A Delica(te) question

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znapschatz

Joined
Jan 24, 2005
Messages
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After 10 years of knocking around with a Delica 4 saber ground version, I finally got around to picking up a D4 ffg. I haven't used it much yet, but I notice a few things that make me wonder if maybe it isn't the real article, possibly a counterfeit. I hope that's nothing more than paranoia, but here are a few things I find odd:

pMt2GOD.jpg

The lettering on my D4 sg is cut deeper and painted black, while the ffg's is shallow and hard to read under most lighting conditions.

hTm9Mat.jpg

The Boye dent is cut more shallow on the ffg, slightly different shape.

RRlcQsO.jpg

The trademark "Spyder" is smaller and less distinct.

I like the way it cuts, but overall, the ffg feels different, just a bit less substantial than my original. Can anyone offer some insight here?
 
Where did you get the ffg delca from?
 
First off......dude......you got 10 YEARS between knives! Things are gonna change. With that said I say the new Delica is REAL. I'm basing this off of the stamp in the middle of the handle. On fakes it is a stamp with the little blocks SURROUNDING the outside of the Spyderco stamp. On a real Spyderco those little blocks are actually touching the Spyderco stamp. Like you have. Just my .02 cents.
 
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IDK the answer, but that sabre on the right has a stamp that looks a lot more like V8-10 that VG-10. Maybe it's your camera? But the stamp is decidedly different font or letter.
 
Yeah, your old Delica is just...old. There's nothing suspicious about the ffg one pictured.
 
znapschatz said:
I like the way it cuts, but overall, the ffg feels different, just a bit less substantial than my original. Can anyone offer some insight here?
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The FFG is of course less substantial-feeling than the SG version, because the blade is ground much thinner. The very thing that makes the FFG a better cutter/slicer also makes it a bit weaker than the SG. I own a couple of SG Deliva 4's and one FFG version. The FFG is more 'delicate'-feeling, but 9 times out of 10, I choose the FFG for use when I do carry a Delica.

Your FFG Delica looks legit to me. IIRC, your SG Delica has the older-style "VG-10" stamp. In that older stamp, the "VG" looks like "V8". I believe the stamp was changed(?) on models in more recent years. As far as the Boye dent being shallower in your new knife, that could very well be an individual difference in that particular unit. Perhaps whichever worker in Seki added the 'dent' in the lockbar was a bit less careful/meticulous than the worker who did it for your older knife.

Jim
 
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znapschatz said:
The big river site.
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I used to get blades off there too, now I stick to the places that I know for a fact sell genuine stuff like usamadeblade. A few dollars more is worth the piece of mind. Plus I'd rather support Scott at usamadeblade than Jeff Bezos.
 
Sonnydaze said:
IDK the answer, but that sabre on the right has a stamp that looks a lot more like V8-10 that VG-10. Maybe it's your camera? But the stamp is decidedly different font or letter.
Click to expand...

I had never really noticed that before. On close examination, it is actually a G, but at some angles, it looks like an 8.
 
shinyedges said:
I used to get blades off there too, now I stick to the places that I know for a fact sell genuine stuff like usamadeblade. A few dollars more is worth the piece of mind. Plus I'd rather support Scott at usamadeblade than Jeff Bezos.
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You make a good point there. I'll keep it in mind for future shopping. In fact, I'll bookmark it now.
 
Honestly the fakes are getting so good it is hard to comment.

The best way I know currently for telling even very good fakes is to look at the jimping.

Let's look at the jimping on the spine of my PM2. (My Delica jimping was too small to capture well but the same thing applies) Notice how the jimping is cut like little stairs climbing up the thumb-ramp that goes over the Spydie-hole.
Vt3WNAK.jpg


Now here is the jimping on a fake PM2. Notice how the peaks are pointing more straight up like this. ^^^^^^^ (Not my knife not my picture)
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Almost all fake Spydercos I see have this more vertically peaked jimping. All my real Spydercos I've checked that have this style jimping have the more stairs like jimping. (Atleast the ones I checked all did) In truth though the one pictures above is getting frighteningly closer to the real one.
 
Here’s a couple of comparisons, just for S&G’s.

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767E7413-2C60-4D06-B973-E17CC001A236.jpeg
 
znapschatz said:
Okay, but age isn't the only difference between the two. One is sg, the other ffg. There are differences between them other than when they were made.
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Same difference with cars. Even if they're relatively the same there's a lot of differences a long the way given they care to progress.
 
znapschatz said:
You make a good point there. I'll keep it in mind for future shopping. In fact, I'll bookmark it now.
Click to expand...

The reason isn't that Amazon or somebody selling through Amazon is giving you a counterfeit knife, as far as they know. People can buy a cheap counterfeit from you-know-where and a real knife then return the counterfeit to Amazon. In turn, Amazon might send you a counterfeit without realizing it. Obviously, this mostly a risk only with the more popular knives and knife companies. Benchmade, Spyderco, ZT, etc. As Chris mentioned, it's worth the few extra bucks for the peace of mind when you buy from a proper knife dealer, many of which are supporting dealers here.

shinyedges said:
I used to get blades off there too, now I stick to the places that I know for a fact sell genuine stuff like usamadeblade. A few dollars more is worth the piece of mind. Plus I'd rather support Scott at usamadeblade than Jeff Bezos.
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Hey, Jeff Bezos is employing my dad, in a roundabout way. He's working on pieces of rocket engines for Blue Origin, Bezos' project for manned space flight. So when I buy from Amazon, I know I'm supporting independent space exploration, and, for the time being, my parent's economic welfare.
 
People returning fake knives and them getting sent to customers is how I've heard it happens as well.

Planterz said:
The reason isn't that Amazon or somebody selling through Amazon is giving you a counterfeit knife, as far as they know. People can buy a cheap counterfeit from you-know-where and a real knife then return the counterfeit to Amazon. In turn, Amazon might send you a counterfeit without realizing it. Obviously, this mostly a risk only with the more popular knives and knife companies. Benchmade, Spyderco, ZT, etc. As Chris mentioned, it's worth the few extra bucks for the peace of mind when you buy from a proper knife dealer, many of which are supporting dealers here.



Hey, Jeff Bezos is employing my dad, in a roundabout way. He's working on pieces of rocket engines for Blue Origin, Bezos' project for manned space flight. So when I buy from Amazon, I know I'm supporting independent space exploration, and, for the time being, my parent's economic welfare.
Click to expand...

That's actually pretty cool! Nothing wrong with that at all. I always like helping the "little guy", over the multi billionaire. Scott has a family too and doesn't have enough money to make his great great great great great great great great great grand children live the most luxurious life there is to live. ( Scott if you're a secret billionaire, hook a brother up!)

Same reason I buy the 5 dollar hotdogs from the food truck guy in town and leave him a good tip. He's just trying to make a living.

Not that your dad isn't trying to make a living but hopefully you get what I mean.
 
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