Need help identifying a custom Delica...

El_Toro

El_Toro

Joined
Oct 6, 2006
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Below is a picture of a custom Delica I got for Christmas. It's a gorgeous knife, but I prefer the more utilitarian factory models. Anyhow, it was purchased from a reputable ebay seller, who sells quite a bit of customs. My father purchased it as a Santa Fe Stoneworks custom, with Blue Lapis, Red Coral, and Black jet inlays. Here's where in the problem lays, I recently sold it and now the buyer claims he had the knife tested and the stone inlays are actually plastic!:eek: I have no reason not to believe him as his feedback is top notch and most of his purchases have been high end folders. Myself, I have no experience at all with custom inlay work. I agreed to a refund and I should be receiving the knife back sometime next week.

I would like to know if anyone here has purchased one of these customs in this particular pattern and if so, did you buy it as a Santa Fe Stoneworks custom or as a custom done by some other company? Once I get it back, I intend to take it to my local jeweler to get confirmation that the materials used are plastic and then contact the original seller about it. Hopefully the original seller will make good of it. If not, looks like a good chunk of $ just went down the drain.:(
 
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El Toro,
Sorry to hear about that. I'll PM you right now and maybe we can talk. Plastic or not, I think it's a pretty cool mod.

Cheers,
Jon
 
Probably the best thing to do would be to contact Santa Fe Stoneworks. They can tell you if they made it, and what the materials are. Do remember that reconstituted and stabilized stone both use plastic as a binder, so there's a possibility that the knife is authentic, and is stone, but that your buyer is not entirely wrong.

Paul
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You shouldn't be selling an X-mas gift from your pops....what are you doing?!

Besides that, it looks like you have a spider-man Spyderco........ very cool!
 
trimcut123 said:
You shouldn't be selling an X-mas gift from your pops....what are you doing?!

Besides that, it looks like you have a spider-man Spyderco........ very cool!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I hear you, lol. He doesn't mind though, rather see me get something I'll use. Besides, I got him a D2 Military for X-Mas, so it equals out!:D
 
The Deacon said:
Probably the best thing to do would be to contact Santa Fe Stoneworks. They can tell you if they made it, and what the materials are. Do remember that reconstituted and stabilized stone both use plastic as a binder, so there's a possibility that the knife is authentic, and is stone, but that your buyer is not entirely wrong.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, it helped a lot. I just contacted the original seller and he confirmed the knife is indeed bonded stone. I e-mailed Santa Fe Stoneworks and am waiting on their reply. I'm going to call them tomorrow as well. It's looking like this is actually a legit custom and the the whole thing is just a big misunderstanding.

Here's another picture of the knife, maybe it will help a bit...



There's a signature on the box, I can make out the first name "Brian", however I'm having a bit of trouble reading the last name. Does this look familiar to anyone?
 
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El_Toro said:
Thanks for the reply, it helped a lot. I just contacted the original seller and he confirmed the knife is indeed bonded stone. I e-mailed Santa Fe Stoneworks and am waiting on their reply. I'm going to call them tomorrow as well. It's looking like this is actually a legit custom and the the whole thing is just a big misunderstanding.

Here's another picture of the knife, maybe it will help a bit...

SpydercoDEL001.jpg


There's a signature on the box, I can make out the first name "Brian", however I'm having a bit of trouble reading the last name. Does this look familiar to anyone?
Click to expand...

Yes, El_Toro! That is Brian Yellowhorse, son of David Yellowhorse! Here's some info on him:
"Brian Yellowhorse is the son of David Yellowhorse which is a fourth generation Native American silversmith whose reputation for creating handmade tribal works of art has brought him recognition throughout the cutlery industry and the world. Brian is following in his father footstep and seems to be doing a good job looking at the quality of his work."
From: http://www.knifeworks.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=630

Some more links:
http://www.yellowhorseltd.com/Brian%20Yellowhorse.htm

http://www.buckknives.com/catalog/detail/598/235

I'd definitely keep the knife, bro!;):thumbup:

Regards,
3G
 
It seems that the original seller may have confused Santa Fe Stoneworks: http://www.santafestoneworks.com/ with David and Brian Yellowhorse/ Yellowhorse Ltd: http://www.yellowhorseltd.com/ &http://groups.msn.com/YellowhorseKnives/_whatsnew.msnw, all of which are extremely legit! I would contact Brian Yellowhorse: http://www.yellowhorseltd.com/contact.htm, and see if he remembers embellishing that knife.

