Quality

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SteveH
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Re: Quality

Post by SteveH »

I weighed the 9" Chinese swivel bolsters and the 11"Frank B swivel bolsters on my kitchen scales. They were very close to the same weight. I certainly am not an aficionado but the Chinese models I received seem to represent significant value.
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Bill DeShivs
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Re: Quality

Post by Bill DeShivs »

Weight is not usually an indication of quality.
While the Chinese can make some nice knives, their Italian copies aren't them.
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WheelingWV
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Re: Quality

Post by WheelingWV »

natcherly wrote: Sat Jan 23, 2021 7:02 pm
Peiper wrote: Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:39 am... in my personal opinion, Frank B knives are overrated and overpriced. I have two 11" and one 13" and I do not like them. The blades and springs are thin. The handles look like blocks and do not contour with the knife. The bolster and blade on two have "play". They were purchased new.

Sorry guys, but I don't see any real "craftmanship" with Frank B knives. Mabey the older ones are better.
Frank B makes all of Walt's Flatguard and Latama stilettos. Walt is concerned with quality and does not put up with shoddy work. Maybe he pays extra for better quality which is reflected in his pricing. So he gets the firsts, who gets the seconds? :mrgreen:
Natcherly, I agree with your comments regarding the quality of Walt’s Flatguard and Latama stilettos. Between August and November (2020), I jumped into the deep end of the pool without a life preserver and I cannot swim. (My analogy for jumpstarting a collection with very little knowledge of what I was doing.) I’m very pleased with the quality of Walt’s offerings and am glad I chose to collect “his” brand... never a hiccup. Walt is a pleasure to do business with. Here are a few of mine. I’ve posted these pictures previously (sorry for the redundancy).
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Mistakes are like knives. They can help us or they can hurt us. It all depends on whether we grab ‘em by the handle or by the blade.
Dave. B
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Re: Quality

Post by Dave. B »

Very nice!
SteveH
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Re: Quality

Post by SteveH »

The craftsmanship of the Italian knives that I have is NOT GOOD.
sammy the blade
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Re: Quality

Post by sammy the blade »

portlandmike wrote: Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:31 am
Luke_of_Mass wrote: Sat Jan 23, 2021 11:07 pm I always like to think of 3knives getting its name because you gotta buy 3 of something to get an example of a knife that doesn't have some sort of problem.
Now that’s funny ! :lol:
Not if you're the one spending $800 for the knives.
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Luke_of_Mass
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Re: Quality

Post by Luke_of_Mass »

sammy the blade wrote: Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:49 pm
portlandmike wrote: Sun Jan 24, 2021 3:31 am
Luke_of_Mass wrote: Sat Jan 23, 2021 11:07 pm I always like to think of 3knives getting its name because you gotta buy 3 of something to get an example of a knife that doesn't have some sort of problem.
Now that’s funny ! :lol:
Not if you're the one spending $800 for the knives.
Sorry, could you clarify what you meant by that statement? I've spent well north of that on stilettos like most everyone else on this forum.
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sammy the blade
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Re: Quality

Post by sammy the blade »

You made a post about buying 3 knives and 2 had defective safety's and $800 you'd never get back.
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Luke_of_Mass
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Re: Quality

Post by Luke_of_Mass »

ah, sorry - I misread/misunderstood something there.

Yeah well to be fair the $800 I referred to were knives from Walt. My joke about 3knives is probably a little harsh - I'd say out of 5 or 6 knives, I'll get one I'm not 100% happy with, but hard to justify a return. The only experience I've had that was laughable were the 9'' swivels from Walt's site. Probably not his fault, and while he probably could have handled the situation a little better, I'll never mail order again from latama.net. I might pay for something I get to examine in person, though.
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Erik131065
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Re: Quality

