Sharpfingers

I love the Shrade Sharpfinger. The first time I saw one was in my grandparent’s kitchen drawer and I instantly knew I had to have one. The distinctive silhouette, the revolver style pistol grip, and a cool leather sheath had me hooked. When I bought one for myself, I noticed a few differences between mine and the one I saw at my grandparents. The one I bought was made in China, and frankly it did not feel as good in my hand as the one I remembered. I did use that knife for a few years, but eventually I put it in the drawer. Recently I bought an old made in USA sharpfinger on ebay. Turns out I wasn’t wrong. The USA sharpfingers are made from carbon steel, and the handle area is significantly rounder and more comfortable to hold. Actually, everything on the USA shrade is kind of rounded off. Both knives have delrin handles held on with cutlery rivets, but the USA one feels much smoother and ergonomic.

There is also a significant difference in the grind. The Chinese Shrades are a hollow ground. The USA shrades are a convex grind, and there is almost no plunge line where the grind starts. It just gently tapers to full thickness. It is an interesting design and it makes me wonder if they ground them on a round wheel at the factory or if there was some kind of automatic grinding machines set up.

In honor of these knives I am making my own batch of sharpfingers based closely on the USA shrade I bought from ebay. I plan to mimic the convex smooth grind and comfortably rounded handle. They will be 1084 high carbon steel with richlite handles and brass or copper peened pins. I plan to finish them with an acid etch to emulate the patina on the shrades.