gravity Knife.

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jerryk25
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gravity Knife.

Post by jerryk25 »

Well I can't seem to login to SharperDeals anymore. . .
It was my Mental Health Retreat Home for almost two decades.

I found the SharperDeals website via Sheldon levy's old Knife Resource periodical.
That and the now defunct "Bladeauction" . . .

Way back in 1964, in a Johnson Smith gag / magic catalog
They sold knives, one of which was this knife (belongs to a friend who won't sell it)
The advertisement image clearly showed a toggle on a bolster
but by the time I sent for it . . .
they replaced the knife with a " one cent sale" knife common lockback.

[ insert advertisement here when I find the image ]

Flatbed scan of friends knife
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Last edited by jerryk25 on Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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jerryk25
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by jerryk25 »

So I had sent to Mr and Mrs Chopra the advertisement "have you seen this knife."

So since mailing for it in 1964 ? . . I forget exactly. . .
it was a little under 40 years before I acquired one. . .

SharperDeal sent me the swing-guard version. shown next to a 9'' knife
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jerryk25
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by jerryk25 »

Which I immediately refurbished after dissection and documentation.
This is the image I posted in Wikipedia, under gravity knife.

If you look at the knife you can see where I used copper wire instead of steel or brass pins.
After I die, if a professional wants to restore it proper. . .it will be easy to disassemble.
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jerryk25
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by jerryk25 »

Before obtaining the knife. . and having an example to copy. . .
I was drawing various versions that were pure imagination . .
and had no real mechanical theory behind the illustration.
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whippersnapper
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by whippersnapper »

Interesting and cool knife!

PS- Not just you having problems posting or logging in at Sharperdeals. Everyone is having problems.
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jerryk25
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by jerryk25 »

here are two photos of the toggle knife with the bug eaten scales.
I had used drybrush paints and superglue to fill the bug holes.

Compare the original sale photos ( below ) with the semi-restored knife photos ( above ).
The front is almost perfect. . . .but the back scale, you can see a faint color mis-match.
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jerryk25
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by jerryk25 »

scale repair process . . .paint, sand, superglue, repeat. . . .paint , sand, superglue

it is semi-translucent, and you lose the original color sometimes.
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jerryk25
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by jerryk25 »

Eventually my mangling brought my skills to where i made a few flick knife conversions.
This was originally a clip point blade, reprofiled to be a spike. (flatbed scan)
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Killgar
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by Killgar »

Good stuff Jerry. I've always been intrigued by the toggle stilettos. I like unusual knife mechanisms, and when they're combined with a stiletto, that's even better.

And I get a kick out of the old adds. I couldn't help but chuckle reading the first add where it says "pierces metal". LOL. As if that were a desirable characteristic in a knife.
Avatar- Ti-Lite Auto Conversion. Video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q79nia-_DzU

My youtube knife channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjSYCK ... 3s5HNcsL5A
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jerryk25
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by jerryk25 »

Pierces metal was important. . . . .
You stuck your knife in and twisted. . .

In the old days, you used a "church key" to open beer cans.
Pop mostly came in bottles, so a cap lifter was on the other end of the tool.
You had to poke two holes in the top,
one to drink from, and one for air to flow into the can.
The church key left two triangle holes
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jerryk25
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by jerryk25 »

If you collect Beer Cans . . . . the tops evolved over the years
First were Cone Tops, with a bottle cap top.
2nd were Flat Tops, all steel can with a seam. as in the blue Churchkey can above.
3rd were Aluminum tops, on a steel can. You still used a key to poke two holes.

4th were "Tab Tops" , , , which you pulled a tab with a tongue, completely off the can.
5th were "Ring Tops" . . . where the tab turned into a ring, Most people remember these.
It was about the mid 70's when the ring tops were outlawed.

Only after people complained about sharp can tabs and rings strewn about picnic grounds
and kids stepping on them and cutting their feet, did the industry switch to the modern
"punch tops" or "pop tops" that you find on today's cans.
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Tom19176
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by Tom19176 »

Great post Jerry! SD still has issues
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Killgar
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by Killgar »

jerryk25 wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 6:24 am Pierces metal was important. . . . .
You stuck your knife in and twisted. . .

In the old days, you used a "church key" to open beer cans.
Pop mostly came in bottles, so a cap lifter was on the other end of the tool.
You had to poke two holes in the top,
one to drink from, and one for air to flow into the can.
The church key left two triangle holes
Ahh, I hadn't thought of that. I forgot about the old cans that needed to be pierced (particularly oil cans) :)

I'm 52 (old to some, young to others), and "punch top" beverage cans were a bit before my time. My memory only goes back to the pull/peel tops. We used to make chains out of them when I was a kid. I remember hearing that they were banned because some people liked to drop the pull top into the can before drinking (I saw people do it), and some people ended up swallowing them or choking on them. I never did understand why people would drop the pull top into the can. But then people do all kinds of stupid stuff.
Avatar- Ti-Lite Auto Conversion. Video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q79nia-_DzU

My youtube knife channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjSYCK ... 3s5HNcsL5A
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jerryk25
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by jerryk25 »

I was born in '51. . .I have memories of bottled beer in wood crates with wood slat dividers.
My Dad used to make stuff from orange crate wood slats. . .Model ships, wall hangings shelving, etc.
I was too young to drink, but I remember it. . .
My age also explains my fetish for Black-n-White photography porn.
Playboy used to be B&W except for the fold-out page.

I have a ring pull tab chain in my basement. it's about 8 feet long. . .
I once made a suit of armor chain-mail shirt out of them for a Library Kids fun room.

I am now in process of making a chain mail skirt for another standing suit of armor.
I save every type of ring tab, soup cans, sardine cans, they are different sizes.

Google search images . . .Pop Tab Chain Mail
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button_man
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Re: gravity Knife.

Post by button_man »

.
jerryk25 wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 8:22 pm My age also explains my fetish for Black-n-White photography porn.
jerry ~ The early "risqué" print items are interesting and amusing....
I have a small collection of "Tijuana bibles" and similar items.

For those unfamiliar with these -- take a look....
https://www.tijuana-bibles.com/tijuanabible-comics.html
.
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