Anything worse than a bad grind on an expensive knife?

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upstate88

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I recently bought a GT 040 and the grind was terrible. It was super uneven, with one side even having areas where there were chunk of finish showing where they did not grind enough. It was only the 1" of the tip. One side was like a 20 degree and the other like a 25 degree. It was terrible, and so disappointing. I sent it back, with no issue, so that was good, but it put a sour taste in my mouth for sure. It seems to just happen from time to time regardless of brand, human error and all. Although I would say that Spyderco impresses me time after time, after time....
 
I've seen this from all major manufacturers from time to time.

Does it bother me? Sure. But it is easily fixable either by re-profiling right away, or gradually through subsequent sharpening (taking away more material on the acute side, to gradually even things up).

I have never sent a knife back for this issue alone.
 
It is annoying to pay alot of money for a knife and then find out it isn't right from the factory.
I free hand sharpen so, I know my edges arn't perfect but there is somthing about sharpening a knife by hand that is really satisfying.
 
1) A Spyderco Manix 2 that cannot be closed without the use of some sort of metal implement to release the lock.
2) A Bark River neck knife with a sheath with zero retention.
 
Got a fixed blade knife that is nice, and I like the size, my Dunn knife, hollow ground, but looks like the grind was stopped before the shoulder meets the blade, so there is is a flat area that should be part of the sharpened edge. I may not be describing it well. Also the handle needs a little trimming down, so I am sending it to David Mary for some touch ups.
 

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Anything worse than a bad grind on an expensive knife?​

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Everything is relative....
To a poor little piglet with an expensive knife on its little piglet scrotum at castrating time, I'd think that's a little worse - for the piggy.

I would return the knife and have it made right.
 
Not familiar with the knife but if I'd paid top "dollar" then yes I would. Anything relatively "mass" produced not so much. I have some beautiful Shinichi Watanabe blades and I must say for what you get for the price (individually hand forged by one of the best) his grinds/edges are a work of art.
 
It is disappointing, sure. But then I think about some of the things we've released (in a very different industry), and realize QA is made of humans, too, and try to postpone my excitement for the replacement. Process can help a lot, but when you're making a lot of things, your defect rate is never zero.
 
imho grinds which are badly uneven should be sent back ... esp if you paid 400, even at half that price

anyway, I use a leather strop and some smaller stones which are not really useful to re-grind

it's not difficult, spyderco knives even priced at 100 never have grind issues (in my experience)
 
dirc said:
imho grinds which are badly uneven should be sent back ... esp if you paid 400, even at half that price

anyway, I use a leather strop and some smaller stones which are not really useful to re-grind

it's not difficult, spyderco knives even priced at 100 never have grind issues (in my experience)
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Agreed. Spyderco does it, why can't a larger company??
 
I guess the lesson learned is that if you're a quality guy don't cut corners and buy an entry level OTF. You're gonna have a bad day.
 
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