Little Lizard IMPORT

[gravknife]

Picked up this little Switchblade from France and thought I would share it here.

Its not in perfect condition,the blade needs straightening slightly and a few bugbites ,but these are becoming rarer since I began looking for them a few years ago,and switchblade knives have shot up over here in Europe I have found .
I also intended to try and start a set with the 13" I got last year .

The knife is a strange one, as it has a mix of stainless and nickle bolsters and the SS swivel bolster is lined.The knife has thick D stamped liners and a thick swedge blade and 2 piece spring.
I still think its from the mid to late 60s as It screams transitional apart from the stainless and it opens with a smaller tranny thwack.!!.

The horn would have been nice had the dreaded horn bugs not had a few nibbles ...I need to know the superglue method for filling these properly if anyone has any tips through practice

The knife is 6" overall and locks up well and I love these smaller knives when they fire.

Sorry for the picture quality as I dont know how to downsize pics on my new phone so used the one I know about .Trouble is the Camera quality.

I hope everyone is okay.

gravknife

[orangeboy]

The Lizard stamp was used by Tarry Legvine. A cutlery shop in France.

[JulesVane]

Beautiful piece despite the critter bites Ian! This is possibly the 3rd piece I've seen where the swiveling bolster was SS compared to the other 3 being NS. I gather the SS stands up better to the wear of the swivel action? I'm trying to think if there are other swivel bolster pieces that all 4 are nickel/silver, but none coming to mind at the moment.

[portlandmike]

great knife... I'd be happy to have that one in my collection..

Mike

[Corvus]

Sweet knife! I like the little guys, too. They fit so nicely in the palm of your hand. That one looks a lot like a little picklock I posted recently. They both have that creamy ivory-colored horn with a darker substrate, and they're both a bit bug-bit; mine much more so than yours on the rear scale. That horn must be some tasty stuff.

I'm interested in filling the bites in mine as well. Bill offered to replace the chewed-up scale, but I like the matching horn too much to part with it. I realize that filled holes present a compromised aesthetic, but it beats the Swiss cheese look and feel. From what I've read so far, the ticket seems to be applying multiple thin layers of high-quality (Loctite brand was mentioned) cyanoacrylate with a light dusting of baking soda to catalyze and strengthen the glue, but I haven't yet worked up the courage to try it. Wish I had some scrap horn to experiment on...

[gravknife]

Thankyou Chris Mike and Corvus for your kind comnents

Chris ....My larger Tarry Levigne has all nickle silver bolsters hardware .I have heard of stainless being used for s strength on the opening bolsters before and I thinķ many of these French made Tarrys used a mix of nickle and stainless.
Excuse my posting of old pictures I have posted before but here is the larger Lizard( Needing a safety )and its bolsters.

Corvus......

Your picklock is a great little knife aswell.
The horn on our knives was very much the same and they seem to love the light horn to snack on.
Thanks for pointing out the type of glue and the baking soda tip.I too am always hesitant on repairs as I fear making a knife worse in some way.. especially my older knives.
I always wondered would actual powdered cows horn added to the glue as a mix give a colour tone to it ...ie age with the scale horn....just thinking out aloud

Thanks for taking a look guys .

gravknife