I mention this story because these knives are examples of stopping the design work once you have minimally acceptable function. It may not be pretty, in fact, it may be downright awkward, but if it works, don't fuss with it! Before I take pictures of my knives I generally go over them with Flitz and Renaissance wax to remove any fingerprints, polishing compound, etc. I try to portray them in their most pristine condition. With these Russians, I didn't touch them. The blades are rough and scratched up, the handles leave much to be desired. Typically, each is a one of a kind prototype built by an unidentified amateur craftsman supposedly during his incarceration in the Russian penal system, and this is permitted so that they can earn a little money. Why make license plates when you can make switchblades, eh? As such, they are often incredibly complex, temperamental, and stunning in the amount of planning required, but not executed to perfection. I showed the top knife to my wife and commented on the incredible amount of time and effort that must have gone into it's construction, especially when I paid less than $100 for it. She looked at me like I was an idiot and replied, "What else do these guys have but time?" She has that way of cutting to the bottom of things that frequently eludes me.
The top knife is 10-7/8" (27,5 cm) overall, 1-3/8" (3,5 cm) at the widest place on the handle and 5/8" (16 mm) thick not counting the button. The blade is 5" (12,5 cm) long and 7/8" (22 mm) wide and 1/8" (4 mm) thick. It's a hefty 8.3 oz. (234 g).
The bottom knife is 8-1/8" (21 cm) overall, 7/8" (2 cm) at the widest place on the handle and 9/13" (15 mm) thick. The blade is approximately 3-1/2" (9 cm) long and 13/16" (20 mm) wide and a bit less than 1/16" (1 mm) thick. It's a svelte 2.8 oz. (78 g).
Both knives are seriously sharp, not scary sharp, but much more so than I normally expect on an automatic.
The first knife appears to use some repurposed cast stainless bolsters and pommels of American manufacture, note the "USA" on the front pommel and "SPIRIT" on the rear bolster. If anyone has seen these in another application, I'd appreciate hearing about it to satisfy my curiosity. The bottom holes seem to indicate there may have been a bale or lanyard hole in a former application. These knives are always a trip while you are figuring them out. Obviously this one is an exposed mechanism like a Prioletta, but with an extremely short arm coupled with a really powerful slip in spring. The back is so sharp you have to rely on a cloth to protect your fingers. The blade doesn't peak, but it has a gap like in Sicilianos. It's not until you go to close it that you realize than there is extra material at the top (the scalloped pieces by the top ear) which function as a fulcrum release. How's that for a combination? There is no safety, so the firing sequence requires a fair amount of pressure and it locks up like a tank with only the tiniest side to side wiggle if you deliberately look for it. When you go to close it, you have to operate the fulcrum, then quickly depress the button to allow the blade to clear the sear, then push against something hard or use a cloth to seat it home.
If you look closely at the centerline of the bolster right next to where the blade emerges you may detect the pivot pin. It looks to me like the builder used a big diameter pin and after peening it, he went back and engraved it and blended it into the design. It's nearly invisible on both sides, and there is almost no tang behind the pivot hole. This is very unusual.
The liners seem to be steel. The profile of the blade looks odd in this picture, but I think that is a trick of reflections. The blade is essentially ground flat and has been polished so the center line is not crisp.
Look carefully at the back of the knife. This is the best view of the two pieces of sheet steel that function as a fulcrum release. Note also that the back spring is in two pieces, a fixed tail piece and one that is anchored near the seam and deforms to lift up the locking mechanism. In function this is closest to a lockback design, but no pivoting function and thumb hole. You have to use the fulcrum, which is attached to the back spring somewhere inside the knife, instead of to the more standard external lug. Bear these details in mind when I show the inside of the blade well below - the builder has done something unique again.
The front of the blade in all its raw glory. The pivot pin is more obvious in this photo.
The back side of the blade. Note the thick angled lug on the bolster - the artfully concealed pivot pin.
Note the shoulder on the back spring and the notch in the tang which makes the lockup. I really have to compliment the builder, he makes it look easy. This is a very complex hand fitted mechanism, and his is tight and straight.
OMG, the audacity of this guy. I apologize for the lack of clarity in this shot, but that shapeless lump at the front is the sear. It's not quite correctly ramped, so you have to press the button to close the knife. The spring appears to be made of a steel rod that has been flattened to create a kick spring. At the tail end you see a little square of steel. The guy has created this out of the moving part of the back spring, perhaps as a positive locator to fit it against the fixed portion. On the other side it locates the bottom of the spring. Now he does something really unusual, in that he uses a through pin to lock the kicker in place. This is a Rube Goldberg way of doing things ... but it works really well.
Here's the smaller knife which I took to be a manual because of the longitudinal nail nick. The seller explained to me that this was intentional misdirection. It's actually a scale release automatic. Note the narrow trapezoid shape under the scale at the pivot end.
Here's the back view. Note the unusual shape of the handle and the positioning of pins and screws. There's a lot going on in this little knife and I'm not sure I understand all it's subtleties, yet. If you look carefully at the pivot end you will see a dense black trapezoid shape, which I will comment about in a bit.
When you look at the back side of this knife you begin to notice little things that bespeak a ton of planning and very precise execution. First off, the scales are not really black, they're clear and the black color has been applied to the underside next to the liners ... except there are no liners. The frame of the knife is one piece of steel that has had a blade well milled into it. That must have been quite a process. Notice that the 'cut' goes all the way through the frame at the top and bottom. At the bottom, this seems to just be a consequence of the geometry. However at the top end it's done very deliberately. The square tang of the blade hits against the end of this notch to function as a blade stop on opening. Again, this one locks up straight, tight, and absolutely no wiggle.
I can tell from the feel (blade is constantly energized through it's entire arc) that this is a coil spring knife. It apparently uses a clock spring coiled around the pivot pin as I can't see it from any angle. I think it is on the back side of the blade, because if you look carefully with a flashlight at just the right angle you can see that black trapezoid I mentioned before. I think this is an area that has been milled out of the back scale to accommodate the coil spring. The spring is then held in place by the blade. The designer had to plan all this and develop an exact assembly sequence. When he blacked the underside of the scales, it was all concealed.
It's not very clear in this shot but note the notch in the tang, sort of hook shaped. When the sear is in this notch, the blade is locked closed. There is another notch 180° around that is for locking open. There's really nothing much to see here, just an empty blade well.
This shot shows the scale pivoted to the fire or unlock position. The sear pin is attached to the underside of the scale in that other trapezoid area. When you pivot the scale down, it clears the notches in the blade to allow it to fire or unlock.
***
OK, that's about it. The seller, Mikhail Kovalenko, is offering these knives a few at a time. He speaks great English and once you get in contact with him he will email as knives become available. I know Lance has a couple of them. Every knife is different, some are simple, some very ornate. They ship from the Ukraine and it takes about ten business days to get one. They are really interesting, as long as you have no misconceptions and accept them for what they are. I'd love to see any you have purchased.
Over to you, fellas, what'cha think?
