I happened to measure one of my SA daggers and was surprised to see that it was 221 mm. So I measured all 21 of my SA's and here is what I found:

1 dagger 222 mm

3 daggers 221.5 mm

4 daggers 221 mm

3 daggers 220 mm

5 daggers 219 mm

1 dagger 218.5 mm

3 daggers 218 mm

1 dagger 217.5 mm

I know the shorter daggers have not been retipped. Some are in mint- condition with crossgrain right down to the tip. Only three were exactly 220 mm. Now, mind you this was none with a ruler. I have an electronic caliper but it's not large enough to measure the entire blade. Anyone else care to report some data?

Somehow I am not suprised.
GREAT info though!
I will see if I can dig up measurements on mine soon.
Great toipc! Thanks!
Johnny

For sure there has been a tolerance range. 220 mm is the correct length according to the drawing, but for sure there was a tolerance range, e.g. +/- 2 mm or less or more.

The blades have been fitted individually to the grip and the crossguards. I had once over 15 SA daggers from the same maker. On a rainy day I have tried to exchange parts, as I was curious how they fit together. I thought that the dagger parts of the same maker may be exchangeable. And guess what ... nearly no part of one dagger matched to parts of the others although all daggers have been from the same maker.

ivbaust:

I have always been skeptical of those who sell you daggers for parts or parts only to upgrade your flawed dagger. Without some kind of rework, it doesn't seem to be very practical. And once you start reworking, refitting, redrilling, etc, what do you end up with.

On another GDC post, someone said something very profound. 'They can't all be queens of the ball'. You take what you get, clean it up and don't screw with it, warts and all.

I think that it is agreed to by all concerned that one of the last steps in the dagger production process was to fit the parts together and rework them if needed to ensure the proper quality fit. This is probably what makes each dagger a little different. Let's not try to make these differences go away.


John

John

IMHO the shape and the form of the tip is the best indicator as to if it has been retipped.

Paul is 100% correct!

I've been wondering about this myself lately. I'll try to measure mine soon.

I just measured 6 of mine and found this

1 dagger 219mm
1 dagger 220mm
3 daggers 221mm
1 dagger 222mm

semms to confirm Skyline's findings.

IMHO Skyline is right on dead center. Various configurations by different companies dictated by their specfications and QA tolerances does not mean a particular edged weapon has not "been there". I would be more suspect of a perfect one at this point in my years of collecting. It is not a question of trust or years of collecting experiance.But,and it's a big but,even though new and untouched is nice.
I still like the "been there" look.
It is in the age,not the rage. I have posted two SA daggers on that forum,have a look.
flyboy

This thread I think ties in well with the earlier �Canted Blades� topic. The manufacturing processes of the day virtually guarantee that there were going to be differences. And �tolerances� are just that. A plus and minus measurement separating what will work and what won�t.

With dagger tolerances not even being close to period firearms tolerances. Which is why the P-38 replaced the P-08, and the MG42 replaced the MG34. They had a problem holding tolerances in manufacture. And when the guns got into the field tolerances that were too close could cause them to jam which had the potential for being fatal to the user

That daggers had loose tolerances is not surprising. With the �Canted Blades� topic showing how they got around blades that were too wide. And why IMO we see all these different blade lengths. FP

Canted Blades