gaucho knives

[Chris Evans]

Hi Gonzalo,

Great post - Your differentiation between the Olavarriense school, and the Rioplantense school is raising this thread to the next level!

Originally Posted by Gonzalo G

.I read the article about the facon here, The part of the buttons must be reworked. Argentineans also uses rounded buttons, but are different from the uruguayans. The description of the buttons can be made with precision to identify their origin without doubts, and there is another type of button, not mentioned, the riograndense button, from the region of Rio Grande (Great River).

Quoting from Domenech's Dagas de Plata pg79 (Apologies for my rough translation):

"The button can take a semi round form, known by collectors as round, little ball or oriental, and which define the blades used in Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) and the mesopotamic zone of our country (CE: North East Argentina)... The "porteño" (CE: From Buenos Aires city) button is known as quadrangualr, though in reality it is more or less octagonal......although there is no definitive explanation that accounts for the different shapes adapted in the various regions"

Could you please throw a bit more light on the subject of buttons?

Abel Domenech
Dagas de Plata
privately edited by the author
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2005

Mario López Osornio
Esgrima Criolla
Ediciones Nuevo Siglo (Biblioteca de la Cultura Argentina No. 9),
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1995

I have them both and consider them essential reading for anyone seriously interested in this subject. Do you know of any other well regarded books?

Cheers
Chris