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How to tell blade steel on L1 Ladybugs

E

essorde

Joined
Feb 2, 2014
Messages
49
Hi. I have been collecting Ladybugs for a while and I've come to understand there are a few blade steel variations of the older ladybugs, namely Gin 1/2, AUS 6 and AUS 8 steel. My question is...without the box, how can I tell what type of steel my ladybugs are? For the earliest models, I now understand GIN1 was replaced with GIN2, then the AUS versions (sorry, I do not know the acronyms so forgive me if I am misquoting).

I have several ladybugs that I THOUGHT were doubles to be used in trade or sale however if there is a way without the box to tell me what I have steel-wise, I may wanna look through my doubles again. Without the box or serial, I do not know the date made therefore I'm already down a strike in my research....

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Take care friends!
Chet
 
GIN 1 and G2 are the same thing. When Spyderco first started marking the steel, the maker in Japan was already using "GIN 1" for another contract, so they wouldn't use it for Spyderco. Sal came up with "G 2", which was used for a couple of years until that other contract ran out, then they switched to the GIN 1 mark. As far as I know, the Ladybug was always made with AUS6 steel, unless it was unavailable and something else had to be used in its place. I know that was done on the Delica and Endura, but I don't know that it ever happened on the Ladybug. I doubt the boxes and paperwork would help, either.

Unless you are prepared to have the blades sampled and chemical analysis of the steel performed, there is no way to prove they are anything but what they are supposed to be, namely AUS6.
 
Years ago, either Sal or Joyce said the FRN Ladybug 1 and Ladybug 2, as well as the FRN, SS, and Micarta Jesters, all used AUS-6. The CF Ladybug was ATS-55, was marked as such, and AFAIK, is the only one of the knives I've mentioned to have steel markings.
 
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