Chuck Gedraitis Makes Micro Switchblade Custom

Blade Show: ever heard of it? It’s happening next month, and knife-related social media is ablaze with teasers, previews, and full-on reveals. We’ve naturally got plenty more coverage coming down the pike but we just had to highlight this Blade Show piece from Chuck Gedraitis: a custom automatic that’s barely bigger than a dime.

Yes, this is officially the smallest automatic knife Gedraitis has ever made – but how small is small? Well, the thing is just 2.5 inches open, with the pen knife-style blade deployed. The blade itself is a mere 1 inch in length, so if you were the lucky owner of this cutie you would probably use it for only the lightest of light backup chores. The blade steel is damascus, rendered here in the ‘Turkish Twist’ pattern, a technique that results in four-pointed asterisms in the surface of the steel – noticeable even here on this minuscule blade.

Gedraitis, a veteran custom automatic knife maker, has played with different deployment setups; we last spoke to him in 2020, when his sliding scale Swiss Army knife concept really took off. This as-yet-unnamed little guy uses the toggle/button style deployment that Gedraitis has used on a number of different models over the years. Pressing down the oblong mechanism fires the blade, and a commensurately small liner lock slides into place under the tang.

We don’t need to analyze the ergonomics here too much, but suffice it to say the profile echoes the classic Italian stilletto’s hourglass form. The materials are custom grade, with white pearl scales and damascus bolster. Everything is held together by very, very tiny screws; according to Gedraitis, this thing was quite a challenge to put together.

Unsurprisingly, Gedraitis’s little auto has already been sold; he tells us a similar piece would probably start around $850 depending on materials. Although it’s found an owner already, the micro switchblade will be traveling to Blade Show along with Gedraitis’s other show pieces; he says he plans to enter it in the Best Miniature show awards category. The Gedraitis booth is 5E if you want to swing by and check out his stuff (and you definitely do, trust us).

Knife in Featured Image: Chuck Gedraitis Micro Switchblade

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