Inside the DKW Sandshark

[nameless]

DKW Sandshark and Piranha Excalibur. Is there a bit of Sandshark engineered in the Excalibur?
I have read rumors about this, more than a few times, so I decided to take a closer look.
The knives do seem strangely similar in appearance but what about the blood & guts? Here are some pictures of both, you make your own decisions. I will say this much, I found a new respect for the Piranha. It may not be as tough as the Shark, but as far as OTF's go, it is very impressive.

Both side by side before opening



Opened, Shark is held together with a very nice 11 screw set up (4 on one side, 7 on the other) The Piranha has 6, all on one side.




Both have a very sturdy blade rail channel. Sandshark has three rail channels set inside the handle/housing(1 large center, 2 smaller on each side). Excalibur has one channel (1 large center). Shark has 13 blade to frame contact points (4 "H" blade points, 3 main blade rail pin points, *center pin goes through the blade contacting opposite side making 1 more contact point*, 2 smaller blade rail/adjuster screw contact pins, 3 frame to blade adjuster screws). Excalibur has 5 contact points (4 "H" blade points, 1 blade rail pin)





Note both stop bars (seen as long horizontal silver pins or bars, near the top of housings), the Excalibur's stop bar (right) is set deeper in the frame ( a nice method to hold the blade with out using extra pins). The Shark's stop bar (left) is set at the very top of the frame, blade is also held very tight because of the extra blade rail pins (3 large main, 2 smaller ) and then the over kill of 3 more adjuster screws (seen in picture as the 3 small silver spots at the top of the Sharks frame Left)





Closer look. Note the "notch" cut at the bottom of the Excalibur's blade (right), and also the "hole" in the blade. These are the contact spots for the firing catch. The Hole is where one of the two firing catches contact the blade, allowing the blade to fire in. The "notch" position fires the blade out. The Sandshark uses the number 2 pin for this same DA (double action) function.




Close look at the Sharks blade rail pins, 5 in all. The First pin (closest to tip of blade) is also used as the front stop pin, The 3 pin is also used as the rear stop pin, Middle or 2 pin is also used as the DA firing pin. Another very nice SandShark blade feature, is the two, much smaller, round blade pins that can just be seen in the picture as two shiny spots left & right of the 2 pin. These two smaller rounded balls or pins are set in the blade and travel down the two small rail channels, seen on either side of the large center main channel. This is where, two of the three frame adjuster screws, make contact when the Sharks blade is in the "out" position.




Sharks center blade rail pin, Note how it extends to the other side of blade. The Excalibur uses one main blade pin, but it is deep and because of the way the blade is set a little deeper when locked out, it still holds strong & tight.





Side by side of the firing mechanisms, both are almost identical. The only real difference is the Shark being larger. Both have a large center type spring (forward and rear brass blade firing catch) held together with 6 screws sandwiched between two pieces of T-6 aluminum. The Piranha may even have a very small lead here because of the over sized quad blade lever locks (sears) that are held in place with center pins that go into the frame. The Sharks lock levers are half the size and are held in place with a bonding agent, very strong, but I would have liked to have seen a through pin (as seen in Excalibur), instead of the bonding agent holding the Sharks sear levers. It almost seems that the Piranha was the next generation on this one, single, issue. If there is any link between Shark and Piranha, this is where it seems likely, if at all. (seen in picture as the 4 metal bars at each corner, just sticking up) Piranha on left: Sandshark on right.




The Piranhas lock levers (sears) have a leaf spring to hold the levers at the ready. One leaf spring on each side




Sharks levers, held at the ready with 4 coil springs.




Complete break down of firing mechanism (Excalibur). Sandshark break-down & parts are basically the same, but in no way interchangeable. These pictures are just to give you a complete opened view of the closed firing mechanisms shown above.





How the sears hold the blade inside, ready to fire. Pushing the button forward drops the sears allowing the blade to fire forward. The center notch at the back of the blade is where the center spring catch engages the blade.




Inside view of blade in the locked-out position. The sears pop-up behind the blade, locking it in the out position.


Video link, No sound: Assembly of the firing mech. Click on picture


The work involved in making a great OTF is incredible.
I also make blades,
Here is one of my Damascus Blades (The deep blue is not paint) made for an Excalibur... it pales in comparison to making a complete OTF, but I thought you may enjoy some of my work. This particular Blue Damascus project took many hours to achieve the angles and to precisely match the original blades "H" end work to assure a flawless firing from the Excalibur. The Piranha Excalibur's blade to rail tolerances are outstanding and close on a "machine fit" for an OTF. (I'm now working on a twin for the SandShark).





Bottom line, the Piranha is a good OTF but nothing compares to the DKW Sandshark for shear strength, power, and cost. It fires like a Tank and just as strong, locks out to rival a fix blade.
This Video, all though old, says it all:
http://videoknife.com/sand/sand.wmv

Hope you enjoyed the break down!

[gzb]

Great thread. I know that presentation took some time and work to do. Thanks for the insight into these OTFs...

[ragingwolf66]

Very good presentation. Great comparison.

[Mr.LaBella]

Awesome write up!

[Honch0]

Very cool indeed. You do nice work:spin::spin::spin::spin:

[knifepuppet]

Two lock points that means Sandshark OTFs are the safest I have ever seen.

Thanks for Pix sharing~~~

[samhain73]

Now THAT was a great review! Really informative, and great pics too!

[Stabber]

Great comparison and Pics!!!

to JD:spin:

[jorvik]

that was a tremendous post.in fact the best I have ever seen on any knife forum EVER!!.having the balls to take a Piranha to bits at $400 or thereabouts...............and making it easy for idiots like me to understand......wonderful thread....I haven't got the guts to take my $10 Dayou to bits

[Thergon]

I have a sand shark for the last few years. I was given it as a gift.
I found this remarkable review when researching my knife and is the main reason I had to join here. I could not find anything really on the sand shark, not a real true and complete break apart that also teaches how I can finally clean my knife. I was afraid to open it thinking springs would fly out.
Thank you mr nameless for putting this out on the web.

[xrayzebra]

Thanks for the bump! I missed this first time around. Nice post. Whatever happened to nameless?

[ben croker]

Nice, that took alot of work and I appreciate the hell out of it since I have a shark.

Gets my PFC seal of approval.

[nameless]

Originally Posted by xrayzebra

Thanks for the bump! I missed this first time around. Nice post. Whatever happened to nameless?

Originally Posted by ben croker

Nice, that took alot of work and I appreciate the hell out of it since I have a shark.

Gets my PFC seal of approval.

Originally Posted by Thergon

I have a sand shark for the last few years. I was given it as a gift.
I found this remarkable review when researching my knife and is the main reason I had to join here. I could not find anything really on the sand shark, not a real true and complete break apart that also teaches how I can finally clean my knife. I was afraid to open it thinking springs would fly out.
Thank you mr nameless for putting this out on the web.

I'm still here Xrayzebra, just extremly busy because it is firework season and it takes up much of my time. I will have a break after the 18th of this month (celebrate revere beach, first public beach in the nation event). Thank you, glad you enoyed!

Ben Croker, Thergon and everyone else that took the time to take a look, I can not tell you how much you just made my day!

I did put much effort into that review and thought it was a complete waste of time until I posted it here at JerzeeDevil! (Truly Ron, you have a great forum with great people.)

[pease]

very nice review. I love your blade

[gnomedeplume]

I've opted for the Pirahna, based on your information here. Thanks!
One day the Sandshark, maybe.