Blades that aren't centered

S

SteelSnob

Joined
Sep 7, 2009
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Does it bother you if your blade is not centered when in the closed position? It bugs me and I'm wondering if I'm being irrational. I usually buy higher end knives so when I do I expect them to be centered. But the knife I'm carrying and my current favorite knife has a slightly offcentered blade and I keep looking at it over and over just to make sure. I know it will never effect the knife's performance but...
 
Won't say I'll make an issue about it, but I definitively don't like when hat happens on my folders.
 
seems like very few of my folders are perfectly centered when closed. never thought about it that much. but if its something you just cant live with..... take a 16 oz. ball peen hammer, remove your right shoe, and then smash your big toe.... HARD !!! now you'll forget all about that little knife problem. :D
 
As long as it doesn't hit the frame I'm not too bothered. It's nice if it's perfectly centered though.
 
philwar said:
As long as it doesn't hit the frame I'm not too bothered. It's nice if it's perfectly centered though.
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Pretty much for me too.:thumbup:

I have an "off-centered" blade in my one handmade knife but it is due to the one side of the grind being a bit thinner towards the tip then the other side. Its hand made so I can understand that sometimes uneven grind can happen but it does not touch the scale and if you measure the blade at the pivot area where it is not ground it is perfectly spaced even side from pivot.
 
I had a similar problem with a fixed blade knife that I had a problem with due to minor blade warping. The overall general advice on this forum was to return it or send it back to the manufacturer.

Cotherion had a good point I thought:

Yup, replace it for sure. I've for a folder which blade is not straight and everytime the petty little me in my head keeps bringing my eyes to the imperfection. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a perfectionist but a warped blade is beyond my level of tolerance.

You'll feel better if you get a better piece, get what you payed for.
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From: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=706724
 
Knives with offset blades can often be put right if you know how to do it. I don't bother on my knives, because I could care less. I buy my knives as users, not to sit around and admire their uniformity. As long as the blade isn't being interfered with, threy're good to go in that respect. I suppose if I was buying a collector's piece, that would never be used, I would center the blade. The technique to center the blade has been discussed in this forum previously. Obviously, since it's your knife, you might want to give that a try.
 
It bothers the hell out of me when a blade isn't centered. As far as I'm concerned, a blade should be centered when it comes out of production. If it's not, it shouldn't pass QC. That's just my opinion.

If I buy a car I want the doors to close all the way, I want the seatbelts to lock, and want the windows to be able to go up and down with the push of a button. When I buy a rifle I want the safety to work, the bolt action to be smooth, and I want the damn thing to shoot straight. When I buy I knife I want it to lock up tight, I want it to be sharp, and I want that blade to be dead center when I close it.
 
Knives are tools, i.e., they have a purpose, and as long as they can perform it, there's no reason to fret over an imperfection. As long as they aren't hitting the scale, they'll work fine. Just my two cents.
 
kreole said:
Knives are tools, i.e., they have a purpose, and as long as they can perform it, there's no reason to fret over an imperfection. As long as they aren't hitting the scale, they'll work fine. Just my two cents.
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I agree that knives are tools, but I buy high quality knives and when I pay for high quality I want it to be just that. An off centered blade from the factory, to me, is not high quality. IMHO an uncentered blade is laziness on the part of QC.

I could pay $10 for a cheap set of lineman pliers, but I spend $50 on a pair of Klein linemans because they are of high quality.
 
Learn how to center them. It isn't that hard to do.

Unless the knife is pinned, or badley machined, most can be centered.
The Seb would be a folder that really can't be centered because the machining is either spot-on, or it isn't.

It's pretty amazing that so many forumites don't know how to center a blade. They seem to be experts at everything else knife related.
 
I take issue with it personally. Drives me crazy it they aren't at least close to center.
 
SteelSnob said:
Does it bother you if your blade is not centered when in the closed position? It bugs me and I'm wondering if I'm being irrational. I usually buy higher end knives so when I do I expect them to be centered. But the knife I'm carrying and my current favorite knife has a slightly offcentered blade and I keep looking at it over and over just to make sure. I know it will never effect the knife's performance but...
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You're not alone.It bugs the heck outa' me too.
 
Many double ended slipjoints are intentionally "krinked" off-center so that two opposing blades lay well in the frame. It doesn't seem to hurt anything, at least in a using sense.

Parker
 
Only if the blade is hitting the scales or the pivot area is getting all scratched up.
 
I don't care if it's a $40 Delica or a $450 Sebenza or Strider, I expect the blade to be centered and stay that way. If it isn't, steps are taken to make it that way.
 
bearcut said:
Learn how to center them. It isn't that hard to do.
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Yeah you can center the blade yourself, but why should you have to? :confused: Why do I have to recenter the blade on a knife I just spent over $100 for? It also can't be done on every knife without affecting the smootheness of the opening action on some.
 
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