@ Adahn
Yeah… my 912’s came from GearBest & they appear to be like yours except for the thumb stud maybe. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but it looks like your thumb studs are domed & mine are flat. Not that makes a hill of beans worth of difference. 
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What type black finish is that on the 913?? Is it durable at all???
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edit to add…. (to me anyway)
Well, some folks find the domed ones to bebiting their thumbs while opening.
I push the thumb logs to the front, not the side, maybe that’s why that doesn’t bother me.
Funny thing is that I prefer the 812 due to it’s smaller size and the washers.
When I use it a while my ball bearing knives feel a bit dangerous while closing, esp. my TwoSun TS51.
I got some light cuts from the blade swingin back in so I tend to close it with two hands 
To me these domed screws look too much recessed. The diameter of the hole is too big and/or the counter-bore is too deep. I can see the inside rim of the hole.
The domed portion of the screw head is supposed to sit proud of the handle surface, it is a design choice. Certainly this was the case with all early-model 910x knives. If they wanted flush or recessed screws they would have chosen flat.
Many will say this is a minor nitpick, and it is. But to me this not the same standard of fit & finish that made the 910x series so legendary.
Well, I don’t like it when the domes screws sit too high, still have to fix that on my 812 CF scale.
Also I doubt it’s a different size and maybe more from the picture.
When I made new scales I found such little dicrepancies on any budget knife, let it be Kershaw, CRKT, SRM or Ganzo.
I can’t check this one but I doubt it’s a “fake” and it’s certainly made well enough for the $11 bucks paid for it.
With a Boker + or Kershaw stamp on it (if it wasn’t a Sebenza knock-off, even though Boker wouldn’t care, just like there bought in Shirogorov clones) it could be $50 easily.
Yeah, I should have said either flat or domed thumb studs don’t make a hill of beans difference “to me”.
I can’t locate an 812, any ideas?? I’d like the smaller size also.
Early models (when it was called 9103/4) did not have such discrepancies - they were very consistent. This was part of the reason it became legendary good value. If those early models were sloppy it would just be normal Chinese knife.
I don’t think it’s fake, just that it looks like they have lowered tolerances. Perhaps moved production to a lesser factory. This is a pity but for me no matter, I bought some spares in 2017
Well, I can only say that it didn’t appear to me when I had it in hand but it went to my friend rather quicky.
I think I would have recognized it from the many times I disassembled knives.
I’d bet it’s more from the angle of the picture. when a CNC is set once then they will always be the same and I also doubt they’d order other screws.
Anyways, one must see it with bare eyes to say anything about it.
I have a Camillus by the way that I like a lot where on the backside the screws are smaller than the holes which are same on both scales.
That knife with G10 handles would have been $50 while it was available.
The interesting aspect for tinkerers like me was that instead of one stop pin it has two, a thin one for the closed position and a thicker one for open position.
Also the clip is well done, countersunk holes and screws (like on the thumb stud) that would prevent wiggling for quite some time.
Too bad it was made for tip-down carry only so I have to live with the extra holes close to the washers (and with a mismatched angle of the clip).
I’m still looking for its smaller brother to appear on the bay…
If you don’t have a 912 to hold & look at I think you are very possibly reading far to much into pictures. Especially the close up zoomed ones.
In the pictures above the countersunk diameter & debth are perfectly fine. The screw heads sit a bit proud of the handles… just as they are supposed to.
Of course in a zoomed picture you can see the inside rim of the counter bore hole, it is not supposed to be a press fit.
Even in your picture I posted below, the screw heads sit proud of the handles… that can be easily seen. I do agree the screw heads in this picture appear to be a slightly smaller diameter. Maybe they are, but that is in reality hard to determine from the picture itself.
I cannot speak to the quality/fit n’ finish of the 9103, cause I don’t have one. But I can speak to the quality/fit n’ finish of the 912 because I have two.
There is absolutely nothing at all wrong with the quality/fit n’ finish of the 912’s I have. Nothing could be improved…. nothing at all.
I paid $13.99 each, what more need be said.
Of course… ymmv.
+1 as there’s no Kudos or Like system abourd this BLF
It should be such that when the screws are tightened, the base of dome is perfectly level with handle surface, and inside of hole cannot be seen.
(excuse the terrible paint illustration but I think it makes the point)
This is a clear aesthetic/design decision, it takes good tolerances to achieve. (I am speaking from hands-on experience of many 2017/18 models)
It is entirely possible that the Adahn’s photograph is misleading due to lighting or angles, so I do not want to disagree too much about it.
However the picture above (with red circles) is really, really terrible, if you cannot see how bad it is I am baffled.
Anyway I do not want to dwell on it too much. We can go around in circles and nothing will be achieved.
I’m not sure why anyone would want their screw heads to be sticking out. For what purpose?
