Pantograph folders

W

willmeister

Joined
Apr 8, 2006
Messages
2
Hi chaps, presently very interested in pantograph knives. Most of you will know about the 'SS pantograph dagger' scam which has been going forever and has given such designs a bad name. But I had a good look at the mechanism, and it looks good to me. Check out this illustration of a United Cutlery cheapie:

http://www.unitedcutlery.com/shop/site/productpopup.cfm?id=89F4600A-7AFE-4D3E-AB050A510973B8FF

(sorry for the long URL -- you might have to stitch it back together in a text editor)

As long as you don't have to get the blade out in a hurry, the design strikes me as a very good one. I like the way that the blade continues some way into the handles when the knife is open.

Has anyone ever made a serious knife along these lines? If not, are there good reasons why they haven't?

Best, Will
 
The only design i have seen with the exact same mechanism would be the Smith & Wesson powerglide, as far as quality goes........like i mentioned, it's a S&W:thumbdn:
 
the design strikes me as a very good one
Click to expand...

Would you educate me on why a knife of this design is a good idea?

It just looks like a gimmick to me.
 
Hi Dave H and Knucks,

Dave, I'm not a maker and I'm in no position to educate you. But my tuppennyworth (or 2c) is that it's difficult to make a standard folder mechanism. The point where the blade pivots into the handle is the also the point that takes maximum leverage when the blade is pressed hard. This can be worked around, but it's not easy to do so.

The united cutlery design has a stub about 1/3 the length of the blade which extends between the folding parts of the handle -- I'd better call them scales, to be consistent with the terminology on this site, tho I doubt that it's technically correct to do so. It seems to me that this would help to avoid stressing the pivot mechanism when the knife is used hard.

Knucks, I didn't know about the Powerglide. That's a really good pointer -- many thanks.

Best, Will
 
That design has been around awhile. I've seen S&W labelled (not S&W, please), Carolina, United, Outdoor, etc. And those are just recent.

It'd be spiffy if anyone knew, or had a link to, the history of the design.
 
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