All About Pocket Knives

This seller sells these Westerns with colored handles knowing very well that they are not legitimate vintage knives. He is in cahoots with one or more people who turn these out using SOME original parts. Unwitting buyers are 'winning' them at obscenely high prices. They are very nice but they are fakes. He has moved at least dozens and perhaps hundreds of them over the last few years.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/354110041452?h ... Swru1iqeDa

Thanks for the head's-up T.R.! Not my style so I'm in no danger, but for true fans of those knives they've now been warned. I always wondered about that seller?

Can we get eBay to shut him down?

Bob

rea1eye wrote: ↑Mon Jun 20, 2022 11:39 pm Can we get eBay to shut him down?

Bob

Why would ebay shut him down? He has over 12,000 sales which ebay has made their share of. Ebay doesn't care about fakes unless the company being faked is still in operation and files a complaint.

Knife in question, for future reference.

He claims the knives were done by employees in their spare time. Could be? I do have a couple Queens which were made AT Queen by Queen employees and not official production knives. I dont know the employees but do know people who worked there and they said it was not an uncommon practive.

If the knife is in new unused condition, then why wouldn't the sheath also be that way?

The leather wasnt made at the knife works most likely, its just a tossin for the sale. my bet is they are good knives??? probably worth the money but collector value probably is not what a legit knife might be.

He and other eBay sellers are getting terribly inflated prices for these reworked knives. Most of the claims made about condition and dates are exagerated. Big money for reworked knives that certainly aren't factory mint knives. I don't know who is buying these reworks but I doubt they know what the knves really are and that they believe the sellers crock. Just one more sad ripoff tale on eBay.

I snitched this auction's pictures a while ago for use in an upcoming thread I am preparing about identifying reworked Westerns.

This particular knife has prime rework characteristics.

First, the model stamp is L66. meaning the original handle was stacked leather. When the handle material does not match the model number stamp, 99.9% of the time, it's a rework. The only factory mismatch I have ever seen was a 66 guard stamp 666 that sported a Black Beauty handle.

Second, the auction says the handle material is Delrin - Western never used colored Delrin as a handle material - Western primarily used Delrin as "stag" or "bone" configurations.

Third, the yellow depicted is a different shade from the yellow tenite actually used by Western. All the plastics this particular seller uses, as well as a couple of other sellers in the same mold, are different in hue from the Western tenite/phenolic/composition plastics.

Fourth, Western never made a 66 pattern of any sort in colors. Stag Delrin was the only plastic ever used on 66s.

and lastly,

the stamp WESTERN over USA is 1973 to 1976, long after Western had dropped any non-Delrin Stag plastic use.

Thanks for good claridication, ZZ.