fleams No. 195 - No. 197

history

Between the 1920s and the 1960s, Victorinox manufactured so-called flute knives. Flieten is a special type of knife used for bloodletting animals. The sharp, heart-shaped tip of the flute is placed on the vein and struck through so that the blood can flow out. Flutes were also installed in the farmer's knives.

For reasons of hygiene, it was important for tiles to be clean and pure. The first flute knives with the numbers 195 – 197 appear in the 1922 catalogue. The scales were made of fiber, the blades were nickel-plated. Later, all blades and scales were made of stainless steel. From the catalog of 1932 it was the numbers 255 - 257. There were always 3 different models, 1x, 2x and 3x. The flies were of different sizes. Sizes between 16 mm and 22 mm were manufactured at intervals of 2 mm. The desired sizes could be specified when ordering. The size was written on the side of the blade, eg a "22" for a size of 22 mm. This stood for the length of the heart-shaped blade from the base to the tip. With this size, however, the width also changed. The length/width ratio was 16/12 mm, 18/14 mm, 20/16 mm, 22/18 mm.

The flutes had no back spring and accableingly there was no spring tension on the blades. This would not have made sense for bloodletting, but would have been a hindrance. The scales had a bulge in which the blade tips disappeared and were thus kept safe.

functional parts

The models no. 255 - 257 had 1-3 fleam blades in sizes between 16 mm and 22 mm.

material thickness

Flute: 1.8 mm

construction

The fleam turned around the head rivet. They could be rotated almost 360 degrees because there was no back spring installed. An intermediate layer was built into the scale bulge, in which the blade tips were kept when closing, and fixed to the scales with several rivets.

scale material

Victorinox originally used fiber as the handle material for the fleam knives, and then rust-resistant steel from the 1930s onwards.

Liners/spacers/rivets

The rivets were made of steel or brass, the intermediate layer of aluminum.

Trade names: fleam, Flieten, Bloodletting knife, Lancettes