Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

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huckles
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Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by huckles »

Hi Folks. I am quite a novice in knives, so, sorry for a dumb question. I own about five WALT'S CLASSIC of Latama 9" knives. All have the cat with "w" between paws and the red dot on the lock. I love these things, though there is no money left to buy a cheeseburger off the dollar menu. My question(s) relate to a few recent 11" I purchased. Same fine quality, it appears. My question is this: one of the knives has the Walt's cat stamp without the "W" between the paws, and the other side stamped with 440 C over 56HRC. It does not have the red dot on the lock. The other two knives have the common FRANK B over Italy tang, and nothing stamped on the other side, and no red dots on the lock. They are definitely 5mms; at least they look, feel, and behave that way to me. Just curious as to the story behind these two versions of an 11". If y'all know. Thanks in advance for educating a newbie. I guess I thought the 11" knives would all be stamped the same way as the 9".

Also, these Latama Classics are pretty hard to find. It has been a real hit and miss over the internet. I see folks in the forums talking about working directly with Walt, but his website does not show these as available (or even show them at all}. Any suggestions as to where to look for these? I've probably just violated a forum rule by asking that, so forgive me if I did. :lol:
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birdieman
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by birdieman »

Welcome to TB.
The 11'' series Walt's classic knives did not have the Walt's 'W' inside the cat emblem. As well, they did not have red dots on the safties, and lacked numbers for the series. The 9's were all red dot and numbered, with the 'W' in the cat. Prior to the 9'' series, only the flatguards had the 'W' in the cat.
You can call Walt directly, and he will be happy to go over his inventory with you. The 9''ers never made the website.
-Hope this helps
picklock junkie
huckles
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by huckles »

Thanks for the info regarding the cat stamp on the 11s. What about the two 11s I have (5mm also) that are stamped only with Frank's common "FRANK B" over "ITALY". No stamp on the other side of the blade. Does anybody know the story on those? The seller sold them off the same section of his website as his Walt's Classics and referred to them as that. Were these also part of those runs? Maybe prototypes? Thanks in advance for any insight.
METALGOD
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by METALGOD »

huckles wrote:Thanks for the info regarding the cat stamp on the 11s. What about the two 11s I have (5mm also) that are stamped only with Frank's common "FRANK B" over "ITALY". No stamp on the other side of the blade. Does anybody know the story on those? The seller sold them off the same section of his website as his Walt's Classics and referred to them as that. Were these also part of those runs? Maybe prototypes? Thanks in advance for any insight.

Hi the very first "test" run of the 11" 5mm thick swivel bolster Frank B. stilettos was very small only 60 pieces made and they were made with dagger blades and stainless steel bolsters , the second run and all runs after had nickel/silver bolsters. hope this helps :) .
Thanks Bernie *** Folgore Knives USA ***
huckles
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by huckles »

Hi Bernie and All:
Thanks for the info. I contacted Walt directly, and below are a few of his e-mail responses to my questions. These two 11" 5mm FRANK Bs appear to be prototypes. The hollow bolsters were something I'd not noticed until he pointed it out. Hopefully you will find Walt's comments educating; I did!!

Hi Chuck,

The knives that you are referring to are prototypes we made to test the 5mm
blade and back spring.
You will also notice, the bolsters were stamped out of stainless steel and
hollow instead of solid Nickel Silver bolsters.
We released some to dealers to get their feedback and test the new concept
and design.

The solid Nickel Silver creates a desirable solid sound when opened and can
be polished to a mirror finish.

I am glad someone is keeping track of production.

Regards,
Walt


Hi Chuck,
The bottom bolster is stamped out of Stainless Steel. Knives made in the 50’s were NEVER sharpened except campers and hunters, their blades were made with Tempered Steel.
I make a point point of keeping all “Walt’s” knives unsharpened just like they were in the 50’s.
A percentage do get sharpened by oversight. I did sharpen about 30 9” Walt’s CLASSIC for a dealer.
I am not sure how many prototypes were released with FB stamp my guess is not many, a total of 50-60 prototypes were made.
Listen to the difference in the sound when opening between hallow stainless steel and solid nickel silver.
I find the stainless has a tinny sound. The solid nickel silver is a lot more solid and satisfying.

Regards,
Walt


The following is a reply after I sent pictures of one of the FBs along side of one with Walt's cat stamp:

Hi Chuck,
Blade on left is the traditional bayonet blade grind…the one on the right called a Half Grind we designed many years ago to use on the first Pick Lock we made.
I picked up the Half Grind design from some very high end custom knives that I liked. Not many prototypes were made with the Traditional bayonet blade.
In my opinion the Half Grind is a little sexier than the Traditional but the Traditional Bayo is still the standard and hard to beat.

