*FAKE* Esee izula awful grinding under the paint

[shane45-1911]

Whether Esse anneals their tangs or not I have no idea.

Rowan's process only differentially heat treats the blade.

I suppose you could infer that this leaves the tang softer than the blade edge.

 

[EngrSorenson]

I inherited an Esee Izula from a housemate that moved out. It was pink. The pink had to go. After removing the awful pink powder coating, I was further appalled at the roughness of the finishing underneath, grinding lines nearly 1/32” deep in some places on the face of the blade and a little bit of a bulge on one side of the flat grind. I’m in the process of smoothing it out with some diamond stones, and actually somewhat surprised at how easy it is to remove material. So much so that I’m starting to wonder if it was a counterfeit or something.
Has anyone else encountered something like this under the paint?
These pictures are after already spending some time on the diamond stones.

https://imgur.com/a/NdIsQLN

Just looking closer- I think both my izulas have sharpening choils. This one doesn’t have one… and it looks like they really boogered up the grind where the choil was supposed to be. Throw in the 6 vs 7 jimps, and I think this is counterfeit.

 

[WoodenMonkey]

I wasn’t trying to call anyone’s integrity in question, just using that as an example of what one possible reason to uphold a certain standard of finishing could be. I am a maker, and I have my own standards, (not trying to say anyone should do things my way. Although I can see how this may have come across that way) if I don’t like how something is done, I’ll fix it or change it, like I’ve done here. I love modifying and customizing things.
This knife is exactly what I wanted, a project knife that I’m not afraid to grind on and experiment with. I was just surprised when I saw what was under the paint and wanted to know if it was normal for these.
I learned a bunch and have ended up with a really sweet little knife. This is already becoming one of new favorites.

 

[WoodenMonkey]

Okay, still needs a bit more shaping on the handle. But here it is! With Choya cactus and turquoise epoxy handle scales. I really love how my thumb just rests naturally in the new little swell. It is one the most comfortable knifes I have now!

 

[WoodenMonkey]

Ha, yea, now it’s a question of, “did I just spend all that time and energy modifying something that may not actually be as good of steel as I thought? I guess I’ll do some edge testing and compare it to some other knives.
All in all, for the bargain price of “free and elbow grease” I’m very happy with this. And gained some good experience as well as a sweet little knife.

 

[jmh33]

Okay, still needs a bit more shaping on the handle. But here it is! With Choya cactus and turquoise epoxy handle scales. I really love how my thumb just rests naturally in the new little swell. It is one the most comfortable knifes I have now!

Well done!!
Looks Good!!!
John

 

[WoodenMonkey]

When I did some work on my house recently, I did not paint the inside of the sheetrock before mounting it up on the wall.

I’m glad you didn’t paint the inside of your Sheetrock, that would be silly! and to borrow that same analogy, as a carpenter, if I had a sheet of sheet rock with gouges all over the backside, I wouldn’t use it.

 

[sonofwilfred]

Ha, yea, now it’s a question of, “did I just spend all that time and energy modifying something that may not actually be as good of steel as I thought? I guess I’ll do some edge testing and compare it to some other knives.
All in all, for the bargain price of “free and elbow grease” I’m very happy with this. And gained some good experience as well as a sweet little knife.

A nice modification mate

Dan

 

[WoodenMonkey]

It does seem pretty clear now that this wasn’t an authentic Esee Izula, I haven’t seen any other pictures that looked like this one did. And besides the deep grinding lines; the jimping, lack of decent sharpening choil, uneven plunge lines, and logo being on the paint rather than the blade all seem to indicate knockoff.
Scratch all that… after their email response, the most ‘suspicious’ thing is that the logo and serial number seemed to come off with the paint, but maybe I misinterpreted that part of their reply…
Sadly I don’t have a picture of its original state.
But it sure seemed like pretty hard steel. I don’t have much experience with grinding/filing on heat treated carbon steel, but even using my CBN wheel to do the spine shaping, it didn’t feel ‘that’ much softer than my HSS lathe tools.
I did actually email Esee those original pictures to see if they have any thoughts. We’ll see if they respond

 

[WoodenMonkey]

Wow, props to esee for their customer service! Here’s their response to my email:

Gabriel

We know we are going to coat the blades so we do not put the effort into a smooth finish just to cover over it. On our stainless blades we go smoother and put them thru a tumbled finish that is more ….. Finished bc we know they will not receive a coating.

As for a counterfeit, I can’t really tell given the modifications that have been done to the knife at this point. Usually all fakes have a serial number of 51455

Modifying the blade does not void the warranty. However
Etching the logos before stripping the blade does help in the identification process should you ever need to warranty the blade.

Shane Adams
Marketing Director
Esee Knives/Randall's Adventure & Training

 

[WoodenMonkey]

This video has removed the last vestiges of doubt that my knife be a fake. And that is great! Because now I have the opportunity to see what a real one is like. And to modify it, without hours spent flattening the blade first. And I got to practice, and now I can totally destroy this one in the name of, why not?
And I already have the awesome handle scales made

 

[dogstar]

This video has removed the last vestiges of doubt that my knife be a fake. And that is great! Because now I have the opportunity to see what a real one is like. And to modify it, without hours spent flattening the blade first. And I got to practice, and now I can totally destroy this one in the name of, why not?
And I already have the awesome handle scales made

What are you gonna do with the fake? A knife's a knife.

 

[Sam Wilson]

WoodenMonkey So at this point do you go back and correct your comments about ESEE and their practices (or what you THOUGHT were their practices), since you have been dealing with fake counterfeit garbage and not an ESEE product, and your only actual interaction with ESEE was a helpful email from them even though you had a fake knockoff junk blade? Since you didn't spend the msrp of $97 you quoted, it was free to you, AND is not the genuine article. Just following up.

Sam

 

[WoodenMonkey]

What are you gonna do with the fake? A knife's a knife

True enough. Especially after putting in a bunch of time and energy…
Buuut… Now I’m thinking about making a video… “FAKE Esee Izula VS 55 lb recurve bow”
I’ll take any excuse to shoot something with my bow in slow motion!
Or, I suppose I could order a real one and mod it and then do some actual real world comparison tests…
And THEN shoot it!

 

[WoodenMonkey]

WoodenMonkey So at this point do you go back and correct your comments about ESEE and their practices (or what you THOUGHT were their practices), since you have been dealing with fake counterfeit garbage and not an ESEE product, and your only actual interaction with ESEE was a helpful email from them even though you had a fake knockoff junk blade? Since you didn't spend the msrp of $97 you quoted, it was free to you, AND is not the genuine article. Just following up.

Sam

Indeed, and I was thinking exactly that… Only reason I haven’t done so yet is I just got to work… Thank you for upholding the ‘Integrity’ of the conversation

 

[Sam Wilson]

Fair play, respect WoodenMonkey .

Sam

 

[jmh33]

Indeed, and I was thinking exactly that… Only reason I haven’t done so yet is I just got to work… Thank you for upholding the ‘Integrity’ of the conversation

I am we all have tasted crow once or twice in our lives!!
John