December 14th, 2022

Wow it has been a chore getting this blog to open. I am still working on volume II covering 1933-1941 roughly. It is about 90% finished and I hope to have it ready for the printers in January, 2023. It is right around 210 pages. I have decided on all volumes to generically cover the different patterns and then focus on the rarer models in my collection. This will be the same for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd patterns. Many of these are one-of-a-kiind or small batch productions. I have already started lining up material for Volume III which is the 2nd & 3rd pattern along with some variants. I hope to keep each volume at about 200 pages to hold the cost down. It is the full color photoos which drive the price up but I want to keep this format. I know some people have said they read the first book cover to cover but most people are more inclined to browse the text but return over and over to the pictures. 

This second volume also contains some pages dedicated to the new generation of F-S makers, people like Paul MacDonald, Harry Huyssen, Travis Evans, John Hamilton, Peter Parkinson and others you have seen featured in the pages of this website. The real value in the text is the quotes from other experts in the field, curators, armorers, and people from the past. Out of the chaos of Shanghai came one of the most iconic fighting knives the world has ever seen. How did it end up the way it is? Who were the persons responsible for its final shape? Why did the finished version not match the Shanghai Dagger? These were questions I always had and that I have set out to find answers for. Come along for the ride.