Congress Knife - Crinking normal or truly terrible?

[Zwayne93]

I recently purchased an Eye Brand Congress in red jigged bone. This is my second traditional knife after dipping my toes in the water with a Case Trapper. My grandfather used to carry a congress pattern around daily, and I thought I would see what the fuss is about.

Overall, I'm... impartial to the knife. It's not blowing me away. However, the knife uses two main springs for it's four blades. The two main sheepsfoot blades are crinked a fair bit to get them to nest into the handle. Based on the photos below, is this a normal amount of bend in a congress knife? Maybe to me it's the angle coupled with the thin quality of the blades, but... Getting a congress on four springs could solve this to a point, but is this normal for a two spring Congress knife? Thanks!

https://imgur.com/OJGeWlv

https://imgur.com/gt5UKz4

https://imgur.com/yw0wee1

 

[afishhunter]

Looks "normal' to me.
Keep in mind I am not an "expert" on the pattern, though.

 

[JohnDF]

Looks normal to me too.
I wouldn't want to pocket a four spring knife.

 

[ea42]

That's normal for a congress, basically the only way to nest those blades in that space. Some folks freak out about it, like it'll totally throw off their slicing abilities, but a human wrist can rotate almost 180 degrees so that little 10 or 15 degree cant is adopted by your hand so naturally that you don't even notice the difference.

There's no way that you'd want a four spring congress. It'd be so heavy and WIDE that you'd never want to carry or use it.

Nice Eye Brand there, I really like that red bone!

Eric

PS - John ya beat me to it LOL!

 

[r8shell]

I suppose it's normal, but I think the blades could have been fit with less crinking if they were ground differently. Notice the offset grind from the tang on the upper right blade. It's the opposite of what it should be (in my opinion)

 

[Zwayne93]

That's normal for a congress, basically the only way to nest those blades in that space. Some folks freak out about it, like it'll totally throw off their slicing abilities, but a human wrist can rotate almost 180 degrees so that little 10 or 15 degree cant is adopted by your hand so naturally that you don't even notice the difference.

There's no way that you'd want a four spring congress. It'd be so heavy and WIDE that you'd never want to carry or use it.

Nice Eye Brand there, I really like that red bone!

Eric

PS - John ya beat me to it LOL!

Thanks! I didn't think they are bad per se, just wanted to know if these were normal. I'll give it more pocket time, but I just don't think I'm crazy about stuffing four blades in one handle...

 

[Zwayne93]

I suppose it's normal, but I think the blades could have been fit with less crinking if they were ground differently. Notice the offset grind from the tang on the upper right blade. It's the opposite of what it should be (in my opinion)

That's a good point. If it were offset on the other side, there would still be crinking, but not as much angle. If I try another congress out, that's something I'll definitely try to look at moving forward.

 

[Just Tom.]

I suppose it's normal, but I think the blades could have been fit with less crinking if they were ground differently. Notice the offset grind from the tang on the upper right blade. It's the opposite of what it should be (in my opinion)

That's a good point. If it were offset on the other side, there would still be crinking, but not as much angle. If I try another congress out, that's something I'll definitely try to look at moving forward.

I think r8shell is on to something there. I got out my only 1-spring, 2-blade knife and had a look, and sure enough, it is ground the way she says it should be:

This is a $12 knife, by the way, so it is not something only achievable with a high price tag.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

As long as everything fits correctly, I usually don't have an issue with the crinking.

I do have a couple of knives with blades on which the crink was applied well forward of the ricasso, meaning the 'bend' was actually within the cutting edge's length. Effectively, it's a bent blade with a cutting edge that's not straight and therefore impossible to sharpen cleanly on a flat stone to even-width bevels on each side. That's an issue that really irked me, and a clear example of crinking that I didn't like at all.

 

[dsutton24]

You're new to traditional patterns, the krinking you see is normal. Jumping into something unknown like this can cause no end of anxiety. The trapper and congress are two very differnt animals.

