The Sardinian connection.

Here's a picture of traditional Sardinian knives made with olivastro (natural, wild olive tree).
Pictures and knives by Dino Sanna in Luras (www.dinosanna.it).

qMkUBmt.jpg

COTluxy.jpg


I love his wooden handles, and as much as I like horn, this is a wonderful handle material.
As for it being traditional, as for all traditional and old things, it all comes up to the territory where things are born.
Ram's and mouflon's horn were (and are) pretty common on an island with probably more sheeps than people :rolleyes: and as for alternative (and less common) materials, plenty of olive trees here :p

Fausto
:cool:
 
Last edited:
richstag said:
What kind of differences do you see in the wood?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the beautiful photos Fausto
some google trivia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olea_oleaster
The drought-tolerant … tree … still provides the hardy and disease-resistant rootstock on which cultivated olive varieties are grafted….
Timber of the wild-olive was valued: it was proof against decay, and was not affected by shipworm, which was a valuable feature in shipbuilding. It also provided stout handles for carpenters' tools.
 
Jon,
I have no scientific data to prove anything, but people who work with wood here (be it knifemakers, carpenters, and so on) all say that olivastro (the wild plant) is harder than olivo (the grafted plant). Aesthetically, there's a big variety of genetically mixed woods (from centuries of grafting and such), but real olivastro has nicer streaks and grain (to my eye).

Fausto
:cool:
 
[video=youtube;dLnmS7E1T3Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLnmS7E1T3Y[/video]
 
Here are a couple of my small Antonini Resolza. It's approximately Peanut-sized, and looks good with gold, IMHO.

20140316_165617.jpg



20140316_165656.jpg


With a No. 9 Opinel, for comparison:


20140316_165820.jpg
 
jon_slider said:
I note you have begun posting pics with pocket sheaths, something you previously mentioned was not traditional.

Do these two knives have the tip sticking out of the end of the handle when closed? Im a big fan of pocket sheaths, they keep the tang joint from chewing up my pockets, plus I can put the knife in my pocket with other things, without worrying about it getting scratched up... Is that your reason, protect the knife, or protect the pocket?:-)

I note that sheath is not symmetrical at the bottom. Do you put the knife in with the barehead of the handle first, or do you put the pivot end in first?
Click to expand...

Hello Jon_slider,
Fausto is right, it's not traditional to carry a knife in a sheath, but as you said it it protect the knife.
As my friend Davide Steri loves to work the leather I asked him to make sheathes for his knives.
Each time he tryes to be creative. It explains the shape of the sheath, or some the rings he makes in mokume or damascus :




As it's used :D




Best all.
 
Getahl said:
With a No. 9 Opinel, for comparison:
20140316_165820.jpg
Click to expand...

Ahahah just for fun I propose you a mix between these two knives :

A sardinian blade by Andrea Melis, made in K720, based on a Opinel n°10, but in 3cm of thickness and an handle in acacia made by Opiwan, a specialist of the Opinel.


opi-se10.jpg


opi-se11.jpg


opi-se12.jpg


Â
 
(transcription from an intercepted phone call and translated to English from Sardinian)

"...no, I can't remember his last name, but I will see him again tomorrow and maybe I'll have the chance to have a talk...he's a training nurse but he's been making resolzas as a hobby for a few years now, he's not that young, he's got some equipment of his own...no I haven't seen any of his knives, but they look right in pictures, we talked a bit about blades, and carbon seems to be his first choice...yeah he heard I'm into knives so he asked me and we took the topic...he seems decent, and judging from his looks and accent he's probably from some small town in the innerland...no he doesn't need to know where the knives are going to, if he can provide a regular production we'll make the deal...I assume I can push things a bit, considering his position and mine at work...anyway, before the end of the week I will let you know if we can add him to our net...by the way, let me know when that suitcase gets there, those Miami cops are keeping their eyes open so we need to change our paths a bit...oh, in the suitcase, as always, you will find some carasau and bottarga as you asked..."

Fausto
:cool:
 
Last edited:
I am getting a little bit excited by this covert conversation Fausto! I wish those shady fellows the best of luck in their moving the goods :cool: The market is hungry;)
 
knife to a gunfight said:
Video
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great video, allowed me to capture just a few words of my childhood Italian, long in disuse. Did I hear him say that a lot of the handle material is Morrocan Goat horn? Apparently they are very agile:
[video=youtube;oQev3UoGp2M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQev3UoGp2M[/video]

20140316_165617.jpg
[/QUOTE]

Sweet little keyring knife, the first Pattada Ive seen with a nail nick, makes sense since you say its the size of a peanut, so the blade would be small to pinch

Âchillepattada;13326900 said:
As it's used :D
843262etui2.jpg
364562etui1.jpg
Click to expand...

Very nice Âchillepattada!
Your pics answer my first question, about how the sheath ring attaches to a belt
curious about the string loop, no knot visible :-)
Seems to be a pocket sheath with a retention strap, very useful
And I note you insert the knife head first, makes sense to me due to the proud point feature that makes a Pattada a one hand opener
 
jon_slider said:
Thanks for the great video, allowed me to capture just a few words of my childhood Italian, long in disuse. Did I hear him say that a lot of the handle material is Morrocan Goat horn?

Sweet little keyring knife, the first Pattada Ive seen with a nail nick, makes sense since you say its the size of a peanut, so the blade would be small to pinch
Click to expand...

Even though sheeps are by far the most common animal here, nowadays a big share of horn used for knife handles comes from Northern Africa.
Apparently, it's cheaper and often good (or even better) in terms of quality.
As for the nail nick, it's not really a matter of size: resolzas are easy to open cause they're friction folders and the handle shape allows for full pinch even on a 3" knife. It might be a useful addition to some people, but I can assure you that every cutler here would cringe at the sight of a nail nick, and eventually would not consider that knife traditional (just like a Midwest rancher would be upset to handle a friction stockman I guess). In modern production models, such features (nail nick, keyring hole - like in Getahl's knife - and so on) are added for the users' comfort, but not on the island :)

Fausto
:cool:
 
Jon, I think Achille's sheath loop string isn't knotted, but is whipped together. You can just barely see it, if you follow the string down from the top left side of the loop.

Achille, that foggia antica is just gorgeous! Very nice attention to detail. And, I am falling deeper in love, looking at your picture of all the many resolza's. The one with the two-color horn handle, second from the bottom, is my favorite of the bunch (I think.... no wait, the one below that.... or, second from the top....... ;) ).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top