Well, the bali is in. Although my fingers are still healing from the 49-01's, this bali needs special mentioning.
Construction: Sandwich constuction with filed brass liners and dyed wood inserts. Even a rudimentry latch gate.
Dimension: Closed, 6". Open 10.25". Blade, 4.5" long, by 1" at it's widest, by .125" thick. Weights about 11 ozs.
Handles: I'm suspecting oak dyed a honey golden oak for the bottom 2/3 portion, and a deep black for the top. Held together by 3 brass screws for each handle.
Blade: Forged. Steel unknown, but is sharp and nicely filed around the tang.
Latch: Small forged brass t-bar. Barely works on available friction. Latch is in the Manila style.
Tang assembly: Handle pins are held together by torx screws with the recieving end nicely filed. Single tang pin is also held in place by a countersunk torx screw, and the tang pin is knurled.
Swings: Since I'm not a fan of the Manila style latch, it was a little awkard. But the brass handles are heavy and the pivot pins are very smooth.
Overall impression: As mentioned by Blasto, I can see a Frontiersman with this in his rig (assuming he was able to travel to the Phillipines and knew about this style of folders). It at once old style and new (torx screws and knurls aren't found in the old knives). A very unique piece, of which I'm told only 4 exists.
But the knife isn't perfect. Two of the handle screws are too long and it scratched the blade, so that'll need to be address. The knurled tang pin is harder than the soft brass liner, and it's imprinted on the tang cup. The balde is high carbon, so I'll need to maintain it to prevent pitting.
Aside from that, again, it's a very unique piece. Although I'm, still not sure if it's me (given the bali freak that I am, that's pretty incredible).
More photos at this link:
http://members9.clubphoto.com/tony457839/556373/owner-e48b.phtml