Blade centering, how important is it to you?

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Roikyou

Roikyou

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So, recent issue arose with centering issues. I stand by what I say or I make things right.

So, hot topic is usually blade centering, first thing you think of is Benchmade, I think of Hinderer because there is a lot of tweeking you have to do to get Hinderers to center and then not to rub. Rubbing is a huge issues in my book, that's another topic. I don't see many issues with Spyderco but of course, I got a brand new one from Bentobox, a reseller for Splyderco and it's off. Does it bug me, not really. The way I go through knives and change my mind, I'm always buying and selling. Tough part is selling, I stand by what I sell but what can you do when you get something from a manufacturer that the QC is just off. I'm on the fence with this Spyderco, I hate the idea of sending it away for weeks so they can loosen screws and adjust the blade, cause that's what they do. Unless the blade grind is off, I've seen that with manufactures, then no matter what, it's off centered. This is an M390 sprint run, so it's even more so a little annoying. I have two more brand new from authorized resellers that I'll have to check tonight that I just got to see if they're off also. And yes, I agree, it's a little off to me, might be a lot to some.

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A millimeter or so, no problem. My Military's detent presses the blade a tiny amount, but not enough to matter, for instance. It doesn't contact the scales.
 
it's really hard to get the phone to center just right so you can get a really good idea of how off center it really is. I most of the time just glance at it and never think about it again. I added another pic to try to add a little perspective.
 
It depends how far off center and certainly if it is rubbing or touching anything and how much it may grow overtime. I will say I would be more annoyed or bothered by it the rarer or more expensive the knife ie a sprint run Spyerco.
 
Yeah, it looks more off center in that shot. I am not familiar with Spydercos pivots. Can you adjust it yourself?
 
The pivot is tight on this one, usually if you loosen the pivot till the blade free swings, you'll see more off centering, this one is tight from the manufacture. Never messed with any screws other than adding a deep carry clip.
 
Everyone is different in spyderco users I generally don’t care as long as it doesn’t rub. I obviously would prefer it being centered but in this range I’m generally more interested in lock up, the blade grind not being terrible, and decent action . Start getting up to $180 + is where I start getting a bit more anal about things. But I understand why people get annoyed by it I’ve had plenty of $100 or less knives that have been perfect.
 
A small amount off center is fine but I’m
more willing to accept this on an inexpensive knife. I’ve only rejected one knife for this issue and it was a $30.00 knife. I have a CRK that’s slightly off but I bought it used and it doesn’t bother me.
 
Lock up is great and action is great, again stiff since I have not loosened the pivot. This will probably a knife I'll keep around but we've all said that before. I paid 170 with shipping, so I know my track record, if I let it go, I'd probably shoot for around 140 even though it's a sprint run. I like to keep level headed when reselling, I've paid too much for sure for some knives.

right now I have four sprint runs, three brand new from resellers including this one, one used with a bad grind that I fixed. Two more sprint runs coming in. Two regular product. All I own right now is Spyderco.

Here's an example of what I would not resell to someone. (this is the one I call a bad grind or sharpening job, just my opinion)

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After I cleaned it up

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I know it is a bit irrational, but centering is relatively important to me. ALL of my folders are centered just about perfectly. I have never had trouble getting a centered knife from a manufacturer, sight unseen. The one time I did get a slightly uncentered knife, I was quickly able to adjust it. This includes knives from Benchmade, ZT, Kershaw, Spyderco, CRK, and others.
 
David Lowry said:
People worry about minute stuff like this waaaaaay too much. As long as it's not touching one side it doesn't matter.
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As far as functionality, it may not matter.

But to some people aesthetically it's a big deal. And it's not unreasonable that a knife should be centered. Whatever the amount one paid for it. Because if it's not centered, there is someone else offering a knife at the same price point that is.
 
I want my knives centered. Its a matter of tolerances and as I read before "Being off centered wasn't part of the design". Obviously its not as big a deal in a sub $100 folder.
 
I called Spyderco just now, talked to warranty. I started this conversation so I know how to handle things moving forward. They confirmed what I thought. Center is a priority but not a top priority. If it came from them, it passed QC. Depending on how the blade is cut, it can show off centering. I absolutely, firmly believe this and seen it in other manufacturers. They're worried about edge retention and a couple other things that were mentioned. It's more difficult with more exotic steels as they mentioned. I think this is the same with other manufactures.

They did mention that it will probably stay the same, always favoring the one side. If the tolerances are set, nothing will change and the blade will always favor one side. If it gets worse, they suggested to send it in.

You know, I'm happy with it, I paid retail not "no longer in supply" prices.
 
Here's the lock up on it, guessing 30 or 40% (even though it's not in question)

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