Opinions on folding knife blades being centered.

[blade dude]

Raise your rock bottom standards guys, c'mon. If you spend $200+ on a knife, it should be essentially perfect. Accepting a poorly made expensive knife instead of demanding perfection is just lazy and complacent.



Props to Echoil for speaking the truth. :thumbup:


So, you guys enjoy knives with off center blades? Might as well go ahead and get that Ford pickup truck that veers to the right. Still runs, doesn't it? Also might as well pick up that computer with the dead pixels in the screen....you still can see the screen, right?. After that, might as well head to the store and pick up that designer jacket with the stitching loose...still in one piece, looks fine to me.

Can you explain to me what practical value a closed blade being centered has if it still locks up perfect? Dead pixels can affect usability if you can't see parts but at what point is a centered blade going to cut better than a non centered blade that still locks up perfect?

 

[Sosa]

It's kind of like going on a blind date and the girl has a crooked nose.

 

[The Aflac Duck]

It's kind of like going on a blind date and the girl has a crooked nose.

Perhaps, but her nose isn't the "functional" part

 

[socalmarine]

I've taken away 2 things from reading this thread:

-Medford continues to make me cringe
-EChoil has way too much time on his hands

Yup.

I did just go through my knife drawer...

Favorite knife... slightly off center

 

[stabman]

What scenario would a non centered blade exhibit more quality than a centered blade? I mean, it would still work, but...just seems pretty lazy not to have a centered blade.

Lazy? How is it lazy?
Unless you're the one making it, it isn't hardworking or lazy to care or not care.

Perhaps the word you're looking for is picky..."If you don't care about an off-centre blade, you're not being picky enough."

As for me, on some knives I care, on some I don't.
I don't even care to bother to figure out why that is.
Maybe I'm just being too lazy to psychoanalyse myself.

 

[Leftytwogunz]

If it isn't scratching as I open or close it, then it does not matter.

 

[EChoil]

I've taken away 2 things from reading this thread:

-Medford continues to make me cringe
-EChoil has way too much time on his hands

Ya know, BB, at rare times in my life I DO manage to find up to an hour or so with too much time on my hands. So you've noticed?

Main thing I try NOT to do is work in yet another name-drop for the same three brands in nearly every damn post I make. I DO hope to someday be able to spend day-upon-day posing my knives for glamour shots with more care and time investment than I do my girlfriends. And then making everyone look at them again. You obviously being far more prosperous than most of us here, I just haven't reached that level yet. Maybe if I keep trying, huh?

 

[timberweasel]

Considering the knives are objectively perfect in terms of fit and finish outside of centering which can be tricky on pinned knives, It is not so important to me. (...)

I would agree. All other potential problem areas considered, a little bit o' lean isn't a huge deal if everything else is bang-on--especially on a traditional knife. There are even some multi-blade patterns that are notorious for blade rub; and speaking of which, crinked blades are, by definition, off centre...

Beautiful knives, btw... :thumbup:

-Brett

*Add after-thought: I think traditonal knife buffs, especially the ones who love natural materials, are a little more open to asymmetry...

 

[sutherland]

I must preface this by saying: I am a huge fan of Medford Knives and the service Greg & Amy have provided me has been top notch.

That being said, that 187 that you received definitely does not look right at all and I hope you get things squared away and you are well taken care of. The 187DP/DPT is a great knife.

On the topic of centering, 4 pages in...

What matters is what YOUR standards are. If centering is important to you, then it's important. Period. End of discussion.

Centering is certainly important to me.

 

[EChoil]

I must preface this by saying: I am a huge fan of Medford Knives and the service Greg & Amy have provided me has been top notch.

That being said, that 187 that you received definitely does not look right at all and I hope you get things squared away and you are well taken care of. The 187DP/DPT is a great knife.....Centering is certainly important to me.

More I think about it the more I think they may have tried to slip him one that had already been returned.

