fasteners through-out. The pivot pin can be tightened to the point where the blade cannot be opened ..or.. left so loose that the coil spring disengages from the blade. However .. when tightened properly .. the knife opens & closes flawlessly w/o any blade play. Note: once that position is attained .. I would suggest introducing some thread-locking compound.
I also stated that I sourced these as simple button-locks & converted them to auto's. Let me expand on that .........
Upon arrival .. the blade has the required hole to accept the "prong" of a standard 3/8" coil spring & the frame has the required cavity cast in place. The spring cavity cast in the frame is filled with a thick washer in place of the spring. The conversion is very straightforward. The following items are required: a Torx T8 for the pivot fastener .. a Torx T6 for the scale & frame fasteners .. a 3/8" coil spring ..&.. a bit of patience. I'm pretty sure this modification instantly voids the warranty.
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Enjoy
D ale
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