Böker Plus Epicenter

Bought mine 2 Sundays ago. Was extremely pleased until I finally had a few extra minutes to look it over completely.
Was asked to send it in and wait for replacement with no time frame or expected stock from Boker USA.
Not pleased. Mine was probably made on a Friday afternoon when QC went out for a few beer.
I hope everyone else is having better luck with their Epicenters.
 
omsin_ said:
Bought mine 2 Sundays ago. Was extremely pleased until I finally had a few extra minutes to look it over completely.
Was asked to send it in and wait for replacement with no time frame or expected stock from Boker USA.
Not pleased. Mine was probably made on a Friday afternoon when QC went out for a few beer.
I hope everyone else is having better luck with their Epicenters.
Click to expand...

What was the issue(s)?
 
omsin_ said:
Bought mine 2 Sundays ago. Was extremely pleased until I finally had a few extra minutes to look it over completely.
Was asked to send it in and wait for replacement with no time frame or expected stock from Boker USA.
Not pleased. Mine was probably made on a Friday afternoon when QC went out for a few beer.
I hope everyone else is having better luck with their Epicenters.
Click to expand...
This time, there are a lot less issues, but it is not perfect. This run sold out before we received them, and it is a difficult, time consuming knife to produce. It takes longer to get them in. I wish I had a better answer for you, but it is the honest answer.
Terry
 
Terry, can you explain the reasoning of the design of the knife side where the lock bar engages and why its so steep? For learning purposes. At least for me. Thank you in advance.


edit part: I decided to really look mine over in detail. The scales on mine have some variations.....I don't think as bad as the first run, but nowhere near perfectly matching either. At this point I think bokers chinese factory has dropped the ball again. This will be my last expensive or higher end boker plus knife.
 
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jbmonkey said:
Terry, can you explain the reasoning of the design of the knife side where the lock bar engages and why its so steep? For learning purposes. At least for me. Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

The steepness of the curve on the tang where the lock bar engages is similar to my framelock titanium Spyderco Military. It seems too steep to me too but I'm no engineer.
 
I just put a pair of gloves on and some tape on the blade edge (just in case) and I could not get the lock to fail . I know how to make it fail if I want but I can do the same thing to several $100 to $200 dollar frame locks. Its a decent knife at this price point I think I paid $130 and some change I have my edge hair popping sharp and use it at work without much worry. Pretty cool blade.
 
Right! I really don't like doing the smack the spine test. I tried it firmly on a thick catalog and it held up just fine.
Just a note, did the same with an Emerson A100 and it closed after the second whack.
I have a lot of $150 and $200 knives and this Epicenter is a keeper for sure.
 
Mine isn't perfect if scrutinized, but I'm happy with it. It's pretty thick behind the edge so took some work to fix on the belt sander. VG10 is quite a bit more difficult to grind than 440C from boker +, didn't even attempt to do my usual 20° edge, blade is just too thick.

Oh there is something I missed, the front scale has a deep slot milled into it from the inside to save weigt, pretty neat.

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Alright, i got it.. and its a great knife with its own little issues.

Its either a bit too tight to open smoothly, or it opens like a dream then had the tiniest bit of side to side play.

The thing is, if im holding the knife like I would when using it (gripping the handle) this goes completely away. If im lightly holding it and jiggling it, you can tell theres blade play, otherwise.. theres none.

Its not perfect, but cosmetically everything on the 1st run is fixed. Everything lines up, it no longer says made in china on it (lol), the edge and grind are all good as well. This will be far from a heavy user, so im not worried too much about the tiny tiny blade play, but for you OCD'ers, its there.

I tightened the scales a little and it helped (still noticeable though as before)

one note: the tool that came with my knife was too small on the pivot adjuster size. By like two sizes. It fits the frame screws though.

Luckily, i had a bit that fit the pivot, so im fine. Still, if i hadn't.. that'd be annoying.
 
I am thinking about going ahead and getting a couple of these. I contacted an internet seller to see what they thought about the issues being fixed on the 2nd run. There response was really favorable. Can anyone tell me the thickness of the handle slabs, and the blade thickness?
 
Thanks for the info jztml. How do like using it? Good fit in the hand? You say you didn't get it down to 20 degrees, i'm assuming you are talking 40 degrees inclusive, so what is the factory edge set at?
 
Actually I meant 20 inclusive, which is how I usually profile knives with good steel then adding a 30degree microbevel. But the blade is so thick and I got lazy so I did 30/40 instead. The factory edge is around 40 inclusive.

It feels great in hand, the thick handle is very hand filling like a fixed blade handle.
 
To Boker:

Make this folder in a USA or japanese facility. Awesome design but poor execution. How many times are they going to be allowed to make bad knives before you drop them.

BM makes some amazing Ti framelocks in the USA for about the same price and have near perfect fit and finish
 
And would you like to tell us where would we be able to find that amazing benchmade titanium framework for $120?

There is the original Todd rexford version already if you are so inclined to want a us made one.
 
Average price for the Boker is $130 to $140. Ok so maybe I'm off by $30 or so. The BM LFTi, Subrosa and MPR are $160ish. Maybe a tiny bit more but not much. And they have either s30v or M4 and USA made and made very nicely I shall say.

I love the epicenter design just wish it was executed better in production
 
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I doubt know where do you get your price but I paid 120 and change for it and can't find any of the BM for that cheap.
 
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