All About Pocket Knives

us classic out of kentucky? have seen their add in knife world. must be chinese cause they sell for $9.99 on ebay.

That's my understanding. I note thier add says "designed in Kentucky". Obviously they aren't made there or they wouldn't need to make that odd statement.

Did anyone notice the Ad that was placed by one dealer of these in this month's Knife World?

BTW: I got mine about two weeks ago

http://www.usclassicknives.com/store/

9ball

Just wondering, why do they need a knife designer when all of their knives are old patterns, wouldn't he be a knife historian?

Personally.......I just think they are trying to do what Frank Buster did with Fight'n Rooster. Only having their stuff made in China.
Sure would like to look them over, but no one has them around here, not even SMKW and I could use the money on something else anyway.

JMO
9ball

I bought one just to see. They are nice for the price but defiantly not up to the quality of US knives. The fit and finish was better than i expected in a China made knife though. If you want a cheap knife in stylish patterns try Rough Rider from SMKW.

i ordered one as well. and speaking of the knife world add... page 16, notice from c a shelly absolving himself from u s classics. hummm

the knife i ordered arrived. it's a 3 5/8" closed us classics congress. blades are stamped U.S. CLASSIC over SALTRIVER, KY. main blade is etched U.S. CLASSIC. thick grooved nickle bolsters and shield. brass liners and pins. CHINA is etched very small and lightly on the small pen blade. could be easily removed. handles are typical chinese squared style. can see light between bone and liner. main pile blade is stamped 440 over Razor Edge over 06. blades are pretty sharp and fit pretty well in handle. the open fit is very good, almost perfect from back of blade to spring. all nail marks are useable, ie. not hidden behind another blade. this knife was made in the same factory as rough riders and most of the other chinese knives. this is about the same quality as steel warriors. comes in a two peice box. same shiny style cardboard as the others.
overall, a well made user. i don't expect the bone will hold up but we'll see.
these knives are supposed to be direct copies of antique knives from the collection of c a shelley of ky. i found this one to be the standard congress the chinese factory is pumping out. no reference as to which of mr. shellys knives it was copied from.
i read in knife world an ad mr. shelley placed absolving himself from u s classics. humm..........

oh yeah, $14.98 delivered

well after a couple of days inspection, a little more info.
the blades open and close feeling like there is grit inside. with a loop i see pits from forging past the kick on the rear of the tang on three blades. you can feel them as the blades roll open and closed. where the small blades close, scuffs are forming where ther is no clearance between the blades and liners. typical chinese fit.
but like i said, useable for $15. if it breaks, easily replaced.
now the field trial. i'll use it every day for a while and report back.
i don't know if anybody is interested in this but if things keep going the way they are......... all our cutlery may be made overseas.

I am worried about our cutlery being made in China too. The average person buying a knife doesn't care where it is made as long as it is cheap and halfway useable. I find it hard to believe that there is enough collectors buying knives to keep the U.S. knife companies in business.

James

I have been watching this for a couple years now. The Chinese cutlers are starting to understand "Quality." From many manufacturers you can observe a real diference in quality in just 2 years. I heard the quality is going to jump up a notch in 2007 from a friend of mine. Frost was trying to get him to be a dealer and shared some of their future plans.

FYI

http://www.casepocketknifeworld.com/sto ... info_id=22

9ball

Johnnie, how's that thing doing?

I have some American Cutlery knives. The box says "Hand Made in Memphis TN. But for the price I paid, they have to be made in China. They are not bad quality for the price.

I picked up a couple of these knives on ebay (both congress patterns). Got them last week. Not impressed. They are nice enough to look at, but one of them has gritty walk as Jonet143 mentioned. Blades are on the thin side. I would say that the Rough Riders I have are better quality & I paid less for them. They also arrived with a poor edge on them.

well, i've used the knife just as i would any of my edc. got a mesquite walking stick i been cuttin on for a while. it's hard. used all the blades. it worked ok for rough cuts but i got the feeling i was stressing the pen and coping blades. probably cut for an hour total over several days. the blades are still tight but still feel gritty on opening and closing.
it's not going to replace any of my other carvers. every day cutting, cardboard, drywall, leather were satisfactory. it had a hard time on some 5/8' hemp rope. i'll touch up the blades and continue testing.

jonet143

This is grate of you to do for use. I like the play by play report you are giving us.

it's not going to replace any of my other carvers and the bottem line will be ???

well i resharpened and used for a while longer. blades are still tight. got dull pretty quick. i use a lansky and kept the same edge profile but imo got dull before it should. still feels like there's grit in the joints and i flushed and oiled.
my opinion: ok for a nice looking bone work knife. the chinese obviously spend a lot of labor in finishing but the material is of a lower quality. it ain't true german steel and it ain't the same as case stainless. i'm aware that there are many, many stainless variations of 440.
easy on the wallet - did'nt break
feel free to coment.