Marbles problems

[horizonod]

I sent a guy a brand new Marbles Northwoods skinner in black micarta last week and he called and said the blade was "crooked".

I told him to send it back and we would replace it.

When the knife came back, sure enough, it looked like warped piece of lumber. When sighting down the blade there was an obvious twist to it.

There was absolutely no sign of use or abuse so it's a factory problem, which brings me to my question.

Is Marbles quality control up to par? Did this one sneak through or are others having problems too?

I've also had problems with their sheaths being twisted causing the knife to slice through the leather. It's happened to 2 customers and me personally. The very first time I sheathed my new 15 inch stag trailmaker it sliced right through the back of the sheath AND the tip of my finger. I contacted Marbles and they would replace it (the sheath, not my finger:^) for $28.00 plus shipping both ways.

I'm not a real happy camper about this. I'm thinking about dropping Marbles from our offerings. Quality is questionable, QC is spotty and they aren't standing behind their products when problems crop up.

I'm sick of wasting my time and money on on their problems.

Comments?

 

[Danbo]

I too, have seen the problems with their sheaths. I could have gotten several knives really cheap from dealers because the sheaths had big slices in them. To me though, the sheath is not what I buy a knife for. If a knife comes with a nice sheath, its a plus. If not, I go an have a nice sheath made. The thing that bothers me the most about the new Marbles knives is the way they are ground. Very, very sloppy grinding. I have seen Marbles knives(most of them), that have VERY uneven shoulders/plunge cuts. I mean, when one side of the blade is 1/4" lower on one side than the other side, there is a quality control problem. This is too bad, since I like 52100 blades, and want to try one of their knives with their heat treat.

 

[Alberta Ed]

I've got a couple of Marbles, a Fieldcraft and a Campcraft, and yeah, the grind is not machine perfect. I spent a few evenings with a Dremel to align the choil grinds on the Fieldcraft, but really, it didn't affect the function of the knife at all. And the Campcraft was as close as production hand grinding can get, I think: not absolutely even, but that doesn't matter a whole lot when it comes to function. Neither knife shows any sign of warp, and both came with excellent sheaths (I also had a micarta handled Campcraft which came with a crappy sheath, which I replaced with one of my own). Your experience sounds rather extreme, though. I'd contact Marbles directly with your specific complaint and see what they advise.
And I agree, it's tough to beat the 52100 and Marble's heat treat, which I believe includes cryogenic freezing. These knives are sheer cutters and a pleasure to use (occasional deficiencies aside).

 

[Bronco]

Roger the complaints about the precision of the plunge cuts at the choil. I tend to agree with Alberta Ed in that I didn't really see this oversight as negatively affecting the functionality of what is essentially a using blade, ergo I never complained or returned the blade. But certainly the good folks at Marbles have left themselves some room for improvement assuming they're paying attention to complaints such as these.

 

[sharp thoughts]

It's apparent that their QC is asleep at the wheel at times, because I too have had problems in the past. Once for an obvious warped blade also, and the other was for an incomplete finish/grind of the blade. I don't mean to bad mouth Marbles solely because it does happen occasionally. Hopefully this thread will be noticed and their QC will get a little more sleep.

 

[Jeff O]

The Bison that I have also has a slightly uneven grinds, not as extreme as others I have heard about. What I disliked was the fact that the curly maple handle had no finish on it. I assumed that it had been stabalized. It had not.

I have had my eye on some of their folders, but I would like to know if they are having the same CQ problems.

 

[GronK]

Looks like "spotty" is the key word here. I'm the customer that returned that Northwoods. I received a Woodsman about the same time that was as near perfect as anything I've seen lately. I may just limit myself in the future to customs. I picked up 4 inexpensive customs at the PKA show in Denver last weekend (one Mike Irie, one James Largent, two Ansa Bernard). All were priced at or below Marble's and all were near perfect.

BTW, ck email re: the replacement.

Ron Fanning