MarkK
02-21-2009, 08:47 PM
The 39th DOTW is the Minuteman, which was released in March of 2004. The version of the Minuteman that was released had curved and round bottomed grooves in the handle to aid grippiness, 13 indentions in a semicircle around the bolster to signify the 13 original colonies and "First to Fight" engraved in cursive script on the front side of the blade. "MINUTEMAN" was engraved near the rear of front handle slab. The back side of the blade was engraved "DALTON - U S A". The T6 handles were anodized blue with red and white veins. If I recall correctly, all of them had 2-tone blades. (let me know if you've seen a full beadblast one.) Any proto markings were etched on the obverse side of the blade. The Minutemen were fitted with a narrow Ti pocket clip held in place with socket head screws (not the later pan headed screws). There was a total production of 216 pieces.
http://home.comcast.net/~km4yk/minuteman.jpg
Dimensions:
OAL: 9"
Blade Length: 3 - 13/16"
Blade Thickness: 0.125"
Max Handle Thickness (excluding button and clip): 0.480"
Now for the rest of the story. shock0
Mr. Dalton designs his knives on the computer using CADD software. It would be VERY unusual for him to actually build prototypes that are significantly different from the production version. The Minuteman was an exception to this rule (the only exception that I know about). Two very different prototypes were made before the design was finalized. The first was a tanto bladed folder that resembles the Jammer more than the production Minuteman. It has T6 handles that are anodized in a dark green OD.
http://home.comcast.net/~km4yk/minutemanproto1.jpg
The second prototype Minuteman looks a good bit closer to the production model, but has multiple finger grooves and no round bottomed grooves on the side of the slabs.
http://home.comcast.net/~km4yk/minutemanproto2.jpg
To the best of my knowledge, both of the prototypes are one-of-a-kinds.
Another previously unknown Minuteman variant was a single piece that was anodized black. Other than the color and the fact that it has a fully beadblasted blade, it is identical to the production Minuteman.
http://home.comcast.net/~km4yk/minutemanblack.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~km4yk/minuteman.jpg
Dimensions:
OAL: 9"
Blade Length: 3 - 13/16"
Blade Thickness: 0.125"
Max Handle Thickness (excluding button and clip): 0.480"
Now for the rest of the story. shock0
Mr. Dalton designs his knives on the computer using CADD software. It would be VERY unusual for him to actually build prototypes that are significantly different from the production version. The Minuteman was an exception to this rule (the only exception that I know about). Two very different prototypes were made before the design was finalized. The first was a tanto bladed folder that resembles the Jammer more than the production Minuteman. It has T6 handles that are anodized in a dark green OD.
http://home.comcast.net/~km4yk/minutemanproto1.jpg
The second prototype Minuteman looks a good bit closer to the production model, but has multiple finger grooves and no round bottomed grooves on the side of the slabs.
http://home.comcast.net/~km4yk/minutemanproto2.jpg
To the best of my knowledge, both of the prototypes are one-of-a-kinds.
Another previously unknown Minuteman variant was a single piece that was anodized black. Other than the color and the fact that it has a fully beadblasted blade, it is identical to the production Minuteman.
http://home.comcast.net/~km4yk/minutemanblack.jpg