Are Golden Co knives made or assembled

T

texmex03

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Nov 17, 2014
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Was curious... Are the Golden knives made in Colorado from scales to blades, or are parts made around the globe and assembled in Colorado?
 
Fabricated is very descriptive.

There are couple of BladeHQ (i think) made videos about Spyderco. They show some of the process of making knives at the Golden factory.
 
I'm pretty sure the ores for the metals are not mined in house, and I've never seen a foundry to smelt them in the neighborhood. I seriously doubt the G-10 and FRN are made in house either. I rather doubt the screw fasteners are machined by elves in a corner of the factory. But the steel comes in sheets that are cut and ground in Golden, as does the G-10. I don't know if the injection molding is done in-house or is contracted out, that seems to be a rather specialized process.
 
yablanowitz said:
I'm pretty sure the ores for the metals are not mined in house, and I've never seen a foundry to smelt them in the neighborhood. I seriously doubt the G-10 and FRN are made in house either. I rather doubt the screw fasteners are machined by elves in a corner of the factory. But the steel comes in sheets that are cut and ground in Golden, as does the G-10. I don't know if the injection molding is done in-house or is contracted out, that seems to be a rather specialized process.
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And all this time I was thinking they were mining the ore from the Rockies behind their building and smelting on site! And you are telling me the elves aren't really there?

I was just curious after seeing the Native Salt getting made in Golden since it was FRN (or whatever the bi-directional stuff is made of now) so I started wondering what all was done there. I assumed it was as you say cutting the sheet metal into blades and G10 into handles.
 
texmex03 said:
And all this time I was thinking they were mining the ore from the Rockies behind their building and smelting on site! And you are telling me the elves aren't really there?

I was just curious after seeing the Native Salt getting made in Golden since it was FRN (or whatever the bi-directional stuff is made of now) so I started wondering what all was done there. I assumed it was as you say cutting the sheet metal into blades and G10 into handles.
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Don't listen to that meanie yablanowitz, of course Spydercos are made by magical elves.

Don't worry Sal is going to put him on the naughty list.
 
What factors maybe expressed as a percentage drive items being made out of country as opposed to Golden? I always wonder this about manufacturing as a whole not just knives when you consider where the country came from to where it is now.

Corp Taxes
EPA Regulations
Proximity to Materials
Employee Wages
Skilled Labor
Profit Margin

Full disclosure I have guilt that my favorite knife is the Taiwan Slysz Bowie, also have the foreign Techno, HAP 40 Caly 3 and SALT Dragonfly....so obviously not a hater of non American knives.
 
texmex03 said:
What factors maybe expressed as a percentage drive items being made out of country as opposed to Golden? I always wonder this about manufacturing as a whole not just knives when you consider where the country came from to where it is now.

Corp Taxes
EPA Regulations
Proximity to Materials
Employee Wages
Skilled Labor
Profit Margin

Full disclosure I have guilt that my favorite knife is the Taiwan Slysz Bowie, also have the foreign Techno, HAP 40 Caly 3 and SALT Dragonfly....so obviously not a hater of non American knives.
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I strongly suspect that the limits of Golden's production capacity is one of the major reasons many models are made overseas. Technical ability probably plays a role too, especially with some of the more technically complex models made in Taiwan. Sal probably also realizes that putting all your eggs in one basket, even if it's your own basket, can bite you in the ass if something goes wrong. Spreading things out insures the majority of models will be available even if one maker or country has problems. In the case of Japan, respect for tradition may also enter into it. Remember that, for the first ten years or so, all Spyderco knives were made in Japan and that the success of those models was what allowed the Golden plant to be built. If any of your reasons come into play, it would be Skilled Labor, but only in the sense that more models could probably be made in Golden if they wanted to run three shifts and had the manpower to do it. Even if that was possible, I think it would go against Sal's philosophy.
 
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texmex03 said:
What factors maybe expressed as a percentage drive items being made out of country as opposed to Golden? I always wonder this about manufacturing as a whole not just knives when you consider where the country came from to where it is now.

Corp Taxes
EPA Regulations
Proximity to Materials
Employee Wages
Skilled Labor
Profit Margin

Full disclosure I have guilt that my favorite knife is the Taiwan Slysz Bowie, also have the foreign Techno, HAP 40 Caly 3 and SALT Dragonfly....so obviously not a hater of non American knives.
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Don't feel guilty. Taichung Spydercos have long been considered the nicest Spydies by many. That is not to insult the Golden Knives which are superb as well.

Usually it looks to me like if a Spydie is going to be designed as a no nonsense knife that is built to be a rugaged cutting tool, then these are made at Golden.

Taichung seems to get the more "luxury" models whichy have upgraded materials. The Spydie Taichung factory puts out amazing stuff.

Just saying Golden and Taichung both do outstanding work.
 
I would think that the answer to your question is probably yes. Many of the parts that go into the knife, in particular the blades are cut and ground in Colorado. The knives are assembled in Colorado. But the materials and most likely some of the parts, like screws, are bought. As was pointed out before Blade HQ has several videos on YouTube called 'Spyderco Shop Tour' that have some great information about how Spyderco knives are made.
 
Thanx Paul. Astute observations.

We bring in steel in sheet. We bring in G-10 in Sheet. Some G-10 machining is done outside. Heat treat is outside, but done by a very skilled School of Mines Graduate, local, and mostly works for Spyderco. Injection molding is outside, but inside Colorado. Everything else is done in Golden. 24/5 for some of the equipment (Lasers, EDM, Robots etc.).

sal
 
Sal Glesser said:
Thanx Paul. Astute observations.

We bring in steel in sheet. We bring in G-10 in Sheet. Some G-10 machining is done outside. Heat treat is outside, but done by a very skilled School of Mines Graduate, local, and mostly works for Spyderco. Injection molding is outside, but inside Colorado. Everything else is done in Golden. 24/5 for some of the equipment (Lasers, EDM, Robots etc.).

sal
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I'm curious if the expansion is *fully operational*, or if there are more phases coming (to the current iteration)?
 
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