Post by Erik131065 »

from my opinion it seems to occur mostly with natural scales. When they came out of the injection molding machine (acrylic scales) the quality seems to be much better. The SKM knives I got from 3k lately, are stamped " made in Italy" and don't have any major flaws.
Erik131065
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Re: Quality

Post by Erik131065 »

But than again....I guess we are all after that beautifull horn and stag.
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Luke_of_Mass
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Re: Quality

Post by Luke_of_Mass »

Erik131065 wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 10:13 am from my opinion it seems to occur mostly with natural scales. When they came out of the injection molding machine (acrylic scales) the quality seems to be much better. The SKM knives I got from 3k lately, are stamped " made in Italy" and don't have any major flaws.
Yeah a good 60% of the time Brazilian horn ends up being some haggard concoction of green brown and white :lol:
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monstro
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Re: Quality

Post by monstro »

Peiper wrote: Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:39 am
I have read over and over how the quality of established Italian switchblades far exceeds that of Chinese counterparts. I ordered and received 3 11" "Frank B" swivel bolster models and a single 13" swivel bolster model. All have brass liners. None have excellent alignment of blade (parallel) with the liners. The 13" has an irregular gap (1/32") between upper bolster and blade. It fires poorly.

I also ordered and received 3 9" Chinese bolster swivel models. All have stainless liners. All fire very well. Tolerances are great. No irregular gaps between blade and liner.

Italian models: each $100 plus. Chinese: $11.95
I don't know anything about the Chinese switchblade, but in my personal opinion, Frank B knives are overrated and overpriced. I have two 11" and one 13" and I do not like them. The blades and springs are thin. The handles look like blocks and do not contour with the knife. The bolster and blade on two have "play". They were purchased new.

Sorry guys, but I don't see any real "craftmanship" with Frank B knives. Mabey the older ones are better.
In a recent post on IG, Beltrame said they are moving to 4MM backsprings. A price increase was implied tho.
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Luke_of_Mass
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Re: Quality

Post by Luke_of_Mass »

monstro wrote: Fri Jan 29, 2021 1:40 pm
Peiper wrote: Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:39 am
I have read over and over how the quality of established Italian switchblades far exceeds that of Chinese counterparts. I ordered and received 3 11" "Frank B" swivel bolster models and a single 13" swivel bolster model. All have brass liners. None have excellent alignment of blade (parallel) with the liners. The 13" has an irregular gap (1/32") between upper bolster and blade. It fires poorly.

I also ordered and received 3 9" Chinese bolster swivel models. All have stainless liners. All fire very well. Tolerances are great. No irregular gaps between blade and liner.

Italian models: each $100 plus. Chinese: $11.95
I don't know anything about the Chinese switchblade, but in my personal opinion, Frank B knives are overrated and overpriced. I have two 11" and one 13" and I do not like them. The blades and springs are thin. The handles look like blocks and do not contour with the knife. The bolster and blade on two have "play". They were purchased new.

Sorry guys, but I don't see any real "craftmanship" with Frank B knives. Mabey the older ones are better.
In a recent post on IG, Beltrame said they are moving to 4MM backsprings. A price increase was implied tho.
What's Frank's insta handle?
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monstro
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Re: Quality

Post by monstro »

Luke_of_Mass wrote: Fri Jan 29, 2021 3:20 pm
monstro wrote: Fri Jan 29, 2021 1:40 pm
Peiper wrote: Sat Jan 23, 2021 1:39 am

I don't know anything about the Chinese switchblade, but in my personal opinion, Frank B knives are overrated and overpriced. I have two 11" and one 13" and I do not like them. The blades and springs are thin. The handles look like blocks and do not contour with the knife. The bolster and blade on two have "play". They were purchased new.

Sorry guys, but I don't see any real "craftmanship" with Frank B knives. Mabey the older ones are better.
In a recent post on IG, Beltrame said they are moving to 4MM backsprings. A price increase was implied tho.
What's Frank's insta handle?
frank_beltrame.

it's the post on the 14th of Jan.
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