Cid,
Okay, before I say anything else, let me make one thing clear.
The "paint" comes off the screws sometimes!
If this is important to you and ruins the value of the knife if your eyes, DO NOT buy an Emerson. Personally, I consider this a silly complaint. It does not affect the usefulness or function of the knife in any way, it's only a minor matter of cosmetics. What do you want it for? Is it a tool or is it something for show and tell? As someone who has made my living for many years working out of a toolbox, I personally do not care whether my tools have nicks and dings in them or if the paint comes off of them. As long as they are well maintained and perform as they are supposed to, I am a happy camper.
On the issue of loose pivot screws...
Emerson knives are made to be taken apart and put back together by the user. They are made to be adjusted the way the USER wants it adjusted.
When you tighten a screw, how is it possible that it can go from too tight to too loose without every hitting "just right" somewhere along the way?
You sent a knife back because it was too hard to unlock, and then when you get it back, are unhappy because it doesn't lock up hard enough. In short, you were asking EKI to read your mind and know just EXACTLY how you wanted the knife to "feel" for you.
This reminds me of a time many years ago when I was working as a cook. Some guy comes in and orders a Medium Rare Steak. The CORRECT definition of "Medium Rare" is warm pink in the middle. "Rare" is COLD pink in the middle. I sent the steak out, a perfect medium rare.
In minutes, it came back with the complaint that it was overdone.
Okay, customer's always right, so I cooked another steak cold pink in the middle. (Rare) It comes back again with the complaint that it is over done. I sent out another, even MORE Rare, and again, it came back as "overdone." I finally threw a steak on the grill, left it there for 5 seconds per side and sent it out raw. it did NOT come back again, and the guy didn't eat it. Lesson learned? Some people just can't be pleased, they'd literally rather bitch than eat.
I'm beginning to learn that this applies to the knife world too.
<b>The question is, how many times must one send a knife back to the factory for problems that should have been identified at the factory? How many samples of the same knife do you have to check out before buying one that you feel is just right?</b>
This is my point EXACTLY!
The things you list as problems, really aren't PROBLEMS. Pivot tension is left adjustable because the average EKI user wants the tension adjusted exactly to his preference. Some people do not know what proper tension is, and therefore can't adjust to proper tension.
Others may know what they want, but are asking for the impossible. On every EKI knife I own, there is one exact sweet spot in the pivot screw tension that will give me the exact opening feel I'm looking for. When I buy a new one, I fiddle with it for a minute, find that spot, apply a drop of Loctite and then hit that spot again and let it set for a few hours. I haven't yet had to re-adjust one after that. I don't see what could possibly be hard about that, but some people do. For those people, maybe they shouldn't buy an Emerson. But the POINT is that generally speaking,(I'm sure there is an occasional exception) it's not the KNIFE'S fault.
As to how many samples you should check out before you buy a knife?
Before I started buying Emersons, I used to demand to handle several different knives (of the same model) before I picked the one I wanted, because many times, the knives were not adjustable. I had to FIND the one that felt right rather than tuning one to fit me. I personally prefer doing it myself. If you don't, then maybe you shouldn't buy Emersons. Reminds me of bikes. If you don't like working on bikes, buy a Honda. If you don't mind getting in there and doing some work and actually LIKE to tune it up the way you want it, buy a Harley. Does this make the Honda a better bike? Hardly. But it does make the Harley a bike that seperates the Biker from the Rider.
Now I'm sure you're thinking that I've sat here and told you that it's all your fault and that you're not good enough to own an Emerson.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
What I'm saying, is that maybe EKI knives aren't for you. Maybe they are not what you are looking for in a knife. Maybe you just don't want to take the time to bother with it, I don't know, and I'm not trying to guess. No knife will suit everyone's preferences. If it doesn't suit yours, then by all means, don't BUY the darned thing and come in here and say, "I don't like Emerson knives." You sure won't bother me by saying that. What BOTHERS me is when people say, "I don't like Emerson knives so the quality must suck."
One last thought,
There's no way to know now, but I'm willing to bet that I'd have kept and used every single Emerson you rejected and I'd have been perfectly happy with all of them.
If you DO buy another EKI someday and decide you don't like it and it's not right, email me. Maybe we can make a deal, because I'll take all the Emersons I can get my hands on!
