13” swivel bolster.. Italian?

[millern]

This is my largest folding knife. It was very dirty and inoperable when I bought it from an antique dealer. After some cleaning up and lubrication, the switchblade operates and displays well. It is made of very “beefy” materials. It appears to have a “one-piece” spring and is only stamped “inox”. Any information/opinions on knives similar to this one would be greatly appreciated. I’m guessing manufacture was in Italy in the 1960’s. Thanks.

[Madmarco]

I am certainly not an expert on these knives Mil, but with your knife being a swivel bolster model your assessment of the 60's as the manufacture date is likely correct, since the transition from picklock to swivel started around 1962. The covers appear to be cow/buffalo horn and you're also correct about the 5mm 1-piece backspring. The blade is flat ground. You have a really nice older knife, enjoy it!

[Bill DeShivs]

Italian. The stainless bolsters date it to the 1980s, at least.

[Madmarco]

I told you I wasn't an expert Mil! You can trust anything about automatic knives Bill D tells you, he's been at it a long time!

[millern]

Thanks for the information! I do agree with you, Marco! Bill D obviously knows these knives inside and out! The dating makes sense to me now in regard to the newer style bolster, in combination with the one-piece backs spring! I’m still learning!

[Madmarco]

We're ALL still learning my friend!

[Folgore1]

Hi man awesome knife it is for sure italian made in maniago italy and your right it is from 1960's i have a few of this model , this model has the new style button assembly / safety but still has thick usually 5mm or thicker blade and backspring , your earlier transitionals had D-stamped liners with 2 piece spring/backspring like older picklocks , some models had stainless steel bolsters and some had nickel/silver but both models had thick 5mm backspring and blades, my opinion is this is from the 1960's probably late 60's due to its construction. italian stiletto's from 1970's is when the blades and backsprings started to get thinner so 80's they were like 3mm thick at most

[Madmarco]

Good info F-1, thanks!

[Folgore1]

Good info F-1, thanks!

not a problem , vintage italian stilettos i have just about every model lol i have picklocks from smallest to biggest i have transitionals from smallest to biggest i have 70's 80's 90's stilettos from smallest to biggest i have few button open button close few humpbacks ringpulls you name it i probably have one or more
on this particular stiletto you can tell it from 60's by guards covered by brass liner and top swivel bolster is lined and swedge blade as ther was a period when they quit making swedge blades and just went to standard blade with no swedge i have that model too , also most your 60's transitionals were just stamped either ( Rostfrei) or ( inox) you had other stamps too but these were more common , i probably have 30-40 13" transitionals they are my favorite size and knife as it all started when i was 11 years old my friend traded me a 13" transitional for a ozzy baseball hat

[Madmarco]

Wow! More great information bud! Do you by any chance have a Hubertus "For Export Only" 10" oal auto that you'd be willing to sell? I saw them at the Hubertus website and even tried to order one from Henning Ritter the owner, but the deal fell through. Please let me know! Thx, Mark!

[Madmarco]

Millern! Please forgive me for hijacking your thread. !

[Folgore1]

Wow! More great information bud! Do you by any chance have a Hubertus "For Export Only" 10" oal auto that you'd be willing to sell? I saw them at the Hubertus website and even tried to order one from Henning Ritter the owner, but the deal fell through. Please let me know! Thx, Mark!

i had few of them years ago i had straight or flat blade and kriss models with stag and blackhorn i think but i sold all them years ago i see now they fetch 500+ now days, i used to see them all the time years ago but dont see them anymore . also was told recently the new hubertus company will not be making the 10" model as they dont have enough request for them .

[Madmarco]

I got it bud, thanks! It was worth a shot. Even when Hubertus was making the 10" models, they called them "For Export Only" due to blade length restrictions in Germany and they didn't seem like the most popular model. And yes, I saw the copy in an AAPK store that came with an asking price of US$600., but as nice as the knife is I wouldn't pay that much for one. I might stumble across one someday for a lower price!

[millern]

Great information!!

[millern]

Folgore1,
What is/are the difference(s) between tween the new style and old style button assemblies on these Italians?
Thanks

[Folgore1]

Folgore1,
What is/are the difference(s) between tween the new style and old style button assemblies on these Italians?
Thanks

Hi the old style is what was used in picklocks from the 50's so the old style would have D-stamped liners ,old style D-stamp is just that if you look inside liners it looks like D shaped cutouts so folded upwards they create the little tab for button rocker then a little spring (leaf) is placed under rocker , safety was just straight piece metal with cap that slid under button. you can tell the old style button and safety as they are a little lower than the newer style , newer style like what you have is the button assembly they still use today , someone made a chart years ago it it shows all the different mechanisms and from different time periods you can see the d stamped on bottom in middle and the newer style on far left bottom. hope this helps . it was sometime in 1960's when they transitioned from old style button set up to new style.

[Folgore1]

the picture also shows the different backsprings used in different time frames you can see 2 piece dove-tail , 2 piece slip-in type, 1 piece etc... also hump-back backsprings and swinguard spring/backspring, and real cheap swith-model spring/backspring/locktab, also shown is the swivel bolsters used and different time frames you can see the older transitionals had brass or steel lined swivel bolsters and when we move more towards 1970's the swivel bolster is not lined anymore . really cool picture

[millern]

That IS a great picture! (I made a screenshot.) Thanks for taking the time to give such a thorough answer!
If I understand correctly, in the “new style mechanism”, the button is closer to the front bolster. In the “d cutout” mechanisms, the button is farther back (near the middle of the knife) and closer to the backspring pin.
Is that how you would make the determination without disassembly? Thanks again for your expertise!

[Madmarco]

Great reference picture F-1! I had never seen the set-up like in the picture in the top row 2nd from the left, with the small spring positioned between the spine and prong, very cool!