Bradford Knives soon coming in Magnacut!

I have two G3 Bradfords, one drop point and tho other a sheep foot. Really like them, but always thought the laser cut remnants were a little rough for the price point. Wasn’t a deal breaker though. Then I picked up a G 4.5. This is the finish quality I received:

R3XYryc.jpg


xY9yO4u.jpg
I was pretty disappointed in the F&F considering this is a $250+ knife. I reached out and sent pictures. Was told this was within their specs. Kinda turned me off from the brand. Anyone else have a Bradford finished this rough?
 
JOELSM said:
I have two G3 Bradfords, one drop point and tho other a sheep foot. Really like them, but always thought the laser cut remnants were a little rough for the price point. Wasn’t a deal breaker though. Then I picked up a G 4.5. This is the finish quality I received:

R3XYryc.jpg


xY9yO4u.jpg
I was pretty disappointed in the F&F considering this is a $250+ knife. I reached out and sent pictures. Was told this was within their specs. Kinda turned me off from the brand. Anyone else have a Bradford finished this rough?
Click to expand...
We've had a similar discussion before.
Surprisingly to me, but many people are perfectly happy with them. I recall them promptly refunding someone who wasn't, so at least that is to their credit.
Looks like you got one of the nicer ones!
 
JOELSM said:
I have two G3 Bradfords, one drop point and tho other a sheep foot. Really like them, but always thought the laser cut remnants were a little rough for the price point. Wasn’t a deal breaker though. Then I picked up a G 4.5. This is the finish quality I received:

R3XYryc.jpg


xY9yO4u.jpg
I was pretty disappointed in the F&F considering this is a $250+ knife. I reached out and sent pictures. Was told this was within their specs. Kinda turned me off from the brand. Anyone else have a Bradford finished this rough?
Click to expand...
I was turned off by my Guardian 3. Great blade and all, but the handle didn't do it for me. I also took issue with the finish on the handle: lots of extra micarta hanging over various surfaces on the knife.
 
I have a 2018 G4 in N690, and a 2021 G3 in Rex 45 (DLC). The laser cut finish on the spine is very noticeable on the G4, but not really on the G3. I've seen a number of the Rex 45 G3's in various surface treatments, and many are rougher than mine, but I've never seen one that had a defect like in JOELSM's pic. I would've returned that knife.
 
JOELSM said:
I have two G3 Bradfords, one drop point and tho other a sheep foot. Really like them, but always thought the laser cut remnants were a little rough for the price point. Wasn’t a deal breaker though. Then I picked up a G 4.5. This is the finish quality I received:

R3XYryc.jpg


xY9yO4u.jpg
I was pretty disappointed in the F&F considering this is a $250+ knife. I reached out and sent pictures. Was told this was within their specs. Kinda turned me off from the brand. Anyone else have a Bradford finished this rough?
Click to expand...

Any company that calls that “within spec” should be ashamed.
 
JOELSM said:
I have two G3 Bradfords, one drop point and tho other a sheep foot. Really like them, but always thought the laser cut remnants were a little rough for the price point. Wasn’t a deal breaker though. Then I picked up a G 4.5. This is the finish quality I received:

R3XYryc.jpg


xY9yO4u.jpg
I was pretty disappointed in the F&F considering this is a $250+ knife. I reached out and sent pictures. Was told this was within their specs. Kinda turned me off from the brand. Anyone else have a Bradford finished this rough?
Click to expand...
Looks alot like the guardian 3.5 I got. It bothered me so I fixed it, I think I used a sanding drum on a dremel to start with the handles removed and finished by hand. Then I made custom scales. This was my second Bradford, I gifted the first, a Guardian 3, to my son. I don't recall it being as roughly finished, but couldn't swear to it one way or the other.

I actually broke the specialty bits I had trying to remove the scales in order to clean up the tang, the screws were put on with locktite. I sent an email to Bradford, the best they offered was to let me send them the knife and they would disassemble and ship back. Since it was my second purchase from him and the specialty bits I busted were the ones he sent with the first order that included an extra scale, I felt he should have offered to replace the bits, especially as the original guardian 3 wasn't locktited together while this one was. (Why would you use locktite if you offer replacement scales?) I ordered bits on Amazon.

The whole experience kinda turned me off Bradford kives. I want a small magnacut fixed blade, but I'll wait on another manufacturer, hopefully Spyderco will do one to my liking. (I missed the mule)

Grizz
 
I like Bradford knives, with or without polished finish… I don’t own one because I hardly need another outdoor knife, but I think they are very capable outdoor knives, as form and materials.
I hope I’m not intercepting the thread, if I have to I’ll open up a new one, but I have a guestion for the people more familiar with Bradford and Lone Wolf models…

‘I came across in another forum that one of the first Bratford models very close resembles Steven Kellly’s Trailmate, made for Lone Wolf before the company was acquired by Benchmade.
getagripandmore.com

Vintage STEVEN KELLY

ITEM DESCRIPTION: Being offered for sale is the "TRAILMATE 154CM" SLIM/BOOT KNIFE, a "STEVEN KELLY DESIGN" by LONE WOLF KNIVES from circa the late 20th century (best guess), as seen in the pictures/as described in the title. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR IMPORTANT CONDITION NOTES. Being offered for sale...
getagripandmore.com
Bradford started producing their Guardian model couple of years later and I came across rummmors tha they just copied Kellly’’s design……
Can someone more knowledgeable shed some light on this subject please ?

