Broken Knife or Hidden Mechanism?

[Gr8wazu]

Hello, sharp knife lovers. I've got a knife that I keep coming back to but continue to be stumped by. It looks like a Hammer Brand knife by the handle and size, but I cannot figure out how to open the blade.

It doesn't look overly corroded, and if you push down on it, you can feel the spring in it, so it's not seized up.

I've tried pressing all over open to find a mechanism, and I've taken pliers to the blade to attempt to overpower it, but still nothing. There's also no thumb groove, which is a bit peculiar and also leads me to believe there's a special mechanism I haven't found.

Can any of you offer insight on my dilemma here? Thanks in advance.

[Gr8wazu]

Wow. Well, as I just continued playing with it, I pushed down and it opened up. It is an Imperial blade knife.

Now, I can't get it to seat back in the handle. It keeps bouncing back so the tip is exposed and the knife is slightly open.

So, I'm still thinking there's a trick to it. I just stumbled upon how to open it and now I can't close it.

This is rather humbling...

[ScoutKnives]

It’s a trick knife , type it in the search bar here on this site and you’ll see lots of threads .

viewtopic.php?p=1171003&hilit=Imperial+ ... e#p1171003

[Gr8wazu]

Now that I know it's an Imperial knife, I managed to find this video explaining how to open and close it. https://youtu.be/7NdIDMJQmOc?feature=shared

As an engineer, I'm impressed by such a slick and simple mechanism. Very cool. Sorry to take up space with this post since I seemed to have luck on my side today and stumbled across the answers myself.

[Reverand]

I, for one, am glad that you posted it.
These are great little conversation starters, and make for a fun prank to pull on friends.
And you are FAR from being the first knife enthusiast to be puzzled over one of these!

[OLDE CUTLER]

Amazing to me that I sometimes see these same knives in flea market boxes broken. Looks like someone "figured it out" with a screwdriver or pliers.

[Ridgegrass]

OC: I have to admit I almost broke the first one I had, trying to pry it open. J.O'.

[edgy46]

I have several trick knives, mostly because of my older brother. He would never tell his 8 year old little brother now it worked.

[gino]

A good oiling will sometimes help when that inside slide gets a tad corroded