Kissing Crane (China) knives?

moonwilson said:
The mammoth ivory is stabilized and shouldn't be cracking like that.
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I don't like to rain on anyone's parade or side track a discussion but I think this need to be clarified.

1) Take a piece of mammoth ivory and weight it to .01 ounces.

2) Send the ivory to be "stabilized".

3) When the ivory is returned, carefully clean excess stabiliant off the exterior.

4) Weight it to .01 ounces.

5) Compare before and after weights.

6) Consider why the weights are the same.

We use Wood Stabilization Specialist (WSSI) extensively to stabilize our wood. They do an excellent job on specific materials.

People have spent years trying to figure out how to dye mammoth ivory. They have failed for the same reason stabilization fails, mammoth ivory does not absorb the dye or stabiliant.
 
Thanks for your input, Chuck. Nice to see you over here. :thumbup:
 
I made a post here a while back I thought the steel was 440A and someone else thought it might be different Chinese steel. A G Russell list 440A as the steel on his web site. Either way good knives for a very inexpensive price.

RKH
 
I may be dumb. but I'm still a little confused. Are there any Kissing Cranes still made in Germany?

I was browsing a knife site this morning and noticed a big price jump on the Kissing Cranes and saw this, clearly marked Germany. Some with the round shield are advertised as "High Carbon Solingen Steel" and some as "High Carbon Stainless steel" and all cost much more than the Chinese versions.
KC16.jpg


The Hallmark link from the other poster shows only the KC federal-type shields, which I assume are all China-made.

While researching this morning, I also found this, which was not helpful in my attempt to understand: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/BUDK-Announces-Exclusive-Ownership-of-Kissing-Crane-Knives-Brand-1110744.htm
 
I have a new Kissing Crane large sodbuster made in Italy--carbon steel with wood handle. Fit, finish, and sharpness are all very good. It appears not all KC has been moved to China.
 

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E-mail I just got from BudK, in response to an e-mail I sent them this morning asking for clarification on country of origin. I guess it confirms what was posted earlier in the thread, and apparently the Italian and German KC's are just older stock.

David,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your question or concern. Our number one goal at Bud K is to serve you, our valued Bud K Customer. For over 20 years we have been the leader in providing top quality merchandise at affordable prices backed by our iron clad 100% satisfaction guarantee.

When United Cutlery went bankrupt a year or so ago, we purchased the company, along with licenses that they had at the time, Kissing Crane included. Any Kissing Crane items sold since that time have been manufactured in China. Smoky Mountain carries a lot of older knives that are no longer made, and this happens to be one of them, as most of the Kissing Crane items were made in Germany before the unfortunate bankruptcy of United Cutlery. I hope I have cleared this up for you but if you have further questions please let me know.

Thank you once again for contacting us. If you need further assistance please feel free to e-mail me directly. If you would like to speak to a Customer Service Representative, please call our toll free help line at 1-800-956-1667, Monday thru Friday 8 AM – 10PM or Saturday from 9 AM to 7 PM Eastern time.

Kimberly NeSmith
Customer Service
Bud K Worldwide, Inc
knesmith@budk.com
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I have a few kissing cranes (yellow and tobacco bone lockback whittlers and a ram's horn copperhead) and I find them to be excellent work knives. The steel is good enough, comes with a good edge from the factory and gets really sharp. Fit and finish seems to me to be a little better than Rough Rider - no noticeable gaps, no play, and everything flushed up nicely. I'm particularly impressed with their execution of the difficult lockback whittler pattern - everything works smoothly with no play in the lockup and the spring tension on both the main and the smaller blades is just right. Just reading this thread makes me want to get the rest of the set in ram's horn, its a great looking handle material and they do it very nicely.
 
Steve_Holt said:
I may be dumb. but I'm still a little confused. Are there any Kissing Cranes still made in Germany?

I was browsing a knife site this morning and noticed a big price jump on the Kissing Cranes and saw this, clearly marked Germany. Some with the round shield are advertised as "High Carbon Solingen Steel" and some as "High Carbon Stainless steel" and all cost much more than the Chinese versions.
KC16.jpg


The Hallmark link from the other poster shows only the KC federal-type shields, which I assume are all China-made.

While researching this morning, I also found this, which was not helpful in my attempt to understand: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/BUDK-Announces-Exclusive-Ownership-of-Kissing-Crane-Knives-Brand-1110744.htm
Click to expand...

That's the 175th Anniversary Congress in yellow Dupont Delrin that is 100% Solingen, Germany made. While still available if one knows how to search, and for a reasonable price, beware of eBay offerings that have this knife offered for upwards of $135+. Also, any NOS Kissing Crane(s) from Germany will come in a box that says Kissing Crane(s) with the S. Also, if it is in fact a NOS knife that is not made in China whatsoever, and it does not have the S on Cranes on the box, it will be marked on the box as made in Spain or Italy. Are we confused yet?

One last thing, that Congress was manufactured in 2009, and less than 250 were made, so get one while you can, if you can.
 
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Alnamvet68:

Thanks for your service. And for the excellent post on the 175th KC knife. I learn something every time I visit this forum.
 
As promised, straight from Deutschland, Solingen specifically.....






NO MSG or Soy Sauce in this steel;)
 
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