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Comment by Jan Carter on April 24, 2016 at 18:16

The locking is new to me also and I so appreciate the info!  Great find, knowledge of what is out there will help you find these types of treasures when they show up

Comment by Ron Cooper on April 22, 2016 at 15:04

William, would you mind giving a couple of measurements on these knives. The usual, closed length and blade length?

Comment by Ron Cooper on April 22, 2016 at 15:01

Wow, dude! You definitely scored! Once again proving the "blind squirrel theory" to be true...that even a blind squirrel gets an acorn every now and then!

Congratulations! 

Comment by William Fisher on April 22, 2016 at 14:56

I've been collecting knives since 1975. I saw some long ago at a gun show. I found these on eBay last week, won the auction (I was the only bidder), both of them for $500 total !!!!

I knew they were worth much more. I contacted A.G.Russell this week about selling them on his "Cutting Edge" website. He said they would start out at $1675 for the brass one and $2595 for the titanium one. I may go that route, not sure.

Right now there's a brass & wood one on eBay for $2500 or best offer. I'm guessing it won't sell.

Comment by Ron Cooper on April 22, 2016 at 14:48

Thanks for the additional info, William! Great knives you have there. Do you mind if I ask how they found their way into your collection? You appear to have one brass and one titanium? Is that correct? Amazing pieces!

Comment by William Fisher on April 21, 2016 at 23:54

Searched the internet and what I could find was:

I know it was made in the '70s by Track Knives from 
Whitefish, Mt. They were going to make 100 of these and only a handful were actually finished. It locks closed and opened with a toggle mechanism similar to that of a German Luger pistol. Each knife was totally handmade, and all the parts were made for the individual knife. Over 30 moving parts in this mechanism. There were some made in wood, titanium, and only one in sambar stag. That is what I have been told by some oldtimers and was wondering if there is more to the story

Comment by William Fisher on April 21, 2016 at 23:53

AND:

"From American Blade Magazine Sept/Oct. 1977 issue:

The Track Toggle Knife has become a rare collectors item, even though it wasn't intended to be. The original concept was to mass produce a uniquely designed knife with an operating mechanism similar to that of the reknowned Luger pistol. Here was a product that would sell itself to every guy who ever owned, or thought of owning, a Parabellum.

The design blueprints for the knife were submitted by Track to Carl Crumbley, a precision mechanist, for a working model and extensive production cost analysis. When the verdict was delivered, it was decided that the knife's intricate mechanism made it too complicated to mass produce.

Each knife has 33 parts and requires 185 individual production operations. Additionally, its intricacy and close tolerance parts require hand fitting. The toggle assembly itself requires 58 production operations. The D-2 steel blade rotates on an eccentric cam which can be adjusted for tightness or wear. A spring loaded ball bearing maintains a constant pressure on the blade when it is in the unlocked position and another spring loaded bearing on the rear of the toggle maintains the proper locking pressure.

After some serious soul searching, Track decided to go ahead with the project anyway, but on a limited rather than mass production. Sales of the knife went very well, but production was another matter. A mid-production cost analysis revealed that the cost exceeded the sale price. Fully-paid orders were delivered, but deposits on the rest of the knives were immediately returned, pending a revamp of production plans.

The price of the knife was subsequently increased, and many who had originally ordered, redeposited their money-sensing the potential collector value in these knives.

The total production figures are: One all brass working model; three pre-production prototypes (serial lettered A,B, and C); and 103 production knives, of which 73 have brass bolsters and cocobolo wood scales (serial numbers 1-70 and 98-100), 27 have brass bolsters and Sambar Stag scales(serial numbers 71-97), and three have titanium bolsters and Sambar Stag (serial numbers Titanium 1-3). Also, one knife (number 78) was engraved by Angelo Bee when they considered offering an engraved model.

Track is emphatic when they say the knife will never again be produced-it caused them too many headaches, and they're certain that Crumbley, who fitted every piece, from working model to the last knife off the line, is the only person capable of making it. 

It takes a mechanically inclined person to fully appreciate the intricacy of the Track Toggle knife, but its story is as intriguing as the knife itself. It might even be called a collector's dream that emerged from a production engineer's nightmare.

This knife is number 73 of 100 as stamped on the blade. It is in mint condition and has probably only been removed from the safe and fondled a few times since the late '70s. It measures 4.75" closed and has a 3" blade. It is truly a piece of precision work and is solid as a tank. The estate is asking $1,500 or best offer for this rare knife. Bear in mind this was made in the '70s, prior to CAD and CNC technology. An example of precision workmanship done by hand! Email me with questions or addl photos.

 

Comment by Ron Cooper on April 21, 2016 at 22:20

Wow! You don't see those very often. I believe those were made by Track Knives in Whitefish, Montana back in the 70's? There was talk about them in another forum several years ago. I have only seen pictures of two or three others...ever! 

William, what can you tell us about these gems? I heard tell that back when they were being made there were only going to be 100 of them. And that they never reached that goal. So it's unknown, at least by me, how many of these were actually completed? I would love to hear anything you can add about these really cool Luger knives.

Comment by Bryan W on April 21, 2016 at 20:32

cool!

In Memoriam Comment by D ale on April 20, 2016 at 15:54

Wowza .. that is a new locking system .. for me.

Completely unaware of this approach.

Thanks for posting !!