Gents,

I have had an opportunity to look closely at another fake SS dagger. The knife is much better than the one in this thread:

http://daggers.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/728099473/m/1140051505

But the scabbard is worse. I will start on it in just a second, but the points I am trying to make are:

1. Fake are getting better and scarier
2. If you know what you are looking at and take the time to look at suspect daggers in person, the fakes are still reasonably easy to detect.

OK, here is what it looks like. It is supposed to be an early Eickhorn small trademark ground Rohm.

some more views

3

There are about 30 pics total, so hang on !

4

5

Smell a rat yet ?

Now, starting at the very top, the tang nut is not correct. Too short a top. These varied just a bit, but this one is not the right shape.

Fake on the left, real one (Hammesfahr swimmer SA) on the right

Now the crossguards. They are the correct shape and weight, but are of a material that is too shiny or bright to be nickel silver. They are cast and they even had a poor "P. A." cast into them, but they are not correct. Also, Eickhorn mostly enhanced the grooves of their early SS daggers by hand and these are not so treated.

That is the first time that I have seen what I consider repro crossguards with an attempt to put a castor's mark inside. Scary

There is also a casting flaw. If this were the only problem with the guards, I might accept it as you very occasionally see a guard with a minor flaw.

The grip. At first you say .. Wow, that is in great shape, but then you might notice that the wood looks too good, too precise, and too new. Still has that slightly fuzzy look of new wood that has been dyed but not 100% finished

another look

After comparison with others, I am 99% certain that the eagle is a good fake. It is attached with prongs, but seems to be inset in a very shallow fashion.

The metal appears to be softer.Note the dent in the halo above the eagle's head. Perhaps pewter. It does not have the look of nickel silver or plated nickel silver, but I am not certain that comes out well in the photo.

The rune button is glued in. There is no trace of the barrel pin visible the hole in the grip. The button itself? Not sure about whether it is correct or not.

From a different angle. You can also see what I mean about the new look of the wood and the precise angles which you do not see in even well cared-for daggers 70 years old.

The top grip hole looks normal

The lower hole looks less correct. If it were not for the other problems with the grip, I might accept it.

The blade.

First it has a very high ridge on both sides

The motto is 30mm from the crossguard which is incorrect.

On normal SS is should be 25mm and on Himmlers, and Rohms by Eickhorn and Klaas (small trademark), it should be 35mm

The trademark is too high on the blade and the squirrel looks more like a rabbit. Notice the incorrect tail

in another light. Notice also the high ridge

The tang looks absolutely new and is without any marks

Here are three close-ups of the motto. Notice the ridge.