My dad just picked up a new Medford Praetorian. I must say, I am extremely disappointed. Blade centering when closed is off. The lock also sticks so bad that I cannot close the knife with one hand, and I'm a strong guy. It's actually a bit of a struggle to do it with 2 hands. Knife was ordered new from a reputable dealer so it is authentic. For a $600 knife, these issues are unacceptable. Knife is going to be returned. Just a heads up for anyone considering one.
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New Medford Praetorian
- Thread starter rob32
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- Feb 15, 2015
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Hey Rob I bought a praetorian T from a bladeforums member advertised as LNIB and when I got it there was massive lockstick as well, but if you follow Greg's YouTube channel he tells you to apply graphite like from a pencil on the lock surface until the titanium frame-lock breaks in. Mine took only about 2 days for the lock-stick to go away but I probably flipped it for hours while doing homework. I'm not sure how the blade centering could possible be off by any drastic amount unless you're talking about the grind because the tolerance is so tight, but it sounds like your dad purchased the G-10 version so it may be different than my full ti scales. Regarding the open and closing of the knife Greg has said that he intended for it to be a 2-handed open and closing knife, but after breaking in I can easily close it with one hand. Hopefully you decide to spend a few more days breaking in the knife and reconsider your opinion of it.
Check some youtube videos, people like jim skelton and carter (xiuxiu1313) had praetorians that stuck badly when new but broke in and just flew open and closed like butter when they broke into spec
Yes, he got the model with the 1 G-10 scale. The centering isn't so bad that it touches the side or anything like that, but I noticed it was of at first glance, without even looking for centering. Not acceptable on a knife at this price point.
I agree 100%. If this were a $100.00 knife it wouldn't be such a big deal, but to have to spend days to make a $600 knife usable is just ridiculous. I suggested that my dad ask for a refund, but he is probably going to go the exchange route instead. It has a quality feel to it, but those problems are a bit much.
Checked out those videos. They were mostly talking about the smoothness of opening the knife, which my dad's knife actually has no trouble with. The trouble is that the lock sticks so much that it requires 2 hands to force the lock bar to move once it is locked. I am a power lifter and I had to put forth way too much effort to close the knife. My dad, an older guy, could barely even get it out of the locked position. The pencil graphite trick may work, but going to such lengths on such an expensive knife is silly. It should already work well, out of the box.
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blades off and hard to open??? sounds like someone messed with it. i highly doubt it made it out of the factory that way. in the off chance it did, the dealer should make it right, if not greg will.
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That seems good and all, but your expectations are a little idealistic. It is an expensive knife, but the materials are what they are... https://youtu.be/rLcgjq5ODUs?t=6m4s Here is the video where he explains the lockstick issue. Like I said it only took mine a few days to break in and from my perspective it isn't really that much effort because I like the knife and I knew what I was getting into before purchasing it, if you watched Jim Skelton's video you can really see how the action is when its broken in https://youtu.be/rLcgjq5ODUs?t=6m4s. Now its as smooth as a flipper and I can flip it open and closed with one hand. If you think that spending a few days working with your new knife is unreasonable then I guess that's subjective.
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The inspection that these knives go through is quite thorough. Somebody messed with that knife if centering is off. The lock stick will go away. It's made that way so it locks up like a tank. It will break in. Send it back to Greg and he will get it right for you.
It's going to get returned, no doubt about that. It's a very disappointing purchase.
If the lock sticking issue was not so severe, I might not think much of it. I have several frame lock knives and I am aware that titanium can stick to the stainless. It happens. If it was sticking just a little, I would just break it in, no problem. This knife is a real chore to close. My dad already called the dealer about this issue and they told him it would eventually break in, but he is unwilling to break it in since he can barely close the knife once, let alone do it over and over.
Yes, I do feel that a $600 knife that has bad centering and a severe lock sticking issue is a bad knife. I don't think that is being idealistic since I have many knives, none of which are made so poorly. This includes cheap $15 knives from China.
Maybe someone messed with it, I don't know. It was purchased new from Knifecenter. Good news is, my dad is so disappointed with the knife that he is giving it to me. I will send it back to get it right then probably sell or trade it off.
Update: Knife is now in my possession. I have managed to work the lock stick down considerably after a day using the knife at work, so I imagine that over time, the lock won't stick at all. As for the blade centering, I spoke with Greg Medford. When I told him I was a bit of a knife collector, he did not seem pleased, saying that he makes tools for the working man, and that people can get anal about details, causing extra work for him. To his credit, he did offer to fix the centering if I wanted to return it to him, but he said the grind on the blade may be off since they hand-grind their knives. If the blade grind is off, centering the tip would actually cause issues with the function. Better off with a tip that isn't centered.
All in all, I personally like the design of the knife. However, I would not purchase another of his knives without first checking it out in person. I admit, I can get a little anal about details like blade centering, especially with a $600.00 knife.
I'd also like to add that Greg answered his emails almost immediately, and then asked me to call him. Nice to see a company on top of things like that. Being able to speak with the owner is also a bonus.
All in all, I personally like the design of the knife. However, I would not purchase another of his knives without first checking it out in person. I admit, I can get a little anal about details like blade centering, especially with a $600.00 knife.