This is Kelly’’s Trailmate:

IMG-6087-opt.jpg


This is Bradford Guardian 4

shopping
 
Last edited:
I forgot to add, when I bought the Bradford G 3, I bought a Lionsteel M1. The lionsteel finish is impeccable. It looked like a knife costing twice as much when compared to the Bradford even though they were comprably priced.

Grizz
 
JOELSM said:
I have two G3 Bradfords, one drop point and tho other a sheep foot. Really like them, but always thought the laser cut remnants were a little rough for the price point. Wasn’t a deal breaker though. Then I picked up a G 4.5. This is the finish quality I received:

R3XYryc.jpg


xY9yO4u.jpg
I was pretty disappointed in the F&F considering this is a $250+ knife. I reached out and sent pictures. Was told this was within their specs. Kinda turned me off from the brand. Anyone else have a Bradford finished this rough?
Click to expand...
Damn,that’s pretty bad..my Bradford knives have visible lines along the edge where the blanks were cut out but nothing like this..I would be pretty upset with this as well..with that being said,how is the 4.5?I have the 3,3.5 and 4 and I love them but I’ve been thinking about getting the 4.5 for a while now but still haven’t got around to it..I love the 3 I have but the 4 is my favorite though I want the 4.5 as more of a bushcraft knife as the big finger choil limits itself as a bushcraft knife.I would love to see them make the 4.5 with a Scandi grind
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
I like Bradford knives, with or without polished finish… I don’t own one because I hardly need another outdoor knife, but I think they are very capable outdoor knives, as form and materials.
I hope I’m not intercepting the thread, if I have to I’ll open up a new one, but I have a guestion for the people more familiar with Bradford and Lone Wolf models…

‘I came across in another forum that one of the first Bratford Mabel very close resembles Steven Kellly’s Trailmate, made for Lone Wolf before the company was acquired by Benchmade.
getagripandmore.com

Vintage STEVEN KELLY

ITEM DESCRIPTION: Being offered for sale is the "TRAILMATE 154CM" SLIM/BOOT KNIFE, a "STEVEN KELLY DESIGN" by LONE WOLF KNIVES from circa the late 20th century (best guess), as seen in the pictures/as described in the title. PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR IMPORTANT CONDITION NOTES. Being offered for sale...
getagripandmore.com
Bradford started producing their Guardian model couple of years later and I came across rummmors tha they just copied Kellly’’s design……
Can someone more knowledgeable shed some light on this subject please ?

This is Kelly’’s Trailmate:

IMG-6087-opt.jpg


This is Bradford Guardian 4

shopping
Click to expand...
I never knew about this but thanks for sharing.it does look an awful lot like Trailmate
 
Garrett Ferrell said:
Damn,that’s pretty bad..my Bradford knives have visible lines along the edge where the blanks were cut out but nothing like this..I would be pretty upset with this as well..with that being said,how is the 4.5?I have the 3,3.5 and 4 and I love them but I’ve been thinking about getting the 4.5 for a while now but still haven’t got around to it..I love the 3 I have but the 4 is my favorite though I want the 4.5 as more of a bushcraft knife as the big finger choil limits itself as a bushcraft knife.I would love to see them make the 4.5 with a Scandi grind
Click to expand...
It’s a very functional knife. I think a perfect size for hiking / camping. Comfortable to use. Only complaint (and it’s a big one) is that the knife isn’t worth the price IMO. If given a “re-do” I’d have put those dollars toward a different brand.
 
That will be a nice knife in magnacut. I was gonna get a Bradford but decided to get on the list for a bark river in magnacut and after seeing this I’m glad I did. For the price point that’s unacceptable.
 
The blades on my pair are impeccable, FWIW. The markings are noticeable but not like that gouged up nonsense
 
JOELSM JOELSM

I don’t have that particular model but I don’t see why it would be any different from others. You should reach out again. None of mine are remotely close to that. Here is the “worst” one which I actually like as it’s very consistent.

31174E30-BCF6-483D-AD2B-AF6FFF0F11C2.jpeg
 
rycen said:
JOELSM JOELSM

I don’t have that particular model but I don’t see why it would be any different from others. You should reach out again. None of mine are remotely close to that. Here is the “worst” one which I actually like as it’s very consistent.

View attachment 1750791
Click to expand...

My two G3s look like that. Not stellar, but not ridiculous.

I did go back and forth with them a bit on the G 4.5. The exchanges were obnoxious and confusing. At first they were going to send return shipping labels. They had to be printed within 24hrs. I tried accessing the labels twice, but had no idea how to get them. Contacted them both times within the 24hr window looking for instructions. No response from them within the window. They claimed the shipping labels were non-refundable even though I was unable to print them. It was left that I can ship it back at my cost and they would see if they could find a replacement. The last message I received they acknowledged they viewed the pictures and stated it was within their specs. At that point I was done.

At the end of the day it’s 100% cosmetic. It’s very functional knife, but so are $50 fixed blades. I don’t have that “pride of ownership” sentiment, but whatever. Lesson learned.
 
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