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No-name vintage SAK

ie Offline Don Pablo

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No-name vintage SAK
on: May 09, 2015, 05:54:31 PM
A relative found what seems to be a cheapo SAK in his shed. Its not his, he put there it a decade ago. He found it...somewhere, back then. It wasn't new even then.
Its not Victorinox, it has the wrong tang on the main blade:
"STAINLESS"
"ROSTFREI"
That's it. No "Swiss Made", "Victorinox", etc
I read that rostfrei means stainless, and it doesn't make sense to have the same word, two times over.   ::)
Also, the saws are totally useless. The teeth have never been shaped right, let alone sharp, for cutting.
The scissors are useless too.

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Any idea what make and model it is?
Sorry for the mess.
(I have not cleaned the SAK.)

Thanks.  :)
« Last Edit: May 09, 2015, 05:56:13 PM by Pablo O'Brien »
Hooked, like everyone else. ;)

All hail the hook!


00 Offline kosmo

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #1 on: May 09, 2015, 06:07:55 PM
Unfortunately, it is a not-so-rare Chinese knockoff.  I seen them in cheap hardware stores and flea markets.
WTT Book: Victorinox - A Knife and Its History, see link:
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,57788.0.html
Will trade items for new/used Cadet Alox knives for mod projects.
Updated list: https://freeshell.de/~kosmo/sak/
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ro Offline Corwyn

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #2 on: May 09, 2015, 06:10:35 PM
Corwyn of Multitool, the First of His name, King of Victorinox, King of Leatherman, Gerber and the First Generation SOG, Lord of the Seven Wrenches, Protector of the Forum, Khal of the Bushes, called Corwyn Toolborn, the Unsharpened, Father of SAKs.


ro Offline Corwyn

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #3 on: May 09, 2015, 06:17:37 PM
Here is the exact one in the Victorinox Corporate movie: https://youtu.be/Td_K6rsn8y4?t=2127
Corwyn of Multitool, the First of His name, King of Victorinox, King of Leatherman, Gerber and the First Generation SOG, Lord of the Seven Wrenches, Protector of the Forum, Khal of the Bushes, called Corwyn Toolborn, the Unsharpened, Father of SAKs.


ie Offline Don Pablo

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #4 on: May 09, 2015, 06:22:41 PM
Thanks, that's some good stuff there.  :D
Now, I still want the brand name... Or is there none? The "Q" symbol is intriguing.  :think:
Hooked, like everyone else. ;)

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00 Offline kosmo

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #5 on: May 09, 2015, 06:31:30 PM
Thanks, that's some good stuff there.  :D
Now, I still want the brand name... Or is there none? The "Q" symbol is intriguing.  :think:

It's really hard to say.  I've seen this logo for at least a couple of decades.  The manufacturer in China can very and the companies that import and sell them may vary.  Ask me how I know?  I've been involved in negotiating manufacturing in China.

WTT Book: Victorinox - A Knife and Its History, see link:
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,57788.0.html
Will trade items for new/used Cadet Alox knives for mod projects.
Updated list: https://freeshell.de/~kosmo/sak/
:B: www.radiotell.ch


ro Offline Corwyn

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #6 on: May 09, 2015, 06:40:51 PM
I don't think it's got a proper name. I heard them called CAK, Stainless China, the Star Chinese SAK etc. Also they are sometimes sold with other logos or no logos.. it's some factory in China...
We have quite a few threads about these:
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,49833.0.html
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,42133.msg674790.html#msg674790
Corwyn of Multitool, the First of His name, King of Victorinox, King of Leatherman, Gerber and the First Generation SOG, Lord of the Seven Wrenches, Protector of the Forum, Khal of the Bushes, called Corwyn Toolborn, the Unsharpened, Father of SAKs.


ie Offline Don Pablo

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #7 on: May 09, 2015, 06:53:42 PM
Thanks... So they have no fixed manufacturer.   :D
Do you have any pointers on dating tools? This one is definitely over 10 years old, possibly 40? I can dream...
« Last Edit: May 09, 2015, 06:55:24 PM by Pablo O'Brien »
Hooked, like everyone else. ;)

All hail the hook!


00 Offline kosmo

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #8 on: May 09, 2015, 07:20:41 PM
Thanks... So they have no fixed manufacturer.   :D
Do you have any pointers on dating tools? This one is definitely over 10 years old, possibly 40? I can dream...

