Everybody Fess Up

Lenny

Lenny

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 15, 1998
Messages
2,499
Although we all hate to admit it, virtually every knife we buy has defects; some hardly noticeable, some big enough to be sent back.
I'd like to know what you're all seeing.
List the brand, the defect, and whether you sent it back or not.
Feel free to also list knives you've gotten that are, for all intents and purposes, perfect
I'll start.
Case Stockman- small gaps between bone scales and frame, small gaps in between frame and springs; didn't return it
GEC Easy Congress- small gap between bone scale and frame (only visible with magnifying glass); didn't return it
Shrade US made 34OT- this is the most perfect Knife I've ever seen. Absolutely amazing for the price.
Thanks all,
Lenny
 
This may not seem like a a defect to many, but to whoever has ever bought a mora its a bombshell. I bought a Mora classic 2 last fall and was super excited, because of all the reviews, but when I recieved it.... It was dull... Barely paper cutting sharp...:dispirited::hororr::disgust::sour::heart-borken::grief::disturbed::distress::jaded:
 
Case sway back jack-absolutly no gaps, perfect centering, backsprings flush in all three positions, perfectly even bevels. perfect out of box.
 
My daughter's Peanut. The one made on her birthday. The main blade touches the outside liner. And no, I'm not sending it back because I'm afraid Case will replace it with a new knife, and I want this one. So I'm just careful when I close it.
 
Case Pruner 61011 - bought it second hand, sent it back for a spa treatment and a pivot adjustment (lots of bladeplay) came back shinier then a silver dollar, but somehow the pivot pin only extends halfway through the blade now and any lateral force creates a >20* wobble. Now I love the fact that Case was willing to take care of it even though it was second hand, for that I am grateful but the wobble is a bit of a bummer.

Case SBJ - the dye job on the chestnut bone is uneven and one side has an almost pure white border around it, but it's a user, and functionally perfect so that's all I care about, it has performed admirably.

Northfield/GEC Conductor #33 - awesome, just awesome.
 
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My favorite edc carry, my precious, the damascus peanut, has a slight pen blade lean toward the inner liner. It's close, but I can pass a business card between it and the liner. I'm okay with it. To me, it's just part of the individual character of the knife. If I want a totally flawless knife, I'll go get something from Tony or Kerry.

I'm not sure I want something that pristine and perfect. It's not a perfect world, so I don't mind if my knife is not perfect. I know there's a term for this in Japanese, something with a flaw, but I can't think of it right now. But I kind of like that idea.

Carl.
 
TheSharpStuff said:
Case sway back jack-absolutly no gaps, perfect centering, backsprings flush in all three positions, perfectly even bevels. perfect out of box.
Click to expand...

Same here :thumbup:

My only complaint is that the scales are unevenly dyed, but it is beginning to grow on me for sure.
 
I have only bought two knives out of about 200 that have been bad enough to return. One was a genuine stag Rough Rider balloon whittler that came from the net dealer with verdigris all over the liners and pins. It was replaced right away after an email. The second was a Buck one-hander that was somehow twisted or warped so that it would not open one-handed. Still useable by opening two-handed, I just gave it away instead of returning it. Both knives were right at $20 shipped.

The vast majority of my pocket knives are GECs, with Queen/S&M the second most. Out of those I have had as many that were near perfect as I've had ones that had noticeable flaws, like gaps or poor bevels. The large majority of all my knives have been very good to excellent with minor, hard to notice imperfections.

You may occasionally get lucky, but to expect perfection you will have to plunk down some serious green. It just should not be expected from factory made cutlery.
 
I think Case's worst period by far was the late 80's through early 90's. I have a stockman of that era, every blade is lazy and I mean real lazy, the stainless is passable with an obtuse edge, but on the soft side. If I put my usual edge on it, it will just flop back and forth with all but the slightest of pressure on the stone. Just pitiful.

A little worse on my persona experience scale - A friend sent me a rough rider when they first came out. Although it looked pretty good, it literally fell apart in my pocket within two weeks.

Those two are by far my worst experiences.
 
Bought the AGR curved jack wharnie, and had a small problem with it. The blade wobbled a bit and occasionally hit the liner hard. Called AGR, they sent out a new one and it is just about perfect. The fit and finish are impeccable. This one gets a lot of carry time. Will be buying the Zulu spear blade companion for it soon.

Bought a Carl Schlieper medium stockman in stag, and it was a perfect in just about every way. Little light on the pulls, but all were the same and butter smooth. It's a jewel. But a companion I bought for it, a Schleiper Canoe was one of the worst knives I ever bought. One blade would grind when it opened and I had to push it closed. The gap between the outer liner and the blade was so large I could stick my credit card in it and it went from bolster to bolster. A real POS, and the vendor took it back with no squabbles. Followed up with another medium stag as purchased before to gift to a friend of mine. It came with butt ugly stag, and the blades fit poorly. My buddy was still thrilled with it so I let him have it.

Bought a Boker medium stockman, and while not perfect, certainly well within any acceptable limits I have for a smaller working knife. I really like it.

Last year, I bought a NOS (new old stock from the 90s I was told) Owl brand canoe. It reminds me of how knives used to be built. Rock solid, excellent fit and finish, and even came sharp.

I have come to apply the old saw when I buy a knife these days: "ya pays yer money, and ya takes yer chances".

Robert
 
I have two back to the factory now. First is a Buck 301 LE with bone/malachite covers. Zero snap on any blades and the spey wobbles. I tried the flush and clean treatment with no luck. Second is a Case mid-folding hunter with up/down play, the lock doesn't touch the back of the blade and IMO is dangerous. Ones that I didn't send back include a few GEC's that needed the kick filed down so I didn't stab myself reaching into my pocket, I did those myself. Also, my Queen Dan Burke Barlow had blade edge angles so far off that reprofiling wasn't an option. Took me hours to get the Wharncliffe, I'm working a little at a time on the spear.

