Busse Balisong Anybody?

Yeah or neigh

  • Total voters
    40
  • Poll closed .
OnceBitten said:
Hey....you're supposed to read between the lines. That's why I double space...........

What I'm saying is: By the time we look at Channel construction and over-sized pivots for strength, fitting the pivots to ten thousandths to eliminate slop, yet, retain free blade movement and ensuring a smooth, even tang area for the pivots/washers/bushings to ride inside of carefully machined/finished handles, well.......

we're talking about an $800+ balisong......and.....thick coatings will not work.

The best knife is one that does not fold....

and, besides all that.....the pivots will get super-gritty after only an hour, or two, of cutting open rocks to see what's inside

:D
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Why on earth would they put a coating on a folder? And, there are lots of instances where a folder is a better option. I like to keep a knife in my pocket, out of sight. It is illegal to do that with a fixed blade in my state.
 
I know that there couldn't be a coated blade.....and we all know what Satin adds to a finished product.

That's what I'm getting at: at $800 per bali, Busse Combat would lose money. It would cost too much to develop and produce.
 
There would definitely be a folder before a balisong.

Im a fan of them, I wore one out flipping it through high school, granted I only knew that one opening, by holding the latch, letting it drop and catching it open, but I could do it in my sleep.

But like others have mentioned, a halfway decent one is hundreds of dollars, I think mainly due to the extreme stress put on the pivot those handles will slam into the pins and each other. I like that benchmade tanto balisong but I cant justify the price for what it is.
 
OnceBitten said:
I know that there couldn't be a coated blade.....and we all know what Satin adds to a finished product.

That's what I'm getting at: at $800 per bali, Busse Combat would lose money. It would cost too much to develop and produce.
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I suspect that's the reason a Busse folder hasn't been offered; it would cost so much to produce and only the true collectors or folks with plenty of money could afford them.
 
OnceBitten said:
I know that there couldn't be a coated blade.....and we all know what Satin adds to a finished product.

That's what I'm getting at: at $800 per bali, Busse Combat would lose money. It would cost too much to develop and produce.
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If Chris Reeves can make a profit on $450 Sebenzas I don't see why a Busse balisong would cost $800. Heck, there isn't even a lock that would need to be hand fitted. The BIG DC finish on my AD6 is darn near smoothe enough to use as is. Run it through a stone wash and it would be good to go.
 
I would be interested in that. Heck, I’m about always interested in Balisongs. Ever since my first Pacific Cutlery. Even carry one occasionally as a general use blade.
 
Well....comparing the world's best-selling folder that has been on the market for 30 years to a balisong that hasn't been designed/developed/produced and sold is like comparing apples to.....ummm....concrete blocks.

I would say that there are quite a few Sebbies sold every 12 months since the inception of this particular model (which is likely THE GOAT of Production Folders) and its variants. I would think that manufacturing processes have been kept lean to maintain cost control.

Chris Reeve is a success story. Look at his contributions to the industry: the Integral Lock, S35VN, etc.

He is a pioneer in knife making, and still....he doesn't build a balisong.

I guess that if Busse could get cheap, but excellent, advice on the specs they need for a good build...and....some other Production facility to manufacture for them, they might be able to offer a $400 bali, but, 1) it wouldn't be a
Busse 2) Warranty would be am issue and 3) not enough knives would sell to offset the BS of getting them boxed and shipped.

It's a niche market.

A car maker doesn't start building boats and trailers just because a customer says that they plan to use their new truck to go fishing.

Just my 1.42 cents (after conversion)
 
OnceBitten said:
Well....comparing the world's best-selling folder that has been on the market for 30 years to a balisong that hasn't been designed/developed/produced and sold is like comparing apples to.....ummm....concrete blocks.

I would say that there are quite a few Sebbies sold every 12 months since the inception of this particular model (which is likely THE GOAT of Production Folders) and its variants. I would think that manufacturing processes have been kept lean to maintain cost control.

Chris Reeve is a success story. Look at his contributions to the industry: the Integral Lock, S35VN, etc.

He is a pioneer in knife making, and still....he doesn't build a balisong.

I guess that if Busse could get cheap, but excellent, advice on the specs they need for a good build...and....some other Production facility to manufacture for them, they might be able to offer a $400 bali, but, 1) it wouldn't be a
Busse 2) Warranty would be am issue and 3) not enough knives would sell to offset the BS of getting them boxed and shipped.

It's a niche market.

A car maker doesn't start building boats and trailers just because a customer says that they plan to use their new truck to go fishing.

Just my 1.42 cents (after conversion)
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Busse is kind of a niche market.
 
Yes, Busse is definitely niche.

How many Busse customers would throw down cash on a bali...nevermind, a folder?

They would need to sell a bunch, just to break even.

Bad business choice.
 
If the Bali was $250-$350, sure I'd be in for one. But think oncebitten is being conservative at even $800 tho.

I want a Busse folder to be made much more so. If its $700 or less id be in for sure, pretty much no matter what design, lock, steel, etc it was. I'd like to see it be available in all their unique color coatings they have too. Just satin would be fine too. Honestly would like to see a folder more than any new fixed blade designs.
 
