Smash switchblade

[gravknife]

Hello to everyone on TB

I have just bought a collection of various french and spanish knives ,sort of a cheap bundle and this interesting switchblade was amongst them.

I had a chance at one last year but was outbid and it was a lot of money,this one wasnt fortunately.

It was this what made me buy the lot from my freind in France but i will be honest i don't know the maker of it
The knife screams french in blade and design but is only marked smash and a tennis racket (quite faintly).
When they arrived this knife was stuck fast i mean i couldn't get the blade out of the handle and i was convinced this was a coil spring knife as the button was so close to the blade.

I put some lithium grease around the joints and blade and left it a while and it did the trick.The knife fires beautifully although quietly probably due to the totally plastic stag scales.The knife has a kick spring so i was wrong about the mechanism.

The knife is 9.5 inches long open and has a 4.5 inch blade.Its a swedge blade and very thin and pointy ,its marked INOX at the base and etched or engraved with a tennis racket and "smash" .
The scales are plastic stag with a chromed finial which has a lanyard ring built into the backspring.
The safety is cool ,a square nylon block in a cut out slot shows red when safe and covers when pushed forward.
There are 2 metal rectangles on the handle also for show.
It fires fast and smooth and locks up tight ,its very light but well made and definitely different.

Can anyone shed light on these knives ?
Is this definitely French?
Smash........ Are they makers in their own right ,or is this made by better known makers and this is part of a series of knives.
How old are these .?

Thanks for looking and i hope someone can help .

All the best

Ian

[gravknife]

Couple more photos

[lance]

Hi ian,i have a couple of these as well,i wish i could tell ya more about them,but they're definetly french,they come in 2 different sizes.(and colors).id say they're bargon?
Theyre sought after and dont come up very often.
Anothet great addition to your collection.

[gravknife]

Thankyou lance
I had a feeling it was French .
Bargeon or begon sounds about right mate.

Its a weird design but i really like it ,it only has the swedge on one side of the blade ,the stainless inserts, square safety and strange lanyard .
A big knife aswell really.

I hope your well lance its great to hear from you ,thanks for always helping identify ,amd age my purchases and commenting aswell .

All the best
Ian

[whippersnapper]

I don't recall ever seeing one before...I like it! Great score on a cool one!

[gravknife]

Thanks whipper as usual

Its a bonus really as i like the knives that it came with......they will give me hours of cleaning fun and im going to repair the tiny spanish knife.

Got this solid silver fruit knife in there aswell and i collect small folders ,its a nice little blade .

Happy birthday anyway Terry ,have a great night my freind.

Regards
Ian

[Sunny]

It is a French knife made by the company "Douris-Chastel" in the late 50's. This company made many different variations of these plastic handled knives including the "Le Superoto" OTF, the "Saut Ouvert", the "Smash", the "Sputnik" and others. Many are stamp on the back tang with INOX (stainless steel) over Bte SGDG ("Bte S.G.D.G." is an abbreviation for products from France. "Bte" is short for "breveté" (="patented") and " S.G.D.G." stands for "Sans Garantie Du Gouvernement" (="without government guarantee")). The back stamp wears off quickly with use, so it could be missing.

[gravknife]

Cheers Sunny

Im glad you were about .

Ill take a look properly later ,it does have some scratches and isn't pristine but i really love it.
It locks up solid .
I really must get a French book on knives as im leaning in their direction .
Hope your well Sunny and thanks for your expertise in helping with my last 2 or 3 French knives.

All the best
Ian

[whippersnapper]

Your right, those others are a real nice bonus!

[Sunny]

Just a picture of some Douris Chaste automatics that were made in the 1950s and 1960s.

From left to right:

A Saut Ouvert with all steel hardware; a Saut Ouvert with all brass hardware; two of three known Sputniks; large Smash; small Smash; unknown name that looks like a Smash; another large Smash; a plastic Deerfoot handled auto with the front blade stamped "F. Callali".

At the top knife is possibly the rarest of the group other than the Sputniks, is a real Le Pionnier that is a back spring release knife. The front blade is stamped "Le Pionnier" over “Combronbe” (Combronde is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in central France) over "Thiers" which is the city where the knife was made originally.

[whippersnapper]

Way cool!

[gravknife]

Sunny
These are staggering

I had no idea there were so many knives like this one that I received today.

I could have bought an all steel saut ouvert a while back and it was a beauty ,it ran out of my league unfortunately.

This set looks superb together and they are all unusual knives in their own way.
Thanks for giving an idea of just whats out there ,and what was available on the French market.
You have an incredible collection mate ,must have taken years to assemble this assortment.
The" sputnik" and" le pionere "Knives i will probably have never seen unless you posted these .

Where do you pick up all this info Sunny?
Is there a good book on these out there on these french knives .
Or is this knowledge gathered through time and buying these interesting knives.

Take care mate
Ian

[Sunny]

Ian,

The great majority of my knowledge was gained from collectors/dealers/repairmen that know from experience the models and manufacturers of Europe and the world. Going to the major shows in the US has exposed me to these folks and with their help I have accumulated a collection that encompasses the world. And possibly because I have bought a few autos over the decades that taught me a few lessons.

There is only one good book on the subject for sale currently, Switchblades Exposed. It has many autos from around the world with lots of text explaining the knife. And Foreign Spring Steel by Vincent Federico was my inspiration. It is mostly a picture book with little text, but it made me aware of what was out there to collect. I set out to collect one of every knife in the French section and have passed that goal long ago. You can find this information and more at http://www.switchbladeknife.info/switchblade-books.html

Back to the knives pictured above; Note that the Sputniks and the Smash in the center have the old style “twist” button that is the release and the safety in one button. That is one way to tell the age of the knife. Another way with the French plastic handled knives is to look at how “flat” the peaks are in the handle (this may be as clear as mud to explain). The old Smash has less white plastic exposed than the other one. The high points (peaks) in the molds for the handles would fill in with age and therefore have less detail in their handles. So more handle detail means earlier in the production run.

If you are interested in pictures of autos then Autoknife’s site is the original place to find them: http://autoknife.info/. With his help and others, I have started a second site for pictures and some limited text explanations (only in the “filmstrip mode”) of autos: http://photos.switchbladeknife.info/. I have a few hundred knives (mine and others) that will EVENTUALLY be posted as time permits. The hope is that this site will be a compendium of autos that people like yourself can refer to for knowledge and information.

I hope that was somewhat helpful.

Sunny

[lance]

Defintly helpful sunny i could read your posts all day, you have the most incredible collection of frenchies/along w'autoknife.i can never pronounce the names of french company's.but wow that sputnik is Something Else!! Love how it looks like a 50s rocket!! Super cool!! Your le pioneer! Thats a new one on me.i think i have about 25 /30 french knives,and i see a dozen more to keep my eyes peeled for in the future.thanks sunny!

[jim d,]

Sunny,

"two of three known Sputniks" - mighty impressive - thanks for sharing

Jim