I have heard from some sources I trust that the fit and finish of Emerson knives is piss poor and that their 154CM steel is worse than Cold Steel AUS8 (in terms of edge retention).
Is there any truth to this?
I don't mean to come here and bash Emerson knives.
The reason I want to know is because the knives look so cool but I have not heard great things about them.
Feel free to post pictures of your favorite Emersons too, I'm not sure which one I want.
I'm pretty new to Emersons, so I can't speak to the quality of their steel or edge retention, but 154CM is a reputable alloy and I have a hard time believing that a company with Emerson's reputation is doing shitty heat treats. Also, to be fair, I've found Cold Steel's AUS8 to be pretty damn good in terms of edge retention, so this comparison isn't as insulting as someone may have intended.
The fit and finish on the two Emerson's I've gotten has been rough. Before the faithful jump down my throat, let me explain my thoughts more fully. In my mind there are two areas of Fit and Finish, one being the effects of the knife being manufactured according to design and within specifications, and the other being effects of the knife being out of spec and somehow passing through quality controls.
In regards to the first type of F&F, I believe that Emerson has made decisions for various reasons (design philosophy, intended use philosophy, cost, etc.) to have looser tolerances on various dimensions and specifications that don't affect the function or performance of the knife. I've seen evidence of this on my full size and Mini A-100. The finish of the liners, both on their edges and on their flat areas is rough. The G10 scales have slight, but noticeable, overhangs over the liners in some spots. The jimping, both on the handles and blades, also appears unfinished, as if they were just rough cut and left that way. Do these "unfinished" features surprise me? A little. The cheapo Chinese Enlan knife I have has crisply machined jimping with a satin finish, the liners are almost mirror polished on all surfaces, and the G10 scales align perfectly with the liners. That's not to mention the excellent F&F on all the Spyderco's I've owned as well as, of course, my CRK's. So, yes, I did have a bit of culture shock when first inspecting my Emersons. But as I said at the beginning of this paragraph, none of these "flaws" have any effect on the function or performance of the knife. As rough as the liners are, they are all properly deburred, there are no sharp edges that hurt your hands. The same is true of the jimping. The G10 scale misfit is totally unnoticeable unless you are out to prove it's there. More importantly, the things that do affect the knife's performance are all very well executed. The blade bevels and grinds are some of the nicest I've seen. The blades are centered, the detents are positioned very well and are tensioned nicely, the lock-up is fully engaged but early, and there is zero rock or play in the blade in any direction. The hardened steel hardware is excellent (and refreshingly old school), all holes are drilled straight and tapped nicely. As others have said, Emerson's focus in the design and manufacture of these knives is function and performance, not making things pretty. I believe it.
As for the second type of F&F, essentially unintentional flaws that make it through quality controls, I can't give any meaningful opinion on how good Emerson is with those because I don't have the data. I will say that from my small sampling of two knives, one came in a condition that was clearly (I hope) not with design specifications. My full size A-100 appeared to have had a loctite spill during assembly. The pivot screw came out easily enough, but the non-lock-side scale was essentially glued to the steel liner, and the washer on that side was covered in cured loctite, as well as the blade tang and pivot itself. The lock-side washer, liner, and scale seemed to have been spared. This was all fairly easy to remedy, and again, I don't think I can say that my experience points to anything systemic on Emerson's part. After all, I haven't heard any other stories of this type of defect. Maybe I just got lucky.
Overall, my impression of Emerson knives is that they do things a little differently and have different priorities than a lot of the other big knife companies. A lot of people who are used to a certain level of refinement and F&F to their knives are going to be turned off by Emerson's philosophy. But, I think just as many people will be drawn in by the functional designs and no-nonsense attitude of these knives.
There is another run of them coming soon.
