Cool Knife.

[jayrob]

Damascus steel 'tickles my fancy' too!

Damascus is one of Man's greatest achievements in steel...

But the quality of Damascus steel is greatly varied, depending on the steel used, and most importantly, the skill of the blacksmith.

The number of layers achieved will make a huge difference in the final appearance as well...

Here are some pictures of fine quality 'birds eye' Damascus on my Weidmannsheil folder. (Genuine Mother of Pearl scales, brass liners and nickle silver bolsters)

Here's a couple more from my Wiedmannsheil collection:

 

[Burnsy]

I just ordered two of these...

Wow that's a sweet looking swiss army knive. Even though the paint on the blade looks for me a little too much like fake japanese steel structure ... or is that real??

Edit: Oops I didn't say anything just saw on the website that's swedish damast steel :bowdown: very nice indeed!

 

[Ash]

I know that you are not supposed to carry an automatic knife with a blade over 2" in CA.

But I guess I'll just keep my collection to pocket folders and such... It would be cool to own an automatic knife over 2" one day!

So. Is this knife (I use everyday at work) with a 5" blade (pics attached) not legal to carry where I live/work (California)?
I got it at a little knife/sword shop in San Diego for really cheap .
I think it's a replica (or design rip-off) of a really nice brand. I like the look/feel of it, it's extremely sharp, and it snaps out really fast. But, I'm still unsure if it's a switchblade. :undecided:
Maybe because it's a spring-assist knife?

 

[Traveller]

Damascus is one of Man's greatest achievements in steel... But the quality of Damascus steel is greatly varied, depending on the steel used, and most importantly, the skill of the blacksmith. The number of layers achieved will make a huge difference in the final appearance as well...

Very nice knives, Jay :yh:

I didn't realize there can be quality differences (...is there nothing on the market that's either "black or white" anymore?)

Well the store where I bought my Böker today had a few Böker Damascus "pocket" knives, but no autos. This one "chef" knife was beautiful to look at (although it's the last thing I need or want, lol):

"The extraordinary blade of our new Damascus chef's knife, Superior, is made of a four-band Torsion Damascus and a separately forged Damascus cutting edge, made exclusively by the German Damascus forger Andreas Henrichs with a fascinating precision for Boker.In an extremely intricate process, individual Damascus bands are welded into one large Damascus band. This four-sided Damascus band is twisted 15 times in itself, to create a unique pattern of the 300 layers of Torsion Damascus. Four of these twisted Torsion Damascus bands and a fifth strap, made of non-twisted Damascus, are then welded and forged into a Damascus pack. The result of this time-consuming and strenuous craftsmanship is a blank with extraordinary structure and solidity. The arrangement of the non-twisted cutting edge ensures a homogenous edge and guarantees outstanding cutting performance. The Damascus expert Andreas Henrichs produces this exquisite material and delivers the raw material for one of the most exclusive and highest performance cutting tools for kitchen use."


But I'll trade it any day for just one of Marifone's custom, Damascus blades...

:worthy:

 

[pullbangdead]

^Hey, that's the same model as the knife I just ordered, a Microtech LCC!

Looks pretty kick-ass when you add in the custom Damascus and Mother-of-pearl touches.

 

[jayrob]

That's some really nice Damascus steel in those examples...

It's an art. Boker had another really great Master Smith named Manfred Sachse. I had a 1992 year knife with an awesome Damascus blade made by him but I sold it a few years back.

That pearl handeled custom folder by Marifone looks amazing! :takeit:

So. Is this knife (I use everyday at work) with a 5" blade (pics attached) not legal to carry where I live/work (California)?
I got it at a little knife/sword shop in San Diego for really cheap .
I think it's a replica (or design rip-off) of a really nice brand. I like the look/feel of it, it's extremely sharp, and it snaps out really fast. But, I'm still unsure if it's a switchblade. :undecided:
Maybe because it's a spring-assist knife?

That's want I mean by saying that there are a ton of knives out there which are one handed knives. Even if they do not have a spring assist...

I don't know all the details of the law on it. But just that I see knives that have a 'spring assist' being sold. You have to move the blade with the thumb stud and then the spring assist action flips it the rest of the way out.

So that's different than just pushing a button on a fully automatic.

But again, I don't know all of the little details on the law.

Even the quality knives without any spring assist can easily be opened with one hand. Just a quickly as a fully automatic knife...

 

[Traveller]

that's the same model as the knife I just ordered, a Microtech LCC! Looks pretty kick-ass when you add in the custom Damascus and Mother-of-pearl touches.

Oh, I didn't realize they were the same! And so is this also a "dual action" folder? [EDIT: never mind, I realize now that the "D/A" in the model name stands for Dual Action...]

