What happened to autoknife.com

[jim d,]

I must have missed the something different aspect. My memory (which could be faulty or I just misunderstood) was that his goal was to produce stilettos with consistently fine fit and finish so buyers wouldn't have to wonder if they hit the quality lottery when they bought sight unseen.

Jim

[Bill DeShivs]

I guess his name was Santini, rather than Contini.

[button_man]

This is what I have been told about 'Superior' -- none of this is first-hand knowledge; this is simply what I have pieced together:

Mr. Santini wanted to make traditional stiletto switchblades using top quality materials and producing uniformly excellent and beautiful knives. He set up shop in Maniago; and on weekends he would drive up from Rome where he lived and/or worked. At some point he teamed up with Armando Beltrame. (I do not know if this was right from the beginning, or happened later on.) The tale goes that Mr. Santini basically worked alone, and Mr. Beltrame's involvement was limited to renting shop space to Mr. Santini.... and possibly providing tools and guidance. Mr. Santini was only in business approximately a year or so. His knives were virtually all in the 8.5" to 9" OAL size range. At the very end of things, Mr. Santini is supposed to have made a very, very few prototype knives in the 11" range..... basically samples, to display to potential customers in an effort to draw in orders. What I heard is that a substantial amount of money poured in from eager customers; but that no further 11" knives were produced, and that 'Superior' pretty much vaporized overnight. The way I heard it, virtually none of the front money for the 11" knives was ever returned; nor did customers receive anything at all for their investment. The total production run is unknown -- at least, to anybody with whom I have spoken -- but it is theorized that all 'Superiors' ever made probably did not exceed 200 or so; and the total may have even been as low as 100. Mr. Santini will no longer communicate with people in the knife-collecting world and seems to have completely vanished into the shadows.

I once again emphasize that all of the above is hearsay -- albeit from sources that I consider to be trustworthy and informed. I contacted the family of Frank Beltrame in an effort to gain further insight into the 'Superior' company; but the folks at this shop will literally not even speak the name of Armando Beltrame, much less discuss any of his business history. I am told that the two Beltrames once shared a building which was divided in two, with each brother operating his own company; but a longstanding feud (allegedly over a woman) created bitter feelings that persist to this day. I do not know if Armando Beltrame has continued to make knives; if he has, I can find no trace of current production from him.

This is everything that I have been able to discover; information about 'Superior' knives, Mr. Santini, and the involvement of Armando Beltrame is all but impossible to uncover. If anyone has further information or if any of the above account is in error, I welcome any additions or corrections.

Furthermore, if anyone has any 'Superior' knives that they are willing to sell, I am definitely interested.... especially the 11" prototypes. <>

[TRYKER]

sounds like the creation of a ''ROCK N ROLL MYSTERY''

[natcherly]

This just gets more convoluted. Driving to Maniago from Rome would take almost 7 hours. Doing that on a Friday after work would be exhausting and limit Saturday productivity. Sunday would not be much better as the trip back to Rome would eat up a big part of that workday. No surprise he burned out.

[Luke_of_Mass]

Armando Beltrame continued making knives up until 2017 or 2018 and conveniently had his own stamp, which is nice.

In general, it appears that the quality improvements in Maniago cannot be forced by any outside individual, but rather an insider (like Angelo Campolin) had to influence others by implementing his own QC regimen where his knives are being made; I personally doubt any knives are actually produced by the Campolins, although any refute of that statement is most welcome as I would love to know what I've been buying.

I presume the only people actually making knives anymore are Frank Beltrame (really just for Walt), Renzo Pascotto (one-off runs commissioned by AGA) and Renzo Beltrame (for dealers like Bernie who he's been working with for decades)

[JulesVane]

But, Frank Beltrame has an entirely new run of stilettos and swinguards as can be seen by the oval hole completely through the blade tang. Nobody will ever have to wonder the year that started (2020). And the newest run of Renzo Pascotto designed batwing swinguards that A.G.A. Campolin has introduced, don't really look like Renzo Pascotto had his hand involved with this run due to the adjustable screw as a pivot pin. Just can't imagine that's his style.

[PlatonicSolid]

In this case I wonder to whom we can attribute the 9” swingers, Maltese lockbacks, and other different styles stamped by AGA that are almost certainly not the work of either Frank B or RP. From recent correspondence with Sig Beltrames daughter he is producing 9” picklocks as recently as a few weeks ago including the elliptical thru-hole.

[jim d,]

Could they be coming out of Armando Beltrame's shop?

Jim

[Bill DeShivs]

I wonder what old Nemo is doing now. He ruined his reputation doing all that fake stuff for Jon Benson.

[Jackalope]

I wonder what old Nemo is doing now. He ruined his reputation doing all that fake stuff for Jon Benson.

Haven't heard that name in years.(Nemo)

[Bill DeShivs]

That's because he has been thrown off every forum on the Internet.

[sammy the blade]

Didn't he get in some trouble for making switchblades? I think he moved to another state and I'm thinking I read it in this forum but it's been a while back.

[button_man]

This just gets more convoluted. Driving to Maniago from Rome would take almost 7 hours. Doing that on a Friday after work would be exhausting and limit Saturday productivity. Sunday would not be much better as the trip back to Rome would eat up a big part of that workday. No surprise he burned out.

The distance from Rome to Maniago is stated as 295 miles. Driving by auto would be more like 5 hours than 7 hours.

Moreover, Italy has widespread train service, which includes Maniago.
Nobody has to drive for hours..... just get on the train and take a nap until you arrive.