My favorite "dress" knife, how is it made?

D

Dago Red

Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
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Hey guys, I'm probably going to post a few different questions over the next couple days, they'll probably seem out of order (but so is my mind).

I have never made a knife (with the exception of when I was 12 grinding a file into a dagger on a 4" belt sander, no knowledge of heat treat or anything, just for fun) but would love to, and one of the ones I'd like to make is this:

1.jpg


These are made in brazil, my father brought some back in the mid 80's, a few years ago I managed to get a couple new ones, nothing has changed design or material wise. They are great dress knives, much better than knives that actually look like a pen. They have a surprisingly strong lock for their size. I know it is hard to tell from pics but they are actually pinned together (it looks like they use the same stainless or similar enough that you can barely make out the pins) and are four pieces IIRC, the clip, both sides and the blade.

Before I get piled on for wanting to "copy" somebody, I have tried to get these here. They are actually not expensive, but there are no importers, and the company is not close to the major cities (I knew somebody that travelled there and was willing to bring me some but they were too far from where he was staying).

That said, my questions are this: (I know this is backwards, I should ask "how to get started" first, but I haven't finished reading all the stickies and such first, I'll post that kind of thread once I've finished those :D)

1. Can these be made with a grinder and drill press?
2. How is it heat treated do you think, all as one unit or the blade separate and then assembled?
3. What material would you start with, for minimum waste/grinding/cutting?

thanks guys.

Red
 
Those are beyond a beginners knife to make. Definately folder style by being several parts and assembled. There are some very talented makers on here that would know more. They are very nice though.
 
I agree that this is not an entry level project. If you want to make knives as a hobby, I'd start with something easier. If you want to do it just to get a really nice dress knife, I'd commission one instead. Having not seen one in person, I don't know much about how they are made based on the small pic. Someone here is bound to be familiar with them.

One thing is pretty nearly certain - they are not heat treated as an assembled unit.
 
There is a local maker to me, stock removal method, I have had about half a dozen of his knives (they make great gifts though and of course my nicest one I gave away, so am down to one). His prices were always very good, so I asked him a few years back about this and he wasn't interested. :(

I'm not really interested in making folders in general really, there are so many good ones out there that are affordable. I'd like to make my own fixed blades because I often see very nice ones that I just could never afford. This folder is just unique enough that I'd like to do it to give to buddies. I'm guessing having one made by somebody that knew what they were doing would be 4 times the cost of the original (I think about 35).

Thanks guys, maybe this one will be a backburner project for a while.
 
I've had one of those for over 20 years. They are very well made and an interesting design. I haven't seen one (other than mine) in a long time.
 
Dago Red said:
This folder is just unique enough that I'd like to do it to give to buddies. I'm guessing having one made by somebody that knew what they were doing would be 4 times the cost of the original (I think about 35).
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If that's $35 USD (and I think it is; if I recall, the brand name for these is Executive Edge), then you'll be looking at more like 8-16 times. You won't see many handmade folders of any style around $140.
I like the look of these too... want to make one someday. :)
 
Executive edge is where i got it last time. The originals are the canivetes lan, executive edge is either an importer or somebody that copies them since they don't have a US patent.

Red
 
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