Am I being too picky?

C

CoffeeCat2112

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Jan 26, 2007
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So I just received a new yellow Case pen pattern a couple days ago. The knife is awesome, except for one thing - there's this gap in the corner of one of the scales. The scale is solid and does not move when the area is pressed, but there is this hole:

gap3.jpg


Is this an acceptable little flaw or am I being OCD about this?
 
That's a pretty good sized gap.I would call and ask Case about that,they should exchange it for you.
 
bwperdue said:
Is this an acceptable little flaw or am I being OCD about this?
Click to expand...

Some people here can rationalize seemingly any deficiency in production knives as being a byproduct of mas production, or that they are "hard to make", or it would cost too much to do better etc...

Of course nothing will be perfect, but you can bet it wasn't designed to have a gap like that. I can't tell you exactly why I can overlook the same flaw on one knife that I can't overlook in another (I'm not really sure myself:rolleyes:), so I just take it on a case by case basis (no pun intended).

Objectively I would worry about dirt and moisture getting between the scale and liner and causing deterioration of both over time. In the end you have to decide what you can live with, but there will always be some compromise to make.
 
is that if it bothers ya and youre not happy with it, send it in or have them swap it out, personally id be bummed but it wont hurt the function of the knife, as far as dirt and junk getting in there it probably will but i wouldnt worry about it rusting etc. as its got brass liners, you could fill it with a clear epoxy, etc. to seal it up. my edc knives get all dinged up anyway, normal battle scars:D
i'd be irritated for sure but as has been stated, case by case basis. how ya like that pattern? was thinking about getting one for my dad in the future.
regards
gene
 
The pattern is awesome - it's just about the perfect size for me. And you're right, it won't really affect function, but it is kind of ugly. The chestnut bone peanut I also got is absolutely perfect, and I guess I figured this one would be, as well.

If I send it back for replacement, I'm wondering if I should then return it to Amazon or send it to Case?
 
I don't know if Amazon would return it since I started to use the knife before I saw the chip, so the main blade already has some patina on it and it not as new.
 
I'd send it back to Case. They made made it, they can fix/replace it. And they can do better than that, as per your chestnut peanut.

I don't know if I've gone nuts or what, but I have a theory. I've seen many chestnut bone, amber bone, red bone, and even stag scaled knives from Case. Most have been darn near perfect, very few flaws, and minor ones at that. But I've seen yellow sodbusters, yellow pen's, and yellow peanuts, and they seem to have higher amounts of flaws. I sent a new yellow peanut back to them I had bought mail order. It looked like it had been put together on a Saturday morning by someone who blew all their Friday pay on booze, and was too hung over to work. Yes, they sent me a new almost perfect yellow peanut to replace it. A tiny bit of blade rub, but I don't care about that.

I wonder if the yellow and other synthetic scaled knives are being put together by the second string, or not given full attention because they were a 'cheaper' knife or something.

I hope I'm wrong.

Carl.
 
SEND IT BACK!

I am one of the guys that is getting tired of seeing crappy fit and finish, and then seeing here how many rationalize it. I just received a knife from my favorite dealer that had so much play in the secondary blade it seemed it would fall off. It was sold and sent to me as a brand new, first quality, premium knife.

This is a well known, "handmade" German brand; I am not posting the name because I don't want to see the flood of "I have ten of that brand and they were all perfect" posts.

The knife was beautiful to look at, but I could (and did) move the secondary blade to one side and I could fold over a piece of copy paper and slip two thicknesses between the blade and bolster, and it would still move. You could see the open gap very easily. To top it off, it was a large canoe pattern, and the blade hit the backspring in such a way that I couldn't have sharpened out the strike point without exposing the tip. That blade was loose too, but not so badly I couldn't have lived with it.

Of course he took it back, with no complaints. But I have have to pay the shipping and take the time to return this knife, which should have never left the factory. And the insult to me is that this knife cost literally nine times the cost of its Pacific Rim counterparts.

I am getting really tired of all the excuses about "handmade" or "hand finished" or any other processes being used as an excuse for poor workmanship when talking about American made knives. As a cabinet maker, I find that insulting. Handmade doesn't mean lousy quality. And at 8 - 10 times the cost of their (Asian) competition, knife makers of better knives should be able to do their own quality control, not just send out their seconds and see who will keep them or send them back. I have received several Asian origin knives as gifts and given a few as well that I bought on close out at a local sporting good store.

