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Tuang's Articles

01-31-2006, 08:26 PM
T-Wan (Bladeforums)
Registered User

Join Date: May 2004
Location: Paris - France
Posts: 2,393

Talking Balisong article - file and english translation available now !

As some may remember, I wrote an article about balisong origins and Benchmade history for the French knives magazine "La Passion des Couteaux" which was published a couple months ago. This was the first of a serie, a second one is coming in the february issue and a third one is planned for may.

A friend from an other board, Gerard, who's a french guy living in the U.S., offered to translate this first article in English "for those among you whose skills in French language doesn't match their passion for the Balisongs..."

I'm glad I can share this with you today, and I want to thank again Chuck publicly here for his very helpul contribution to this article, and thanks Gerard of course for his translation.

Quoting the translator himself : A few comments before you tackle the object of your interest:
First here is a link allowing to download the PDF file of the original version in French (with the pics, which makes it interesting even for the non-French-readers): get the file here (link is now defunct)

Second, a translation of the captions is proposed at the end of the translation, after the text itself.

Finally, although I did my best to not slaughter the English language, I'm no professional translator - so you're bound to meet more than one gallicism, ill-chosen word and strangely-built sentence. I apologize in advance for that, and will welcome any remarks, comments or suggestions.

So, without further ado, here it is:


The translation:

THE METAMORPHOSES OF THE BUTTERFLY
By Tuan Luong.



The origins

From the Pied-du-Royi to the IKBSii to the FHMiii or to the BM 42iv, the Butterfly Knife has underwent spectacular transformations through the ages and continents. This evolution has significantly accelerated in the recent past, which allows us today to enjoy a very complete range of these knives. After having been associated during a long time with all kinds of bad guys, the Butterfly Knife is experiencing today a rapid expansion which deserves that we examine closely the players of a new generation which, unlike the geometrid moth, doesn't seem to be condemned to a short life.


From caterpillar to butterfly...

The origins of the Butterfly are controversial and oppose the advocates of the Philippines to those of France. This comes probably from the way its history has been told, for if we paid attention only to its name – bali song – there is no doubt that an investigation would lead us from Batangas to Barrios to the knife which bears that name. Translated from Tagalog, “bali sung” means “broken horn”, which may refer to the material the handles are made of, or maybe to the noise they make knocking against each other when one manipulates the knife. According to some authors, Perfecto de Leon would have fathered the first butterfly knife, whose birth would date back to 1905.
However, there are known documents which refute this exotic story. For several catalogs and patents dated 1860 exist, that prove the existence at this time of folding knives using two half-handles that enclose a blade, some of these items made in Sheffield (England), others in Solingen (Germany). I for myself a couple of Bontgen & Sabin knives dated 1895 that invalidates the 1905 theory, and it is still possible to come across German, English or Spanish pieces bearing stamps that place them in the late 19th century.
But, going still further back in time, balisong collector and historian Chuck Gollnick mentions a book published in 1710, “The Perret”, that was already showing the design of a butterfly knife – which would then place the origins of that system in France, between the late 17th century and the early 18th century. It is also possible to find traces of hook-shaped tool-knives, designed to extract bottle caps. The Pied-du-Roy (see opening illustration in the article), named after a length unit equivalent to the English foot, was probably a device used to measure angles, or a tailor knife, or maybe a knife hidden under the guise of a ruler: one example is on display in Thiers' Cutlery Museum, for the amateur to admire. [Note from translator: the town of Thiers, in the central part of France, is the most important French traditional cutlery manufacturing center, and so has been for several centuries].