It's hard to say.  It may have been one company.  It may have been more than one company.  The manufacturing may have been contracted out to many companies.  It was common to deal with a oversight (Chinese) company in the basic industry.  They, in tern would subcontract to one or more Chinese companies to do manufacturing.  Brands don't mean company identity.  Any company reference that might be found on the packaging was likely the company outside China that ordered these items and had them packaged up per their specifications.

It use to be that after China opened it's doors to international business, companies in China had to be Chinese government majority owned (51%+).  This may have changed today, I'm not sure.  It might have been a company that made similar items like cutlery and other metal parts or it may be multiple companies involved.
« Last Edit: May 09, 2015, 07:24:15 PM by kosmo »
WTT Book: Victorinox - A Knife and Its History, see link:
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,57788.0.html
Will trade items for new/used Cadet Alox knives for mod projects.
Updated list: https://freeshell.de/~kosmo/sak/
:B: www.radiotell.ch


us Offline NetsNJ

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #9 on: July 15, 2015, 06:36:07 PM
Haha that cutlery lover video is amazing.  I've had some chinese knockoffs over time, but none as shockingly bad as that.   :o  For the price, I think they are usually adequate tools (don't spend $5 and expect a Vic). (My first multi-tool as a kid was one of the Chinese knockoff SAKs like in OP, and honestly I loved the darn thing to death, and didn't realize what junk it was until my uncle got me a Wenger Serrated Toolchest when I turned 13.  :D)  The one in the video is just shocking. 

One thing that has always surprised me is the uniformity of Chinese knockoffs.  They all seem to follow the same template, down to the exact same shape and placement of the tools.  (The saw teeth vary, but nothing else really.)  It is not as if they are emulating some canonical SAK design here, but they always have the drivers, openers, scissors with the same design.  The quality, materials, brand name (or lack thereof) all change frequently. (I actually have what I think is an early knockoff that shocked me by having pressure fit scales and an aggressive saw.) But they all have this tool layout, down to the exact same shapes on the individual tools,



The knockoff in the cutlerylover video is obviously worse metal but uses the same tool design.  Same with SAK knockoffs I have going back to the early 1990s, or more recent ones like the featured in that hilarious 30-day Coghlan's challenge.

Maybe someone can shed some light on this uniformity?  I've always felt like there is just one big SAK knockoff factory in China that makes all of these, but know nothing about this process. 
« Last Edit: July 15, 2015, 06:40:26 PM by NetsNJ »


us Offline cody6268

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #10 on: July 15, 2015, 08:36:41 PM
My first "sort of" SAK was one of these.  I liked it pretty well, until the whole thing exploded! Unlike other knockoffs, these are actually useful as a backup, and that's what my two good ones are kept for.   As I keep trying to tell myself--some Chinese knives aren't crap!  In fact, I love my little Swiss Tech tool that has been on my keyring for years.

I have two Imperials--one made probably in the '70s, the other made in China sometime in the mid 2000s after the Taylor buyout.  The old one is sturdy, takes a razor edge with a simple carbide sharpener, and only cost me $5. The new one cost me the same, but the fit and finish just seems cheap.


fi Offline Crow

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #11 on: July 15, 2015, 08:51:24 PM
I had that same knockoff when i was young. It had proper sawteeths, and worked ok. It even had same stamp on scales. Used heck out of it. Then it got stolen at some point, and never saw it again, never knew whom it took  (i had my suspicions). Was gifted to me early -90's.


us Offline SouthernSteel

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #12 on: August 03, 2015, 05:43:29 AM
Had dozens of those laying around the house when I was younger from the 99 cent store.

I remember breaking several from normal use, not the safest tool:(


au Offline Huntsman

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #13 on: August 03, 2015, 07:55:47 AM
Haha that cutlery lover video is amazing.  I've had some chinese knockoffs over time, but none as shockingly bad as that.   :o  For the price, I think they are usually adequate tools (don't spend $5 and expect a Vic).

Gotta disagree !! - Except perhaps for the main blade which is usually OK!

In my experience:
  • The scissors wobble and do not meet - oh and they don't cut!!
  • The awl is blunt
  • The drivers are rounded and do not engage with a screw
  • The saw is usually not a saw - Just another fish scaler.
  • The nail cleaner is rounded and does not scrape
  • No idea what the back tool with a hole is
So if you want just a blade - They maybe OK - But why have that extra width and weight
If you want a few other tools that will not work very well - Then maybe go for it.

But as has been said many times before on this forum - SAKs are not especially expensive
Why not go for the real thing?
- Especially if you pick up a recycled one on the Bay!! - Even a 10/20/30 yr old used SAK will be better than the average knock off.

