Fakes
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Fakes
Can anyone give me a crash course in “fakes.” I am new to this and have only really been buying from reputable dealers. What are some if the main was to tell a Chinese “fake” (or any other fakes) from a real Italian? Pics would be great if you have them. I am a visual learner.
Re: Fakes
The really good fakes take some real studying of these knives to tell. On the swing guards the fakes then to have stainless steel liners, different blade grinds and button/safety placement. Some what same for the stiletto style models. The knocks offs favor dagger blades but the bayonets are faked too....
Re: Fakes
Sometimes it's difficult for a novice to spot fakes. The first indicator would be the price, if the price is too low that would be the first red flag.
Most of the AKC marked stilettos are fakes and as Tom mentioned they have SS liners. Also they use a variety of kick springs and usually don't have the flat polished springs seen on an Italian knife. The backsprings on the fakes are satin finished , the Italian knives are usually polished.
The acrylic scales on the fakes are never fitted right and have noticeable gaps where they meet the bolsters.
The fake leverlocks usually don't resemble the real knife they are faking and they usually stamp "AKC" and Bill's trademark on everything.
But there are exceptions , I have a few unmarked Chinese stilettos with brass liners and polished backsprings. But the scales are still sloppy at the bolsters and they use those generic round kicksprings.
Here's a few shots of a real Frank B 9" next to a fake AKC branded knife ( the AKC mark has been removed )
Frank B knife is on the top, except for the open knife shot, it's the bottom knife with the dagger grind and has the new oval hole.
And you can see that the fake knife's blade hole does not go through.
Most of the AKC marked stilettos are fakes and as Tom mentioned they have SS liners. Also they use a variety of kick springs and usually don't have the flat polished springs seen on an Italian knife. The backsprings on the fakes are satin finished , the Italian knives are usually polished.
The acrylic scales on the fakes are never fitted right and have noticeable gaps where they meet the bolsters.
The fake leverlocks usually don't resemble the real knife they are faking and they usually stamp "AKC" and Bill's trademark on everything.
But there are exceptions , I have a few unmarked Chinese stilettos with brass liners and polished backsprings. But the scales are still sloppy at the bolsters and they use those generic round kicksprings.
Here's a few shots of a real Frank B 9" next to a fake AKC branded knife ( the AKC mark has been removed )
Frank B knife is on the top, except for the open knife shot, it's the bottom knife with the dagger grind and has the new oval hole.
And you can see that the fake knife's blade hole does not go through.
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Re: Fakes
JPD1998 ~ Thanks for the tutorial.... it was very illuminating and I greatly appreciate it!
I would love to see more side-by-side photos and explanations like this!
I have seen a number of knives recently that I suspect might be fake, but I don't have enough experience to really tell for sure.
BTW, it looks like the fake blade is a little shorter when you compare the two blades resting in the blade channels.....
probably the fakers figured that they could save a tenth of a cent on each piece and nobody would really notice.
I would love to see more side-by-side photos and explanations like this!
I have seen a number of knives recently that I suspect might be fake, but I don't have enough experience to really tell for sure.
BTW, it looks like the fake blade is a little shorter when you compare the two blades resting in the blade channels.....
probably the fakers figured that they could save a tenth of a cent on each piece and nobody would really notice.
Re: Fakes
JPD1998-
Thank you! This is exactly the type of info I was hopping to get. I always hear “just look at them” but when you are new to this, you don’t know what you are looking at!! I understand that this will take years to learn, but I gotta start somewhere.
Thanks again for some great photos and great info.
Thank you! This is exactly the type of info I was hopping to get. I always hear “just look at them” but when you are new to this, you don’t know what you are looking at!! I understand that this will take years to learn, but I gotta start somewhere.
Thanks again for some great photos and great info.
Re: Fakes
Yes, it's a tad shorter and the blade stock is thinner.button_man wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 1:00 pm JPD1998 ~ Thanks for the tutorial.... it was very illuminating and I greatly appreciate it!
I would love to see more side-by-side photos and explanations like this!
I have seen a number of knives recently that I suspect might be fake, but I don't have enough experience to really tell for sure.
BTW, it looks like the fake blade is a little shorter when you compare the two blades resting in the blade channels.....
probably the fakers figured that they could save a tenth of a cent on each piece and nobody would really notice.
If you look at the fake you can see the way the edge is ground, they can do that because the blade stock is thin.
I've never seen an Italian knife with a factory edge like that.
Re: Fakes
I'm glad it helped, I have another fake with brass liners. Same sloppy fit on the scales and the round kick spring.TexasRed wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 1:44 pm JPD1998-
Thank you! This is exactly the type of info I was hopping to get. I always hear “just look at them” but when you are new to this, you don’t know what you are looking at!! I understand that this will take years to learn, but I gotta start somewhere.
Thanks again for some great photos and great info.
I'll try to get some pictures of that one next to a real one.