OnceBitten said:
Well....comparing the world's best-selling folder that has been on the market for 30 years to a balisong that hasn't been designed/developed/produced and sold is like comparing apples to.....ummm....concrete blocks.

I would say that there are quite a few Sebbies sold every 12 months since the inception of this particular model (which is likely THE GOAT of Production Folders) and its variants. I would think that manufacturing processes have been kept lean to maintain cost control.

Chris Reeve is a success story. Look at his contributions to the industry: the Integral Lock, S35VN, etc.

He is a pioneer in knife making, and still....he doesn't build a balisong.

I guess that if Busse could get cheap, but excellent, advice on the specs they need for a good build...and....some other Production facility to manufacture for them, they might be able to offer a $400 bali, but, 1) it wouldn't be a
Busse 2) Warranty would be am issue and 3) not enough knives would sell to offset the BS of getting them boxed and shipped.

It's a niche market.

A car maker doesn't start building boats and trailers just because a customer says that they plan to use their new truck to go fishing.

Just my 1.42 cents (after conversion)
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My point is that jumping straight to an assumed price of $800, then using that assumed price point against a product that hasn't been designed, produced or sold doesn't seem right. I doubt that we will ever see a Busse balisong. But just what if the inherent strength of the bali design turned out to be the thing that convinces Jerry that a pocket knife worthy of his warranty is doable? That would be spectacular.
 
Well....I guess you could look at Hom Design, or even BRS, and then factor in the additional costs of building added durability to the design (so that pivots aren't damaged as soon as someone uses the blade to pry - big Warranty issue), then, $800 isn't a big number.

Two channel-milled handles are gonna be pricey, on their own.

After all of the ins and outs, you would hope that one could charge enough for the knife to recoup costs over the first 400 knives sold. There lies the issue.

Busse will not sell 400+ balisongs. All of the real players have been at the table for some time. That is why many custom balis are way up there in price....and they're frail items.

I haven't seen a strong one, yet...and I've had a few. Sandwich builds, in particular, are very weak.

In the end, you can only sell hundreds of knives if they flip well. The youngsters who drive the bali market tend be a little rabid and don't think twice about paying more....just to get one. Even the new Benchmades need to be modded with longer handles to flip better. That's another $100+ on top of a knife you just paid $300 for.....and Benchmade has their Tooling figured out....just not their design.
 
OnceBitten said:
Well....I guess you could look at Hom Design, or even BRS, and then factor in the additional costs of building added durability to the design (so that pivots aren't damaged as soon as someone uses the blade to pry - big Warranty issue), then, $800 isn't a big number.

Two channel-milled handles are gonna be pricey, on their own.

After all of the ins and outs, you would hope that one could charge enough for the knife to recoup costs over the first 400 knives sold. There lies the issue.

Busse will not sell 400+ balisongs. All of the real players have been at the table for some time. That is why many custom balis are way up there in price....and they're frail items.

I haven't seen a strong one, yet...and I've had a few. Sandwich builds, in particular, are very weak.

In the end, you can only sell hundreds of knives if they flip well. The youngsters who drive the bali market tend be a little rabid and don't think twice about paying more....just to get one. Even the new Benchmades need to be modded with longer handles to flip better. That's another $100+ on top of a knife you just paid $300 for.....and Benchmade has their Tooling figured out....just not their design.
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I do think that it would probably be near impossible to make one that is Busse strong and still be nimble enough to flip. That's why I was thinking maybe something more along the lines of a cross between a balisong and a folding multitool, like a leatherman. One thing that could really give Busse a leg up on a project like this is that they are already set up with CNC machines and well versed in their use, so milling out solid channeled handles would probably be a walk in the park for them.
 
Milling Titanium is expensive on Burrs/Cutting bits, even on a fancy multi-axis Mill.

There was a manufacturer, some years back, that sold a larger utility-type bali that was coated...through BladeHQ, maybe...and I think Cerakote(sp?) would be great on something like that (stripped a RMD with it on it - tough as hell).

The real benefit of bali construction.....for Busse, I think....would be to get a knife of 14" OAL to fold down to around 8" closed. It could be built heavy and would still offer relatively compact/discreet carry. .25" blade stock would be fine and the handles could be milled from 304 Stainless. Oversized Bushings could be made from a milder stainless to avoid deforming Bronze/Copper and stretching the tang holes.

I would still go with Zen pins. It would end up fairly heavy, yet, pretty strong.
 
OnceBitten said:
Milling Titanium is expensive on Burrs/Cutting bits, even on a fancy multi-axis Mill.

There was a manufacturer, some years back, that sold a larger utility-type bali that was coated...through BladeHQ, maybe...and I think Cerakote(sp?) would be great on something like that (stripped a RMD with it on it - tough as hell).

The real benefit of bali construction.....for Busse, I think....would be to get a knife of 14" OAL to fold down to around 8" closed. It could be built heavy and would still offer relatively compact/discreet carry. .25" blade stock would be fine and the handles could be milled from 304 Stainless. Oversized Bushings could be made from a milder stainless to avoid deforming Bronze/Copper and stretching the tang holes.

I would still go with Zen pins. It would end up fairly heavy, yet, pretty strong.
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I wish I had the money to try lopping the handle off a TGLB and using the quillions/talon holes to attach a pair of handles to it. Lol!
 
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