Schrade SC503

[Jeffinn]

A regular old Schrade Scrimshaw knife. I can appreciate the whole scrimshaw thing but I’m partial to the real hand done scrimshaw art form. I had the good luck of seeing real scrimshaw work being done years ago by a young artisan down in the coastal North Carolina area. After seeing it done by hand the laser generated “scrimshaw” loses some of its appeal.

This was my first swinden key knife but I didn’t realize it until after I cut the pins. Fortunately Muskrat Man had posted a video on how to install pins in a Swinden key knife. For my first swinden key knife it turned out pretty darn good!
I had to drill the bolsters for the new pins and you can see that I drilled the bolster in the small section of the “keyhole”;

I found some smooth red bone slabs in the bone box so I decided to use them for this knife. Here’s the slabs glued in place;

And here they are in their pre-polished state;

And here’s the final knife with the new bone handles;

[treefarmer]

Brother, you’re sure bringing them old gals back to life!
Treefarmer

[kootenay joe]

Wow ! Very nicely done, and i think you have improved the knife by replacing the synthetic handles with lovely rich red bone and by putting in a standard blade pivot pin. This knife is now ready to last a lifetime of 'good cutting'.
kj

[Jeffinn]

Brother, you’re sure bringing them old gals back to life!
Treefarmer

Thanks a tree farmer, Inappreciate it!

[Jeffinn]

Wow ! Very nicely done, and i think you have improved the knife by replacing the synthetic handles with lovely rich red bone and by putting in a standard blade pivot pin. This knife is now ready to last a lifetime of 'good cutting'.
kj

Thanks KJ! It was my first Swinden key and I’m happy that it turned out really nice.

[doglegg]

Jeff you make me repeat my self. I think your choice of handle colors really set your knives apart. Excellent (again).

[Jeffinn]

Jeff you make me repeat my self. I think your choice of handle colors really set your knives apart. Excellent (again).

Thanks doglegg!

[Meridian_Mike]

Great job Jeff! I like that smooth red bone too! It sure does polish out real nice! Much better than having plastic or cell for sure!

I have a couple of 8 OTs I need to put some new scales on. They have the swinden rivets and I am thinking I might drill and pin them back together.

Very nice looking knife.... (as usual)

[Jeffinn]

Great job Jeff! I like that smooth red bone too! It sure does polish out real nice! Much better than having plastic or cell for sure!

I have a couple of 8 OTs I need to put some new scales on. They have the swinden rivets and I am thinking I might drill and pin them back together.

Very nice looking knife.... (as usual)

Thanks MM! I wasn’t sure about the red smooth bone but it turned out pretty nice.
Jeff

[kootenay joe]

Herman Williams told me that re-assembling a knife with a Swinden key is difficult. Unless the pieces are perfectly positioned there will be some blade play.
kj

[Jeffinn]

Herman Williams told me that re-assembling a knife with a Swinden key is difficult. Unless the pieces are perfectly positioned there will be some blade play.
kj

That’s good to know. I’ll keep it in mind the next time I come across another Swinden key knife.
Thanks KJ!

[Reverand]

She looks great! You are making me jealous with all these beautiful knives you are churning out!
The smooth bone really fits the character of that knife. Good choice.

[Jeffinn]

She looks great! You are making me jealous with all these beautiful knives you are churning out!
The smooth bone really fits the character of that knife. Good choice.

Thank you Rev!

[glennbad]

That sure is pretty! Nice job, Jeff. You're getting to the point where these are looking factory. Have you been involved in our past discussions about marking your work in some way? That way, if it gets into hands that aren't as knowledgeable, they won't think they have an original.

(This is meant as a compliment, BTW!)

[Jeffinn]

That sure is pretty! Nice job, Jeff. You're getting to the point where these are looking factory. Have you been involved in our past discussions about marking your work in some way? That way, if it gets into hands that aren't as knowledgeable, they won't think they have an original.

(This is meant as a compliment, BTW!)

Thanks!
I haven’t been marking mine yet. I’ll need to look a possibly marking the inner liner in some way.
Jeff

[glennbad]

That sure is pretty! Nice job, Jeff. You're getting to the point where these are looking factory. Have you been involved in our past discussions about marking your work in some way? That way, if it gets into hands that aren't as knowledgeable, they won't think they have an original.

(This is meant as a compliment, BTW!)

Thanks!
I haven’t been marking mine yet. I’ll need to look a possibly marking the inner liner in some way.
Jeff

For myself, I just use letter stamps, and punch my initials and the year into the inner liner. Dale sometimes uses his cool etch on the blade. Whatever method works for you, it also lets the owner know who did the great work!

[OLDE CUTLER]

That red bone really does look great!

[Jeffinn]

That red bone really does look great!

Thanks OC!

[JnBama]

A regular old Schrade Scrimshaw knife. I can appreciate the whole scrimshaw thing but I’m partial to the real hand done scrimshaw art form. I had the good luck of seeing real scrimshaw work being done years ago by a young artisan down in the coastal North Carolina area. After seeing it done by hand the laser generated “scrimshaw” loses some of its appeal.
192B83B2-4AFB-4BC8-A4E4-E73B59CE5636.jpeg
This was my first swinden key knife but I didn’t realize it until after I cut the pins. Fortunately Muskrat Man had posted a video on how to install pins in a Swinden key knife. For my first swinden key knife it turned out pretty darn good!
I had to drill the bolsters for the new pins and you can see that I drilled the bolster in the small section of the “keyhole”;
799EF389-C3FB-423E-B570-E851C9A122C1.jpeg
I found some smooth red bone slabs in the bone box so I decided to use them for this knife. Here’s the slabs glued in place;
1E86981A-30A9-40FB-86AE-15E472780A0F.jpeg
And here they are in their pre-polished state;
E596ADE2-DB27-43B4-AA31-FC7E1737B02B.jpeg
And here’s the final knife with the new bone handles;
526E2C07-3DA7-4C0D-908B-760A7A8E580D.jpeg
2B5CB643-F424-4B61-AEDE-C7032145E052.jpeg
F036A716-2594-40CD-826B-0E064F408244.jpeg
5FD11CAB-06AC-4F08-8985-243F7020792C.jpeg

I have it and great to see the build, nice knife got a compliment at knife store today.

[Jeffinn]

Thanks!

[orvet]

Great job! I love the pattern and like to mod those.
Great color BTW!

[TripleF]

Beauty! Love it!!

[herbva]

Wow, a true work of beauty Jeff! I love the smooth red bone as well. I have a 294 that I think has the Swinden key assembly as well, and of course it has some blade wobble. I am wondering if there is any way to tighten it up without disassembling and converting to a conventional pinned knife?

[Jeffinn]

Wow, a true work of beauty Jeff! I love the smooth red bone as well. I have a 294 that I think has the Swinden key assembly as well, and of course it has some blade wobble. I am wondering if there is any way to tighten it up without disassembling and converting to a conventional pinned knife?

I haven’t worked on enough Swinden keys to answer your question. I’m sure Dale or one of the other knife pros will be along shortly to answer your question.

[glennbad]

Wow, a true work of beauty Jeff! I love the smooth red bone as well. I have a 294 that I think has the Swinden key assembly as well, and of course it has some blade wobble. I am wondering if there is any way to tighten it up without disassembling and converting to a conventional pinned knife?

That may be possible, but it does require taking the knife apart. Even then, there's no guarantee.