Blade Length Discrepancies, Why?

T

tatfiend

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Apr 24, 2013
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I have checked the blade lengths of a number of recently purchased knives from multiple makers and note that actual blade lengths seem to frequently differ from manufacturer documented lengths by +/- 1/8". In one case the discrepancy is even larger. The exception is Benchmade whose blade lengths I have checked are in agreement with their documentation within about .020", a nominal amount IMO. My measurements have been made with a digital calipers supposedly accurate to +/- .001"

In one case a maker has one knife model with a blade considerably shorter than documented and another that is longer. USA made knives even!

Why the discrepancies? With modern manufacturing methods sizes should be close to nominal. These are mass production knives not one-off or limited production custom knives I am referring to.
 
Some folks measure the cutting edge only, some from the tip to the center of the pivot hole, and yet other from the tip to where the handle starts.
 
blade length and cutting edge are often different measurements, as Rev mentioned.

Set the calipers to the advertised length, set one end to the tip of the knife and see where it falls. That should tell you what that particular company refers to when it documents its blade length, etc.
 
My brand spankin' new ESEE-6 has a blade length just 1/16" short of being the full 6.5" long. I doubt that 1/16" difference will affect its performance in any way.
 
you are going to have a small length error even with mass production knives, for example i have 2 Spyderco Tenacious: one blade is 1/8" longer than the other.

in the long run does it really matter???? IMO its not

Oh, and USA made knives are unfortunately notorious for having wonky knife measurements
 
The AKTI standard is to measure the blade from the tip to the forward most aspect of the handle.

Below is the link with examples and how to measure. As you can see, depending on where you take the measurement from there can be significant variance.

I guess it comes down to where the manufacture takes the measurement from but I wish or would like it if they all followed the same standard. .

http://www.akti.org/resources/akti-protocol-for-measuring-knife-blade-length
 
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Purely conjecture on my part, but I've been a metal worker for about 20 years now, and have seen all sorts of things done in the interest of saving material.

There could have been cracks, pitting, or chipping on the blade, and it was ground a bit shorter to clean it up.

It might have been dropped, or a noob may have been grinding on it and burnt the blade.

I've even seen laser cut parts where an excessive amount of slag resulted from either a bad lens or impurities on the mat'l and had to be ground off.

Maybe the tols are wide open and 1/8" is acceptable especially when measurements are taken from an arbitrary location as per Rev's post.

I have seen it myself, a friend and I have the same knife, and the blade on mine is considerably closer to the butt end when folded than his knife is. It honestly didn't concern me that much.

Edit: what's up Paul? Good link.
 
cncpro11 said:
Purely conjecture on my part, but I've been a metal worker for about 20 years now, and have seen all sorts of things done in the interest of saving material.

There could have been cracks, pitting, or chipping on the blade, and it was ground a bit shorter to clean it up.

It might have been dropped, or a noob may have been grinding on it and burnt the blade.

I've even seen laser cut parts where an excessive amount of slag resulted from either a bad lens or impurities on the mat'l and had to be ground off.

Maybe the tols are wide open and 1/8" is acceptable especially when measurements are taken from an arbitrary location as per Rev's post.

I have seen it myself, a friend and I have the same knife, and the blade on mine is considerably closer to the butt end when folded than his knife is. It honestly didn't concern me that much.

Edit: what's up Paul? Good link.
Click to expand...

All's well thanks, and thank you, Always useful and interesting to get insights from people in the industry. Thanks for sharing!:thumbup:
 
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MNofUSN said:
in the long run does it really matter???? IMO its not
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I think that conforming to standardized measurements is not a lot to ask. It's fine to mention actual length of blade-edge, etc., but occasionally you need to know the length of the tip of blade to the handle, since that's what law enforcement looks at. If I am giving a folder to a relative in another state...where a 3" blade is the state reg, then that's the length I need to know about when ordering.
 
This is a pet peeve of mine!

Example: Cold Steel says their "XL Voyager" has a 5.5 inch blade. Bull, it's got a 5.3 inch blade, every person who actually measures it says the same... 0.2 inches? Even in elementary school I could measure things better than that!

Other manufacturers don't post correct measurements as well, too many examples to list... some are really bad!



No, the actual length doesn't really matter to me - it's just the sheer laziness and/or incompetency that really bugs me. This could be important to people with blade length limits, too.
 
Goosey said:
This is a pet peeve of mine!

Example: Cold Steel says their "XL Voyager" has a 5.5 inch blade. Bull, it's got a 5.3 inch blade, every person who actually measures it says the same... 0.2 inches? Even in elementary school I could measure things better than that!

Other manufacturers don't post correct measurements as well, too many examples to list... some are really bad!



No, the actual length doesn't really matter to me - it's just the sheer laziness and/or incompetency that really bugs me. This could be important to people with blade length limits, too.
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Just my original point. My background is manufacturing quality assurance and inaccurate specs bug me. I have two Kershaws and one has a blade longer than the factory spec and another has the blade shorter, both by greater than .1" and measured the same way.

BTW in Nevada, per state supreme court decisions, blade length is defined as the sharpened portion of the blade only which is something rarely specified by manufacturers. Another confusing factor thrown into the mix.
 
Obvious solution: start up your own knife manufacturing company, keeping every dimension of every piece to within 0.001" of your design specification and show all those losers how it should be done.
 
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