Mystery auto.....

[knife7knut]

Picked this knife up many years ago for cheap money due to a broken spring.Never have gotten around to fixing it and while re-photographing my knives(due to a hard drive crash and no backup)decided to pull it out,shoot it,and maybe take a crack at making a spring for it.
The only marks on it are INOX on one side and PATENT 77431 on the other.Stag scales are mismatched but original(not unusual).What is unusual is the use of a push lock centered on the spine.Blade is full and shows minimal sharpening.
Anyone have any idea who may have made it? Doesnt look like a recent knife;maybe 1950's era? Hopefully Bill DeShivs will see this and comment.

[jerryd6818]

Ray, found this on WorthPoint -- http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/v ... -132148620

"Here we have a estate find a very old vintage long folding pocket knife marked TICo Italy Patent 77431."

This is the picture that was with it.

[wiseguy]

Cool ! Its Italian .While the low button is typically seen on 50s Italian knives I think these are 60s ? .... but not sure . These with the lock back are not as common as the Picklock type and are usually coil spring fired ( the spring is in the top bolster) and will require someone with skills to make the spring and put it in.

[knife7knut]

Thanks Jerry and wiseguy for the input.
The main differences(aside from size)between mine and the one on Worthpoint is that the blade on that one has a nailmark and supposedly the button is non-functional.I say supposedly because if that were the case there would be no need for a sliding lock.I think the seller was saying that to circumvent e-Bay regulations.
Wiseguy:There is a slot in the back spring where the original spring was housed.Besides I don't think a coil spring could be made that small to fit inside the bolster and still have enough strength to fire the blade.Maybe in this day and age but unlikely in the 1950's or 60's.
I'll have to see if I can research the patent but I think it is for the lock mechanism.

[Bill DeShivs]

Your knife was probably made by Martinuzzo in Maniago. It's possible it is a 1950s auto. I have one that dates from the mid-1950s. It was later made as a coil spring knife. People were probably MORE capable of making springs in 1950-1960 than they are today! Regardless of which spring it has, I can repair it.
The TiCo is not an auto, never was.

[jerryd6818]

The TiCo is not an auto, never was.

And here I thought I'd found a gem of information. Thanks for setting the record straight, Bill.