Schrade 804 Chinese

[Dinadan]

I recently saw a Chinese made Schrade 804 on Ebay and could not resist ordering it. (the price was right) It is not at all the same knife as the original 804.

First of all, the Chinese 804 is 3 9/16 inches instead of the 3 7/8 inches of the USA 804s. That is not a small knife, but If they were going to use the old number, why not go ahead and at least make the knife about the same size?

The secondary clip blade on the original is replaced with a spear on the Chinese version.

And both the secondary blades are just puny compared to the original knife. Seems like most recently made whittlers have very small secondary blades. One of my favorite things about the original 804 and its clones is that the secondary blades are decent sized blades. Anyway, this Chinese Schrade continues the trend of tiny secondary blades on whittlers.

The blades are not especially straight, but they are straighter than one original 804 that I have. The grind on the blades is exactly what I expect on a Chinese made knife - serviceable.

Overall this knife seems pretty well made. Fit and finish are okay. Walk and talk are excellent. Springs are a bit stronger than I like, but not nail breakers.

I have not used this knife for anything as yet, so I have no opinion about the steel.

Here are some photos paired with a USA made Schrade 804. By the way, there is nothing on the new Schrade to indicate where it was made. Not even a tiny sticker on the box as far as I can tell.

[Rusty1]

Being a Schrade USA collector, I do not want to comment on the knife, it would not be pretty! Taylor owns the Schrade name but only after Schrade USA closed during 2004.

[XX Case XX]

Mel:
I'm confused. I don't know too much about Schrade, but if the other knife in the photo is the Chinese version, why does it have "Walden" on the tang stamp? I thought only USA made Schrade's were allowed to carry that name.

Schrade is a puzzle inside an enigma. Someone please set me straight on this.

__________
Mike

[knifeaholic]

Mel:
I'm confused. I don't know too much about Schrade, but if the other knife in the photo is the Chinese version, why does it have "Walden" on the tang stamp? I thought only USA made Schrade's were allowed to carry that name.

Schrade is a puzzle inside an enigma. Someone please set me straight on this.

__________
Mike

The short answer is that Stewart Taylor owns ALL of the Schrade trademarks and logos, so Taylor can use whatever tang marks they want on any knives made wherever they want to contract them.

[deltaboy]

Yes Taylor bought pretty much everything connected with Schrade including all the naming rights. I am glad they are making them slightly different from the originals .

[XX Case XX]

Thank you knifeaholic/deltaboy for that answer. I was not aware of that. From this point forward I will be very careful when looking at ANY Schrade knife.

___________
Mike

[TripleF]

I wonder if they're as good as the Rough Riders?
They're a helluva knife and you certainly can't beat the prices!!!

[Dinadan]

Thanks, Rusty, Steve and DB for the information about Taylor. I thought the Taylor stamp might be just another historical footnote like the Schrade Walden stamp.

Scott - Just looking at fit and finish of the body, I would say it is about the same as Rough Riders, which is pretty good in my opinion. The blades are more crudely ground and finished than RRs, in my opinion. Here are a couple of photos of the Schrade with a similar sized RR. The main blades comparable, but on the secondary blades the Schrade is not near as cleanly finished as the RR.

[kootenay joe]

I think Mr. Taylor has used a few different manufacturers in China for making his Schrade knives. The very first Old Timer knives from China were terrible. The blades truly seemed as if made from soup cans. In 2011 there were the "65th Anniversary Schrade Walden" knives. These included an 804 at 3 5/8" with peach seed like jigged bone. It is quite a nicely made knife as are all of this "65th Ann." series.(including a 2OT copy)
The point is not all China made Schrades have been created equal. You need to be selective as there are some decent ones.
As for thin secondaries, this is not new. Well made higher end vintage Sheffield & German Whittlers have very thin secondaries. I see thin secondaries as correct for a Whittler: the stout master blade is for 'tough' cutting and the thin secondaries are for delicate precise cuts.
kj

[kootenay joe]

