Here's the story of this knife and of the owner's own personal interest in balisongs:

Last year I came across BLADEFORUMS. I most likely ended up checking it out after e-mail correspondence with sniperboy (thanks s!). I had gotten back into knife collecting a few years ago. I have since been collecting all types of knives.

I started to look for PC and BENCHMADE balisongs. I have owned a few over the years. I first fell in love with them in the early eighties. That's when I was exposed to them through Soldier Of Fortune Magazine and the movie The Outsiders. Emilo flipped out his bali while breaking a bottle and passing it to a friend in a fight. Pretty cool as I remember.

Now with my rekindled interest I was hunting for balis and coming up with some pretty disappointing findings -- Like the fact that BENCHMADE no longer made production balis and the customs seemed too expensive. So were the production models I come across. I now know that I should have been buying them, custom and production. My hind sight is 20/20 as usual.

Along comes the BALISONG FORUM on BLADEFORUMS. Then BENCHMADE comes out with the Model 42. There not quite the same thing as old school PC and BM balis but are nice in their own right. On BLADEFOURMS I have gotten some really good ideas and made contact with some great people.

I read a post, I do not remember who started it, about the possibility of removing the latch gate from a BM 42 and making it a latchless balisong. I have to admit to not ever seeing or reading about a latchless bali before that, that I can recall. So I came to Chuck's web sight to check out his pictures. I thought they looked cool. The more that I read about latchless balis the more I liked the idea.

I had a regular production BM 42 that I had been carrying for awhile and thought why not give it a go? I first tried to cut the latch side handle with a bi-metal hacksaw. That was taking a very long time. I am not a very patient person. So out comes the DREMEL TOOL and the cut off wheels.

I have since learned that this was not safe. I have read that the fumes are very toxic. I do not know this to be true. Just in case I would be sure to do this work in a well ventilated area. The sparks generated are very hot so proper precautions should be taken. Safety glasses are a must!

(Editor's note: Grinding Titanium DOES produce toxic fumes. So, if you decide to have a try at it, work in a well-ventilated area, preferably outside, and use a fan to keep good airflow away from you. Titanium DOES burn very hot. Cutting and grinding can produce very hot sparks that can ignite other materials. So, clear the area of flammable materials and have a fire extinguisher handy. A full face shield, gloves, a long-sleeve shirt, full-length pants, and enclosed shoes are also a good idea. In any metal cutting or grinding operation, safety glasses are a must. Cutting and grinding Titanium is dangerous. If you don't know what you're doing, have it done by someone who does.)

So I first cut the latch side handle just below the latch. As there is a groove under the latch to accommodate free latch movement I had to sand, using the sanding drum attachment on the DREMEL TOOL, and file this handle down to the level of the groove in the handle. Than, I marked and cut the other handle to length. Filing and sanding both handles so that the two handles were flush to each other. At this point I tried different grits of sand paper to get a finish that I was happy with.

I did not really spend too much time on this because as you can see there were voids in the cast Ti. When cutting the handles I cut into them. This left these open pocks in the handles. They are too deep to sand down past. So, for now, I have left them. As this is a knife I use and carry and they don't affect the function of the knife they do not really bother me.

They are however the reason that I sent this knife to Chuck for him to inspect and take pictures of. I wanted others to see what they could potentially run into, or cut into as the case is, should they choose to make their 42 latchless. I can see where this type of thing could ruin your day.

The whole job, after switching to the cutoff wheels, took about two hours. I slipped up a couple of times and ran the cutoff wheel over the handles. If I were more patient and/or had more skill at this sort of work I am sure that I could have avoided this.

I know that before I am done with this knife I will drop it a few times. The knife is going to get banged up so I am not overly concerned with the cosmetics.

I really like the way this knife swings. It is very fast in my hand. It is now even lighter than the standard 42, which as you may know, is quite light. I feel it is smoother due to the fact that there isn't a latch moving around out at the end of the handle any longer.

I can still pull off pseudo latch drops by pinching the handle so I do not consider this to be a problem. I know from reading that some people do.

I have a very well made coin pocket/neck sheath that Matt of WAXS ELOQUENT made for me that holds the knife securely. I really do not have a need for a latch. The sheath is a hole other story. I know that sniperboy reviewed one of these sheaths and didn't find it as handy as I do.

So there you have it. My attempt to grasp hold of the past and old school PC/BM balis. It would be too cool if BENCHMADE were to offer the 42 in a latchless format. But than there are so many other great ideas for balis out there. Any and all of them would be a welcome additions to my collection.