Spyderco Sharpmaker USA or China

S

Slimman

Joined
Jan 9, 2008
Messages
198
Hello, I have noticed that some of the sharpmakers say "made in China" and some of them "USA made". Can someone elaborate on this for me. Where are these being made? Is the China made version a cheap nock-off? Were they once produced in the US and now being produced in China? Not real familiar with Spyderco, so dont really know the company history. Thanks
 
Mine is fairly current (about a year old) and it is marked "USA Made." I have not heard of China-produced ones but I think the only one who could answer this question for certain would be Sal. I have also never heard of Spyderco moving production of one of their products to other factories. The Byrd Duckfoot sharpener, however, IS made in China but has been getting great reviews.
 
Mine came in packaging like that. Probably clear this all up by asking the dealer to check to see if it says USA-made. It's not like Ebay sellers don't make mistakes...
 
If you want to buy USA made on principle, I admire and agree with your motives.

However, the days of considering Chinese made goods to be cheap or second rate are over. Most Chinese made products ( and the ones Spyderco offers in particular) rival American, Japanese, German made or what have you, in quality. This is true notwithstanding the fact that they might be half the price.

Scary? Yes. However, that's the fact.
 
Longbeachguy, I dont know if Spyderco manufactures any of there products in China or not. From the sound of your post I assume that they do. I am sure they are of fine quality, cosidering the Spyderco name and the standards the company seems to have.
The real problem for me is that so many fake products come out of China that are not manufactured by the company that they are stating, and not of the same quality.
Last year there was a huge Ipod scam.....thousand of people bought Ipods that were not even made by Apple. The golf club industry is really being hit right now.....so many fakes that look just like the originals...but of far inferior quality. All from China. I could go on and on.
Like I said I am sure where ever Spyderco is manufacturing there products they are uphoalding their standards. I like the Spyderco Sharpmaker and just wanted to be sure I didnt end up buying a nock-off clone.
 
Yes, Spyderco does manufacture its Byrd line of knives and one Spyderco model, the Tenacious, in China.

However, unless you bought a Sharpmaker, either from that eBay seller or elsewhere, and can be 100% certain it says "Made in China", I think the most likely possibility here is that the seller made a mistake in their listing. I think if Spyderco had moved Sharpmaker production to China, their MSRP would reflect that. Just checked the online catalog and it still lists for $80.

Have you tried using eBay's "Ask the seller a question" feature to inquire if they are sure the Sharpmaker they are listing is made in China? Granted, high volume powersellers don't always bother answering, but it's worth a shot.

Paul
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I sent another email to the seller asking them to confirm that it was definetly made in China, and that it was not a mistake. I recieved a response back this morning stating that it was made in China and that it was not a mistake.
 
I believe the "stone" Spyderco uses is only made in the US (could be wrong on that though), so if any of the SharpMaker system is made in China it'll probably just be the plastic base, packaging, paperwork, & DVD.

I can't actually find "Made in China" or "USA Made" anywhere on mine, or its packaging/paperwork.
 
Dogmatic said:
I believe the "stone" Spyderco uses is only made in the US (could be wrong on that though), so if any of the SharpMaker system is made in China it'll probably just be the plastic base, packaging, paperwork, & DVD.

I can't actually find "Made in China" or "USA Made" anywhere on mine, or its packaging/paperwork.
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Granted, mine is about 3 years old, but it is marked "USA Made" on the base...

sharpmaker_base.jpg
 
I got mine in the last 3 months and it reads the same as the Deacon's. I talked with Sal at length about the Sharpmakers at the SHOT show and he never mentioned changing manufacturers. He did say that someone had copied them in the past though but that the stones were different colors.
 
longbeachguy said:
However, the days of considering Chinese made goods to be cheap or second rate are over. Most Chinese made products ( and the ones Spyderco offers in particular) rival American, Japanese, German made or what have you, in quality.
Click to expand...

Well, I hear more and more mantras like this lately, but Chinese products does not came better if you just repeat this again and again. To me most China made things which I have to buy because I do not really have choice, does not work as good as American, Japanese, German.

However I do not know how good commies work for Spyderco - likely I have choice here to buy from free market economic countries (US, Japan, German) which have free exchange rate to compete fairly.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
nozh2002 said:
Well, I hear more and more mantras like this lately, but Chinese products does not came better if you just repeat this again and again. To me most China made things which I have to buy because I do not really have choice, does not work as good as American, Japanese, German.

However I do not know how good commies work for Spyderco - likely I have choice here to buy from free market economic countries (US, Japan, German) which have free exchange rate to compete fairly.

Thanks, Vassili.
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Come on, Vassali...be reasonable...every mainland Chinese person is not automatically a commie in the derisive since you proclaim it to be, just as every person in the former USSR was not...;)

Ray :)
 
reholli said:
Come on, Vassali...be reasonable...every mainland Chinese person is not automatically a commie in the derisive since you proclaim it to be, just as every person in the former USSR was not...;)

Ray :)
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But every person in charge was a commie. It was commie who decides everything (and this is why even Russia collased under their rule - it takes them 75 years to waste richest country in the World)

Regular Chinese are same as me and you (as a regular Soviets were) and may be commie or not - point is that Communist Government lover Yuan rate to make their products few times cheaper even real coast is higher and quality is lower to be able to compete with made in USA (or everywhere else) goods which cost less and better in quality and actually take over market after market this way - entire industries in US disappear! Unlike in Japan where they protect their market better and made-in-China things in Japan costs at least same as made-in-Japan and have hard time competing.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
nozh2002 said:
But every person in charge was a commie. It was commie who decides everything (and this is why even Russia collased under their rule - it takes them 75 years to waste richest country in the World)

Regular Chinese are same as me and you (as a regular Soviets were) and may be commie or not - point is that Communist Government lover Yuan rate to make their products few times cheaper even real coast is higher and quality is lower to be able to compete with made in USA (or everywhere else) goods which cost less and better in quality and actually take over market after market this way - entire industries in US disappear! Unlike in Japan where they protect their market better and made-in-China things in Japan costs at least same as made-in-Japan and have hard time competing.

Thanks, Vassili.
Click to expand...

I do understand you concern...

Ray :)
 
nozh2002 said:
Well, I hear more and more mantras like this lately, but Chinese products does not came better if you just repeat this again and again. To me most China made things which I have to buy because I do not really have choice, does not work as good as American, Japanese, German.

However I do not know how good commies work for Spyderco - likely I have choice here to buy from free market economic countries (US, Japan, German) which have free exchange rate to compete fairly.

Thanks, Vassili.
Click to expand...

+1
I ask this,what will happen when China's economy grows enough that the products there are costing as much as here?It is happening,I deal with some drug companies that buy tons of little wigits to give away at trade shows and they said they have not been able to hind near as many items from China that they can afford to give away.
I too only buy China made goods when I can not find any other or if it is something that I am going to use only one time and throw in a box.There have been a couple odd tools I needed that I have done this with,they worked good one time but I could tell that after 4 or 5 times they would be ready for the trash.
 
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