Feeling deflated and disappointed.

R

rwhitebbq

Joined
Aug 13, 2015
Messages
81
First off... yes, I'm a newbie to the forum, though lurking unregistered for quite some time. I have plenty of very good, good, and not-so-good knives, and maybe, depending on opinions, one great one. Secondly, I'm not trolling or looking for a holy war!

I received my first "***awesome***" knife today, and opened it with anticipation of angels singing, trumpets blaring, and world harmony.

NOOOOOO! It's not centered! The spine is well centered on the scales, and yet, from the beginning of the grind down to the point, it diverts away from the lock side.

I realize every company, no matter how great, has an escape. And I know I'm un-diagnosed OCD, but every time I look at it, I'm just sad.

So I checked every other locking folder I have to calibrate my own expectations. Of the 6 BMs, every one is dead nuts on. The Buck 110 from my childhood is a little loose, but dead center, as is the Squire. Heck, even the cheap-@ss S&W auto is centered.

But not this icon of modern marvels.

Regardless of how anal I might be, this one has to go back in the box... along with the nice cloth and stickers and all.

Haven't decided whether to roll the dice again, or just go buy myself a couple of BMs or ZTs and lick my wounds.

Thanks for listening.
 
Whatever else might be said, I say bravo for not just making a thread about "[x company] sucks and I can't believe they would allow this to happen on such an amazing knife, how could they possibly do this?! They have forever shattered my faith in supposedly great knives like this and I won't be giving them my business ever again." This is a very well-put, neutral thread. Bravo, I say.
 
FWIW, I have a $700+ custom with a blade that's slightly off center, it cuts fine...

I used to worry about this stuff, but as long as it's not terribly off center or rubbing against the scales it's all good to me. It's just aesthetics, and if you're gonna get some scratches on it anyways, who cares?
 
i don't really worry about centering anymore, i get why your disappointed especially because i think i know what knife you are talking about. send it back and ask the dealer to send you a centered one. my pm2 is pretty off center been that way since i got it, but the action is fantastic and it dosen't have any side to side play so i don't worry about it
 
Buyer's remorse x 2.

Been there, done that and won't repeat.

Seek remedy from dealer/manufacturer (unless it was described as a blem or off-center).
 
RedLynx said:
Whatever else might be said, I say bravo for not just making a thread about "[x company] sucks and I can't believe they would allow this to happen on such an amazing knife, how could they possibly do this?! They have forever shattered my faith in supposedly great knives like this and I won't be giving them my business ever again." This is a very well-put, neutral thread. Bravo, I say.
Click to expand...

Indeed. :thumbup:

You are not happy with your knife? Return it. You, the customer, are always right.
 
All good points, and I do appreciate them. Clearly this has no functional impact at all. And the maker/company/dealer/delivery service is immaterial.

Had I not crossed one of those "mental thresholds" to buy this, similar to "I'll never pay $$,$$$ for a new truck", then expectations would not have been as high.

I'd cry on my wife's shoulder, but she doesn't get how anyone could be so interested in guns, knives, and flashlights. After all, if they go bang, peel an apple, and find something under the sink, they're good enough.
 
RedLynx said:
Whatever else might be said, I say bravo for not just making a thread about "[x company] sucks and I can't believe they would allow this to happen on such an amazing knife, how could they possibly do this?! They have forever shattered my faith in supposedly great knives like this and I won't be giving them my business ever again." This is a very well-put, neutral thread. Bravo, I say.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:

I too, am OCD and if I dished out a decent bit of $$$ (if you can get a couple of BM's or ZT's with the money, I'd say it was a high-end purchase) and got an off-centered blade, I'd be pissed. I might be foolish, but would probably exchange it with an expectation from the dealer or manufacturer that the replacement will be centered. If not, go with something else.
 
Have you tried adjusting the pivot? Sometimes that works to center a blade. Sometimes not.
 
killgar said:
Have you tried adjusting the pivot? Sometimes that works to center a blade. Sometimes not.
Click to expand...
+1 on this, also do a search for fixing the centering on a folding knife. It should have been centered from the start but snuff happens.
 
I would exchange it for another of the same model. It is possible for one not-so-perfect example to slip through the cracks. For the amount of money that you're hinting at , you deserve perfection. If a sub $100 folder can be made perfectly centered then why can't "X brand knife" for 5 times that amount ?
 
rwhitebbq said:
Had I not crossed one of those "mental thresholds" to buy this, similar to "I'll never pay $$,$$$ for a new truck", then expectations would not have been as high.
Click to expand...

I think I understand what you mean. (Here's my micro "sob story"):

Some years ago I ordered my most expensive knife: a small, beautiful fixed blade handmade by a well-known master bladesmith from Japan. Expectations were very high, and he did not disappoint... until I took it apart to find the G10 handle slabs were clearly burnt on the inside. The maker advised me to send it back to Japan and they would make me a new knife(!) Not what I was expecting, but "hot damn--that's incredibly nice of them!" I thought.
Got the new knife back. Expected "perfection" since the first knife was absolutely perfect except for the G10. The new knife came:
- Slathered in lubricant; I mean dripping. D-2 steel, ok, but when you have lubricant pooling at the bottom of the shipping bag it's excessive.
- Sub-par patterning on the new blade; (part of the value of this knife lies in the aesthetics)
- One side of the blade was very badly scratched -- impossible-to-miss (worst aspect of the knife)

...several years later, I'm putting this down as a lesson in the dangers of expectations and assumptions. My first assumption after receiving the knife was that this was the Japanese way of saying: "F*ck you", but that's unfair since I have no idea how this bladesmith operates. Maybe he was trying to teach me a lesson in function over form? Maybe it was deliberately scratched, to get me to use it instead of admire it? Maybe this was just the most efficient way of returning a new knife? Maybe he was teaching his grandson how to make knives? Perhaps there was some miscommunication between the maker and myself? Busy day at the shop? Uncle killed in Nagasaki? etc, etc..
^Doesn't matter. I still have the privilege of owning a unique, handmade Japanese knife, which is all I wanted in the first place. The imperfections almost make it "better" than the first one; and in fact in some Asian art the artist would deliberately add one or more 'imperfections' for philosophical reasons, which is pretty cool.

