Latest Canal Street Additions

Former Schrade President Walley Gardner and principal Joe Hufnagel joined with nine master cutlers to form a group of US craftsmen with over 300 years of combined knife making experience to create Canal Street Cutlery. It was first located in upstate New York where a long and rich tradition of quality knife making dates back to the 19th century. Unfortunately, the company closed its doors in 2015, but not before making some great knives. The brand was resurrected in 2018 as Canal Street Cutlery Co-Op & focused on making very small batches of high quality traditional knives. As a Co-Op, it was owned by the knife makers who worked there. Unfortunately, the business model couldn't hold up & the entity again ceased production.
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Chase
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by Chase »

KJ,

That is a beauty, I have one in the Wildebeest and a second one in Wooly Mamouth. These were Customs that Canal Street made, and I believe there were only 25 of each made. Definately Unique pieces

Great catch there

Tom
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by kootenay joe »

Tom, have you posted pictures of your Wildebeest & Mammoth handled Barlows ? I would like to see them.
thanks, kj
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by philco »

Roland that's one fine addition to your collection. Is that a different one from the one Chase recently posted for a friend who was selling several Canal Street knives ? Either way, you've got yourself a prize piece of cutlery. Congratulations. ::handshake:: ::tu:: ::tu::
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by ea42 »

Roland what a great addition! I remember assembling those guys, Harold Buley cutlered and I believe hafted every one of them, so you've got the added bonus of having a knife that was made by a master cutler and sample maker from Schrade! Here's an old Schrade family portrait of some guys in front of the Schrade Walden plant in the very early 1970's (Tom you might recognize this photo :wink: ). Harold's the guy standing on the left. I've got a shot of him at Canal Street too but I'll be darned if I can find it:
Schrade plants063 copy.jpg

Also have an photo of a few of the knives as they sat waiting for inspection:
CS Barlows_374.JPG
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by Chase »

Eric,

That photo is of the Guys who Developed the Third Generation Knives that Schrade manufactured. Uncle Harold is the one Standing, left side of the photo and Uncle Barry is the One Kneeling on the left side. Funny thing is Barry was the younger of the two and he was the boss...in addition my Mom worked for Barry as Quality Control as well. Schrade really was a family oriented business.

Thanks for posting that Eric, brings back some very fond memories!

Tom
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by Chase »

So I went into the knife room and grabbed my Canal Streets to photo. I only had time to take pictures with the cellphone, therefore the true colors are not represented real well....these are beauties in hand.

I actually have Two Petrified Wildebeest Barlows, one is a PROTOTYPE and the other is not. KJ--there were 30 of these sold, not 25 as I stated in an earlier post.

I also have a Petrified Wildebeest Pinch Lock Back and a Wooly Mammoth Tooth Pinch Lock Back. These were two Custom Knives by Canal Street Cutlery for Drop Point Hunter. Very Limited

Tom
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Petrified Wildebeest & Mastadon Tooth Pinch Lock Backs.jpg
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by kootenay joe »

Eric & Tom, thank you for your posts.
Phil, yes this is the knife that Tom recently sold for a friend.
Wikipedia says there have been 2 types of wildebeest fossils found in South Africa, some is 800,000 yrs old and others are 2-3,000,000 years old.
The mammoth tusk we have on our knives is not fossilized. It has been preserved by being in soil of the correct chemistry and the surface has taken on various minerals giving it color.
These wildebeest handles were bone not tooth substance. I say "were bone" because i think they are a true fossil, i.e. all of the features like cell walls, marrow etc have been replaced by minerals, so it now is a rock.
In addition to the rich colors the other outstanding feature of these wildebeest handles is how sublimely smooth the surface is, like glass.
Eric do you know if this wildebeest fossilized bone cut like stone ? or softer like ivory or mammoth ivory ?
And how easy or difficult was it to bring out this perfectly shiny smooth surface ?
This is the second knife i have thanks to Mr. Buley. The first is the 2006 Folding Hunting Knife which Mr. Buley i believe designed and built. He even came back to work after he had retired to do a little 'tune up' on my '06 Folding Hunting knife.
Eric i guess the picture is from late 1970's to early '80's ? Are you in this picture ?
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by ea42 »

Roland it wasn't as hard as stone, but a bit harder than your average bone, more similar to mammoth. It was very easy to polish once it was sanded smooth with fine grit belts. I'm not in that picture, it was likely taken around 1970-72 or so, while it was still Schrade Walden. I was probably around ten years old then, likely fiddling with my first pocket knife lol.

