OwE, your story pretty much tells mine as well. I buy lots of knives, vintage and current and i look for a pattern or some feature that is unique and that i like. I 'go over' the knives to clean them and check the blade action/lubricate, but i don't look to see if there are spring gaps, off center blade etc. I did before replying about the quality of construction of vintage knives, but it's not part of my routine 'check up'. It's more fun to focus on what is unique or special about a knife.
roland
roland