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

[GatorFlash1]

How to center a knife. Not a big deal for 90% of knives.

 

[jlauffer]

I had the same problem with my AD20. On a knife I like this much it tends to bug me more. With apologies for it being more about my OCD than the knife I reached out to Andrew Demko and he encouraged me to send it back, made it 100% dead centered, sent it back in an upgraded box in no time at all, and it's now absolutely perfect. Such incredible people at Demko. I have a similar issue with my MEFP Strider SnG, but from what I've read about the customer service there I think that one will just remain a little off centered.

Since getting the 20.5s, I put the 20 away. After my previous post I dug it out again and was surprised to see the centering was actually better than I remembered. It's not perfect, but it's so slight most people probably wouldn't even notice.

 

[91bravo]

I've been able to center most of my blades, but there are some knives out there that just can't be centered. In my experience, these were most always liner locks or frame locks.

A lot of times, the blade is actually centered, but the grind of the blade itself may be off, which will give it the appearance of being off center.

 

[J.Mattson]

I voted that it's OK if the blade is slightly off. Looks like the majority of others did as well. However I would bet that we all define slightly different and one guys slightly off is unacceptable for another.

 

[Athos]

what's the difference between these options?

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

It has to be centered right in the middle.
If Chinese sub $50 knives can have perfectly centered blades, I don’t see a reason, any other, especially budget US company, to have issues with centering, accepting it for one reason or another is IMO lowering your standards.

Cheap chinesium folders can have perfectly centered blades, but do they consistently? Any kind of inexpensive tools seem to come with greater variation in quality, especially assembly, finishing and other details. It would be expected, really. Quality control is expensive, and with diminishing returns. This isn't necessarily a problem if you can pick which one you buy in person. Though yeah, I would like see just that amount of pride in the work that mechanisms run smooth, burrs are cut off, and grit/dirt is wiped off.

As to selling knives, a straight on picture of the closed blade should be enough. I only think you should be expected to mention it as a flaw if it hits the scale, and the knife isn't cheap. Buyer's can always ask if it's super important to them. I've been disappointed with knives and other things that I've bought online, but if I can see the flaw in the pictures and just didn't catch it before, it's on me.

It's nice to have a perfectly centered blade, but I don't really care as long as it rides free of the liners or frame. I'll try to center it when cleaning. If it's a swiss army knife, a multitool etc - where something always seems to rub against something - or a utility knife, or something inexpensive, I kinda don't care at all.

A much more annoying flaw to me is when the edge hits the back spacer when closed. Even on a lockback or slipjoint there should be at least considerable spring pressure to overcome so it practically doesn't happen. I've seen it on quite a few knives, even from reputable brands. On any modern knife, it's a design flaw, an easily avoidable one at that. A few scratches on the side of a blade doesn't make it cut any worse, but a flattened edge sure does. (edit: it can be a qc issue too, come to think of it, not just design. E.g. if a kick is ground down too much.)

 

[BD_01]

If someone is going to accuse me of not “disclosing” a knife being off-center, I’m going to correct them, champ.

For clarification, I made no accusation.
I asked a question…
in the context of a post that seemed on target with your thread.

I even agreed with you on a follow up post.

Anyhow, it seems I’ve stirred some hostility, so I’ll show myself to the door. I’m on the forum to discuss knives. I’m not trying to win anything here.

Good day, sir.

 

[gadgetgeek]

I care about the design parameters of the knife. Does the maker say that it will be perfectly square and centered? That said, I don't think a blade should hit the back-spacer because that has an effect on usability. But the design parameters are the key, and in general, centered-ness has no effect on usability, unless it is impacting the scale enough to cause drag on opening or closing. I think that a lot of folks ask more of their knife than the manufacturer can provide at a given price-point to QC ratio. Keep in mind that in many industries "binning" of parts is par for the course, and manufacturers rely on that for margin. Doesn't work so well for knives, and so the maker has to pick a tolerance point. I'd rather they pick a tolerance point that matters over an aesthetic one. I mean be honest, do you want +/- 0.1mm of center or +/- 3 points of hardness? Do you want bevels that align to +/-0.01mm or adequate stress relief soak? Perfect tumbling media or on spec steel comp? We pick what we pick and the market follows. We all know about sports cars that have high maintenance costs and pickups that never track on the highway right but have 400k km on the clock. At the end of the day, buy what you want, just know which finger is curling on that monkey paw. No free lunches and all that jazz.

 

[King of the Cheese]

Interesting feedback, looks like “slightly off center but not rubbing scales” wins, followed by “must be perfectly centered”.

Thanks everyone, thread closed.