I think I like the dagger-like Solingen-teeth grind best of all the four major different Model 14 grind variants.
Solingen teeth
Orlando teeth
Orlando-14
Solingenb-14
I've been wondering about the development of the different Randall 14 blade grinds especially Solingen. This prompts a question for the vintage Randall collecting community.
In 1955 Mr. Randall made his first order for 500 Model 14 and 500 Model 15 blades from "Solingen." To my knowledge, "Solingen" is simply a town in Germany, not a manufacturer.
(I think it is a fact that we don't know who made the "Solingen" blades or even if it was a single manufacturing source... Mr. Randall simple placed an order through a German broker.)
The original order and the development of the Solingen alternative was apparently in anticipation of the U. S. Army possibly adopting the model 14 as its standard knife or as a bayonet, and a possible subsequent order in the tens or hundreds of thousands.
Gaddis is silent on whether the original order blades from "Solingen" were carbon or stainless, but I would assume they were carbon because in mid-'50s stainless had not become a common item.
I'm also not solid on the progression of makers marks on the Solingen blades... there seems to be some assumptions but no science behind the assumptions... and we've all seen how that has worked out in the past.
These original-order Solingen blades were later used for Model 17s and for the experimental development and initial offering of the original Model 18s, They seemed to have been more-or-less throw away experimental blades.
From the sales numbers of fighters that Gaddis quotes later, I would suspect the original order Solingens were not exhausted until the early 1960s. The sale of about 1 Solingen blade model 14 per week seems a generous guess until 1963-64...and that could be on the high side during the late '50s early '60s. Paralleling this timing, the assumption about Solingen blade markings SEEMS to be that the original mark was continued until at least 1963 (?) when the "Randall - Solingen" etched mark was introduced. There seems to be a lot of give and play in the dates that have been quoted, the marks on the blades, and little supporting data has been used to back up the statements I"ve read.
Gaddis later talks more about the Solingen blades and sales during the beginning of Vietnam. He notes that about 1,700 carbon-14 and about 3,200 stainless-14 blades were ultimately imported by Randall from Solingen between 1963 and 1971. When the US involvement in the war ceased, demand for Solingen blades collapsed...
(which is probably a good marker for the demand for Solingen blades BEFORE the war heated up). He does not break the number of imported Solingens down into "teethed" and standard grind.
What is obvious is that the "teethed" grind is materially different from the standard grind. And the Solingen grinds for both teethed and standard are different from the Orlando grinds ... even the thickness of the blade, the ricosso, etc. is different. I can see that the shop must have experimented and come up with the "teeth" grind in response to the original request for teeth on the experimental attack-survival knife in 1963 (?). To cut teeth you need a bevel on the top edge.
But when did Mr. Randall finalize the "spear point" design, and order the "teeth" grind from Solingen? He went through a detailed process to obtain his first Solingen-14 specs and insure the order blades were made to his satisfaction in 1954. So when did he send a prototype 14-teeth to Solingen? When did "Solingen" fill the teeth grind order, and how many of the 5,000 model 14s the shop got from "Solingen" during the Vietnam period were teeth-grind?
For that matter, it could have been 5-8 years from the receipt of the original "Solingen" order until Mr. Randall ordered a second quantity. How did he maintain the industrial contact with "Solingen" during that time?
(I have a speculative but logical answer for that... it lies with the fact the metallurgy and dimensional specs were set and tested in 1954. To re-order even years later he simply dealt through his German broker who farmed out the request and specs as needed.)
Any thoughts, dated knives, questions, or input is welcome.