This appears to be a confusion/misunderstanding on the part of the original seller and nothing more.

To echo what I said in my post above, I'd keep that knife!;)

Regards,
3G
 
MORIMOTOM said:
how was the knife tested?

was any material removed?
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Been wondering about that myself, hard to do no-destructive testing when all the material is right out in the open and there's no "back" or "inside" to take an inconspicuous sample from.

As for the box. If the original eBay seller of that knife is who I strongly suspect it is, he deals a lot with both Santa Fe and the Yellowhorse family, but despite the patter in his auction listings, knows very little about the knives he sells or the styles of the individuals who embellish them. He probably put the wrong knife in the wrong box. Would not be the first time he did something like that. The Delica definitely looks more like the work of Santa Fe Stoneworks but they normally do not re-use the Spyderco box. Every knife I've ever seen by Brian Yellowhorse included at least some file work on the handle, as in the photo below.

del_bear.jpg

Have never seen anything by him with a either a web design or a "bug" logo on it either. Finally, he signs his knives with his "The Yellowhorseman" mark.

Again, if the seller is who I think it is, am sure he can come up with some story on how that happened, he's a first class BS artist.

Paul
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My Personal Website - - - - - - A Beginners Guide to Spyderco Collecting - - - - - - Kiwimania
Dead horses beaten, sacred cows tipped, chimeras hunted when time permits.
Spyderco Collector # 043 - - WTC # 1458 - 1504 - 1508 - Never Forget, Never Forgive!
It's easy to grin when your ship comes in and good fortune and fame are your lot, but the man worthwhile is the man who can smile with his shorts twsited up in a knot. - Morey Amsterdam
 
I don't know.

Usually you can tell if a material is stone or plastic by gently knocking it against your front teeth. Might possibly not be that simple in this case though.
 
Just got word back from Santa Fe Stoneworks, and this is indeed one of their knives!:thumbup: I was told that they use reconstituted lapis and coral. As for the test the buyer used, he told me that under a stereo microscope, he gently pushed a pin into a few inconspicuous places and found the material to be soft. I'm still awaiting final word from the buyer, but it looks like he is going to keep the knife. I'm very lucky to be dealing with someone who has been patient and willing to work with me while I confirm the identity of this knife. All I can say is this has been a huge learning experience and I will definitely do more thorough research before dealing with a custom like this again!
 
Glad it seems to be working out Toro. If you ever see another one, you know who to PM!

Thanks,
Jon
 
I just wanted to thank everyone here for the help and info you all provided! I would have still been chasing my own tail otherwise, lol. Things are all squared away now between the buyer and I.:thumbup::D
 
El_Toro said:
Below is a picture of a custom Delica I got for Christmas. It's a gorgeous knife, but I prefer the more utilitarian factory models. Anyhow, it was purchased from a reputable ebay seller, who sells quite a bit of customs. My father purchased it as a Santa Fe Stoneworks custom, with Blue Lapis, Red Coral, and Black jet inlays. Here's where in the problem lays, I recently sold it and now the buyer claims he had the knife tested and the stone inlays are actually plastic!:eek: I have no reason not to believe him as his feedback is top notch and most of his purchases have been high end folders. Myself, I have no experience at all with custom inlay work. I agreed to a refund and I should be receiving the knife back sometime next week.

I would like to know if anyone here has purchased one of these customs in this particular pattern and if so, did you buy it as a Santa Fe Stoneworks custom or as a custom done by some other company? Once I get it back, I intend to take it to my local jeweler to get confirmation that the materials used are plastic and then contact the original seller about it. Hopefully the original seller will make good of it. If not, looks like a good chunk of $ just went down the drain.:(

THAT IS NOT A STONEWORKS PIECE ITS DONE BY A YELLOWHORSE THE STONE IS BLOODY BASIN JASPER RECON. BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT THE WORK ON THE KNIFE IS ALL THE COST. THEY USE THESE MATERIALS FOR COLOR COMBINATIONS IF THEY DIDENT YOU WOULD HAVE SOME DULL INLAYS AND MORE EXPENSIVE...ITS JUST AS HARD TO WORK IN MANY CASES AS REAL. BUT STONEWORKS USES THE MOST NATURAL MATERIALS OUT THERE THEN OTHERS. I SHOULD KNOW I HAVE BEEN WORKING THERE FOR 9 YEARS!!! HOPE THAT ASNWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS
Click to expand...
 
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