Am I Being Obsessive?

[UglyJim]

For some time I've been thinking about getting a daily-carry knife that did not have an overwhelmingly "tactical" appearance (and would not intimidate my office co-workers). Consequently, I recently gave in to a nostalgic desire to own a quality "traditional" slip-joint pocketknife and purchased a new custom two-bladed trapper from an Internet retailer. The dealer's service was excellent and I am (for the most part) very pleased with the fit and finish of the knife. However, as a relative newcomer to the collection of custom knives I have one nagging concern about my recent purchase.

One of the blades of this knife has a small but rather pronounced scratch near the tip. The scratch is only about 5/16 on an inch long and is roughly perpendicular to the axis of the blade (52100 carbon steel, satin-finished); it is deep enough that is can be felt by running a fingertip over the blade. Even though the scratch is not large, it is still quite visible on the relatively small blade.

Since I don't have a great deal of experience dealing with custom makers or retailers I'm not sure if this type of (admittedly minor) imperfection is something that can reasonably be expected from a hand-crafted product or if it reflects a defect that I should be concerned about. Is it reasonable to expect a "perfect" finish on a custom-made blade? I hate to be obsessive about insignificant details, but I am somewhat troubled by that fact that I may have paid a substantial sum of money for an item that does not conform to the quality standards that are generally expected for this type of product. Please note that the retailer I dealt with has a generous return policy; I have simply chosen not to take advantage of this option (partially because I wasn't sure if my concerns were legitimate).

Overall, I am very pleased with my recent purchase; the minor imperfection on this blade has absolutely no impact on the utility of the knife (and I realize that it will probably receive many additional scratches from use). I'm simply trying to become a better-informed consumer for my next custom knife purchase. Any suggestions or impressions from the more experienced forum members will be most welcome. If I'm being too anal-retentive about this whole issue just let me know…I'll shut up and go back to sorting my paper money by serial number (heheh).

Jim

 

[Les Robertson]

Jim,

If the knife was listed as mint. Then it was misrepresented. If this is the case, call the dealer and return the knife. More than likely they will be able to get the knife to the maker and get the knife buffed out and the scratch removed. They should be able to get a very quick turn around time.




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Les Robertson
Robertson's Custom Cutlery
http://www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com/rcc/makers.shtml
I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

 

[M. COTY HANDLEY]

Jim,
I'm no professional knifemaker, but it is a hobby of mine. I'm not in any guild, and I'm telling you all this so you know I'm not professing to be some "expert." Anyway, on to my humble opinion, and that is anything worth doing, is worth doing right. I would personally be embarrassed to deliver a knife to someone that had any mark on the blade that I didn't expressly intend to put there. "Hand made" is not synonymous with shoddy craftsmanship. Just because you bought a custom knife, doesn't free the maker from his or her responsibility to provide you with a quality knife. If anything, I think a custom knife should far exceed the quality found in the name brands, though that is becoming more and more difficult to do these days. I would bet that whoever sold you that knife would rather hear about any mistakes they made, and be given the chance to correct them, rather than lose a customer and/or create a bad name for themselves and their work. At any rate, there's two cents for you.

 

[greenie]

I like you am obsessive with my knives. I do not like even minor imperfections. Often, I will buy a knife, examine it closely, I thought, get it home only to KICK MYSELF I didn't look closer at the point of purchase. I think emotion (enthusiasm) can cause one to be "temporarily blind". I'm sure some shrink out there can explain this phenomena. Guess it's somehow tied to the human condition.
Oh well.
Greenie

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"Walk softly and carry a big stick"...TR