I'd also like to add that Greg answered his emails almost immediately, and then asked me to call him. Nice to see a company on top of things like that. Being able to speak with the owner is also a bonus.
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What I don't understand, is why people don't take the time to work out any issues with the person they purchased from before publicly ranting and raving about it. Do unto others...I think you'd want the benefit of the doubt and the chance to make things right before someone publicly started talking down your profession. Just a thought.
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I wonder if titanium is supposed to "break in", why are some knives new so smooth to unlock with nothing more than a purposeful movement of the thumb? An example would be the Benchmade Subrosa, Skirmish, Pinnacle, older Stryker models. Sebenza Regulars and 21s. Hinderer XM-18, and XM-24s. Solid lock ups and no stick. The break in commentary seems to be a type of conditioned response at this point.
Because people might want to know the experiences others have with a company before they buy. The knife I had was a $600.00 knife. No matter how knife enthusiasts justify it, that is a frickin ton of money to pay for a pocket knife. A company really needs to be able to sell me on the idea that their knife is worth that much, especially when there are so many competitors out there. I know if I am thinking about buying a knife and I see a ton of people talking about quality issues with that company, I will probably hold off. Also, here really isn't any fixing things like this, not really. When you purchase a bad knife, you got a bad knife. A company can fix it for you, which they should, but you still got a bad knife and have to go through the trouble of getting it fixed. Since I ended up returning this one, I had to pay $15.00 of my own money to have it sent back because the knife was defective.
I could live with the lock stick if it was not so horrible. When I flicked the knife open with a little force, I could not close it at all. I am not a weak guy, I'm a power lifter. So, imagine a lock that is so sticky that a 230lb power lifter cannot disengage it every time. I actually had to pry the lock bar away from the blade with a screwdriver.
Same. I ended up returning the Medford. I love the design, and I would own another one, but it would have to work better than that one did. I finally noticed that the centering was off so much that the blade was actually slightly rubbing the frame. Just opening and closing created a scratch on the blade finish. Knife was a waste of time and money. Since I do think the design is cool, I might just chalk it up to bad luck and try another of his knives, but I'm a bit hesitant now.
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There are so many accounts of people's experiences with MKT, they are not hard to find, but most of these accounts are from people who have given the knife a chance and used the knife for weeks before giving a solid positive or negative review. To purchase something so expensive I would have thought that you or your dad might have done some research before dropping so much money on it. No offense but I highly doubt your account of the lock stick and centering is anywhere reality because prying the lockbar would cause damage to the knife, and having my own praetorian and holding in my hand right now I find it unbelievable for the centering to be off and touching the frame. I really wish that you would have taken and posted pictures so that this post could be seen as credible because frankly I just cant imagine it being as bad as you say.
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To be fair the proportions of a praetorian are not comparable to the models that you listed. The blade of an MKT probably weighs more than the entire knife of a sebenza, benchmade, etc.
What a joke. He sells subpar knives for $600+ and claims they're for the "working man". The "working man" doesn't drop $600 on a massive pocket brick. Any flaws on a $600 knife are unacceptable. Period. That price point is way too high to accept functional or cosmetic issues. A $20 Victorinox has fewer (if any) issues out of the box. For $20. He's charging more than 30 times that amount. And for what? If he doesn't want "extra work" he shouldn't sell $600+ knives. Hand grinding as an excuse for off centered blades? I also find it funny that Medford would be mad that you are a collector. Considering he has admitted on camera he doesn't carry a knife his comments are pretty ridiculous.
So your knife is good, so I must be full of crap? That is very narrow-minded. I have nothing against Medford or his knives, so there is no reason to make this stuff up. The centering was not immediately obvious that it touched the frame, but after a few openings and closings, I noticed a scratch on the blade. Looked at the action closely under a work light and saw that it just barely touched the frame. I don't have any pics, because firstly, I don't know how to get them on here, and secondly, I already returned the knife. I do have a pic on my phone of the bad centering though, since my credibility is under question for some reason.
My dad is 67 years old and sucks at the Internet. He isn't going to be doing a lot of research on a knife. He doesn't even place his own orders online, he gets me or his wife to do it. I didn't even know he was ordering a knife until he had already done so.
Why would I need to try this knife out for weeks before posting this review? The centering would not suddenly be dead on after using it, and I wasn't about to take it apart to try and fix it myself since that voids the warranty. I was going to keep the knife at first, since I figured the lock issue would eventually pass, but the blade rubbing the frame is ridiculous. I just didn't see that part at first.
I tend to agree. That is why my dad gave me the knife in the first place. He bought it because he loved the look of the knife and the overall design. In hand, between a lock stick that he could barely operate, and the off-center blade, he was disappointed and asked me if I wanted it. I took it, since it was free. I also like the design, but I have cheap $20 knives made in China that are centered, and without a lock sticking issue. I don't mind shelling out cash on a nice blade, I have a Sebenza and a Rockstead among others, but those knives were all perfect too.
There is no way I am using a $600 knife to do any heavy lifting at work. I have cheap Chinese beater knives to do the hard stuff. I collect expensive knives, but they are light duty only.