BRKT: Fit & Finish?

[DavidZ]

I have had many BRKT knives, and I love them. That being said, based on my experience and purchases, their fit and finish, is only fair. But that is not their claim to fame, or their core competency. All of the ones that I have had, have had an issue or two in the F&F department. But none of those issues would affect function. Short scales filled with epoxy, some gaps, uneven grinds, slight bend to the longer blades, uneven mating surfaces, are not uncommon. But they cut like a laser, are incredibly tough, and are made in styles that you cannot get from any other company. If you are looking for those features, they are awesome. But, --- If you are looking to admire their F&F while on the deer stand for hours, you will be disappointed. The verdict: Great user knives, in great styles, with a super cutting edge, but not made to sit on a silk pillow in Tiffany's window.

 

[Brian Jones]

Weird - all of my Barkies have been custom-knife-level fit and finish. I must be one of the lucky ones!

 

[hollowdweller]

I find it really interesting how many people seem to be mentioning edge issues.

That is usually where they are all pretty much tops for me.

Now one of the things I have run into is sometimes only one part of a blade will shave and then say the very ends are not as sharp, but almost any edge issue I've been able to put the knife on a strop with 1500 grit paper laid on and bring it to a hair popping edge in about 10 minutes, sometimes only a few passes are needed. I've never ever had one that was flat out dull when I got it.

However compared to some other brands of knives I've got where I had to spend several hours or more totally reworking rather than touching up, the BRKT's only needed touching up.

Also had very good luck with BRKT repairing or fixing any problem. But the only blades I ever returned were Rogue Bowies with gaps between the blade and handle and they came back as good as $500 customs.

Always found dealing with Mike Stewart very easy. Also IMO he has a better grasp on making knives that are ergonomically friendly and high up on the cutting efficiency than almost any other knife company and most custom makers.

 

[sketchbag]

I was wondering: does anyone have any photos of the knives with fit & finish issues they've had? Because that would help make it clear just how bad the issues are, since as I said in one of my earlier posts, some people are pretty carefree about fit and finish, and some consider even the slightest imperfection a fatal flaw.

Here's a picture of what I'm complaining about, thats like at least 5% of the edge left unground.

 

[tonym]

I only have 3 Barkys and they have all been great in every aspect of the knife.

Nothing I have read here will stop me from buying more.

Hey Sketchbag, what model is that?

 

[Andrew Colglazier]

Here's a picture of what I'm complaining about, thats like at least 5% of the edge left unground.

Huh... what??

Sketchbag, that is supposed to be that way. Here's a pic from DLTTrading showing the Micro Canadian:

The unsharpened area in front of the scales isn't supposed to be sharp. That's the ricasso area, and it is designed that way.

Andy

 

[Elen]

Thanks for the pics, apsilon and sketchbag! :thumbup: :thumbup:

In my opinion, cosmetic fit and finish flaws like those in your pics, apsilon, are rather common in a wide range of knives from many and even most manufacturers, from $5 cheapos to $400 customs. Certainly not the rule, but, common. Uneven guards and non-horizontal grind lines in handles or pommels in particular are very, very common. None of those flaws are the kind that would seem to affect performance, but I wouldn't want flaws like that on a blade that was intended as a collector's piece. Serious fit and finish issues, but luckily not harmful to performance in use, it seems. A lot of folks would just ignore those and say that a knife left like that has "good fit and finish", because the edge was usable and the knife stayed in one piece. Me, personally, I wouldn't mind if it was going to be a hard user, but I would not accept fit and finish that poor if the knife was meant to be a collector's item. To take another manufacturer mentioned in the first post, Fällkniven, into consideration, Fällkniven's knives have a lot of cosmetic flaws somewhat like this that many people don't even consider flaws because they do not affect performance. I guarantee, for example, that if you take a 100 randomly selected Fällkniven knives, you will see many where the tip is clearly unevenly ground, the protruding tang butt on the knife is ground very unevenly or has been left very shallowly protruding. They're common flaws in Fällknivens, but not the kind that would prevent me from buying and recommending Fällknivens as user knives.

On the other hand, the unsharpened part of the edge in your pic, sketchbag, is the worst kind of fit and finish flaw: it's cosmetic and also very detrimental to performance, since part of the edge has just been left out. Flaws like that are much less common than what was seen in apsilon's pictures. It's a very bad flaw, and in my humble opinion, is cause enough for most people to return the knife for warranty work or more. I know some people who wouldn't mind, though, and some that wouldn't even notice and would still rate the knife as having a good fit and finish. I have seen flaws like that on quite a few knives from a variety of makers, even on non-cheapo knives, but those kinds of flaws are really serious. If I see flaws like this commonly in a manufacturer's blades, I will not recommend them or buy them.

