old German balisong? Check this thing out...

[jimborainey]

Hi, I'm new to the forum.. hope that html works.. Anyone ever seen one of these before? I own it, but I really don't know anything about it as far as value goes - or when it was made. It's 8 1/2 inches long fully opened. The handles are mostly mahogany (the center part is steel). The blade is not stainless - looks like it's just made out of some standard tool steel.. The latch looks like it was made from an old screw or something - maybe it's an original part, or maybe it's a replacement.. 1 side of the blade is marked "Bonsa Germany", and the other side says "made in Germany". Wouldn't it say "west germany" if it were made after WWII? I'm not really sure - it looks older than dirt.. Anyway, I think this knife is pretty awesome - so I just thought I'd share.

[This message has been edited by jimborainey (edited 04-03-2000).]

 

[Gollnick]

Wow. First post and he's got the picture stuff figured out. That took me a half-a-dozen tries.

That is a wonderful piece. I agree, pre-WW2. I've asked Bernard Levine to come over and take a look. I have a German balisong that dates to 1895. The german patent on the balisong was issued in 1890. So, this piece could be quite old.

------------------
Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com

[This message has been edited by Gollnick (edited 04-03-2000).]

 

[bernard_levine]

BonSa = Bontgen & Sabin of Solingen. 1867-1983.

Here is an 1885 Bontgen & Sabin catalog page of "Springless Marvels." The page is too big to fit on my scanner.

And here is Bontgen & Sabin's 4/12/1880 British patent. Its major innovation was to make each handle frame out of a single piece of metal bent into a [ profile.

jimborainey's BonSa knife is marked GERMANY, which means it was made after 1891.

Not only is the screw a non-original replacement, so are the mahogany handles.

It looks similar to the 522 or 622 in the catalog, except the bolsters are plain, rather than threaded, and it has no cap bolsters (it probably lost these when it got re-handled). I would guess it was made c1920s-1930s, possibly later, and was rebuilt much more recently.

BRL...


------------------
http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/links.htm

 

[bernard_levine]

Post-WWII knives marked W.Germany or West Germany, or British Zone, are very unusual. By the early 1950s, German export knives were only required to be marked GERMANY.

Even scarcer are knives marked Rheinland or Rhineland. This was the Allied occupied part of western Germany (for a time including Solingen) from 1919-1925 -- although GERMANY was still used then, as well.

BRL...

 

[jimborainey]

Cool.. thanks for the info.. yeah, upon further inspection, it does make sense that someone just glued some mahogany to the center handle section. O well, whoever they were, they did a pretty good job, and I still like the knife.

-
j rainey