Purchased used small Insingo and the tip / swedge looks "off"

D

duckfsu

Joined
Jan 25, 2002
Messages
118
I just purchased a small Micarta Insingo, born late 2013. It arrived today and I noticed that something looks "off" with the tip / swedge area. On the left side of the blade, there is a brushed area extending up to the spine which throw off the symmetry of the "V" that the tip grind forms, if that makes sense. Following the spine down to the tip and looking again at the left side of the blade, it doesn't look particularly even. The right side, by comparison, is a smooth brushed even line. It was extremely difficult to photograph these areas but here are my best efforts with my phone; the pictures are huge so I just stuck them all in an album:

http://imgur.com/a/Crkqn#0

So my questions are - is this at all normal, or has the knife been poorly sharpened / refinished in these areas? I tried to find pics for comparison and while I couldn't find many of the exact area, those I did find seemed to show all grinds looking nice and smooth and even. I did purchase this knife used and was told it had been used for light cutting and had been professionally sharpened at one point. If this is not normal, should I be looking to return or for a partial refund for the seller? Would a trip to the spa take care of everything?
 
This is NOT normal. At all. CRK would never let anything leave their shop like that. If this was not disclosed when buying, I would be asking the seller what can be done. Unless the knife had a broken tip, why anyone would mess with the swedge is beyond me. If the seller is unwilling to help, I'd have CRK or a real professional see what they can do. Where was this purchased?

My user Insingo:

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Fortunately, it does look like it can be fixed. If it was mine and was going to be a user, I'd have it repaired and enjoy the heck out of the knife. I love my small Micarta Insingo and am certain you will as well.
 
I appreciate it, Cory. It was intended to be a user, but at the prices these command used, I'm a little wary of investing more into this one if it might start to approach new prices. Is this something CRK would repair free of charge during a spa treatment? If not, any idea on what it might cost to fix?
 
Looks like someone attempted to flatten the swedge. Maybe they were getting hassled for knife laws or something. It definitely did not leave CRK that way.
 
Yeah that can be fixed, but proper equipment is needed. I'll bet that was done for legal purposes. The swedge can be misconstrued as a double edge in some places.

Send it to crk and they can probably re grind it. Should have been disclosed by the seller though, I'd be upset.
 
Even if they will fix it for free, you are looking at $30 or so just to ship it both ways. If the seller is unwilling to make this right, I would bet a Wicked Edge would work well in getting it back. But again, not for the inexperienced as this could do some really serious damage if not done correctly. There are some really great members here that have the experience and know-how to get it right the first time.

I have no idea what a shop (or CRK) would charge. I have also read some horror stories about some of these shops as well as some really great things. CRK is the safest bet by far.
 
I would be unhappy. That is damage. Sorry this happened to you. I've been in the market for a user insingo. I may just buy new to avoid this kind of problem.
 
Yeah - not right for sure. I've two Insingo models and they aren't even close to that. It'll have to go back to CRK for resuscitation. I'm guessing they'll set it to right.
 
It looks like a "fix" for a broken tip or rounded tip because of bad sharpening. It's easy enough to have fixed properly, but that blade is not what CRK intends for us to have. :)
 
I tried to sharpen the sledge tip of an Insingo I had and it ended up looking kinda like that. Very similar, the scratches I see on the swedge were pretty much identical.

I sent it in to CRK and explained what I did, and they gave it a spa treatment (even though it had never been really used by me, except to cut some veggies for an omelet once) and resharpened the swedge, and it came back perfect. No charge except for shipping.

I'd say the "professional" sharpening was the culprit. "Professional" and CRK sharpening are two entirely different animals.

BTW I never tried to sharpen the swedge again!
 
I wouldn't even mess with trying to get CRK to fix it, you'll be out money.

Return it if he didn't disclose "jacked up swedge" in the listing. Given that you can get nearly new prices for used sebenzas, I'd just return that one and get a new one. Unless you got it for a steal price, then bite the bullet and send to CRK.
 
The seller was great about it, he apologized and gave me a full refund. I ended up buying a new one.
 
Looks like the top swedge was dulled on purpose, good resolution!
 
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