Centofante III

F

Fishstalker

Joined
Jun 1, 2008
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342
I have some $$ burning a hole in my pocket, and I've been considering buying the Centofante III to cure my fix. I've read differing opinions on this knife. Unfortunately none of the local dealers have one in stock, so my only option is the internet. Amazon seems to have the best deal at $50 delivered. Before I take the plunge, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this knife.

Thanks :)
 
It's one of my favorite Spyderco designs. Slim and lightweight, nice blade shape, classy looks, great slicer thanks to the thinner-than-usual-for-Spyderco blade... I love it.
 
Very nice gentleman folder in my opinion :]
VERY light weight, you forget it's there.
Awesome slicing knife, great for small tasks and looks are people friendly.

I bought mine off eBay for 35 w/o the clip unfortunately, but it's so light i can just throw it in my pocket and forget about it.
 
I had one for a few years before I sold it. It's very slim and handsome as others have said. Great slicer due to the thin blade stock. If you're looking for a light weight slicer, this is one to try.
 
I received my Centofante 3 from Amazon this morning. The knife if very nice, solid with great lockup and a shaving sharp blade.. I was surprised to find that it has a single steel liner on the inside of the handle on the clip side. I was under the impression that the handle was FRN with no liner.

Can someone confirm when Spyderco started putting the liner in the handle?
 
good choice , i use a centofante 3 as one of my EDC's and it's never let me down and i'm rough on my knives .

p.s. i have had mine for 3 years and it also has single liner on the back side .
 
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Mine as well has a single steel liner and since i bought w/o box I don't have facts on the liner, but from what I have seen they all have the single liner.
 
The only thing I don't like regarding the Centofante models is how when you press the blade down while it's closed, the edge will hit the FRN handle. They're perfect otherwise.
 
There are two items I'm disappointed in with my Centofante 3.

1. The blade is not centered in the handle, and appears to be touching the steel lined side of the handle.

2. The Spydy hole has a burr. While not ruff, it is there and visible.
 
Fishstalker said:
There are two items I'm disappointed in with my Centofante 3.

1. The blade is not centered in the handle, and appears to be touching the steel lined side of the handle.

2. The Spydy hole has a burr. While not ruff, it is there and visible.
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my blade sits close to but doesn't touch the liner , from what i read , this seems to be the horm .

if you want to remove the small burr from the spydy hole , use a piece of wood dowel rod and sand paper wrapped around it to smooth it out .
 
jimnolimit said:
my blade sits close to but doesn't touch the liner , from what i read , this seems to be the horm .
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Same with mine. The side of the handle with the nested liner (Which is there to hold the screws for the clip.) is thicker, and closer to the blade when it's closed. Just how the knife's designed.
 
The late Frank Centofante ws a highly skilled knifemaker that had been in knives all of his life. His father ran a well known knife factory in the North East.

His designs re very refined and appreciated more by long time knife aficianados. The longer edge with no kick was his preference to provide as much cutting edge as possible into the design. A single liner, as mentioned, was there to hold clip screws and provide ridgidity. Frank wanted a light EDC that was easily carried and an excellent slicer. The thinly ground VG-10 is probably the best steel available for this model.

Thanx for the input on the hole.

sal
 
Sal Glesser said:
The late Frank Centofante ws a highly skilled knifemaker that had been in knives all of his life. His father ran a well known knife factory in the North East.

His designs re very refined and appreciated more by long time knife aficianados. The longer edge with no kick was his preference to provide as much cutting edge as possible into the design. A single liner, as mentioned, was there to hold clip screws and provide ridgidity. Frank wanted a light EDC that was easily carried and an excellent slicer. The thinly ground VG-10 is probably the best steel available for this model.

Thanx for the input on the hole.

sal
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your welcome :thumbup:

thank you for telling the story behind the knife . there isn't a single thing i would change on this knife , it really is spot-on .
 
The Centofante III and 4 are some of Spyderco's best offerings and they often get overlooked.

They have thin VG-10 stock that seem to me about the same thickness as a Victorinox Farmer blade. I'm guessing 2mm or 2.5mm.

I have both the 3 and 4 and they are amazing. Perfect thin blade for slicing. The thing will cut even when dull just due to the blade and geometry. Comfortable handle without being too slick. Amazing grip seeing as they don't have tons of texture on the FRN. The single liner makes this knife feel really strong too.

I think the little burr in the hole is cool. You can tell on many Spydies where the laser cutting began or stopped by that burr. I say leave it, as it doesn't affect the opening or closing and I can't even feel the burr.
 
I have a centofante 3. The thing that attracted me to the model was the blade design. As an edc knife I think it is one of the best blades available. However, I've found that I don't actually edc it very much. The handle is longer than the Delica 4 and the thin blade conveys the impression that it is weak/fragile. It isn't, but it's hard to shake those impressions. Also, the little spider logo is SO cute that I'm afraid that regular use would cause it to fall off. Although my reason assures me that Sal thought of all this and it wouldn't.

The knife has accurately been described as a gentlemen's folder and I think that is an apt description. If I could change anything about the knife it would be to change the grip to something like the bi-directional vulcanized grip of the D4.

At any rate, it's a great knife. Enjoy.

cento3.jpg


OH BTW, In regards to the burr; I hadn't noticed it at all until I took a magnifying glass to look after reading this post. I actually don't think it is a defect at all. I kinda like it.
 
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cgmblade said:
If I could change anything about the knife it would be to change the grip to something like the bi-directional vulcanized grip of the D4.
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I think that would take away from the classy look of the knife, and it's plenty grippy for the tasks that you'd do with it.

The blade on my Centofante 4 is very well centered.

It's one of my favorite Spyderco designs.
 
Sal Glesser said:
Frank wanted a light EDC that was easily carried and an excellent slicer.
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And, boy, did he get what he wanted.

This knife doesn't get anywhere near the attention it deserves. At its price point, it's the best full-sized model in Spyderco's product line. Holds up well to more expensive ones, too.
 
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