 

[palonej]

You think it was repaired like that?? Then sold as new? Not sure how else that knife could look like that.
Joe

 

[DangCat]

To clarify, I purchased the knife from a small time knife guy who was done selling knives, not directly from Medford. I griped about the knife. The knife is brand new. Amy Medford stated that the guy that was fired was not choosing parts correctly to alleviate fitment issues such as this. She said it was warranty and that's how we got here.

 

[The Aflac Duck]

Ya know, BB, at rare times in my life I DO manage to find up to an hour or so with too much time on my hands. So you've noticed?

Main thing I try NOT to do is work in yet another name-drop for the same three brands in nearly every damn post I make. I DO hope to someday be able to spend day-upon-day posing my knives for glamour shots with more care and time investment than I do my girlfriends. And then making everyone look at them again. You obviously being far more prosperous than most of us here, I just haven't reached that level yet. Maybe if I keep trying, huh?

Did you see this recent pic I took of my Umnumzaan? It looks pretty sweet right?

 

[Parasitic Psycho]

Centering is part of the fit and finish craftsmanship everyone is always claiming to appreciate about high end knives. If the centering is off, it is poor craftsmanship and I'm not interested in spending my money on that.

Hope everything works out for you OP.

 

[Anaries]

Gentleman, some truly great stuff. You know who you are

I can add....I will forgive an otherwise awesome knife for being off center provided it doesn't rub, HOWEVER when they are perfectly centered I have an 'awe' moment that justifies why I dropped my hard earned bucks to begin with. Makers take note.

Also, given time and tools, most can be centered. I've yet to buy a used Emerson broken in correctly. Suck it up and use that thumb folks.

 

[whitty]

First off.....a blade not centered is NOT acceptable to me. When they arrive like that new it is very hard to find the sweet spot on adjustment.....centered but very tight etc. sign of a problem at production.
Customer Service plays a HUGE part of where I spend my cash and I would not stand for that garbage from anyone.
Scott from usamadeblade posted on the first page. I spent lots of cash with him because of that type of service.
When checking out sales threads on the Exchange blade centering is almost always mentioned.......it's important.....period.
Want excellent manufacturer's customer service?? Check out Benchmade, Spydie or Pro Tech.
Hope the OP doesn't settle and gets what he paid for.
Joe

Thank you Joe! We appreciate you telling others about us!

 

[bd.strelkov]

I just got a cold steel kudu. Payed 8 dollars for it and the centering is bang on

 

[Cutlover]

Can you explain to me what practical value a closed blade being centered has if it still locks up perfect? Dead pixels can affect usability if you can't see parts but at what point is a centered blade going to cut better than a non centered blade that still locks up perfect?

Dead pixels don't really obscure the screen that much, they only make it look like the screen has a mark on it that can't be scratched off.

The point was, why accept a flawed product? If people become too complacent with low quality products, quality as a whole will suffer. You are absolutely correct that a non centered blade will cut the same as a centered one. However, a pickup truck that veers to the right will last just as long as a truck that drives straight. No functional difference, but it speaks to the quality of the knife, and how much effort was put into making it to ensure that last bit of perfection, and that in my book is very respectable.

It is like comparing the person who says "good enough" to the person who puts in the extra effort to make their product perfect. Laziness vs Productivity.

Now, I would consider myself to be slightly insane (or anal retentive, that's actually a somewhat hilarious jibe) if it weren't for the fact that other people in the thread agree. My apologies for the long winded post, but that's just my perspective.

Maybe we centered blade lovers have OCD? Who knows...

 

[dkblade]

I'd expect absolutely perfect blade centering on a $450 CRK. That's why I sent mine back for 7 weeks, well that and the abnormally stiff detent. It was perfect when I got it back but then went slightly off center again after a couple weeks. I've come to accept it but honestly it does kind of bug me a little bit.

 

[dkblade]

Maybe we centered blade lovers have OCD? Who knows...

For what it's worth my significant other was a psych major and said I don't have OCD. She said she could understand why I'd be bummed about the lack of perfect centering! That made me feel better.