Has anyone ever played with one of these HK&S knives?

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JimBrown257
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Has anyone ever played with one of these HK&S knives?

Post by JimBrown257 »

This HK&S knife is on pages 52-53 of The Art of the Switchblade book. It is a backspring o/c (I know that isn't technically a backspring on this model) that fires by pushing on the little button thing at the very bottom which pushes the lock back. I never saw one in real life so I made one based on the design. You can see how it works in the pic in the lower left. It is a pretty fun knife to play with. You can hold it upside down and fire it with your finder but it is much easier to pop it against something like the table or side of your leg. Though, it might not be the best design for the iPhone age (I thought about calling it the 'Screencracker').

Anyways, has anyone ever seen one of these knives in the real world or even any pics of one other than the pic from the book? Or were any other knives with this mechanism ever made?
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boombotz111
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Re: Has anyone ever played with one of these HK&S knives?

Post by boombotz111 »

Jeremy, those knives are extremely rare, HK&S stands for Heinrich Kauffman And Sons. There were a few variations of the stamp as well.They made them in two sizes, (that’s the large version) some had the engraved bolsters as the one from the book you’re showing and some were multi blades with only the main blade deploying when you smack down the button on the bottom. There was also a variation with a bail on the top bolster. The patent date on these were 1893 I believe so you do not see many. You did a real nice job on yours Jeremy. Here is the one that I own. Please enjoy…

Salvatore
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Bill DeShivs
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Re: Has anyone ever played with one of these HK&S knives?

Post by Bill DeShivs »

Very nice!
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rock-n-roll$$$$$$
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Re: Has anyone ever played with one of these HK&S knives?

Post by rock-n-roll$$$$$$ »

yes Cuz, very nice.
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JimBrown257
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Re: Has anyone ever played with one of these HK&S knives?

Post by JimBrown257 »

boombotz111 wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 5:43 pm Jeremy, those knives are extremely rare, HK&S stands for Heinrich Kauffman And Sons.
Sal, how's it going? I am glad to find out that someone actually has one of these ones. Is your original one kind of awkward to fire with one hand (like upside down pressing the button with your index finger)?

And did you ever see this mechanism on any knife other than the few HK&S models?
boombotz111
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Re: Has anyone ever played with one of these HK&S knives?

Post by boombotz111 »

Jeremy, you really can’t open these with your finger you really have to smack them down on a book or a very hard surface. If you want to try to open it by smacking it against your leg you’d probably end up going to the ER because they’re just not really meant to open that way. It probably wasn’t the most pragmatic mechanism for the Germans and I consider the German automatics some of the best automatics especially the very early ones like this and that’s coming from a guy that has probably more Italian automatics but I have a little bit of everything but I really love the German craftsmanship they made knives to use so because of the unpopular mechanism I’m thinking there really wasn’t a lot of them produced. And to answer your second question I have never seen another automatic of any genre with this type of mechanism.

Salvatore
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JimBrown257
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Re: Has anyone ever played with one of these HK&S knives?

Post by JimBrown257 »

boombotz111 wrote: Tue Aug 17, 2021 5:16 am If you want to try to open it by smacking it against your leg you’d probably end up going to the ER
Lol, I should have mentioned I keep a notebook in my side pocket that I am smacking it against.

But on your's, is it completely impossible to fire it if you hold it upside down and press the button with your index finger?
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