Blade glyphics???

[sonnyboy]

(I think that's the term)...

Anyway...Oh, yes - Hallo!

My question was prompted by an auction on BA which stated that the pictured knife had Frank Beltrame's *new* stamp on the blade...

Is there a site or post which shows some of the more well-known blade graphics or glyphs??? How would I recognize Frank's old blade marking??? How would I know his new blade marking??? How would I tell an SKM knife??? (The brand-new SKM I have simply says "Italy Inox"...)

I realize this is probably a subject for a good book...and that somebody has probably already written one...

Might make a good sticky as well...

Here's an example -

AB = Armando Beltrame (?)
Italy Inox = SKM
Rostfrei Italy = [unknown lockback]
J Inox = [unknown]

(Note: I don't have a digi-camera; these are "scans" made on my scanner with a handkerchief, brightened and Gamma-corrected in PSP)

[Teddy]

The Italian producers don't want you to know who makes what for whom.. a knife bought from (or supplied by) Frank Beltrame may not be actually be made by him.. likewise AB or AKC... SKM is just a marketing company tied to AB..which itself no longer makes knives.. or so I believe.. the few people who know these things for sure aren't saying..

The stamp on the blade doesn't prove anything.. though Frank's stamps are usually very faint.. which suggests to me he made the blades himself for those..

All the best
Teddy

[sonnyboy]

Thank you!

Sounds like a strange practice...

I've read here about the "cottage industry", and from the few pieces I've looked at, it seems like everyone dips into the same parts buckets to get their parts...With only minor differences like fit, finish, and blade marks to differentiate them...

Very confusing...

I just know that people at knife/gun shows will start edging away from me when I bring out a magnifying glass to inspect a mainspring to see if it is polished or not...[AB and SKM springs in the pics above *are* polished)...as part of my quality assurance inspection...

[Teddy]

The Italian stilettos have never been very uniform in quality... even back in the "golden age" .. which is why importers had guys over there they knew they could trust to buy from the best "houses"

Over the years the quality has dropped considerably.. and there is still variation between the (much fewer) makers.. Frank's knives are generally thought of as the best among the classics.. AGA .. who make the big 15's and 18's make them the old-fashioned way and the quality of those is very good.. But Frank has recently started to abandon polishing his blades and bolsters by hand and uses a tumble-polisher.. which results in a much poorer finish..

All the best
Teddy