I can attest that some of the cheaper ones (not the total bottom end, but on the upper end of ‘cheap’) are made of a folded Damascus-style steel… but despite the availability of high purity steel, they use lower grades. It may look like Damascus, but it’s seriously inferior. You CAN see the contiguous pattern through the spline of the blade and the back end of the tang… not laser etched or painted. There are some sellers overseas who peddle them on eBay, trying to sound like purveyors of old-artisan steel makers who scrape by with producing these for a living. If those makers are real, they’re the bottom of the barrel in that trade. Their wares are mostly crap. You can sharpen them to cut, but they won’t hold an edge well, may even rust, and they’ll be noticeably heavier than you expect. I made this mistake twice and won’t ever again.
Here’s a tip for determining if the blade you are looking at is really layered steel, or just a single slab of steel with an etched pattern. Look at the spline of the blade. If you don’t see the layers on the spline, it’s just etched.
That is a good tip, but there is an exception. It is San Mai steel.
Damascus steel is Forge Welded to each side of of a harder steel. The harder steel which holds a better edge is the core.
In San Mai the patterned Damascus is not visible thru the spine.
What is San Mai Steel and How To Make It
…….
JAPANESE LAYERED STEEL & OTHER KNIFE-MAKING TECHNIQUES.
…….
NOTE: Any true Damascus must be etched with acid to bring out the pattern. This happens because the acid reacts differently with each steel used to make the Damascus. Thus the pattern is shown.
I see there’s a family of larger scalpel blades, meant for larger knives now.
It’s called #60.
And there are a few handles for them available.
I’m not really happy with them being actually larger than I’d like but I think I’m ready to get one on 11.11.
Any thoughts?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002621781940.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002889652747.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002863750936.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002888785445.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002888785445.html
The idea of removable blades on a traditional folding knife mechanism is intriguing. Looks very tempting. But I wonder — is the blade dock proprietary? Is it totally locked in place, no way it can pop off, or is there a chance because of friction fit? Also, what is the availability on replacement blades?
There is a guy who sells Damascus on Ebay
The knives are made in (?) Pakistan or India …
Easiest way to do Damascus is forge it from steel cable …
Problem with this is binding the steel properly .
This is why these cheap ( real ) damascus knives often have gaps or areas that are de laminating .
And most of those dirt cheap dama knives are etched , so why bother with them ?
Just try for a decent D2 knife … Decent D2 can put a serious smile on your dial .
This is a standard scalpel lock. You can choose any fixed handle for any blade. Or any not-too-long blade for a folding handle. The short blades are an old standard and I expect they’ll stay available forever. The longer ones? I don’t have such expectations here though I sure hope they won’t disappear in a year or 2. Anyway - they are not proprietary either and it looks like there’s more than one handle maker that adopted them already.
I haven’t experienced that yet but it seems like you have to bend the blade bit to remove it. I am also slightly worried that it wouldn’t feel solid enough. Though anyway - it’s definitely going to be a knife for very light use, so unless blade unlocking is really screwed up there should be no problems.
On another topic, does anyone know some good alternative for Sanrenmu 711 / 7071?
I read that it used to cost $5, now it seems hard to get. Fasttech has it for $7.2 which would be great…but they don’t ship to Poland.
There is one on Aliexpress but $22.7 seems a bit steep for what it is.
What I’m specifically looking for is a knife:
- with 55-70 mm blade
- with this kind of minimalistic construction
I found deejo 15g:
It seems really almost perfect.
But it seems discontinued as well, I can buy one for ~$31 from abroad which is ~double the original price.
It feels like I’m overpaying (especially that it has cheap steel and even the original price seemed high) but given no better options I will bite.
There’s also CRKT K.I.S.S but deejo appeals to me much more:
Now…I would be glad to try whether this style of knife really works for me. For less than $30. It’s so simple that I have a suspicion that there would be quite a few other knives like that in China. But I fail to find any more.
Any suggestions?
Same or very similar knives you can find as Baladeo and Simms.
One more option Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com
If smaller knives is OK for you Sanrenmu and Enlan have several knives of this kind.
Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com
13.7€ 15% OFF|Enlan S01 nägel serie Falten messer 8Cr13Mov klinge G10 outdoor camping jagd tasche mini geschenk schlüssel messer exquisite EDC werkzeuge|Messer| - AliExpress
Generally these cheap knives are cost now about twice compared to several years ago, but you still can try something for good price.
Thank you, that’s a few more. 
That deejo clone is interesting because it has deejo in the title, but nevertheless when I search ali for “deejo” it doesn’t show up. And when I search for “columbia knife” - it doesn’t either.
Enlans are quite heavy for me but at least they are the cheapest so far. 
BTW, in the meantime I also found Sanrenmu 6032 and Sanrenmu 7019.
Aaaargh !
Buy them and see …
Look at the - 535 clones or the real deal ( Benchmade ) if your pockets are deep enough .
Another knife to look at = Real Steel Luna Lite D2
Another knife worthy of consideration = QSP Parrot in D2 ( Avoid the 440 version )
Those open frame folding knives ? Id rather go a neck knife ………… ( Fixed blade )
Columbia = FeeBay + A lot of sellers sell them with their own BS descriptions … + all the SA39 seem to have sold out from the guy I got mine from . ( I just checked )
https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?\_from=R40&\_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&\_nkw=Columbia+knife&\_sacat=0 = FeeBay search
Found a SA39
Bought this “surgical blade” from a shop called “Warhero Store” on Ali Express for S$16.58 (about US$12.50); it came with 10 extra blades! Quite good and sharp. But I haven’t figured out how to change the blade just yet.
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/5974209?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.4d744c4dxerzR4
Lift the heel of the bladfe (the part that says 24) a few millimeters, keep it up, then use your other hand to slide the tip of the blade forward, i.e. away from the handle. Be careful to not cut yourself.
To place a new blade, slide it backwards into the slot until it clicks into place. Done!
Thanks Grigio. I see what you mean. The ‘24 end’ of the blade can be slightly lifted, like you said. Not so difficult to change the blade after all.
I just wonder why this seller is giving 10 extra blades for almost every knife he is selling.
Because they are inexpensive and can’t be used a long time.