The large stockman patterns I bought were perfect. The fit and finish were incredible, as were the two peanuts. The look good, feel good in the hand, all three blades snapped and closed the same, and the guys that have them (the Remington signature line or something like that) absolutely love them. I carried one for a while, and the blades are a bit harder than CASE's stainless.

Oh yeah... they cost $7.95 on closeout, $11.95 regularly priced. I bought four, and was still half the price of the American semi handmade products that are of questionable quality. Would I have been able to buy four CASE knives and not have any issues at all? I doubt it.

I am less and less concerned with our American makers. If they need to raise the price of their knives another $5 to the final price to get someone to look at them before shipping, they should. If they need to add another $2 so sharpen them properly before they ship they should. If they need to toss a few in the bin to pull apart and rework, they should. And they should quit whining that handmade means inconsistent quality, poor workmanship, and lack of attention to detail. Especially when they charge handsomely for those "features".

Robert
 
Well, I sent an email to Case's repair address explaining the issue and including some pics.

In just these couple days, I have really come to like the pattern, it's very useful and I really like the lines of it.
 
Good post, Robert.

Quality could be and should be more consistant. We get the dirty end of the stick when we have to pay more money and spend more time just to get the level of quality we should have gotten in the first place. And it happens way too often. The least they could do is pay for the shipping.

It just isn't right that the customer has to pay for the manufacturer's mistakes. They put out a bad product. They should cover ALL expenses regarding its resolve. Maybe even throw in a coupon for 50% off of your next purchase. If they had better quality control, they would seldom have to do this.
 
bwperdue said:
So I just received a new yellow Case pen pattern a couple days ago. The knife is awesome, except for one thing - there's this gap in the corner of one of the scales. The scale is solid and does not move when the area is pressed, but there is this hole:


Is this an acceptable little flaw or am I being OCD about this?
Click to expand...

I dunno. The question has no absolute answer. Whether the gap is acceptable is up to you.

I don't see it affecting the usability of the knife and it's no worse than the knives I grew up using. It likely would be acceptable to me. But if it bothers you, you should send it back.
 
Just checked my CASE yellows, none have this or any gaps on the liner/scale.

I certainly wouldn't like it at all, liquids could get in there and fetch the scale off quite possibly. I'm sure CASE will replace it or fix it up properly, yellow delrin may be utility but it should be decently finished, and getting it fixed will certainly please you.
 
I agree SEND IT BACK! As Jacknife, and RailSplitter said. I've got many Case knives, some in yellow as well, and none look anywhere close to that. If we want American Made things, then let's make them right. If I built a house for you, and left a crack like that in your Chair rail, or forgot to fill the grout in some of your Ceramic tile, you would want me to fix it. I feel as though company's should do things right and the best of their ability, and If Case can make 10's of thousands of knives better than that, then why let that one slip through Quality Control. Totally Unacceptable in my opinion. That's just my thoughts. I will add that Case knive's are one of my favorites!!!
Regards,
JOHN
 
I've had a knife or two, with apparent 'gaps' that looked like this (not just Case's knives, either). As it turned out, the 'gap' was sort of a very shallow recess/indent in the edge of the delrin scale, but not actually an open void under the scale. The 'darkness' of it was due to residual buffing compound or other grime collected in the recess, that when washed/cleaned away, almost made the apparent 'gap' disappear. The dirt/grime really stands out against the yellow scales (my examples were also yellow delrin). Might try wedging the end of a toothpick into the 'gap' and see if it's as deep as it appears. Also look for the buffing compound or other 'dirt' scraped away, on the end of the toothpick.

I have no idea how or why the shallow recess turns up at scale edges like this, but your pic looks amazingly similar to the ones I've seen. You mentioned the scale doesn't deflect inward, when pressed. That's consistent with what I described above.
 
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It's my opinion that is a flaw or as the warranty languages put it a "defect in materials or workmanship". I'd send it to Case and have them deal with it. It doesn't really matter that it is one of their lower priced models, it has the same warranty and should be fixed. - Ed J
 
knarfeng said:
I dunno. The question has no absolute answer. Whether the gap is acceptable is up to you.

I don't see it affecting the usability of the knife and it's no worse than the knives I grew up using. It likely would be acceptable to me. But if it bothers you, you should send it back.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. We're freaks, us knifefolk, but you pay the shipping back to them, they fix it. If it bothers you (it would bug me) fix it. And I agree with Carl about the second string.
 
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