CRKT Sting

I’m sure that readers of this thread will be very pleased to hear that I eventually got a reply from CRKT this evening (it's nearly Midnight here in the UK!) It reads:

Thank you for taking the time to drop us a line. Sounds like you received a defective. Since you are located in a different country doing replacement will be very expensive so here is what I suggest. For sharpening we offer our own Slide Sharp for razor edge knives.
For serrated or combination edge we recommend Lansky (800-825-2675) or Spyderco (800-525-7770) kits.

The angle is between 17-20 degrees for most of our knives with the exception of the KISS line which will range from 32-34 degrees. On the KISS model you sharpen just the front bevel side only.

Our knives are honed by hand so each knife edge is unique. The most important thing is to just follow the natural grind when sharpening. Simply pull the knife blade back towards you (don't push the blade) with medium pressure at the same approximate angle as the original grind. Take the back of the knife and strop the edge on a piece of leather or even hard cardboard will do. (This will keep the fine edge from curling back.) Then apply a good coating of Break-Free CLP (or any 3 in 1 oil) and keep it lubricated.

I hope this helps.
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I appreciate the reply. I guess the guy who was supposed to hand hone my knife must have had his hands in his pockets that particular day! It’s funny, I order quite a few knives from the USA and I’ve never previously found postage that prohibitive, but it’s nice to know that CRKT offer a product that might put an edge on the “defective” knife I bought from them. Think I’ll listen to the advice earlier on this thread though and take a pass on the Slide Sharp.

I can’t help thinking of a story an old Irishman told me about what him and his pals would get up to in their younger days, (and I hope I won't offend anyone if I recount it.) They’d offer to take the turf away from a farmer’s field so he could plough it over more easily. Before doing so, they’d mow it. Then they’d drive round the suburbs of English towns selling “Genuine Irish Turf” to those who could afford it. They’d lay the ‘lawn’, but of course in a matter of time, turnips or whatever crop the farmer had previously grown, would start sprouting up. When the customers complained, the gang would tell them there must be a problem with their sub-soil and offer to treat it for them, for a fee of course. They’d then turn up with tanks of liquid strapped to their backs (which of course was just water) and spend an hour spraying the lawn. After getting paid, they’d then disappear! ;)
 
As a large knife company, CRKT agrees that being responsive is important.

They also suggested to just sharpen it. Shipping a double edge knife back and forth from Great Britain may not be too expensive, but does endanger it to confiscation by the Customs trolls.

Having worked retail 35 years, the general consensus among the various management cultures is to simply placate anxious customers with well worded talk or warranty replacement when needed. It's all built into the cost of the goods sold anyway - we ALL have to support the demands of perfection for the few.

I work in auto parts again, had a customer who wanted to return a Bosch O2 sensor because it didn't look like the OEM Denso. Bosch invented O2 sensors, and neither is obligated to make them identical in every aspect of appearance. I confirmed it was the right application and satisfied his concerns.

The real issue being the owner had no clue what he was talking about - but we can't just come right out and tell 75% of the car owning public they're incredibly ignorant and incapable of diagnosis. The same people who wouldn't conceive of working on the 2 ton home HVAC think nothing of tinkering with the car's 2 ton unit - without a gauge set.

I see the strident demand for superior Customer Service as a plea from those who really are dependent on other's knowledge because they can't.
 
Yeah, it really makes you wonder why any knife manufacturer bothers to sharpen their knives at all really. They could just sell us some pointy bits of metal and have done with it.
 
It doesn't sound like anything sort of receiving a free, sharpened knife was going to make you happy -- and even then I imagine you'd still have something sarcastic to say about it.
 
tirod3 said:
Shipping a double edge knife back and forth from Great Britain may not be too expensive, but does endanger it to confiscation by the Customs trolls.
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Just for the record, despite the ridiculous UK knife laws, there are no current restrictions on importing or owning double-edged knives. It's still the place most F-S knives are made after all. :)

If I pick up a knife in a shop and it has a sharp edge, I at least know that it is capable of taking an edge that sharp. If I pick up a blunt knife, maybe it’ll take a good edge maybe it won’t, maybe it’s made from a different steel from what is stated, maybe it hasn’t been heat-treated properly, maybe it’s been produced by a company that has very poor quality control. Unless the blunt knife is amazingly cheap and I think that I can still put a good edge on it, or it’s a second-hand version of a knife I’m familiar with and being sold on, I probably won’t buy it.