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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by kootenay joe »

" it wasn't as hard as stone, but a bit harder than your average bone"
Thank you Eric. This indicates the Wildebeest bone is not a true fossil but is preserved bone, similar to mammoth ivory being preserved tusk.
The difference between a fossil, which is a rock, and long preserved bone, is academic really, but as i started out as a soft rock geologist studying fossils, i cannot call a non fossil, a fossil. "Fossil", what an odd word !
kj
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by kootenay joe »

Here is the 2006 "Custom Folding Hunting Knife" that i mentioned above. Built by Mr Buley (and possibly designed by him as well ?) and then 'tuned up' for me 9 years later, 2015 (or early 2016 ?), when he came out of retirement for a day to remove a slight blade play.
At 4.5" it is just the right size for hunting and inhand you feel ready to start field dressing. This is a GREAT knife but you hardly ever see one. The sheath is beautiful as well.
Thank you Harold !
kj
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by KAW »

I received my second Canal Street knife a couple of weeks ago...
I'd been hoping to acquire an earlier CS with complete original packaging & this one fit the bill...

A 4" Muskrat with brown picked bone issued in 2005 (Note the low serial number - 046)

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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by philco »

KAW congrats on snagging a very nice Canal Street rat. ::tu::
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by kootenay joe »

I read that for the first about 6-12 months of operation, Queen supplied parts or partially built knives to CSC to help them get up & running and have some early knives to sell.
Can someone explain more accurately about the Queen-CSC connection in 2005-06 ?
kj
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by kennedy knives »

Thought I would share a few and have question the shields are different on some of the folders anyone know whats up?
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by kennedy knives »

Just noticed something these Knives are scarce as Hens Teeth took a walk on the net Couldn't find any on ebay or a # of sites . Where did they all go? ::shrug::
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by philco »

Gary I believe the curly maple and the stockman in red stag have a special shield that was used for the Canal Street knives sold through Red Hill Cutlery. I can't blow up the pictures quite enough to be 100% sure that's what they say but they sure look like it from here.

Canal Street ceased production in Dec. of 2015 and the flow had dwindled to a small trickle on ebay. Most of the ones you'll see there are greatly overpriced and have been listed for a long time with no takers. There's usually only a half dozen up for auction at any given time now. Not many of the online retailers have any remaining Canal Street inventory any more.
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by dweb1897 »

kootenay joe wrote:I read that for the first about 6-12 months of operation, Queen supplied parts or partially built knives to CSC to help them get up & running and have some early knives to sell.
Can someone explain more accurately about the Queen-CSC connection in 2005-06 ?
kj
I heard about the same thing. I got curious about that after I got a 2005 CSC Swing Guard. The fit and finish on the CSC is better than the Queen and it cost $100 more, but other than that there sure isn't much difference. Kind of answered the question I had about the CSC shield...I'd always thought that with as many experienced cutlers as CSC started out with, they could have come up with something a little different than the round shield. Not too long ago I heard that they originally called the company Walden Knife Co. but Taylor LLC had shut that idea down.
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by kootenay joe »

These 2 swing guards definitely show the Queen supplied parts is factual. Very neat to have both the Queen & CSC knives to compare in hand not just by pictures.
kj
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by Chase »

Canal Street dis start out using Queen supplied parts. That is a fact!

dweb,

They did start out as Walden Knife and you are correct...Taylor shut them down quickly. That's when they came up with Canal Street

If you think finding Canal Street Knives is tough....try finding a Walden Knife made by the Canal Street factory.....They do exist though.

Tom
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by kootenay joe »

Tom do you mean there were knives made about 2006 that were branded "Walden" ? or the original Walden knives that i think were made in the Canal Street factory in early 1900's ?
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by dweb1897 »

He means there were some made by Canal Street Cutlery and branded Walden Knife Co. about 2005.
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by kootenay joe »

Thanks. I have 3 original "Walden Cutlery" knives, but i have not seen any of the CSC "Walden" knives. Do you know what patterns were made ?
kj
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by ea42 »

Roland, here's one of them, I know they made a swing guard and a two blade congress as well. That's the tang stamp work sheet underneath the knife. I'm pretty certain that they never even made it to the point of hard stamping any blades, I think all the Walden stamps were preliminary etches to see how they'd fit the tangs:
Canal Street Cutlery - Walden stamped knife.jpg
Canal Street Cutlery - Walden stamped knife 2.jpg
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by kootenay joe »

Thanks Eric. Are there a few of these 'Trapper Jacks' out there ? Or did it not get to production stage ?
kj
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Re: Latest Canal Street Additions

Post by dweb1897 »

Eric, Thanks for the pics...I'd heard about them but had never seen one ::tu:: ::tu:: ::tu::
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