Man, I’ve been looking for a Vespa Neon for months!!! Sadly, it looks like they stopped making it.
Yep! :THUMBS-UP: I have a lot of higher end Spyderco and Bussekin, but I still like budget knives. Been regrinding Mtechs, Enlans, etc., on my Harbor Freight 1x30".
Here's a couple of my budget slicers:
MT 20-65 & MU 1130
Have a look at my blog. 
I’ve been subscribed to your blog for probably over a year now, it’s not helping my knife addiction
Oh, I see what you mean now, I hadn’t received the notification yet.
Yeah, those are not bad but they are no Vespa. Also, the milled lines details are different from the original and the Vespa version.
I guess, since a more accurate copy is no longer available, this might have to do 
I can’t find the Vespa version either. It wasn’t a good move to sell mine… :person_facepalming:
This new version has steel washers among the titanium handles and the bearing washers and it weights much less than the Vespa version because of the milled handles and the lack of backspacer.
ValuseekeR - Nice regrinds, I enjoy doing that, too, it’s just a bit difficult when you have no one to learn from
And about that new Vespa, the lines or grooves are copied from the NeOn Lite:
If I’d win the lottery I guess I’d buy the real one right away.
I think this new version could be as heavy as mine, the S35VN branded one had milled handles, too.
I really like the new version but that 3D milled handle of the earlier versions is nicer than this sanded one.
Also the blade grind on the spine is much simpler, but I’ve ruind that on my version already 
Edit: I was wrong, this is the copy of the UltraLite with no backspacer and a simpler blade.
http://rusblade.com/collection/Shirogorovs-knives/product/shirogorov-neon-ultra-lite-s30v-mrbs
For the price it’s cool though, as long as it flips well and has a usable blade. There’s not so many folders in this size out there.
Interesting, I didn’t know about that one, thanks.
There is a lot to learn. As far as I’ve gotten with it was all on my own, but I wouldn’t even say I’m very good at it yet. Lots of time reading and watching vids, then some trial and error… Would be awesome to spend a few hours with someone who knows what they’re doing.
For the sake of moar pics, here is a small Sebenza clone that I reground by hand on coarse stones when I first got interested in thin edges and regrinds:
Hollow grinds are nice candidates to thin out as long as you want the cutting ability and don’t mind it looking a bit fugly, haha.
You did this by hand? Wow, must’ve been taking hours but well, I don’t know how much time I’ve spent on modding knives.
Also a knife with a non-removable thumb stud could give some pita on the other side I assume
On the Gnome I learned that a stonewashing is looking best with a polished surface, too bad though that a ruined heat treatment will leave dark spots.
So I just put some ferric chloride on the blade and heated it with a little torch, the discoloration is a bit like a fake hamon, on one side, on the other one it’s just a fugly stainless patina
That hand polished surface is great for slicing and the stonewashing hides fingerprints pretty well.
Btw, I wouldn’t even need someone who knows what he’s doing but at least someone who’s interested in the same crap as I am, there’s not sooo many people who do…
I had to do some thinning on the Neon, too, not only was it too thick for my taste but also ground very coarse, with a surface usable as a fingernail file.
Great lines and all, I’ve ruined some of them, but not good for slicing.
There are alot of higher priced (for China, like 70 USD) knives on Aliexpress these days with claims of premium steels, m390, S90V and such. Does anyone know if any of them are for real? One i saw today on the Steelreviews blog (http://steelreviews.blogspot.com), a small Sebenza copy with different prices for different steels. They say they can produce ones with D2, M390, DC53, or S35VN. Their pictures contain images of documents with information about the properties of the steels (easily forgeable) but they seem pretty serious.
These knives often come with the name “JUFULE”, which seems to be the name of a serious producer of knives, am i right? Has anyone gotten a premium kind of steel in a knife bought on Aliexpress?
Link to the aliexpress knife i spoke about: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/JUFULE-OEM-Sebenza-Inkosi-25-M390-S35vn-DC53-D2-titanium-carbon-fiber-folding-camp-hunt-outdoors/32789383447.html?aff_platform=link-c-tool&cpt=1484468666743&sk=vrRFuv3&aff_trace_key=90287e8b3060414aa480f51e4be8923a-1484468666743-07552-vrRFuv3
I have a couple of fakes that were advertised having D2 blades. While I have no means to verify the claim I can say that these knives take a much better edge and retain it for much longer than the cheaper ones. This may be due to the heat treatment or to better steel or both.
At-least 99.9% of blade reviews are useless without a real cutting test with a reliable method and cutting a paper is not a test btw, you can sharpen any steel to razor sharpness but the difference is the durability.
Someone tested the Kevin John steel with rope cutting and counting the number until it gets dull and the result was around the same for this same steel.
For example this channel have the same test procedure for steels; CPM S110V 281 cuts, D2 120 cuts, VG10 75 cuts, 440C 55 cuts, 8cr13mov 39 cuts. https://www.youtube.com/user/CedricAda/videos
It’s not too bad as long as the stones are coarse enough, but once I switched to the belt sander I had no desire to go back lol. :+1:
Non-removable thumbstuds are definitely a pita…
+1
I haven’t seen that channel before, looks interesting. I’ve read and seen enough about edge retention tests though that I know formal testing isn’t for me lol.
It’s not just the steel, but the heat treat, the edge angle and thickness, the final sharpening grit, the level of initial sharpness… Then, crucially, due to the non-linear nature of blunting you need a clearly defined end-point and preferably some form of blinding or you run the risk of confirmation bias and goal-seeked conclusions.
In the end, I started caring less about edge retention and more about cutting ability and ease of sharpening. I still have and enjoy many knives in “super” steels, but I’ve been really pleased with what my budget slicers can do.
By the way, if you don’t like the new clone of the Neon Ultra Light (simpler blade grind, flat sanded handle, no Ti backspacer grooves in the waves) then you should have a look at the CH 3001. If I wouldn’t have the S35VN Neon already and could afford another knife I’d take a closer look at it.
Playing with the blowtorch on the screws
The SRM710 thumbstud turn-out to have a nice blue color under heat, like the Sebenza. Poor quality picture.
Good job! :+1:
How did you achive that bronze color on the G729? Does it depend on the temperature?
Oh boy. Overwhelming amount of both budget(ish) and non budget lights being released at SHOT show 2017 right now. So much want. So little money. Kershaw has some sweet blades coming out shortly.
Thanks! Its not as easy in fact to obtain the right color but you can obtain a more custom look.
But bronze color is super easy to achieve, you only need low temperature. Around 20-30 seconds on a gas stove. Its beautiful with the wood handle. The only thing to be careful is not to strip the screws because they are low quality like in all cheap knifes.