Interested in the theory that they all come from the same factory in China!!


us Offline K4NNW

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #14 on: September 22, 2015, 06:50:47 AM
I had one of those when I was a kid, too. The tools all worked, but it wasn't that great. Later, I got a Wenger Handyman and gave the knock-off to one of my neighbours.


us Offline El Corkscrew

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #15 on: June 19, 2017, 08:56:06 AM
SAK-alike video.  Since posting the vid, Colo-Swiss stated the first Solingen knife I show was imported by Overland, CA and was made around '52

 :salute:

https://youtu.be/kykJ1vhlWY8
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” - Mark Twain


ie Offline Don Pablo

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #16 on: June 19, 2017, 10:35:43 AM
Whoa. This thread is a little blast from the past.  :D
I don't have that knockoff any more, it went back to where it was found.
Perfectly happy with my Vics.  :cheers:
Hooked, like everyone else. ;)

All hail the hook!


00 Offline Mechanickal

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #17 on: June 19, 2017, 12:52:33 PM
Whoa. This thread is a little blast from the past.  :D
I don't have that knockoff any more, it went back to where it was found.
Perfectly happy with my Vics.  :cheers:
It went back?

You should've burried it... beneath the ocean floor...


us Offline El Corkscrew

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #18 on: June 19, 2017, 04:58:26 PM
A lot of the old German knock-offs are super-high quality.  I've got one from the fifties that snaps like a Vic and has awesome scissors that still cut after about 70 years .  :salute:
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” - Mark Twain


ie Offline Don Pablo

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #19 on: June 19, 2017, 05:00:13 PM
Whoa. This thread is a little blast from the past.  :D
I don't have that knockoff any more, it went back to where it was found.
Perfectly happy with my Vics.  :cheers:
It went back?

You should've burried it... beneath the ocean floor...
It would not have been worth the money and effort to do that....  :ahhh :ahhh
Hooked, like everyone else. ;)

All hail the hook!


wales Offline magentus

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #20 on: June 20, 2017, 11:00:11 AM
Also, the ocean floor does not need any more junk laying around on it. If I had a pound for every time my U Boat 'Magna-Grab' came back covered in crappy SAK-A-Likes, I'd have about £49.00. Come on People!
'Use the force Harry' - Gandalf


00 Offline Mechanickal

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #21 on: June 20, 2017, 03:53:46 PM
Also, the ocean floor does not need any more junk laying around on it. If I had a pound for every time my U Boat 'Magna-Grab' came back covered in crappy SAK-A-Likes, I'd have about £49.00. Come on People!
They're not worth a pound... cmon mags!


wales Offline magentus

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #22 on: June 20, 2017, 04:53:51 PM
YOU Come on!  :D
'Use the force Harry' - Gandalf


00 Offline Mechanickal

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #23 on: June 20, 2017, 05:13:01 PM
YOU Come on!  :D
You calling me out?

You calling me out mags?
Huh? Huh?!


ie Offline Don Pablo

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #24 on: June 20, 2017, 06:18:40 PM
YOU Come on!  :D
You calling me out?

You calling me out mags?
Huh? Huh?!
I thought of Come on Elieen for some reason.  :facepalm:
Hooked, like everyone else. ;)

All hail the hook!


wales Offline magentus

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #25 on: June 20, 2017, 06:22:52 PM
I would be pleasantly surprised if Mechanikals real name is Eileen. How great would that be?  :D
'Use the force Harry' - Gandalf


ie Offline Don Pablo

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #26 on: June 20, 2017, 06:24:43 PM
Too mind boggling for words.  :ahhh :ahhh
Hooked, like everyone else. ;)

All hail the hook!


wales Offline magentus

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #27 on: June 20, 2017, 08:41:18 PM
Possible though eh? I'm going to wish on a star tonight that Mechanikals real name is Eileen. Anyone care to join me? The wish will gain power the more people who join in. We could make this real.
'Use the force Harry' - Gandalf


00 Offline Mechanickal

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #28 on: June 20, 2017, 08:44:11 PM
It's not like my spelling is way off, but my username is writen the way it is because my name is Nick :D

But who am I to nuke your imaginationary world...? :think:


wales Offline magentus

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Re: No-name vintage SAK
Reply #29 on: June 20, 2017, 08:55:14 PM
 :facepalm:

Can we call you Eileen then?  :pok:
'Use the force Harry' - Gandalf


 

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