Perfect/near perfect? Case SBJ and Texas Jack, AG Russell Pinched Peanut (2nd one, first had blade against the liners), AGR curved Wharncliffe jack, GEC Conductor and most of my GEC's in general, Case Select snakewood Barlow, S&M Gunstock, Canal Street Moon Pie and Half Moon Trappers.
 
I just bought a Case back pocket with CV steel that is the best finished knife that I have ever seen. I have had real good luck with all the knives that I have bought, the only issue I ever had was a 6375 that the master blade rubbed a bit on the one next to it.
 
My Queen DB Barlow has a mark on the scales near the main pin that holds the spring where the tool that was used to spin the pin slipped off and left a mark on both sides of the scales. The grind on the blades was atrocious and very uneven, I sent it out to have it reground. It's now one of my favorite users, everything else about it is solid.

I have a canal street pinch lockback in white buffalo horn that has some gaps in the liner and the blade is not centered and there is a tiny bit of play when open, but it sure looks pretty and the blade was actually pretty sharp, I still love it.

I've sent 2 knives to GEC to get a bit of attention by the craftsmen there. One for a blade hitting the backspring and it came back all fixed, a perfect knife. The other is still at the factory so only time will tell. One of the reasons I love GEC is that they stand by their product and will make sure that the customer is satisfied with their purchase, I feel comfortable buying a GEC knife because I know they will backup their work.
 
GEC #23 - It's developed a gap in the spring under the spey and the stag has a large gap on the bearhead end. These flaws wern't there a few months ago, so I think it's beginning to come apart. Good snap, no blade wobble. Thinking about sending it in to GEC.

Case Med blue stockman - bought 2000. Bad dye job. Should not have left the factory. Still have it, used it for over 12 years. The dye job still bothers me.

Case Mediterranean Blue Gunboat - Bad dye job. Gave it away.
 
My favorite tradiitional is a GEC #25 Barlow in smooth buffalo. One scale is ever so slightly thicker than the other, and there is a tiny bit of shrinkage of the scales from the liners.

It never bothered me much; my use and enjoyment of the knife is not at all diminished.
 
Case medium stockman--the dark red bone 2012 model in CV. Bad dye job, uneven bevels, gappy liners, weak snap, epoxy around the shield. Instead of sending it back I put a few nights of work into it, and now I'm happy with it.

Every GEC I've come across has been what I imagine to be custom quality--no liner gaps, flush construction, just great all around, but you pay for it. I like having options.
Edit: I've never gotten a knife so poorly made that I felt the need to return it--but I haven't bought hundreds of knives like many knife knuts!
 
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I buy mostly used knives, so I know there is no such thing as perfection. But that's okay, I buy them to use them.

I have only been disappointed twice. First was with a new knife, a Northfield UN-X-LD 73 Scout. The pull on the blade was so strong I could not open it with my fingers. What in the world good is a knife that won't open? I sent it back, and the dealer graciously exchanged it for a Tidioute 68 White Owl, and refunded me the difference.

The other was a used Case mini copperhead with deep canyon chestnut bone scales. I knew from the pictures it was a light and uneven dye job, but once I got it in hand I just could not let it stay that way. I did the RIT dye treatment posted here on BF, and now it is a lovely shade of chestnut.

Closest I have to perfection are all ones I picked up here from BF members.

1) a pre-1936 A.W. Wadsworth & Son sleeveboard pen knife in french ivory that is not only beautiful, but the construction of the two blades on a single spring to keep the width of the knife at 0.3125" is remarkable.

2 & 3) two 1978 Case jack knives, a 6232 and a 6207; perfectly centered blades with a nice patina, good snap and good sharp edge, all housed in some quite attractive brown jigged bone scales.

4) a Schrade-made Craftsman small stockman: three excellent blades (patina and edge) in a compact package, with pretty peachseed jigged delrin scales.
 
All of my knives have some at least some flaw, however minor and nitpicky it may be. I don't expect perfection so there were never any that really bothered me up until the last one I bought. It is a Therias Aurilliac with bullhorn scales. There are gaps everywhere, the pull has a herky-jerky type motion to it which makes it somewhat unsafe, the backspring is crudely finished on the inside and it sits very low in the open position. The worst part is the design though. Like an Opinel, there is no kick. I figured there would be a stop pin or something similar that the tang would rest against in the closed position. Unfortunately I was wrong. The blade hits the backspring at the tip! It was a disappointment since there are so many things I like about the knife from the blade shape and the slim handle to the translucency of the horn scales.

I know it was the last one the dealer had because it was marked out of stock shortly after I bought it and now it's no longer even on the site. It's bad enough that I wouldn't even give it away. I haven't ruled out using it as a basis for a pattern as I like the style. It could just use some refinement.
 
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markpmc said:
GEC #23 - It's developed a gap in the spring under the spey and the stag has a large gap on the bearhead end. These flaws wern't there a few months ago, so I think it's beginning to come apart. Good snap, no blade wobble. Thinking about sending it in to GEC.

Case Med blue stockman - bought 2000. Bad dye job. Should not have left the factory. Still have it, used it for over 12 years. The dye job still bothers me.

Case Mediterranean Blue Gunboat - Bad dye job. Gave it away.
Click to expand...

Check the RIT dye thread.Its almost too easy to fix a crap bone dye job.Before (deadmans tongue)
DSCN6502.jpg

After (black as advertised)
DSCN6567.jpg
 
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