All About Pocket Knives

George Schrade started this company and later went on to sell it to The Walden Knife Co. in 1903.

There are some threads here on Press button knives but they include the later Schrade versions made after 1923.

I would like to see just the ones made in the period 1893-1923, with the release button in the bolster.

Any other catalog cuts, boxes or ephemera is welcome as well.


Here is a group of them I picked up recently, note the different jigging style used on them.

Not the best pictures but here are 2 old Press Buttons, one with quite a bit of the THE VICTOR etch and a KA-BAR. I just turned 78 and these are for sale.

Beautiful old knives Dimitri and JKB! Here's one of my Press Buttons.The barely visible etch reads," Compliments of A.A.Marks Newark New Jersey Maker of Artificial Limbs"

That`s a real nice one Ray

I have been looking for one of those for years to add to my collection

Miller Bro`s wrote:That`s a real nice one Ray

I have been looking for one of those for years to add to my collection

Thanks Dimitri;I bought that knife from a fellow knife collector up near you in Effingham NH.Gentleman named Mike DeFeo.He wrote several articles in Knife World and had some really superb knives. Don't know if he's still around;I got this one about 30 years ago.

The name sounds vaguely familiar, maybe I ran into him some time over the years

Here is a picture of your knife with some enhancements, I can almost read the blade etch!

Great Knives guys . I should be able to Post a few different ones on this topic. Here are a few my larger examples . Miller's right about PBKC using several different jiggings over the years . The last picture shows my favorite jigging.However "rocked" the bone on it really had it going on that day.It is not pictured in the group and is different then any those those patterns. I also have a "Walden Knife Co. NY " stamped "Invincible" with different jigging that is not pictured and one in ebony in the works .There are a few different " "invincible " examples pictured The sabre does not have a PBKC stamp only the Pat # on the back.I have been told by other collectors of the handful known that about half are stamped and half are blank on the front tang.

Real nice knives!

In the second photo, does the second knife down have brass pins?

Miller Bro`s wrote: Real nice knives!

In the second photo, does the second knife down have brass pins?

Thanks,
That is the "Sabre " ground bladed example. It did have brass pins (not original) when I found it as it had been worked on by someone did'nt did'nt know what they were doing. Kaleb straightedge it out and it has NS pins now and work's great . This is a updated picture and includes a example of a "Invincible " with a "spear" blade along with two 4" Business" examples The next picture is the"Walden Knife Co.NY" stamped example

dragon25 wrote: It did have brass pins (not original) when I found it as it had been worked on by someone did'nt did'nt know what they were doing. Kaleb straightedge it out and it has NS pins now and work's great .

That`s what I thought, I have never seen one with Brass pins that were original to these era knives.

Those Business models are nice and hard to find too

Thanks for showing them

Miller Bro`s wrote:.

Those Business models are nice and hard to find too

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The "Business" 4" examples were offered in ebony also but I have never see one . The also made a folding guard 4 " Business" that I have seen maybe 3 examples of and I'm trying to work on adding but it's been really hard trying to talk anyone out there's . I have not even seen any catalogs where they were offered so they must been made for only a very short time. Here is a picture one minus it's guards

I am really surprised the Business model was not more popular back then.

It would be easier to carry in the pocket that the Victor model

What a great way to wake up Monday morning. Thanks for the pictures.

Miller Bro`s wrote:I am really surprised the Business model was not more popular back then.

It would be easier to carry in the pocket that the Victor model

I think they were popular just a really handy knife and most got used up since they could be carried in a (front) pocket a lot easier then the 5 " models . Most examples I run across the blades are really down . These knives the handles can be somewhat fragile in the bone handles and the locking pins .
Finding dead mint Press Buttons can really be hard to come by and I believe very few examples are known . They were and still are very handy knives . I hope others chime in on this post .

JACKNIFEBEN, PM me and let me know the price range for the Ka-Bar push button. Thanks, Rocky

Great pics !! nothin like a bit of Hoffs extract in the morning

Can anyone tell me if this blade is short or if Press Button made one like it? Thanks in advance.

Blade looks short to me.

Let`s see a picture of it in the closed position looking straight down

If this is short somebody did a professional job and it was a long time ago.

Take a measure and with the blade open measure from the tip of the blade to the bolster and it should be 3 7/8" long.

If not, it is short and was re-shaped long ago

Check your PM`s

it looks as if it was an honest user ,,,,,does look a tad short and profiled a bit . But its an old friggen cool as heck knife !

New member here.
I recently acquired a few of my Grandfather’s knives ... one of which is the Press Button Knife/fork combo bolster switch release. As a kid, I remember he packed this knife in his mess kit when he worked as an Elk and Bear guide in the Rockies when living in Colorado Springs. My mom told me she remembers him having this knife as far as she could remember back, and she was born in 1932. Unknown how long he had it or how/where he got it, but it definitely looks like he used it for what it was designed. He had quite a few ‘one armed’ knives as he used to put it which he thought assisted those WWII and Korean vets who returned without one arm or hand.
My question: is there any definitive way to determine just how old this knife is? I know this knife shows allot of use, but what collector’s value would this hold? As you can see in one of the pics, the blade is partially open. That’s as far as the spring kicks the blade out. Was the original brand new knife supposed to fully open the blade when pressing the button?
Thanks in advance for any comments given !

Your knife was made between 1892 and 1923. U.S. patent 470605 was granted 3/8/1892. Maybe someone can narrow it down more. A drop or two of light machine oil on the blade pivot area might get the knife to open fully.

Miller Bro's wrote:

dragon25 wrote: It did have brass pins (not original) when I found it as it had been worked on by someone did'nt did'nt know what they were doing. Kaleb straightedge it out and it has NS pins now and work's great .

That`s what I thought, I have never seen one with Brass pins that were original to these era knives.

Those Business models are nice and hard to find too

Thanks for showing them

Here's an original PBKC mechanics Jack with brass pins , it is rare to see but has been documented. Notice the knife has "no notch" in the handle … this knife was depicted in the 1907 AA Marks catalog but is seldom seen , most have the finger notch and nickel pins …. here's a comparison picture for your viewing pleasure.