Kershaw product quality control issue, kind of wild. Nura 3.5

G

Glytch5

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Sep 11, 2014
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Hello there blade buddies.
I recently bought a Kershaw Nura 3.5 off a seller on Ebay that I use all the time. I will not mention the sellers name because he is a great guy, and I do not want to risk spoiling any of his reputation.

Upon receiving the knife, I noticed the blade was bent... as in if you follow the spine of the knife with your eye looking at the knife from the back, you can see the blade CLEARLY curve off to one side. I contacted the seller, he accepted the return, and shipped me out a replacement. He even tried to make up for it by adding extras, cool guy he is. The replacement was THE SAME WAY!

To avoid messing him up too much, I just said to heck with it and sent the 2nd Nura 3.5 into kershaw, wrote on the warranty slip the issue. Few weeks later I got a package from KAI in the mail.

It was a boxed Kershaw knife in retail packaging, no "repair" letter, and no paper work. Just a knife new in box. I said "Woot! they did not charge me for a new blade and gave me a bran new one!" So this is now my third Nura... and guess what? BENT! I am not just talking a little bend, but bent enough to where it is going to mess up sharpening the knife. Not knife is perfectly straight but come ooon! it should not be plain as day!

Un believable! Does kershaw have a big stock of bent steel? 3 knives, one straight from the manufacturer! Wow... I really like Kershaw but this is just un accaptable. The ebay seller said he checked about a dozen of his 60 knives and they were all this way. That is some wild stuff!

Just wanted to see if anyone elses Nura 3.5 is like this. It can be hard to see at first but, if you open the knife and set it on the table, you can see the tip up-off the table on one side, if you flip it over and lay it down, you can see the tip curving down into the table. The centering on 2 of these knives were perfect by the way. At this point I don't even want the thing anymore, I thought it was a cool 35 dollar knife to began with. Oh well, THANKS KERSHAW! :thumbup:
 
The nura is not produced by kershaw in the usa. It is made in china. I have heard they have their own factory there but this to me is just a rumor. My diskin folder is strikingly similar to a few chinese CRKT knives I own and I suspect they are made in the same factory as There are too many similarities to note. My guess is this was a heat treat issue and the whole lot of blades bent on while in the oven which would explain why so many are that way. China knives have got extremely good these days but you arent going to get a great chinese knife from a company that has stake in USA and japanese production. The cant make a better chinese product than their usa products or they wouldnt sell. It sucks that the nura blade is bent and even more sad is the fact that they replace it with one thats actually worse. I hate to say it but given my experiences Im not surprised. At that price point you cant expect a whole lot but a bent blade is hard to swallow. I have to ask, is the tip centered when closed? If so Im wondering if they had centering issues and this was the bright idea to fix it.
 
Sosa said:
Maybe it's ergonomically swept design. An industry first.:D
Click to expand...

At least for knives, maybe.
ypoYGHT.jpg
 
Yeah, I'd like to see a pic. Not doubting you OP just curious. I know curved blades are a way to tell Chinese knock offs of the Military. Not saying yours is a knock off. Just would like to see the similarities.
 
I got a BNIB Kershaw Freefall awhile back that had a bent blade as well. Notice how it bends to the right then straightens back out at the tip. There were no other marks that would indicate that it may have been used to pry or anything. Indeed, the knife was perfect except for that. I have several Kershaws but that's the only one I ever had a problem with. Maybe an issue with die as the blades were stamped out of the sheet steel?

 
wow that blade is bent the exact same direction as mine! off to the right from the spine. mine stays bent all the way out to the tip though. The centering on the one I have now is great, better than most of my Kershaws. I know it is a cheap knife, but there just is no point in trying to sharpen a bent blade, unless you have a grinder I guess. I would love to take a pic for you guys but I have a really crap smart phone camera and I don't think you will be able to see it!
Glad to hear this is not just me. All my Kershaw Leeks are dead straight, I have a strobe Chinese made, and a shuffle and they are just fine. THIS IS HORRIBL! I mean this isn't Tac-Force, Kershaw is all around well renowned for being good, even though it is a cheap Chinese made blade. I emailed customer service about the issue, can't wait to hear back.
 
That is very interesting. I have a strobe as well and it was not centered well out of the box. The pivot screw was a little loose so I tightened up and it was just fine after that Still buttery smooth as well. I think for the price of these knives, we cant really ask for much when the company selling them has a USA made option at a substantial cost increase and some quality gains. The Strobe is the only sub 100 dollar Chinese made knife that I have and it's definitely not on the same level as the other more expensive options. It still does a fine job of cutting stuff so I'm happy with it.
 
Blades can warp during heat treat. Usually more of a problem with DIY knife making where the grinds aren't quite symmetrical. Guess they had a bad batch?
 
I bought a nura and a diskin,both were perfect,but I wound up hating the nura and loving the diskin.when ordering I was thinking the opposite. the nura was ok,but that fine finish on the scales scratches so easily,and it already had marks out of the box. it was also too skinny for me,and mine didn't flip well either,the blade was so thin there wasn't enough weight to make it move. I returned that one.the diskin is great, it flips amazingly,love the blade shape, and the ergo's ,too.
 
Yeah the strobe is a sweet knife for the price. My strobe centering is not great but it is acceptable for a sub 40 dollar knife at street price. My nura does not flip well either, I hear the smaller Nuras flip a lot better. I like how the knife only has 2 screws, no frame screws to deal with, and I just like the design it looks cool. I agree... it is a chinese knife but dude... blade bent is WORTHLESS! my 12 dollar knife I got for free has a dead straight blade! I oiled up my Nura with some Daiwa and I can flip it with just a tiny wrist flick, especially if you hold it horizontal.
I am no longer interested in the knife after dealing with all this bs. Wish I could have my 35 bucks for sure.

About the Ergonomics of the strobe, it feels great in the hand and flips great, but the blade does not seem to have good cutting performance, not sure why. Not the best cutting knife I've ever had. The factory bevel is super obtuse too, I considered laying it back a bit but I don't trust that on MOV steel, it'll probably chip out with the style cutting I do at work. The thing takes a freaking fine edge though!
I will get back to this post when I hear from Kershaw on the issue.
 
My Nura 3.5 flips fine but the 3.0 is a lemon: in flipping and f&f.

Out of the box, the blade was off-center and I think I stripped the screw trying to adjust the pivot.

Not sure what happened to QC at Kershaw but it's sure disappointing.
 
Spend the extra cash for the US models, the Chinese ones are hit or miss and the steels used are lower grade.
 
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