Non LW Seki City - where's the love?

Discuss Spyderco's products and history.
GarageBoy
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Re: Non LW Seki City - where's the love?

#21

Post by GarageBoy »

awa54 wrote:
Sun Apr 18, 2021 11:46 pm
GarageBoy wrote:
Sun Apr 18, 2021 10:45 am
Well, you'll be glad to learn the caly 3 is a moki made knife, not a seki city (g.sakai) knife!

Both Sakai and Moki are based in Seki Japan, the "Seki City" imprint is just a statement of origin, like those seen on blades made in Sheffield England or Solingen Germany.
Yes, I was specifically referring to cycleguy stating the only seki city factory (gerber sakai) they owned was a CF Caly (which is a Moki knife)

I have a nostalgia for these two factories, maybe because my intro to knives with this early 90s japanese knife magazine my dad had laying around
GarageBoy
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Re: Non LW Seki City - where's the love?

#22

Post by GarageBoy »

Has anyone made a full custom handle and liners for the delica?
G10/full liners/metal back spacer/k390 (or any non clad tool steel) = win for me

I guess the really expensive way of doing it is buy a pakkawood kc exclusive, swap the k390 blade and lock bar, and scale it accordingly
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Re: Non LW Seki City - where's the love?

#23

Post by Sumdumguy »

A large percentage of my favorite knives are from Japan. All have full liners.
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wrdwrght
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Re: Non LW Seki City - where's the love?

#24

Post by wrdwrght »

Re-reading this thread, I’m struck by what is going to become a rarer thing, namely, G10 on Seki-City Spydies. The reason, as Sal have been saying for a while, is cost, which is higher in Japan than is FRN.

While cost-avoidance is wholly understandable, I, for one, will lament G10’s “passing”, and not only because I prefer G10 over FRN, as good as the latter is and as good as Spyderco patterns it.

I lament it because Sal and Eric have lost a tool for prototyping their designs and testing the market for them before committing to making very expensive FRN molds.

Consider the Seki-City Spydies in this needed pic:
Image
Above (L to R) are the Civilian, Police4, Ulize, D’Allara3, SuperLeaf, Captain, Lil’Temp3, Poliwog, and DragonFly2.

Imagine what we might not have seen here without G10 (and I am not including Moki G10 models)…

I worry that new designs from Seki-City may be stifled. True, the Endela and Rock Jumper flew straight to FRN, without benefit of a G10 net, so to speak. But, now, the D’Allara3, which did premiere in G10, is languishing because its BBL has been found to want better access and, I guess, this complaint (which also is my only knock against this superb model) has made Spyderco’s commitment to FRN molds problematical.

While pondering this—Seki-City’s—loss of distinction, I wonder if anyone else laments the use of American and European steels in Japanese knives. Surely, Spyderco has not plumbed Japan’s well-established steel-industry for all that can be used in knife-making.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m no purist. I love K390 in my Police4 and S30V in my D’Allara3 and Lil’Temp3. But those steels appeared unbeckoned by the likes of us; they were Glesser calculations.

Now, we’ve begun demanding the latest shiny American/European steel in each and every Seki-City model for which there are FRN molds.

In all the glee of getting what we (the Royal “we”) want, are we lessening the distinction that has set Seki-City apart, such that fewer Japanese-made models and steels are on the horizon?
Last edited by wrdwrght on Thu May 06, 2021 12:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Non LW Seki City - where's the love?

#25

Post by JRinFL »

We are seeing the end of a long era in Japan. The young no longer want a get-your-hands-dirty type of job and would rather be a salary man. Farming is the worst hit area in Japan, followed by manufacturing, from what I read.
Sal has stated repeatedly that the Seki makers are not the same as they once were. Quality is down, while prices are up. Every region famed for its cutlery is seeing the same thing, Solingen, Sheffield, Northeast US, etc. Maniago is putting up a pretty good fight, however.

Maybe there are other makers Spyderco could tap in Japan? I do not know.
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GarageBoy
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Re: Non LW Seki City - where's the love?

#26

Post by GarageBoy »

That's a shame. Japanese companies are famous for sticking around for looooong times, but I guess it's hard to compete with chinese factories that do better for cheaper

I'm sure there's japanese steels out there that can be used for knives that we haven't heard of, but they might be hard to obtain or process into knives. Would love the return of of Japanese steel with srs13/15 being showcased.

The g10 models probably cost more if it involves more hand labor vs the frn models, which raises the prices up.
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awa54
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Re: Non LW Seki City - where's the love?

#27

Post by awa54 »

On a side note, I'm a bit surprised that no custom scale maker has done a full thickness Delica/Endela/Endura scale in G10 or CF. The conversion to linerless ought to be very strong, a smidge lighter and probably easier to machine than scales routed to accept the stock inset liners.

...or Ti!!
-David

still more knives than sharpening stones...
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