SCHRADE WALDEN handle material

[Wbyonder]

this knife I believe is late 1950s early 1960s (visible pin).. my question is this handle material, is it modern plastic? Hard rubber? Bakelite? And did the time frame of the black bone and composite overlap..thanks in advance

[KnifeSlinger#81]

It's most likely fostarene, a hard black rubber like handle. I have seen peachseed bone that is mostly black but I have yet to see completely black bone, so for that reason I'm leaning towards fostarene.

[orvet]

Model number is that knife?

[kootenay joe]

Nice in focus pictures. Does not look like bone. Could be jigged Delrin if newer than 1960.
kj

[edge213]

Fostarene What the heck is That?
Never heard of that on a knife handle.

[Wbyonder]

I keep getting blackballed

[kootenay joe]

What do you mean: "I keep getting blackballed" ?
Spamhaus ?
kj

[Wbyonder]

Hey guys..I know very little about computers but if i don't respond ..I'm unable too..something this site uses called spamhaus ? Blackballs me, and i'm unable too post anything..i have no business iI don't email..i get on here, and auction sites and a couple gun forums, and Badger and Blade..thats it..here is the only place I have any problem ,I have run spamware software on my phone and uninstalled all unused apps .anyway I think I may have it fixed it..

Thank you for all your intrest ..as for the knife i think its a 863 made for Sears Craftsman..I have seen two exactly like it that have a craftsman blade etch with a 4 digit model # as part of the etch., this knife has Nothing on the pile side..I have no proof it is pinned on both ends and it doesn't show any signs of repair..thats why I believe Early 60s ..but then I am often wrong..I definently agree its not bone..thanks again for the new research topics!!


...

[Wbyonder]

What do you mean: "I keep getting blackballed" ?
Spamhaus ?
kj

KJ, have you experienced this too?

[Wbyonder]

It's most likely fostarene, a hard black rubber like handle. I have seen peachseed bone that is mostly black but I have yet to see completely black bone, so for that reason I'm leaning towards fostarene.

In researching Fostarene I also found bonite I found little on the fostarene but when I did find it mentioned it usually also had bonite..unclear if these are the same material or possible different colors..of the same material..apparently there was a lot of experiments..with rubbers plastic and polymers..before derlin..thanks for tje help..WB

[jxr1197]

It's most likely fostarene, a hard black rubber like handle. I have seen peachseed bone that is mostly black but I have yet to see completely black bone, so for that reason I'm leaning towards fostarene.

In researching Fostarene I also found bonite I found little on the fostarene but when I did find it mentioned it usually also had bonite..unclear if these are the same material or possible different colors..of the same material..apparently there was a lot of experiments..with rubbers plastic and polymers..before derlin..thanks for tje help..WB

Bonite was a marketing term, not a material. Think of 'Bonite' the same way you think of 'Staglon' or 'Meerschaum'. Fostarene was Foster-Grant's proprietary polystyrene powder made for injection molding machines. They sold it in bulk branded as Fostarene to Schrade, Imperial, Camillus and whoever else wanted some - including Dupont before the advent of Delrin. Fostarene was never used as an adjective to describe knife handles the way Delrin was. I think there's a very good chance that Bonite was actually made of Fostarene.

[kootenay joe]

Very neat to learn of Fostarene. Bonite shrinks a little but does not seem to break down in any way. Does this fit with properties of Fostarene ?
It was Albert Baer who lobbied Dupont to create a knife handle material that was stable, could be milled, zero shrinkage, etc.
In other words the Perfect knife handle material that had none of the problems that all previous synthetics had. Quite an achievement really.
Delrin i read, cost Dupont 4 million to develop which was big money in 1950's.

Spamhaus blocking members here has happened to me many times, then after a few days it's gone and i can post again.
Happens to others as well.
Should be possible to make Spamhaus leave members alone with a little programming.
kj

[Wbyonder]

Very neat to learn of Fostarene. Bonite shrinks a little but does not seem to break down in any way. Does this fit with properties of Fostarene ?
It was Albert Baer who lobbied Dupont to create a knife handle material that was stable, could be milled, zero shrinkage, etc.
In other words the Perfect knife handle material that had none of the problems that all previous synthetics had. Quite an achievement really.
Delrin i read, cost Dupont 4 million to develop which was big money in 1950's.

Spamhaus blocking members here has happened to me many times, then after a few days it's gone and i can post again.
Happens to others as well.
Should be possible to make Spamhaus leave members alone with a little programming.
kj

Thanks for that KJ it was starting to make me not want to post anything because people would take their valuable time too respond and then it would appear as though I were ignoring them..also I spent hours both trying to figure out what was wrong..and trying too contact them ( spamhaus) , for someone my age its very hard too understand how a legitimate business can not be contacted by phone ..but it says so right on their site!! And I'm so computer illiterate that it makes it very difficult....anyway both sorry and glad i'm not the only one...
Also thank you for the destinction on the Bonite
And the insight into Derlin.. the stuff is truly amazing ! I have a schrade 127 uh that I found with my metal detector buried on our property it was about 3 inches deep under the soil...the main spring had rusted so bad that it had slightly deformed the liners...after research this knife had belonged to one of my contractors(a Friend) workers that built our house..that meant it had been exposed too the elements for 15 years!! I cleaned it and got it working again..polished it up and tell people the story even though the main spring is severely rusted and the Stainless blade has some pitting..the derlin is discolored and the uncle henry shield is almost unreadable the knife still functions as intended..it reinforces my reasons for collecting schrade ( everyman knife)

[kootenay joe]

Wow, what a survivor ! buried for 15 years and lived to work again.
Many of us here are older men who are not very swift with computers.
As i understand it "Spamhaus" is a business that sells a program to websites (like AAPK) that identifies and blocks 'spam' posts. There are complex reasons why it sometimes ID's someone as sending spam when no such thing has occurred.
It should be 'easy' for spamhaus to be instructed to not block AAPK members but this is up to the site owner.
kj

[Wbyonder]

Yeah putting me on a computer is like giving a teen a rotary dial phone!

[1967redrider]

And the insight into Derlin.. the stuff is truly amazing ! I have a schrade 127 uh that I found with my metal detector buried on our property it was about 3 inches deep under the soil...the main spring had rusted so bad that it had slightly deformed the liners...after research this knife had belonged to one of my contractors(a Friend) workers that built our house..that meant it had been exposed too the elements for 15 years!! I cleaned it and got it working again..polished it up and tell people the story even though the main spring is severely rusted and the Stainless blade has some pitting..the derlin is discolored and the uncle henry shield is almost unreadable the knife still functions as intended..it reinforces my reasons for collecting schrade ( everyman knife)

That is an amazing rescue story for this knife, thanks for posting.