The migrations of the butterfly

Regarding the butterfly's migrations, Gollnick developed a theory that has both the taste of common sense and the pure smell of Adventure's strong winds. According to him, that knife was first designed in France and was then adopted by our Spanish neighbors before traveling with them to the Philippines. Let's imagine a Spanish sailor bringing along that knife on board of a boat sailing to those islands... Why prefer a butterfly knife? Simple explanation: the handles at this time were made of brass and covered entirely the blade: unlike brass, iron can produce sparks. This is an important detail, for studies have shown that the sailors using those knives were mainly those assigned to the cannons. They used them to open crates of cannonballs and powder kegs, and to cut oakum fuses – but they couldn't take the risk of the smallest spark in the vicinity of black powder. So maybe these sailors landed in the Philippines, where their safety knives were soon to receive a new name: bali song.
It is entirely plausible that the Philippines inhabitants welcomed that knife because of its relatively simple construction, as opposed to the sophistication required for the making of a folding knife's spring. The Balisong can be made using ordinary materials (iron, brass, horn, wood...); its basic mechanism makes it reliable and easy to maintain and, once opened in hand, it proves almost as strong as a fixed-blade knife while still retaining the handy features of a folder. Moreover, the mobility of the “flying” handle inspired techniques that were later integrated into the Filipino martial arts.
During almost a half-century, the balisong has consolidated its identity, while being also named Batangas and Vintinueve (29), the latter referring either to the legend of a Filipino warrior who supposedly had killed 29 adversaries in a fight or to a certain weapon that was 29 inches long. During the Second World War, the Batangas knife makers got a lot of orders from US GIs and began to use scrap steel from military vehicles (jeeps, tanks, planes), decorating the handles with horn, mother of pearl, wood, or even sometimes plastic from tooth brushes. With those soldiers, the butterfly knife lived its second migration as soon as the war ended... this time to the United States. However, certain US patents are proofs that those knives did exist in the US before WWII, actually as early as the beginning of the 20th century, which suggests the possibility of a direct introduction into the US from Europe. But it is indeed the post-WWII wave of importations which was going to make it popular and root it deeply in our imagination.


The metamorphoses: from Balisong to Benchmade

The US are an essential milestone in the butterfly knife's revival. Some brands in particular ring a bell: Taylor, Parker, Valor... a lot of them took off during the few years when they could import scores of Americano-Japanese butterflies. However, only one brand has really reached fame: BENCHMADE. That brand is both soaking in the knife legend – think of mythical Jody Samson – and established as THE reference, thanks to the undisputed popularity of its models. From the highly coveted original customs to the highest quality of production knives, an interview with Les De Asis, founder and boss of the enterprise whose logo itself is a butterfly, will allow us to unwind the cocoon so as to follow the thread of its history...
“I started my career in the knife industry in Los Angeles in 1977, while I was looking for a good quality butterfly knife. Being of half-Filipino and half-Portuguese descent, I had handled lots of Filipino balisongs in my youth.
I was to go on vacation to Asia, and I wished to take with me a sturdy and well-designed butterfly knife. That is when I met Vic Anselmo, a knife maker who owned a small shop in Burbank (Ca). Anselmo had been an apprentice with John Nelson Cooper, a pioneer in American cutlery. We spoke of my project, and I started to draw handles that were to be machined in solid brass, so as to give them a strength never met before in any butterfly knife. I brought my drawings to most of the mechanical engineering workshops in the area. I finally chose one which made some prototype handles for me; so I could put together a knife using a blade made by Anselmo. That first knife was somewhat rough, but very strong. Its light weight allowed me to manipulate it unlike any other knife before.
I was so proud of that knife that I went to a local gun shop to show it to the owners. They had a glance at it and said: “OK, we'll take 50 of them if you can deliver”. After much thought I decided that this could be the opportunity to start a business.
I went back to see Anselmo, and I began to gather the necessary tools and materials in order to start the operation in my garage. I bought a band saw, a drill press, a belt grinder, some buffing wheels...
The workshop made me a hundred pairs of handles, and I began to make knives under Anselmo's guidance. Some time later, Anselmo introduced me to Jody Samson, another former apprentice of Cooper. Samson preferred to deal with grinding only , so I would cut and profile the blades, and give them to Samson to grind.
I learned to make custom knives on-the-job, even though I never really mastered the art of grinding or hand-polishing. Samson produced blades that had outstanding grind and finish, while I focused on finishing the handles and assembling the knives. That's when I took out a US patent for the manufacture of my high-quality knives.
Later on, I foresaw the possibility of mass-producing, and I got myself into that adventure with my first all-machined model, that had molded and pressed stainless steel handles and machine-made grinding and finishing. That model was the starting point of my commitment to seek the highest quality for my production knives, a continual quest that's still going on today".
In 1983, the US customs lifted the ban on the importation of butterfly knives, and a lot of companies began to import their cheap stuff on the American market. Destabilized by this new deal, and realizing that he would be unable to compete at that level, Les De Asis decided: “if I cannot beat them, then I will form an alliance with them”. He sent sample items of his customs with “skeleton” (drilled) handles to a Japanese company he had been recommended to by Al Mar and subsequently began to import. “That's when I changed the name of my company from Bali-Song Inc to Pacific Cutlery Corporation, so as to clearly state my taking part in the importation of products from Asia”.Those importations were profitable and, as the exchange rate was good, he was able to offer affordable items on the American market. He then expanded his initial line of butterfly knives to high quality folding knives intended for the markets of outdoor activities and tactical use. That new orientation was an outstanding success.
In 1985 the American authorities backtracked and banned the importations anew. Meanwhile, the G7 authorities were working to revalue the European and Japanese currencies against the US dollar. The ensuing devaluation went beyond all expectations and made the dollar lose 40% within two years. In such a disastrous economic context, production diminished by 50% in quantity while costs doubled: Les De Asis filed for bankruptcy in May 1987. During the next summer he worked on a new business plan. At the end of August, the company which had bought Pacific Cutlery's assets proposed him to retrieve everything he could use to start a new business. After much negotiating with former business partners who wished to support him, Les De Asis started a new adventure: the Benchmade Knives Company.
The phoenix came back to life from its ashes in September 1987. Les De Asis subcontracted the grinding of his blades out to Browning Arms Co. Benchmade was then based near Hollywood and was barely starting its restoration. In the beginning of 1988, Browning announced that it was going to shut its cutlery division and to put an end to subcontracting. Bankruptcy threatened again! Les De Asis rushed to meet with Ray Allen, Browning Manufacturing's CEO, and: “I begged him to let me borrow, rent, use, steal, whatever – their machines so that I could go on and produce”. Ray Allen's answer: “make an offer to buy the whole lot”. Les De Asis didn't have a dollar, and he knew he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell. Nevertheless, he went back to Los Angeles and finally succeeded in gathering $50,000. It was far below a credible offer, but when Les called to say that he didn't have enough money, Ray Allen just went repeating: “make me an offer”. Les forwarded a $35,000 bid without having any illusions. The value of the steel inventory only was worth a lot more than his offer...
“Five months later I called back Browning to know about the sale. I only learned that they had a possible buyer. So I wrote a letter to tell them how much I appreciated their kindness to let me make so modest an offer, but that I needed to move on and that my offer would expire the same day at midnight”.
On the 8th of November, 1988, The Browning Company signified its consent to Les De Asis: Benchmade was to become the new owner of Browning Knife Division's assets.
Benchmade moved to settle in Oregon the following year. That was going to be the beginning of yet another hectic success story, but that's another story...


