Manufacturing
The Marine Raider stiletto blade was "blanked" or stamped out of steel sheet stock. Had a thicker sheet metal gauge been used, it would have been more costly. In addition, it would have required more steel, a commodity which had to be conserved during the war. The flat knife blank was then machined to the diamond cross section.
By comparison the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife was more expensive to make, but stronger. It was drop forged to shape, a process which strengthens the steel, then hand ground to final finish.
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