A Craftsman Peanut Meets Henckel Stag

[orvet]

The little peanut pattern that Schrade made as the 12OT, Pal; and as the Ulster #183 were built on the same frame. They called the pattern a “dogleg jack” but I think most people would agree it looks like a peanut. The 12OT was made as a single bladed knife, but the Ulster 183 was a two bladed jack and the clip blade had a nice high knuckle with beautiful deep swedge ground into the blade. It’s one of my favorite blades just to look at! I think it is one of the best looking clip blades ever made!

This Craftsman pattern #95041 is essentially the Ulster 183 but it was made after Schrade moved into the Ulster factory and also after the introduction of the Swinden system of knife making.

I like the Ulster 183 and I think it makes it excellent knife for customization, whether it has the Ulster tang stamp, Craftsman tang stamp or the Schrade tang stamp, they always come out looking nice. And who can go wrong with stag?

I should probably introduce this stag; it is Sambar stag that came from the parts stock of the Henckel’s factory. Henckels stopped manufacturing their own pocket knives approx 1960. In the 1980s I managed a cutlery store and we sold Henckel kitchen knives. Our Henckel sales rep was a gentleman named John who also repaired pocketknives as a hobby. This was the first time I had ever heard of anyone repairing a pocket knife aside from someone at the factory. He told me that Henckels was aware of his hobby and asked him if he would, for a reasonable fee, repair Henckel knives for the Henckel customers in North America. The deal was made and Henckels shipped John all of the parts that he could possibly store. The parts included pins, springs, liners, bolsters, blades and of course handle material from ivory, real tortoise shell, bone, etc. and lots of stag. Several years ago, I got quite a bit of stag that came from the Henckel’s factory, through John by way of a third party. I used up most of the larger pieces of stag several years ago, but I do have some smaller pieces left that were warped and twisted. I have been working to straighten out some of these pieces and flatten them so I can use them for handle material. This Henckel stag is the source for the stag on this little Craftsman peanut.

IMO, the stag that Henckel used and many of the other old German companies was different than most of the stag we see today and the slabs were cut much thinner than most of the slabs we find now.

I put some of this Henckel stag on this Craftsman peanut.
I thought the stag looked magnificent in spite of the fact that I had to take the pictures indoors. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Addendum: Just as I posted this I noticed I had not sharpen the knife nor put my etch on the back of the master blade.
I guess it is backed the workbench.

[royal0014]

I like that 'un Dale.

Very close to the barehead Kutmaster you did for me a few years ago
with the Henkles stag. Small stuff but nice .. . .

[KleenCut61]

Nice Resto Dale Owning A Few Craftsman And Schrades I Can tell ya There Snappy Little Fella,s Excellent , Excellent Choice

[garddogg56]

nice

[americanedgetech]

I may never have the time left to know 1/4 as much as you do about knives but I've set a firm goal for the time I have left.
That is to be at LEAST 1/2 as good at building a knife as you.

Consider me to be completely impressed with your "style".

[orvet]

I am glad you guys like it, and I appreciate the accolades, but a big part of a restoration or the initial build is having quality materials.
The Schrade made Craftsman is an excellent canvas on which to paint and the old Henckels stag is like getting your paint from Michelangelo!
The old companies like Henckels in Solingen got excellent stag and they cut it much thinner than most stag you see today.
The result was a nice tight pattern without a lot of smooth antler between the bolsters and the texture of the stag.
Such excellent materials, plenty of practice and a wee bit of skill goes a long way towards a great knife.

[americanedgetech]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah, Blah, Blah...

You are just GOOD at what you do!!!

[glennbad]

That's a little dandy peanut, Dale! And you know I am a sucker for nice stag!

[DR_MAGOO]

Dandy little knife. A keeper for sure.

[sunknife]

I looked at this post earlier and thought I had commented. Came back to see it again and realized I hadn't. Very nice work Orvet, the stag looks great on that knife.

[TripleF]

Beauty Dale!!!!

[Toejammer]

Thats sweet !

So when will it be in your store ?

[ea42]

Dale, great job, that stag is perfect!!

Gotta love when the stag is thinned down for you, sanding a thick chunk can be a dusty chore!!! Plus you never know what you're going to wind up with.

Eric

[orvet]

Thank you guys I appreciate all the encouragement and kind comments!

Thats sweet !

So when will it be in your store ?

I have to get out the etching machine and it’s this one and several other knives as well and then gets pictures of this one with the etch to put in the store. Hopefully I can get it done in the next couple of days.

Dale, great job, that stag is perfect!!

Gotta love when the stag is thinned down for you, sanding a thick chunk can be a dusty chore!!! Plus you never know what you're going to wind up with.

Eric

Thank you Eric, I appreciate that.
Many of the pieces of stag that came from Henckels are on the smaller side and they work well on small knives within bolsters.

And you are right, what you end up with when you start to thin a piece of bone, stag or even wood is never a given! I have discovered cracks and voids in most natural handle materials commonly used for knives. I can appreciate how excited the knife companies were when they found a stable, consistent and easy to work with source of synthetic handle material. Definitely a plus if you are just making a quality tool, but not so great on the artistic side.

[carrmillus]

.........great looking handles, dale!!.............. ...................

[Colonel26]

Ya done good Dale, real good. That’s a real beauty.