knife collecting and flaws

[Vermont woodsman]

Years ago i used to collect watches, and i never even thought about finding a flaw in a watch; it was just never an issue. From swatch to rolex, they never had a flaw. Then i started collecting knives for a little while and some had flaws and some had major flaws. So just when i was ready to give up collecting i came across a knife called a sebenza, so i was hooked, and i no longer collect but just have a sebenza as an edc. But my question is, what makes it so hard to produce a perfect knife when watches or pens come thru perfect 99.99 % of the time. Is it the grinding and the fitting? Is it the lining things up? Im not a knife maker so i have no idea how hard it really is.

 

[trout #2]

Just a guess on my part, but perhaps it has to do with greater number being produced plus the lower cost per piece compared to high-end watches and pens. With handmade customs I would expect a much higher standard though.


Disclaimer: I'm not in to watches and pens (yet ) so I may have no idea what I'm talking about as far as cost and production.

 

[ras]

I've got a Sebenza, nice knife. What do you consider a flaw (major/minor) and what knives were you collecting? My knives are users so I don't worry much about cosmetics, but many of mine have a significant amount of hand-made in them and the grinds weren't perfect.

If you look at my Randall Model 1's you see changes in the grinds from blade to blade and I suppose that could be considered a flaw, but I don't. Blades off center in a folder or a less than sharp edge could bother me. But if the off center blade still functions well and isn't rubbing it isn't an issue and a dull blade is just a reason to break out the sharpening gear.

Cheap steel that won't take or hold an edge is a flaw; a handle that's too short and doen't allow a good grip is a flaw. Did your watches all keep perfect time? My Rolex sucks as a chronometer, a cheap Casio G-Shock keeps much better time so that's what I wear.

 

[Vermont woodsman]

Well, i dont want to name names, but i had a mother of pearl liner lock a few years back; it was around 400.00 ; and the liner lock was loaded with metal shavings. also the anodized liners had a few spots where the anodizing didnt take very well, not to mention where the pearl met the handle there was a 1/32 gap with grinding junk caught in it. another carbon fiber handled knife i bought many years ago had a cool looking blue blade, but the action felt like it had sand in it and the screw heads were all stripped; and it was 300.00 . One other knife i bought was from a flyfishing company and raved about the finest material being used, but 20 min after it got wet, the liner lock rusted , when i called the company they said well....120.00 isnt alot to spend on a knife what were you really expecting....these are the type flaws im talking about...now that i bring all my bad experiances up...the 300.00 i spent on my sebenza was the best money i ever spent, it came thru flawless.

 

[ras]

I don't buy knives for looks and I try to be careful about blade material. There's some real good steel out there that will rust, even some stainless steels will rust given the right condition and lack of care. Mother of Pearl -- I hate those sissy knives I'm not sure I'd buy any knife from a Flyfishing company -- although Schade or Camillus may have made the knife in their carbon steel and it may have been a good knife, it was probably not right for a knife used around fishing.

Most of my folders are Benchmade with a couple Spyderco, and a few Schrade and Camillus slipjoints. No issues besides some of the Schrade knives which should have had 1095 carbon steel had 420/440 stainless instead. In total I have about 60 knives, both folders and fixed blades of various makers.

Besides Chris Reeve's Sebenza, Benchmade's Axis lock knives are some of the smoothest I've seen in production folders.

 

[ErikD]

Well I think part of your problem might have been the type of knife you buy. For one thing if you buy a knife from a flyfishing compnay that lists its materials just as "the best available", that would concern me. What does that mean?

Also MOP is a tricky little devil. I made a kit knife with MOP scales like a year ago, and the scales alone ran me about $100 for top quality stuff. Even that started to just break apart when I got sloppy and tried rushing things. Using cheaper peral and the results are even worse. Not trying to defend anyone here, or place blame either. Just that before buying you really need to do some research. Does the maker or manufacturer have a good reputation for making a fine knife? Is the maker up and coming, and then just possibly producing a slightly lower quality knife at a lower price? Also is it meant as a working knife or a collectors knife?

You need to keep in mind that a knife is primeraly a tool, and thus meant to be used. To me some small cosmetic flaws in a working knife are no big deal. I know that in using the knife I will be using it and just adding scratches, dings, etc. So as long as it isn't a huge flaw that inhibits the use of the knife I wouldn't really care. Another thing I would consider is custom vs. production. If it is an expensive custom knife, and the maker offeres to fix it if I am not happy it is no big deal.

The biggest thing here is that just about anyone who wants to can start maing and selling knives. A knife is a fairly simple thing, especially when compared to a watch. And while I agree that the Sebenza is a fine knife I also think that there are many fine custom makers out there that will produce knives of like quality, except offering many different options.