Thanks:
to Les De Asis first and foremost, for being so kind and approachable; to Chuck Gollnick (balisongcollector.com) for his knowledge and his passion, which he shares so well; to Fred Perrin for his invaluable pieces of advice and his rare butterfly knives; to Isidore and Xavier (Armes Bastille) for their patience and for their lending me Filipino knives; to Guillaume Morel (balisong.net), author of a book about the bali song, written in French; to Alexandra Whittaker (Benchmade) who was an invaluable inspiration to me.


i Pied-du-Roy: literally “King's Foot”, an ancient length unit worth 1 English foot.

ii Ikema Korth Bearing System: a system for fitting the blade on a ball bearing.

iii Filipino Hand Made balisong.

iv Benchmade M42, THE benchmark.




CAPTIONS


For each page, from top to bottom and from left to right.


P 22
- The King's Foot, late 18th century. Thiers Cutlery Museum. Photo by Guillaume Morel (balisong.net).
- Deluc knives, WWI. The one with a hilt is a trench knife, the other one is a civilian model made in the 1920s. Fred Perrin collection.
- Filipino balisongs, a wide range of sizes.
P23
- Some very successful Parker and Taylor models, early 1980s.
- Introducing a touch of fancy in the handles design.
- Two Bontgen & Sabin knives, late 19th century.
- Custom balisong by Jody Samson. Photo courtesy of Dudley Dawkins.
P24
- “BellySong”, belt buckle butterfly knife, and “Mariposa” (butterfly in Spanish), early 1980s. Two custom knives made by Ken Langin (Kelgin Knives).
- “Manila” line by Taylor/Seto. A Japan-made bestseller. Note the troubling similarity with the model 129 of Pacific Cutlery's International line (first knife from top), which was also made in Japan.
- Rare Balisong customs and Pacific Cutlery. Photo courtesy Dudley Dawkins.
P25
- Some 3-inch Butterflies, a smooth evolution from Pacific Cutlery to Benchmade.
- The pen and the sword... Taylor and Valor, made in Japan.
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