I promised my buddy, and "authorized" Randall knife dealer (N.C...Near "Bragg"), Buck Buchanon that I would put this thread together as soon as I could. Well: This is as soon as I could.
A couple of weeks ago we had someone request some information about Randall (German) "kit" blades. The entire thread went downhill and was removed..."BUT"...(That word again)... shortly afterwards I heard from the man, via my email, along with a message from Buck. It seems as though Buck had an encounter with the man, and his "kit blade" at a local show up in the Carolinas. At any rate, Buck got a chance to snap a couple of quick pics which he has forwarded to me. I have edited them just a bit and I am about to post them up for all to see.
Besides these photos...and thanks to Scott, I also took a few shots today of a pair of Solingen blades, a #14 and #15. Perhaps we can all learn something from these unique blades It wasn't a lengthy amount of time that these blades were offered as a "kit" option by the Randall shop. It was long enough that they're are numbers of their examples out there.
I don't know exact numbers and it would be irresponsible of me to guess. I do know a little bit about the entire German project, from it's inception and completion by Bo Randall and Eric Christian in Solingen, Germany. It was an interesting time, running from 1954 (beginning of 1955) up and through the 1990's!
A lot of different "stuff" was begate from these early Solingen blades. The first Model #16, #17 and #18's were created using Solingen blades for examples...samples, if you will.
OK: I'm not going to carry on. I am hoping that Buck will pipe up and share some of his knowledge about these blades as well. Here they are for your viewing pleasure...ENJOY!!
Best, Capt. Chris