Is “centering” in a folding knife important to you?

Which of the following best describes your position on “blade centering” on a closed folding knife?

  • Not important at all, no matter what.

    Votes: 2 1.7%

  • It’s okay if it’s slightly off-center, but not rubbing on the scales.

    Votes: 64 54.7%

  • It’s okay if it’s off-center to any extent, so long as it isn’t rubbing on the scales.

    Votes: 5 4.3%

  • I don’t care if it’s off-center at all, even if rubbing on the scales.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • If it’s rubbing on the scales, that’s the only time it’s an issue.

    Votes: 10 8.5%

  • Other: Discuss in comments

    Votes: 10 8.5%

  • It has to be perfectly centered

    Votes: 26 22.2%
  • Total voters
    117
  • Poll closed .
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jbmonkey said:
i chose other.😁


on a high dollar as in 400 + dollar knife id prefer it was close to center and not rubbing on scales. the higher dollars kinda demands tolerances are better. on a 50 dollar or cheaper knife I dont care if its off center at all.

on a low dollar user thats gonna get very ugly anways, I dont care if it rubs the liner.
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I completely agree with this. I see centering as a sign of quality control. As the price goes up, the centering has to be closer to perfect.
 
I’m in agreement that on expensive knives the centering must be perfect. I just sent back a Tony Bose collaboration to a retailer because it was off center, and that’s a $450 knife. But on say a Spyderco PM2, I don’t mind as long as the blade doesn’t rub the scale. If I had to pick a consensus of the knives I buy, it would be “slightly off is fine as long as blade doesn’t rub scale”.

Keep in mind that the options listed here are “end result” of any tightening of pivot or tinkering. Consider the option you pick “the best you can adjust it to”.
 
This is turning out to be a great poll, lots of good responses! I’m pleasantly surprised centering isn’t as big an issue for most people as I thought.
 
Skar said:
I guess I'm the odd one out.
It would drive me crazy looking at a off center blade.
I would end up being frustrated every time I looked at it.

So yes it matters to me.
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Hey no worries, no judgements here. You pay money for something, you should get something that makes you happy. Just trying to see where people fall for the most part.
 
Something else I guess to consider is what is the price point most people would consider trying to adjust themselves or flat out reject and return. Perhaps a poll for another time.
 
Brand new and expensive , it should be near perfect... or back it goes !

Otherwise : slightly off with no functional problems is acceptable ,especially for users .

My tendency for OCD perfectionism can really spoil my enjoyment unless tightly reigned-in .
 
Paratrooper06 said:
Something else I guess to consider is what is the price point most people would consider trying to adjust themselves or flat out reject and return. Perhaps a poll for another time.
Click to expand...
Anything over a $100 I expect to be centered, I won't send it back unless tweaking doesn't work. I do ask to have it checked before sending.

Bestdamnedc has the easiest demonstration that's worked for me on quite a few off centered blades

 
Blade centering is something that I pay a lot of attention to when buying a used knife and upon first opening any knife I buy. I'll be honest, It does bother me if the blade is not centered no matter how much the knife cost. I get irritated when a knife in the price range of a Spyderco,Benchmade, ZT etc. is off centered. It bothers me because I have had many knives that costs a lot less money that come with a nice and centered blade and I feel like it should be paid more attention to during QC. Also some companies will say an off centered blade is "within tolerances" and won't want to do anything about (From seeing others people's experiences, I haven't run into this situation).

That said, I've never asked to return a knife from a private seller because of an off centered blade. To me, it's my responsibility to ask the seller if the blade is centered and what the lockup is looking like. I've failed to do so for one reason or another before and suck it up because that's on me. And come to think of it, I've never returned a knife to a knife dealer of any kind because of an off centered blade. That's usually because I don't want to go through the hassle of sending it back, waiting for them to confirm they got it, then waiting for shipping again, as well as paying for said shipping. So it does bother me for sure, but I usually just suck it up and tweak on it until it's as good as that particular knife is capable of being. If the blade rubs on the scales, that really bothers me. However my current beater edc is like that and since it has battle scars anyway, it doesn't really concern me.
 
Virtually all of the folders that I've ever purchased had "decent" to "perfect" centering, whether it was previously owned and pre-selected it based on pics or brand new bought sight unseen from a dealer.

I only returned 1 folder out of the 100's that I've purchased based on poor blade "centering." It was a cheap Kershaw Skyline whose blade rubbed the liner which could not be adjusted to correct it.

Of coures, the more expensive a knife is the more critical I would be of it's fit/finish (not just centering).

There was only 1 knife that I retruned on this basis. It was a Spyderco Starmate that I bought off the Exchange which had a "defect" in the finish of the blade that could not be corrected by Spyderco. So, the seller accepted its return.
 
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I voted for the second option. While I prefer a nicely centered blade, I don't fret over one that slightly favors one side or the other (i.e., not touching either side).
 
Although I prefer a centered blade from the factory, it wouldn’t bother me if it wasn’t, as long as it’s smooth, functional and doesn’t touch the scales.
 
My vote,
--It’s okay if it’s off-center to any extent, so long as it isn’t rubbing on the scales.--
is colored by the fact that I don't buy expensive knives. I tend to stay below $100, and often well below. If I were buying a high end knife, I'd likely have a different set of expectations.

​

 
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