In this case, I ordered a knife by mail-order from a well-known company (but one I’ve no prior personal experience of), from a retailer from whom I’ve always had good service. The retailer’s catalogue/website description, which is taken verbatim from one supplied by the manufacturer, says the knife is “razor sharp”. The knife arrives however with a very blunt edge, and when I enquire with the retailer I’m told that all the knives they have of that model (which they’ve stocked for a few years) are the same. Despite its blunt edge, I like the knife, and so after asking a couple of questions of my fellow Bladeforums users (see my original post) I decide to keep it and put an edge on it myself. While I’m prepared to do this, it doesn’t mean that receiving a knife with an edge which varies massively from the one advertised (it’s blunt) means nothing to me, or that I won’t take it into account when looking at another knife from the same manufacturer in future.

For me this issue is primarily about quality control. If something can be missed so easily as the fact that a double-edged knife which is supposed to be “razor-sharp” doesn’t have a single sharp edge on it, what else might have been missed? In the case of this knife, there’s probably not much that could go wrong, A.G. Russell’s design is bombproof, but what about with more complex designs, folders for example? It seems that the poor edge on my knife was not a ‘one off’, the retailer tell me their other stock is no better, and indeed there’s a ‘review’ on YouTube which graphically illustrates the same. I believe A.G.Russell himself sells a few of the CRKT versions of his knife, and I’m sure HE wouldn’t let them go out in the condition mine arrived in. Nor would most knife makers, presumably because they feel a sharp edge is important, and that it’s part of what the customer has paid for.

Secondly, there’s also the issue of the unreliability of the product description in the manufacturer’s advertising. If it’s unreliable in this respect, with regard to the only knife I’ve purchased from them, how much should I rely on its accuracy in future? Based on my experience, I’d tend to take it with a pinch of salt. Maybe I just got unlucky with my first purchase from this manufacturer, but it’s bound to colour my thoughts if I consider buying from them in future.

If I paid $10 for a knife I wouldn’t expect it to have more than the most basic edge on it, and most manufacturers don’t even specify, whatever the price range. In this case though, the quality of the edge is part of the manufacturer’s sales pitch, and for the record I paid $75 for this particular knife - not expensive, but not ‘cheap as dirt’ either.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable or excessive of me or any other customer to expect a knife manufacturer to sharpen their knives before they send them out, or to accurately describe them in their advertising. Fortunately, most knife makers respect this, and take both quality control and customer service extremely seriously.

Sharp Phil said:
It doesn't sound like anything sort of receiving a free, sharpened knife was going to make you happy -- and even then I imagine you'd still have something sarcastic to say about it.
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All I've asked for is what was advertised and what I paid for. As for any sarcasm, I think I've kept my sense of humour and remained polite at least. Thanks to everyone on this thread who has offered helpful advice.
 
Jack Black said:
Yeah, it really makes you wonder why any knife manufacturer bothers to sharpen their knives at all really. They could just sell us some pointy bits of metal and have done with it.
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All to true, and just about exactly what they did in the '70's. They called them razor sharp then, too, and use the same term now. It's an undefined marketing term, like "surgical steel," or "high carbon."

I haven't put faith in a sales phrase to meet my standards in quite a few years. Billy Mayes might be dead, but others will continue to carry the banner.
 
For what it's worth, I purchased quite a few CRKT knives when I was just getting in to knives, and while their blade-steel was not "top-shelf" I certainly couldn't find fault with the fit-and-finish nor the sharpness right out of the box.
Not quite Buck or Spyderco sharp, but as good as any Kershaw or Benchmade I have ever owned.
 
Now you explain you paid $75 for a $25 knife, I understand why you are not happy about the quality control.
 
i received mine today, i got it for 35 shipped. mines pretty sharp. i like it, nice little fixed blade :) no disappointment here.
 
neeman said:
Now you explain you paid $75 for a $25 knife, I understand why you are not happy about the quality control.
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:barf: (That's me spitting out my tea in shock!! :D) :( :( :(

3mptin3ss said:
i received mine today, i got it for 35 shipped. mines pretty sharp. i like it, nice little fixed blade :) no disappointment here.
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:thumbup:

US knives have always been kind of pricey here by comparison, and the state of the British £ at the moment doesn't help. Those are good prices though fellers. Enjoy! :)
 
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