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My favorite knife...Sharpfinger

My must have blade for everyday occasion, would have to by my Schrade Old Timer 152OT Sharpfinger. The size, shape, weight and feel of the blade is, in my opinion, as perfect as you can get. The steel from which it was made takes a wicked edge and keeps it, and is also easy to bring back.

I picked my first one up back in the mid 1980's at Kmart, but can't remember what I paid. Knowing me, it wasn't much. I carried it for years, before it was relegated to truck duty, along side the 15OT Deerslayer. Both knives sprouted legs somewhat recently when our neighborhood became victim to a rash of vehicle break ins. When I saw that they were gone, I became quite upset...I'd had those knives longer than I've had my wife or kids. I skinned my first buck with the deerslayer, and my last rabbit with the Sharpfinger. The Sharpfinger was by my side whenever I hunted or fished, and aided me in a number of repairs to vehicles and around the house. Just absolutely my favorite pattern.

Earlier this year, I decided to replace the blades, and quickly spotted the difference between the newer Taylor Brands version and the older USA made version. Once I proved to myself that the love just wasn't there, I set out to locate the original. I first wound up with an earlier make model, possibly the second revision judging from the sheath. When my wife saw it, she stated that she'd love to have one, so I located a later made version, as evidenced by the different sheath and font of tang stamp.

If I only had one knife to carry, it would be this one.

3 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dennis Hibar on May 7, 2017 at 4:24

Nice. I can see why you like it.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on May 8, 2017 at 21:02

Jon,

Your right. This knife has the ability to be a go to for many many chores, both large and small. I am pleased your wife decided she likes it also!

Tell me why you just could not feel the love for the new version?

KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by Jon Linville on May 10, 2017 at 1:26

Jan Carter said:

Jon,

Your right. This knife has the ability to be a go to for many many chores, both large and small. I am pleased your wife decided she likes it also!

Tell me why you just could not feel the love for the new version?

My issue with the Taylor Brands version is that the quality isn't there. The profiles of the scales don't perfectly match the profile of the handle. The scales feel and sound hollow. The "saw marks" aren't like the original. The rivet heads are too deep, and leave a sharp edge around the "saw marks". On the examples I own, the blades have some bow/warp to them, as if they were pried with...and I bought them brand new. The sheaths feel more like a pressed leather fiber material and not like leather should feel like...it's very stiff and unrefined. The font of the "Old Timer" badge is off, badges heavily scratched in manufacturing, and are too recessed into the handle, leaving sharp edges on the edges of the "saw marks". The steel used is different. 7CR17 does not equal the edge retention and durability of the high carbon steel Schrade made them from. In my opinion, these are low quality clones of the original...same size and shape, and even the same colors, but not the same knives, at all.

In my opinion, they are cheaply made imitations of the original. They have their place, I'm sure, but they can't hold a candle to the original.

I have Taylor Brands version of many of the original Schrade Old Timers in my collection. I use them as a historical marker, showing when quality was no longer part of the manufacturing process. I use these markers to educate my son, and soon my grandkids, about what to look for as they begin their own collecting.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on May 10, 2017 at 19:06

WOW, fantastic response, Thank you.

Fit and finish are extremely important to collectors, something some of the companies just don't appear to understand. We want our users to be practical but that does not mean we do not care about the quality of the build. Another thing that is difficult for some manufactures to grasp, a user typically buys 1 or 2 knives a year, most understand they get what they pay for. A collector will buy that many or more in a month but we will only buy low quality one time.

I expect my users to function as a knife, hold a decent edge and be a knife that I am not ashamed to show someone. Sounds like you are much the same.

Thank you for educating the next generations, we need that and the deserve it

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on May 10, 2017 at 21:16

I have one Sharpfinger. It is part of a matched pair that was my 10th anniversary award from TVA in 1997. It is part of my collection, not a user.

KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by Jon Linville on May 12, 2017 at 5:02

Thanks, Jan. I've got a few other cheapos in my collection, but not by choice...they came in with lots that I purchased for parts or restoration. I've picked up 4 Pakistani crapola pieces that way. I keep them to show the difference in quality between them and the Japanese made knives that look the same...wood handles, brass bolsters, flat scales from the 1980s.

I only have a few knives I won't use...a few NOS Imperial and Colonials (the majority of what I own at the moment) and a used Mervin Masters Large Gunstock. I keep that one in the same shape as I got it, other than being cleaned and waxed. There's a story in that knife...blade and spring are made of old files, and no two of his knives are the same. They were knives made for the working man, by a working man.

Charles, those are very cool. I would never use those, either.

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