Uncoated ZEITLER 77 Austrian Military Blade Blank- Made by Eickhorn-Solingen Germany- 1 blank- ES6
UNCOATED/Unfinished Blade Blank
Model- Zeitler 77 (Austrian Military Field Knife)
Manufacturer- Eickhorn Solingen, Germany
Price is for 1 blade blank.
Dimensions:
Blade length- 6.5"'
Blade Width- .86"
Blade Thickness- 3/16"
Tang Length- 2.5"
Tang hole diameter- .196" (5mm)
Steel Type- 55Si7
Condition- These blades are ground, heat treated, stamped with model name, have the guard welded on, but do not have the black(Parkerized) coating on them like the other Zeitler blades we have listed on the website. It appears that there was some type of silver colored coating on these blades but we do not know what that was. The blades do need to be sharpened. Because they did not receive the final coating they have more corrosion on them than the Parkerized version. They have been shipped halfway around the world and stored away since the late '70s in crates so there is some wear/scratches from the blades rubbing against each other in the crates and there is some corrosion/rust on them. Each blade is in a slightly different condition so please see the photos of 3 sample blades.
The final 2 photos are of one of these blades that we cleaned up with a Scotchbrite belt on the belt sander to show how they can look once cleaned up.
History- Zeitler was an Austrian knife company who contracted with Eickhorn to produce these blades. The Zeitler 77 model was made as a trial for the Austrian military in the late '70's. However, the Austrian military ended up choosing another model manufactured by Glock(Feldmesser 78) as their standard issue field knife and the Zeitler 77 model was not produced commercially for the military. These appear to be fairly rare as they appear to have only been produced for the trials based on the information that we have been able to gather.
The notion of picking up a few of these was more whimsy than anything. My friends and I figured that if nothing else they could be used as blanks for forging things to shape. We were in for quite a delightful surprise when they showed up.
Now right off the bat, the photos didn't really do the items justice. Not that the photos were inaccurate in what they presented, but rather they undersold what the product actually was. These surplus pieces were in astonishingly good shape for their age. My friends have all since ordered several more for themselves.
These are surplus items that have been sitting around in storage. They need cleanup and the like and the amount of work they require can vary. However, I will definitely be watching this site for similar items in the future.