When did the CQC-10 switch from Ti liners to Stee?

M

mattmcg

Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Messages
10
Hello,

Does anybody know at what serial number Emerson quit making both of the CQC-10 liners from titanium and began building them with one side stainless steel?

Thanks. I've got two serial numbers, one earlier than the other, and the earlier serial weighs about 15 grams lighter. I thought they were both stainless and Ti versions but now I'm not so sure.

Please advise.

M
 
To save money. It doesn't make sense to me, though. Titanium is what his customers want. Other makers have not done this?? The SS liners are still excellent!
 
My 2007 SOCFK-B is all Ti.
My Super SOCFK-B's non-locking liner is thinner than the locking side. It's either half Ti and half SS or all Ti with thin and thick liners.

I heard EKI started adding SS to the non-locking liners of most of their line in late 2007. That was actually from an email I received from them when I asked about my SOCFK-B.

You can test if its Ti by grinding on it and if it sparks white super hot sparks then its Ti. Ti also turns blue when heated.
 
I believe it was some time in 07 the change was made, i have an 07 Persian with Ti on the locking side and steel on the other.

Titanium is non magnetic and will usually look duller than steel when side by side.:thumbup:
 
spidyman said:
in the late 90's IIRC, not sure on a specific sn
Click to expand...

huh?? they changed to the SS on 1 side in '07, not sure about the #.

i dont guess its a deal breaker to me though i would prefer the ti of course.

to see if its SS see if a magnet is attracted to it, no need to grind on it/etc.

i dont think it would make 15 grams of diff, i have handled SS/ti versions and didnt notice a big diff in weight vs the ti/ti, i would like to think i woulda felt that much diff between the 2, maybe not though.
 
My CQC-10 is from early 2007 and has the number 0807. It has two TI liners. The change was made somewhen in 2007.
If you want to get sure to get TI, I'd buy a pre 2007 model.
 
This change to a steel liner on one side supposedly to save money was the reason I got a Benchmade Stryker 913 instead of a CQC-10. My Stryker
was $110 which is considerably cheaper than the 10 and it has THICK
titanium liners(and a neat design). I believe the steel(D2) is considerably better than the 154cm on the Emerson. It also weighs only 3.8 ounces. :)

I have always been a fan of Emerson's design but feel that they have
really screwed the customer in this move without a price decrease at the
same time. Not to mention that Emerson's quality control is pretty bad.
Also, their liners are very thin. Maybe they will increase the thickness of the
locking(titanium) side liner but I doubt it since they are "saving money".

Like I said, I have owned Emersons( an 11, Commander, Mini Commander,
7) and like the designs but I feel that they are not worth the cash unless
you find a used one for cheap. I bought Kershaw Lahar the other day
for $57 and the quality is incredible(made in Japan, VG-10) and I feel it is miles ahead of any Emerson in quality. Emerson is being left behind and this move to one side steel liners puts it further behind in my opinion...
 
There is a few reasons EKIs cost more than benchmade or kershaw but on the whole id have to agree with what you say.

It does seem like a bit of a backwards stager from what was being produced previously by Emerson. :confused:
 
yerscattergun said:
I have always been a fan of Emerson's design but feel that they have
really screwed the customer in this move without a price decrease at the
same time. ..
Click to expand...



Ti has gone up in price by many times. The switch to a steel liner was to offset this increase in price. How is it that making one liner out of stainless and the other out of Ti which costs 4X what it used to for the same part is supposed to lead to a price decrease? The reason for the change to SS on the non lock liiner was to hold prices in line and not increase the cost of the knives.

To give an example Emerson stated that the punched out sheet of Ti that is left over after the liners are cut out is now selling for the same value on the scrap market as the entire full sheet that size used to cost them to purchase. Oh and yes the locking liners are thicker than they were previously on newer production knives.

Look at the cost you are paying for everything right now and tell me how much of it is the same as it has been for the past several years? How much has milk or gas increased in the past year? How much have Emerson knives proces went up ion that same time frame? I would say Emerson knives and most knife companies across the board have done a pretty darn good job of keeping prices pretty stable.
 
Other than appearances & weight, it has no impact on the function of the knife. The lock side liner is still Titanium & the other side, that does nothing, is stainless steel. EKI sent out a notice to members of the Collector's Club, & announced it on their website that the change was made to offset cost. Why they did it to offset cost & not other companies I have no idea. Maybe being all American made, their profit margins are closer to actual cost. Maybe the other companies are able to obtain it cheaper overseas or their mark-up was higher. Who knows, not me certainly.

All I know is that the newer EKI knives still work as well as the older ones, they just have a different liner on the non-lock side. If you prefer the all Titanium ones, then you can always scan Ebay & the various For Sale sections of different forums.
 
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