(Sorry for wandering almost totally off-topic.)
 
Talk to the dealer and see what they say. It's kind of sad when you finally take a big step up $-wise that the knife is not quite what you hoped it would be from a fit & finish point of view.
 
Re: expectations... been there, done that. The first unit (of whatever) is close, and the second is farther off the mark. Or the first time, the mechanic forgets to tighten a bolt, and the second time he forgets the oil plug :-)

Re: re-centering it. I'm not going to argue the philosophical on this one, since I've fixed plenty of new stuff before. Pragmatically speaking, though, if I try and don't succeed - or worse yet - mark a fastener head, it's mine... not centered, and now damaged.

Finally, as I said up top, the blade spine is parallel to the scales - all the way until the last inch where the sides are ground down to the point. So either the grinds are asymmetrical, or there's some minor warp or bend in the last 3/4". So adjusting it so the tip is centered will mean the middle of the blade will not be.

Thanks for all the inputs, and I'm glad I'm not the only crazy one here.
 
rwhitebbq said:
All good points, and I do appreciate them. Clearly this has no functional impact at all. And the maker/company/dealer/delivery service is immaterial.

Had I not crossed one of those "mental thresholds" to buy this, similar to "I'll never pay $$,$$$ for a new truck", then expectations would not have been as high.

I'd cry on my wife's shoulder, but she doesn't get how anyone could be so interested in guns, knives, and flashlights. After all, if they go bang, peel an apple, and find something under the sink, they're good enough.
Click to expand...

I've talked myself across that mental threshold several times myself, as for the wife, she still doesn't understand why I need x number of knives, I've explained that it's better than a Crack addiction, just maybe not cheaper.
 
LOL.

That sounds like a much better approach than mentioning "x number" of shoes, rings, necklaces, scarves, dresses, etc.
 
rwhitebbq said:
First off... yes, I'm a newbie to the forum, though lurking unregistered for quite some time. I have plenty of very good, good, and not-so-good knives, and maybe, depending on opinions, one great one. Secondly, I'm not trolling or looking for a holy war!

I received my first "***awesome***" knife today, and opened it with anticipation of angels singing, trumpets blaring, and world harmony.

NOOOOOO! It's not centered! The spine is well centered on the scales, and yet, from the beginning of the grind down to the point, it diverts away from the lock side.

I realize every company, no matter how great, has an escape. And I know I'm un-diagnosed OCD, but every time I look at it, I'm just sad.

So I checked every other locking folder I have to calibrate my own expectations. Of the 6 BMs, every one is dead nuts on. The Buck 110 from my childhood is a little loose, but dead center, as is the Squire. Heck, even the cheap-@ss S&W auto is centered.

But not this icon of modern marvels.

Regardless of how anal I might be, this one has to go back in the box... along with the nice cloth and stickers and all.

Haven't decided whether to roll the dice again, or just go buy myself a couple of BMs or ZTs and lick my wounds.

Thanks for listening.
Click to expand...
The more you pay, the higher the expectation will be in terms of masterful craftsmanship. It would bother me, I admit. If it were a low cost, value knife, that is just going to be used, then that is one thing. But no one buys an expensive custom, to treat like a $50 knife. The whole, "it will still cut just fine" stiff is nonsense. A $50 knife will still cut as well, so is a custom just a waste of money? No, unless the fit and finish is shoddy.
 
rwhitebbq said:
First off... yes, I'm a newbie to the forum, though lurking unregistered for quite some time. I have plenty of very good, good, and not-so-good knives, and maybe, depending on opinions, one great one. Secondly, I'm not trolling or looking for a holy war!

I received my first "***awesome***" knife today, and opened it with anticipation of angels singing, trumpets blaring, and world harmony.

NOOOOOO! It's not centered! The spine is well centered on the scales, and yet, from the beginning of the grind down to the point, it diverts away from the lock side.

I realize every company, no matter how great, has an escape. And I know I'm un-diagnosed OCD, but every time I look at it, I'm just sad.

So I checked every other locking folder I have to calibrate my own expectations. Of the 6 BMs, every one is dead nuts on. The Buck 110 from my childhood is a little loose, but dead center, as is the Squire. Heck, even the cheap-@ss S&W auto is centered.

But not this icon of modern marvels.

Regardless of how anal I might be, this one has to go back in the box... along with the nice cloth and stickers and all.

Haven't decided whether to roll the dice again, or just go buy myself a couple of BMs or ZTs and lick my wounds.

Thanks for listening.
Click to expand...

There is nothing wrong with being disappointed in a knife. There isnt even anything wrong with saying which knife disappointed you and why. The only times I get my hanes in a knot is when people take that one single disappointment and turn it into an epic saga rooted in vendetta and keep on it for weeks months and in some really special snowflake cases, years. Try not to be too bummed. Do you know much about knife construction and adjusting? Sometimes centering issues are as simple as a tweak to the pivot. And in others its a matter of further adjustment. It doesnt mean all hope is lost right out of the box. If you do really like it and you want to see if it can be tweaked I dont mind giving it a shot for you. I guarantee if I cant fix it you will get it back in the identical condition. I wouldnt charge you anything. I only ask you pay the shipping so I have no out of pocket.
 
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