Btw, yours is sweet enough... :wave:

 

[Ash]

...edit...
You have to move the blade with the thumb stud and then the spring assist action flips it the rest of the way out.

So that's different than just pushing a button on a fully automatic.

...edit...

Not on mine (see video). You just push on the knob on the top/back of the knife and it springs out. It is fully-auto, but the way around the switchblade law (for this particular design) is that the "trigger" for the "spring-assist" is actually part of the blade itself, so there is not "technically" a switchblade-button. So, I think even though it's a 5" switchblade, it's legal to carry. :thinking:

 

[electron]

Here's a CA legal auto from ProTech at PVKnife...

I have one of these... Super high quality, coil spring 'mini' auto...

Very nice, I love the ProTechs too, I've got several of the Godfathers (a little too big though) and my favorite in this line, the Godson.

 

[pullbangdead]

Not on mine (see video). You just push on the knob on the top/back of the knife and it springs out. It is fully-auto, but the way around the switchblade law (for this particular design) is that the "trigger" for the "spring-assist" is actually part of the blade itself, so there is not "technically" a switchblade-button. So, I think even though it's a 5" switchblade, it's legal to carry. :thinking:

Yeah, my understanding is that this is a way around the switchblade laws. Whether it's the "pointerfinger nub" on the backstrap or just using the thumbstud like the Kershaws do, moving the actual blade to a point where a spring catches it and finishes it for you.

I have a CRKT that uses that pointerfinger nub for opening without the spring assist, and it's still an amazingly fast way of opening a knife. A little flick of the wrist with the finger on the nub, and it opens FAST. Mine is fast enough that I'm not sure how much faster it could get by adding the spring-assist. I guess a little bit less wrist flick would be necessary, but no speed would be gained, I think.

Another knife I love that uses the pointer-finger opening method was one of the Camillus knives, the Maxx 5.5. I know a guy who used to be head of development at Camllus, and so he always had several knives in his pocket, and one of them was always this one:

Yep, that 5.5 in the name of the knife is the blade length, in a folder. Very simple knife: 2 titanium pieces with spacers for a "case", and a big-ass blade. Using the pointer-finger to open it with the "T"-shape of the blade made it fast, and gave a very satisfying sound. The guy I knew had a pre-production testing model that used titanium twice as thick in the case and a thicker blade, and one of the tests they did was opening the folder, hammering it straight into a telephone pole, and then hanging a 60 pound weight on the knife. Pretty darn impressive thing.

 

[Traveller]

...that's the same model as the knife I just ordered, a Microtech LCC!

Btw gents, seeing as the LCC is a rare breed indeed these days, what do you think about the Pro-Tech Defiance as an alternative, "collector's class" knife? List is $500, however they can be had for around $300...

If not, what other D/A [in production] knives would you recommend?

thx & :beer:

 

[jayrob]

Yeah, my understanding is that this is a way around the switchblade laws. Whether it's the "pointerfinger nub" on the backstrap or just using the thumbstud like the Kershaws do, moving the actual blade to a point where a spring catches it and finishes it for you.

I have a CRKT that uses that pointerfinger nub for opening without the spring assist, and it's still an amazingly fast way of opening a knife. A little flick of the wrist with the finger on the nub, and it opens FAST. Mine is fast enough that I'm not sure how much faster it could get by adding the spring-assist. I guess a little bit less wrist flick would be necessary, but no speed would be gained, I think.

Another knife I love that uses the pointer-finger opening method was one of the Camillus knives, the Maxx 5.5. I know a guy who used to be head of development at Camllus, and so he always had several knives in his pocket, and one of them was always this one:

Yep, that 5.5 in the name of the knife is the blade length, in a folder. Very simple knife: 2 titanium pieces with spacers for a "case", and a big-ass blade. Using the pointer-finger to open it with the "T"-shape of the blade made it fast, and gave a very satisfying sound. The guy I knew had a pre-production testing model that used titanium twice as thick in the case and a thicker blade, and one of the tests they did was opening the folder, hammering it straight into a telephone pole, and then hanging a 60 pound weight on the knife. Pretty darn impressive thing.

I'd love to get one of those if I could find one!

 

[pullbangdead]

I'd love to get one of those if I could find one!

There's one on ebay right now, $160.

I keep an eye out for these too, in addition to the LCC, because I like them both so well and both are no longer produced. The one on ebay doesn't have the blade I like, and of course I just made a big knife purchase, so the wife would frown on me getting it.

 

[jayrob]

I'm after the plain blade pictured above...

Thanks for the tip, I'll go check it out!

 

[Xplorer877]

Here is my collection, Kershaw is by far my favorite band. They're affordable and durable.

-Tony

 

[TTerbo]

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