Need some advice regarding a Marfione custom Anax

Astope

Astope

Joined
Apr 3, 2015
Messages
11
A couple weeks ago I purchased a Marfione Anax in blued ball bearing damascus from an online retailer, and picked it up on Friday (Sept 25).
The first time I took the knife out of its pouch, I was in awe. Just BEAUTIFUL. Extremely solid feeling, and a bit heftier than I had anticipated (which is a good thing). Then, as is the case with folding knives, I went to open the blade. I was met with the grittiest, squeakiest, most utterly dry and painful opening I have ever felt in a knife.
*Now keep in mind, even though I've heard great things about the Anax's smoothness, my expectations weren't set super high to begin with. I would have been happy if I could thumb or finger flick it open without using wrist action, and that is obviously not too much to ask of a knife, especially a semi-custom.*
Now I am not new to knives, but this just baffles me. No matter how much oil/grease/lubricant I engulf the bearings in, It will not open smoothly. Being that the blade is damascus, I can understand the detent ball has to ride over the ridges of the steel, and that It takes some time to wear the ridges down, but come on. After routinely opening and closing the blade since I received it on Friday, there has been no increase in smoothness whatsoever. I sadly cannot take it apart (proprietary screws, integral etc), so I can't give it the intensive cleaning that I normally would on a new knife, but I have cleaned it thoroughly enough to the point where I know that dirt/particulate is not a factor anymore. I currently have the knife bone dry (no lubricant anywhere, including the bearings) in the hopes that this will speed up the detent's groove making ability (idea from Nullity http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-gritty-scratchy-squeaky-or-rough-ball-detent ).
The rest of the problems:
-The lock sticks...This one's a killer when your opening and closing a lot like I am. Has improved a little since day 1, but still very sticky.
-The blade is off center. I was expecting this from the amount of other Anax's that are also off center, but it's not even close to being centered.
-The blueing on the damascus isn't uniform. On each side of the blade, there is a spot right in the middle (about the width of a thumbprint) that looks like it's faded. I'm not too sure if I should really be picky about this, but it bugs me that it looks dirty even when it's not. When the steel is oiled up and happy, the blemish is almost undetectable, but when dry, is quite noticeable in person.

Now here's where I need some advice.
I really want to love this knife, but find myself hating it the more I notice these small details. I'm on the fence on what I should do now.
Either: Return the knife, and pick up another one exactly like it from a different retailer (except different because semi-custom etc etc.)
Send the knife in for warranty work, where I'm fairly sure the damascus issue will not be fixed
or keep the knife and hope that it breaks in properly with use.

Any advice is greatly appreciated, and any questions welcome. Being the weekend, I have not been able to contact the retailer or Microtech, but is the first thing that I will do tomorrow morning.

TL;DR Bought Anax. Main issue with knife is smoothness, but other issues too. What to do now?
 
Thanks guys, I think that might be what I end up doing. 5% re-stocking fee sucks though.
I wonder if all the damascus versions are this bad, or did I just get a lemon...
 
For over $1500, I'd be sending that back. Absolutely unacceptable in a knife that expensive. My $100 Spydercos don't have those issues.

And I'd be demanding that I not pay a 5% restocking fee. That's for damn sure. It's not your fault they sent you a defective knife.
 
Right?! My most inexpensive knife (happens to be a tenacious) is around 20x smoother. I just hate the fact that I want to keep it so badly. I love the way it looks (aside from the fading on the blade) but I feel like I got scammed whenever I opened it. Such a weird feeling being so let down by a product that you've only heard great things about.
 
You could try sending it in for Tony to look at it. I have no idea what his service is like as a custom maker, but I hope it's better than what you get from Microtech.
 
If they want you to order another one from them, they better waive the restocking fee...

Most good retailers will if there's a real issue. The restocking fee is usually there as a 'buyer's remorse' fee.
 
I definitely won't return it until I have got my message to him. If he or someone on his team can remedy my problems, then I will happily send it in and wait the arbitrary turnaround time.
I have only heard of defects in Microtech's autos and production models, and rarely if ever in Tony's customs. I don't know if its a case of gritting your teeth and saying you love what you got, just because you paid a lot of money for it, or if his customs actually do nail it 99% of the time (my case being the 1%).
 
I'm not sure how bearings work on damascus folders -- do they polish the areas on the blade where the bearings are supposed to ride?

In any case, is it any smoother if you hold the lockbar open while opening the blade?
 
In my case, there is an area around the pivot that isn't as etched I believe. I can't tell for sure though since I can't take it apart.
If the lock bar is held all the way out, the blade does move a lot better. It's what I expected the overall action to feel like (you can definitely feel the damascus through the bearings, but its not grabby/ squeaky). As soon as the detent ball touches the blade, instant grinding. Maybe the lock bar is pressing too hard?
 
Astope said:
In my case, there is an area around the pivot that isn't as etched I believe. I can't tell for sure though since I can't take it apart.
If the lock bar is held all the way out, the blade does move a lot better. It's what I expected the overall action to feel like (you can definitely feel the damascus through the bearings, but its not grabby/ squeaky). As soon as the detent ball touches the blade, instant grinding. Maybe the lock bar is pressing too hard?
Click to expand...



Yeah, maybe. If you have a similar framelock that you like the action on, try to compare the springiness/tension of the lockbar. But be careful if you're going to try to bend it; you'd have to dismantle the knife to bend the lockbar the other way.
 
Sadly I cannot take the knife apart in any way even if I wanted to. I normally take all my knives apart, but the proprietary screws are not very user friendly in that aspect.

View attachment 580450
 
A quick update on my situation. After speaking with both Microtech and the retailer, I decided to send the knife back to exchange it for a non-defective one (same configuration).
I did take a video of the problems to share with the sales rep, and I figured you guys would want to see as well!

https://youtu.be/p6GcYF5hby4

The lock stick has decreased quite a bit over the course of the weekend, but my thumb is still sore from those first 100 open/closes when it almost required two hands to disengage the lock bar.
The knife is currently all packed up and ready to be shipped tomorrow morning. Hopefully I won't be Anax-less for too long.
 
I'm not sure what steels are used to make that blade but the thumb print on the blade and squeak seem like it's related to corrosion/exposure to moisture.

Just a guess...but I can't believe a knife would leave any knife makers shop in that condition...and my theory is it got exposed to moisture after it left the shop and before you received it.

Glad you're getting taken care of either way. Hopefully the replacement will be everything you expect without having to settle for any imperfections.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top