But all that was just to clarify my personal view on stuff. And I'm not really sure if it was of benefit, and it was a long post, too. But I felt like writing it. Thanks again for the pics, guys. :thumbup:

 

[koyote]

I have one barkie, and the fit and finish are fine. Not absolutely perfect, the hand work on the scales and tang are obviously out a bit if you have knifemaker eyes, but less than you could measure without a 3 signifigant figure digital micrometer, and far less than you can feel.

Overall I'd rate it equal to or better than any other good quality hand finished production.

 

[Andrew Colglazier]

HOLD THE PHONE!!!!

Sorry to yell, but the "flaw" that sketchbag is talking about isn't flaw at all... that's the way that particular knife is designed.

Andy

 

[Elen]

Huh... what??

Sketchbag, that is supposed to be that way.

The unsharpened area in front of the scales isn't supposed to be sharp. That's the ricasso area, and it is designed that way.

I think sketchbag doesn't mean the large ricasso, but the small unsharpened area on the edge right after the ricasso:




I know the ricasso is meant to be there. But if that area I circled in red is meant to be like that, then I'll just be content with saying that while it may not be a flaw in manufacture, it's a flaw in design.

 

[Andrew Colglazier]

Sketchbag, clarification please?

Andy

 

[koyote]

that's pretty common, it's hard to do anything about that without a small ricasso in the grnd area or a sharp angle that leads to weakness.

 

[Andrew Colglazier]

This model of knife is quite small, 5" OAL with a cutting edge of 1.75".

If the tiny area you circled is what Sketchbag is talking about, elen, we are talking about an unground area of about 1/8", max. And as Koyote pointed out, and as is true, this is kind of a transition area between ricasso and edge, and is very common. Not a flaw, IMO.

Andy

 

[Elen]

Sketchbag, clarification please?

I'm pretty sure that's what sketchbag meant. After all, he said 5 %. If he had been referring to the ricasso, then he would have been more accurate to say 25 %, I think.

Design-wise, a good way to avoid a situation like that is to not make a huge, unnecessary ricasso on a small knife, and use some of the space that was wasted in the ricasso to transition the edge right, perhaps even with a little sharpening choil if it's too difficult otherwise. You won't see transitions like that in good scandi knives, for example. Because it's just plain sloppy, and wastes perfectly good edge.

But as I said, it may have been intended to be that way, and in that case it wouldn't be a flaw in manufacture. I would, however, still consider it a design flaw. But tastes differ on such things.

 

[ilbruche]

A better perspective.

 

[Elen]

This model of knife is quite small, 5" OAL with a cutting edge of 1.75".

If the tiny area you circled is what Sketchbag is talking about, elen, we are talking about an unground area of about 1/8", max. And as Koyote pointed out, and as is true, this is kind of a transition area between ricasso and edge, and is very common. Not a flaw, IMO.

On the other hand, if the knife is that small, then the transition is certainly more difficult to make. And ilbruche's pics give a good perspective. In my opinion, though, a knife that small shouldn't spend so much blade length on a ricasso.... I thought that knife was notably larger, though.

 

[Andrew Colglazier]

On the other hand, if the knife is that small, then the transition is certainly more difficult to make. And ilbruche's pics give a good perspective. In my opinion, though, a knife that small shouldn't spend so much blade length on a ricasso.... I thought that knife was notably larger, though.

The Micro, Micro II, and Mini-Canadian all have this elongated ricasso. These are all very small knives, and the user's finger is meant to go there. It functions like a choil.

Micro II

Mini

It is the design. Perhaps some might not like it, and would design it differently, but that is how they are designed.

Andy

 

[Elen]

Yeah, on a knife that small, it goes down to individual tastes. I don't know where I got the impression the knife was at least 3" of blade instead of something that tiny. Perhaps I've had too much whiskey and not enough brains.

 

[sketchbag]

What Elen said, do you people seriously think I meant that entire finger groove area?

Sure this is only 4mm, but the flat part of the edge isnt even 25mm long. If this was a 4"+ edge I wouldnt mind, but considering how small it is, thats a significant portion of premium edge space. It looks bad, but much more importantly it affects the performance.

 

[CUTS LIKE A KRIS]

I must reiterate that BRKT did NOT make everything OK with my knives that I sent in. They came back as dull as when I sent them in. I can sharpen knives but wanted to try the famous Barkie convex edge on various media to see how I liked it and the knives were not able to shave newspaper or cut manilla rope at all. I was extremely disappointed after hearing all that was said about both the edge and customer service (and in no way did they offer to refund my shipping, and billed me $25).
I did not get any pictures of the edge problems as they were not really that visible, but were a detriment to usefulness.
After reading the GB&U I am not sure that I will be purchasing any more of their knives either, other than the ones that I have on order.