Regards,
Walt


Hi Chuck,
It is safe to assume that you have prototypes…there is no need to send me anything.
The fact it has Traditional bayonet blade and is stamped FRANK B. along with Hollow Stainless Steel bolsters
makes this, in my opinion, a prototype.

Regards,
Walt
Terminator4447
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by Terminator4447 »

I would like to contact Walt in order to order one of his knives. what is the best method of contacting him?
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Bill DeShivs
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by Bill DeShivs »

www.latama.net is the way to get Walt.

BTW- there were a few 9s and 11s made with red dots and threaded bolsters. I know because I did them. They all had NS bolsters.
Bill DeShivs, Master Cutler
http://www.billdeshivs.com
Factory authorized repairs for:
Latama, Mauro Mario, LePre, Colonial, Kabar, Flylock, Schrade Cut Co., Presto, Press Button, Hubertus, Grafrath, Kuno Ritter knives, Puma, Burrell Cutlery.
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JulesVane
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by JulesVane »

Terminator4447 wrote:I would like to contact Walt in order to order one of his knives. what is the best method of contacting him?
Hi...not sure i know a more direct way, but I was able to contact him through his website www.latama.net. He did, nicely enough, write me back eventually. On the site, you can search Walt's Classic, but none in stock. He told me he would "soon" have a new batch of knives in. That was a few months back. I'm not sure if there's a phone number there or not. I'm fairly sure you'll soon know lol. Good luck!
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omega
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by omega »

We've all been waiting for the new build of Walt's Classic pieces. Last I heard was ETA May 2017 - which has come and gone. At this point I don't think even Walt knows for sure. Frank Beltrame is/was supposed to be doing the new build, so who knows.
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omega
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by omega »

sokkimlay wrote:Jan 29, 2012 - 9 posts - ‎7 authors
Hi Folks. I am quite a novice in knives, so, sorry for a dumb question. I own about five WALT'S CLASSIC of Latama 9" knives. All have the cat .
So what is your question?

Also.... just a suggestion..... delete that crap with the names of 3 other websites at the end of your posts. It detracts from your posts and has nothing to do with knives. People replying to your posts will appreciate not having to edit that stuff out when writing their replies.
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whippersnapper
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by whippersnapper »

omega wrote:
sokkimlay wrote:Jan 29, 2012 - 9 posts - ‎7 authors
Hi Folks. I am quite a novice in knives, so, sorry for a dumb question. I own about five WALT'S CLASSIC of Latama 9" knives. All have the cat .
So what is your question?

Also.... just a suggestion..... delete that crap with the names of 3 other websites at the end of your posts. It detracts from your posts and has nothing to do with knives. People replying to your posts will appreciate not having to edit that stuff out when writing their replies.
Post and spammer banned.
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mick17
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by mick17 »

omega wrote:We've all been waiting for the new build of Walt's Classic pieces. Last I heard was ETA May 2017 - which has come and gone. At this point I don't think even Walt knows for sure. Frank Beltrame is/was supposed to be doing the new build, so who knows.
Anybody have any updates? I too heard late spring a few months back.
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omega
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by omega »

mick17 wrote:
omega wrote:We've all been waiting for the new build of Walt's Classic pieces. Last I heard was ETA May 2017 - which has come and gone. At this point I don't think even Walt knows for sure. Frank Beltrame is/was supposed to be doing the new build, so who knows.
Anybody have any updates? I too heard late spring a few months back.
Still waiting Mick17. As of about 2 weeks ago, Walt's updated delivery dates came and went, with no updates to the Latama.net website. When I spoke with him, he said the first batch were going to be the 9"-11" Classic models with the modified bayonet blades in all the usual scale variants.
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JulesVane
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by JulesVane »

Well...I'm sure you guys got the email that they are "coming soon"....looking forward to it and checking darn near daily.
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Bill DeShivs
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Re: Walt's Classic Frank B 11" knives?

Post by Bill DeShivs »

Coming soon means 3-4 weeks.
Bill DeShivs, Master Cutler
http://www.billdeshivs.com
Factory authorized repairs for:
Latama, Mauro Mario, LePre, Colonial, Kabar, Flylock, Schrade Cut Co., Presto, Press Button, Hubertus, Grafrath, Kuno Ritter knives, Puma, Burrell Cutlery.
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