On all my knives the screw heads “stick out”, like in the drawing above. I thought that is how it is supposed to be? It really is like that on all my knives, across brands.
Actually I feel like Pete 7874.
On the SRM 812 that I use as home edc knife (and on many other knives I made scales for) the domed heads stick out a bit but only like 1/4 of the head.
On my CF front scale it’s like 1/3 to 1/2 and I feel some day I’ll lover them that 0.1 - 0.2 mm
Even the domed head on the pivot screw should sit a bit below the surface, a sticking out head feels nasty on most knives.
A pan head (like the pivot of the 812) could be a compromise, still looking fancier than a flat head, countersunk or not.
The domed head is simply looking better than a flat head, see most Spyderco knives.
It’s just a design choice, nothing else.
Most watches have slotted screw heads even though a slotted (or Phillips) or Hex/Torx head has many advantages.
A design choice, like the use of pan head/dome head torx screws on most knives these days (I hate the slotted ones on Emerson knives).
They are round head. It is the design language of the knife. Copied of course from the Sebenza.
If you want your screws to be flush with the surface then you use flat head:
If you use round-head screws and your tolerances are bad, they can sit deep inside the hole and look quite silly:
Over the past dozen posts, we have been discussing whether the quality of Sanrenmu Land 9103/4 has slipped when it changed to 912/3, resulting in some bad tolerances. The answer is not conclusive.
Yeah, let’s just face it; like varbos said…. the 9103/4, 913, 912’s are just Sebenza copies/knockoffs/clones.
But whatever you call them the design was stolen from Chris Reeve… simple as that.
They are made with cheaper materials that do not match Chris Reeve quality.
The 912 is sized between the Small & Large Sebenza.
Depending on the price you pay you can get thirty or more 912’s for the price of one Large Sebenza.
The round screws being proud of the scales are part of the Chris Reeve design. And since he sells all he makes, as well as having a waiting list…. he is doing something right. And has been for over 30 years. 
Don’t want to spend the money on a Sebenza, get a SRM or Land for around $15.
No, you will not get the absolute tolerances & top materials of a Sebenza…… but you will get a darn good knife for around $15.
I pretty much agree with varbos about nothing being conclusive. But in reality, what difference does it make? This is a $15 knife & in my 912 examples there is nothing to complain about at all.
_ymmv-
Well, you feel so, I disagree. A dome head can be sunk in a bit and still look better than a flat head screw.
On my 9104 the screws are flush in the way you’d like them to be, or as you’d say, the way it has to be.
On other knives they are sunken in a bit, for me that’s fine, too.
You say it’s bad tolerances, I say it’s a design choice.
I have a SRM 7129 with slightly sunken heads (I guess the bigger brother Ruike P801 is same), a Real Steal E571 with ~0.1mm sunken heads, some Kershaws with sunken in heads. The Kershaw OD-2 and the Leek with dome head screws have sunken in screws with the heads to be flush with the scale.
Long story short, you’re just nitpicking here. Go check your other knives and see that there’s no general rule on screw heads, it’s just decisions by the makers.
Flush dome heads can look and feel good, if the dome is not too pointy. Sunken in they can still look good but could become dirt pits.
You don’t like the new ones, don’t buy them. Or just ignore it just as you ignore the fact that it’s the best Sebenza copy with a clip at a better position as on the original, so it’s even better than the more expensive Seb clones.
Go on and become a knifemaker yourself. Would be interesting to see how tolerance you have with customers with your love for tolerances
/\ . +1 … “Nitpicking” does seem kinda accurate. Most of what has been said here about round head screws, flat head screws, counter sink debth, etc., ect. is nothing more than preference. It has nothing to do with the main function of a knife…. how well it cuts. .
Hmmm. Everyone mods lights… why not mod knives?
Instead of a dome-head screw, why not substitute a flathead screw with the same thread? Crack open a dead spinny-disk or other ’lectronic goody and screws-to-fit might even be free.
I am specifically referring to 9103/4 and 912/3 and whether (or not) tolerances have slipped over time. This was the root of the discussion if you recall. I am not talking about the use of sunken dome-head screws in general (sometimes it can look okay, sometimes it looks garbage).
It is nitpicking of course. It’s an internet discussion by enthusiasts, I would say nitpicking is to be expected. It is like saying that measuring the lumens of a flashlight is nitpicking.
According to your link, you personally spend a lot of time and energy customizing knives, making handles, doing custom finishes. To turn around and say “nitpicking” like it is beneath you … this an inconsistent stance. Why change a handle that works fine? Nitpicking. See?
As far as “nitpicking” goes…. we all do it about something & to one degree or another. 
I guess it’s not really a bad thing most of the time… it’s just how it is.
Start “nitpicking” what other people do & it could get somewhat intense…. especially if that someone is your wife. 
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