Here are 3 examples of what i think are well made China Schrades. The first 2 are from the "Schrade-Walden 65th Anniversary" run. I included the lid so that you can spot them on ebay.
The 3 7/8" Trapper has a fish shield but the secondary is not the usual scale scraper blade but an aggressive saw blade. I think there was some confusion here in the specifications for this knife.
The other 65th is a 3 5/8" "SCWALD/804". Very sleek with it's half sunk joints.
The 4 1/8" Cattle knife is from a series called "175th Year Republic of Texas". It's a very solid knife & with sunk joints ! Weighs 4.3 ounces (122 grams), spring tension is strong as it should be on a big knife, but not a nail breaker.
It compares favorably with a GEC. I know, sounds 'wrong', but for $20 you can assess one yourself. I doubt that mine is the only one this good.
kj

[edge213]

kj, those Schrades are good looking knives.

[Dinadan]

Joe - those are good looking Schrades. I do think the grind on yours looks better than on mine, which refers back to your comment about Taylor using a few different manufacturers in China. The saw blade fish knife is interesting. Several times on Ebay I have seen scaler blades called saw blades. Maybe the folks in Chinese factories are as confused as some Ebay sellers. Will the cap lifter actually open a bottle? I recently got China made Kissing Crane fish knife that looks pretty good, but the cap lifter does not work very well at all.

[kootenay joe]

This cap lifter works perfectly. But do you ever need one ? All of the bottle caps now seem to be twist off.
I like having nail nicks on opposite sides of the blades, makes for easy access to both blades.
The blade spine/spring junction is so right on, i cannot even feel it with my fingernail running across it ! I have pretty well never seen this perfect fit in any production knife.
This is a nice knife, it compelled me to type that compliment !
kj

[kootenay joe]

Here's a picture of the blades open. knife spine, of the China Schrade Trapper with saw blade & fish shield. The blade/spring junction is much more visible in this enlarged picture than in person. The height of blade spine & spring are perfectly even.
kj

[deltaboy]

It good to see this kind quality .

[Dinadan]

Here's a picture of the blades open. knife spine, of the China Schrade Trapper with saw blade & fish shield. The blade/spring junction is much more visible in this enlarged picture than in person. The height of blade spine & spring are perfectly even.
kj

Wow, that is what I like to see! Blades perfectly parallel and straight. Unfortunately, that is kind of a rare sight for me with my China knives, and even some USA knives that I own leave a lot to be desired. I think that the crooked blades are my number peeve with some of my China knives. And with some of my USA knives. Here are a couple of photos that show what I look far. The first is the Schrade that I started this post about. While its main blade is not perfectly straight, it is pretty good. Next is a Craftsman made by Schrade (I think) in the USA (I think). The blade on the Craftsman is just too crooked for me to enjoy using. When I get a new knife the first thing I check is the alignment of the blades.

[kootenay joe]

The blade is purposely crinked, bent so as to clear the other blades when closing. I think this is what you are speaking about. If so the "crooked blade" is as it should be.
kj

[Dinadan]

The blade is purposely crinked, bent so as to clear the other blades when closing. I think this is what you are speaking about. If so the "crooked blade" is as it should be.
kj

Joe, thanks for the feedback. I understand what crinking is and its purpose. I can see where on a stockman or other knife where two blades share a spring some crinking may be needed to make the blades clear each other. But on a whittler, the main blade lies straight down the middle of the blade well when closed. It seems to me that if the pin holes in the blade, the liners, and the bolsters are drilled properly square to the knife, then there should be no reason for crinking on the main blade. And indeed, I have many whittlers where the main blade is not crinked at all and does lie perfectly straight down the middle of the blade well.

I know this is getting a bit far removed from the original post, but here are a pair of photos of a GEC Grinling that I have. The main blade is perfectly straight with reference to the body of the knife. By the way, capturing this characteristic has turned out to be the most challenging knife photography I have ever attempted, and my results are not too good. Anyway, my point is that some knives do have perfectly straight blades, so it is possible to do it! And that is very close to being the most important thing about a pocket knife. I simply cannot enjoy carrying and using a knife with a crooked blade when there are so many with straight blades. Maybe I should start a thread about this subject.