There's no substitute for experience. Look at every knife you can get your hands on. Any double ended knife will have some way of accomodating all the blades when folded into the handle, be it krinking, asymmetrical grinding, mitered tangs, or one spring per blade. Some knives even show combinations of these methods. Even single blade knives can be krinked.

Here's where I usually insert my usual rant about the internet's obsession with blade centering. A search will find plenty of bloviating on the subject if you're interested.

 

[Old Biker]

What r8shell said. For comparison here are some photos, similar to yours, taken of my Boker carvers congress.

O.B.

 

[bladeblabber]

my case medium congress’ have four springs. No krinking.

 

[eisman]

As noted, it's the grind that makes those blades require krinking. I think that's bad design. On the other hand those blades sit fairly low, and the joints are sunk, so it has that going for it.

I really like the Congress pattern, but things I find too often are repeated blade patterns (2 or more indentical), krinking, blades that sit too high, sharp exposed joint edges, and poorly thought out shields.

 

[Zwayne93]

You're new to traditional patterns, the krinking you see is normal. Jumping into something unknown like this can cause no end of anxiety. The trapper and congress are two very differnt animals.

There's no substitute for experience. Look at every knife you can get your hands on. Any double ended knife will have some way of accomodating all the blades when folded into the handle, be it krinking, asymmetrical grinding, mitered tangs, or one spring per blade. Some knives even show combinations of these methods. Even single blade knives can be krinked.

Here's where I usually insert my usual rant about the internet's obsession with blade centering. A search will find plenty of bloviating on the subject if you're interested.

Thanks. I'm not too worried about fit, finish, or centering on these. I know that, to some degree, many of these are handmade still.

I come from carrying big folding knives, like from Cold Steel and Spyderco. The amount of crinking on the blades, coupled with the thin blades, was very jarring. But its good to know that this is common and I shouldn't be worried.

 

[screened porch]

I think I have one small four-blade congress downstairs. I never liked the pattern because the shape of the handle dictates relatively short blades. And they usually repeat blade shapes. If I'm going to carry multiple blades, I want them to be different. (Nothing to do with OP's question, I realize. Just feeling chatty.)

Interesting difference between the Eye and the Boker.

 

[hornetguy]

I think r8shell is on to something there. I got out my only 1-spring, 2-blade knife and had a look, and sure enough, it is ground the way she says it should be:

This is a $12 knife, by the way, so it is not something only achievable with a high price tag.

Yes... it is a matter of making sure the grind is correct for the way the blades nest in the handle. I've seen some that were backwards to what they should be. Surprisingly, one of my RoughRyders is correct, and nicely done.
That's one of the reasons I like the Case Sowbellys... a three blade stockman, with no krinking necessary, because they grind the blades so that the sheepfoot and spey nest properly.....

 

[hornetguy]

That's a good point. If it were offset on the other side, there would still be crinking, but not as much angle. If I try another congress out, that's something I'll definitely try to look at moving forward.

Don't give up on the Congress knives.... GEC makes a great two blade, called the "Easy Pocket" congress... the #62. It's very slim, two blades, and minimal to no krinking.
They look like this....

 

[Zwayne93]

Don't give up on the Congress knives.... GEC makes a great two blade, called the "Easy Pocket" congress... the #62. It's very slim, two blades, and minimal to no krinking.
They look like this....

One day, I'll own a GEC... but not today. Gonna try some more patterns out first. Payday was a few days ago, and I live next door to a Case dealer, so we will see where the adventure goes!

Beautiful knives, though!

 

[Doppler Bob]

Don't give up on the Congress knives.... GEC makes a great two blade, called the "Easy Pocket" congress... the #62. It's very slim, two blades, and minimal to no krinking.
They look like this....

 

[Doppler Bob]

Those 62s are lightweight and great cutters. I don’t think I’d like a four blade congress, but theses two blades are great.