Re-hilted Bayonet?

Gonzalo G · 28th October 2008, 09:58 PM

Chris, I said Argentina and gave a making period because of the style and the apparent age. Neverthless, the facones are continously made to this day, and people purchase them, and I don´t mean tourists, but argentineans. On the Armas Blancas Forum many bladesmiths show their new facones and puñales criollos recently produced. It seems that you have the idea that those argentinean knives are a lost tradition, but it is completely the opposite. I don´t know if they use this knives only on special festivals with their traditional dress, or as everybody says on Argentina, they still use them on some places to work, but the production of this knives has never been stopped. On the contrary, they seem to be very popular. Airon even make and sells bayonet-like blades in Argentina just to be mounted in the traditional ways by silversmiths and other professional "blade mounters". Some people still purchases old bayonets or make their own blades for this purpose. You should see the intense activity of traditional knife making in Argentina just looking the silversmiths and bladesmiths web pages and forums. Please see this recent thread:

http://www.armasblancas.com.ar/foros...e-gennaro.html

I don´t know if you can see the photos without registering, but you can register and look for yourself this activity.

Of course, the facon could be brazilian, but on the 20th Century the styles have been modernized and mixed from mutual influences, so you can´t be 100% certain of the origin, uness known provenance or the presence of markings which gives a positive identification. Today, any argentinean bladesmith can use any style they like (or to the customer preferences) to make a specific facón.
Regards

Gonzalo

28th October 2008, 09:58 PM	#6
Gonzalo G Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Nothern Mexico Posts: 458	Chris, I said Argentina and gave a making period because of the style and the apparent age. Neverthless, the facones are continously made to this day, and people purchase them, and I don´t mean tourists, but argentineans. On the Armas Blancas Forum many bladesmiths show their new facones and puñales criollos recently produced. It seems that you have the idea that those argentinean knives are a lost tradition, but it is completely the opposite. I don´t know if they use this knives only on special festivals with their traditional dress, or as everybody says on Argentina, they still use them on some places to work, but the production of this knives has never been stopped. On the contrary, they seem to be very popular. Airon even make and sells bayonet-like blades in Argentina just to be mounted in the traditional ways by silversmiths and other professional "blade mounters". Some people still purchases old bayonets or make their own blades for this purpose. You should see the intense activity of traditional knife making in Argentina just looking the silversmiths and bladesmiths web pages and forums. Please see this recent thread: http://www.armasblancas.com.ar/foros...e-gennaro.html I don´t know if you can see the photos without registering, but you can register and look for yourself this activity. Of course, the facon could be brazilian, but on the 20th Century the styles have been modernized and mixed from mutual influences, so you can´t be 100% certain of the origin, uness known provenance or the presence of markings which gives a positive identification. Today, any argentinean bladesmith can use any style they like (or to the customer preferences) to make a specific facón. Regards Gonzalo Last edited by Gonzalo G; 28th October 2008 at 10:27 PM.