Cold Steel 14R1J Military Classic, Made in Seki, Japan.

 First introduced in 1993 as the Model 14R1 The Cold Steel Military Classic was patterned after the Randall Model 1-7 Fighting Knife and manufactured in Taiwan of 400 Stainless Steel. It came with a classic brown leather sheath featuring a pouch with sharpening stone, a feature which was retained throughout the life of the model. A total of 3 different blade steels were offered until the final version using Sanmai III steel was produced in 2006.


In 2000 Cold Steel shifted production to Seki, Japan to produce the model as the 14R1J using AUS 8 Stainless Steel. The right side of the blade was now marked AUS 8A Stainless, Made in Japan.

Finally in 2006 the AUS 8A model was upgraded to a VG1 core called Sanmai III retaining the 14R1J model number designation. Production of this last version ended in 2012.



Cold Steel describes the knife; ”The Cold Steel was based on the Randall Model 1-7 Fighting Knife. But make no mistake, our R1 Military Classic is not just a showpiece. The blade is expertly crafted from VG-1 San Mai III® blade construction and is 3/16" thick. Each one is flawlessly ground, hand fitted, polished and then honed until it will cut at the slightest touch. For strength and beauty, the double guard has been meticulously fashioned from a single piece of highly rust resistant 300 series stainless steel (instead of brass or nickel silver that can tarnish). It sports an extremely buffed and polished surface that will continue to gleam despite the ravages of time and weather. The handle is made from solid black linen Micarta. This is extremely costly, but nothing else looks or lasts like Micarta. Each one is contoured and shaped until perfect then permanently mated to the heavy blade tang with attractive colored fiber spacers. The final assembly is then buffed and polished to a fine luster. The R1 is delivered with a heavy-duty brown leather sheath complete with Norton Fine India stone and pouch. This rugged sheath is built for hard service and is designed to fit virtually any belt including a G.I. pistol Belt!”

The knife is extremely well balanced, the balance point where the blade and handle meet making the knife easy to thrust and slash,



Information courtesy of Fitzwillies.com More details: Cold Steel 14R1J

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1970's Smith & Wesson handbuilt knives designed by Blackie Collins

Image
S&W Survival series. In 1972 Smith and Wesson worked with well known and innovative knife designer Blackie Collins to introduce the company into the knife business. This program was announced in 1975 and seven knives were initially offered. Called the Survival Series they included a Bowie, Outdoorsman, Survival, Skinner a folding hunter knife, a fisherman knife and a filet knife. The Outdoorsman and the Survival knife featured a Hollow Handle for the storage of Survival supplies. The blades were forged from modified 440 Series Stainless Steel. A total of 47 operation from forging to hand polishing are performed on the blade before fitting to the handle on the Survival knife. The amount of work necessary for these knives caused S&W to fall behind on production and delivery to the retailers. Smith and Wesson produced in house a few other knives but none that required the amount of hand fitting as this series. The most beautiful knives S&W ever pro...
Read more

1970's Carl Schlieper Survival Knife; Eye Brand mfg. Solingen, Germany

Image
Was a Vendor at the Washington Arms Collectors show in Puyallup, WA recently. I bought more knives that I sold but found this1970's Carl Schlieper Survival Knife. Eye Brand mfg. Solingen, Germany. Carl Schlieper was a German hardware manufacturing business established in Remscheid, Germany in 1793. Eye Brand knives, sometimes called German Eye, have been Hammer forged in Solingen Germany by the Carl Schlieper family for over 100 years. Eye Brand Knives still use forged blades. Hammer forging compresses and realigns the blade steel's grain structure, thereby increasing the toughness and edge holding characteristics of the knife blade. It is a more costly and time consuming process, but worth the effort.  www.fitzwillies.com
Read more

Valor 373 Long Commando Knife - Made in Seki, Japan by Tak Fukuta

Image
T akao FUKUTA, began making pocket and hunting knives inSeki, Japan then around 1970, he went to the United States to sell his TAK FUKUTA products. Takao FUKUTA’s passion for knives continued to develop, and in 1978 he was recognized by Robert Wald “Bob” Loveless, known as the “god of knives” in the United States, with whom he began an apprenticeship.  The same year, he was the first Japanese person to be accepted into the American Knife Guild for his high-quality work the “Loveless folding knife.” Since Mr. Loveless appreciated Takao FUKUTA, he shared with him all of his skills in making hand-crafted knives. When he got back to Japan, Takao FUKUTA continued creating very useful handmade knives that were simultaneously handy, strong and elegant.  Over the years, his factory in Seki, Japan also produced knives for Parker, Valor, Gutmann, Explorer, Frost, and Browning among others. Valor model 373 Long Commando knife Model: Valor 373 This is a rare Valor l...
Read more