Randall knife disapointment

[the gimp]

My newest Randall was received with a Nickel hilt that is more yellow colored then nickel colored. A phone call to Randall made and I was told that there should be no yellow tint to the hilt what so ever. My knife was also missing a thong hole which was ordered. I sent the knife in and received a letter stating that the hilt was in fact the right material and that a thong hole would be addded.
A few weeks later I called and spoke to Gary and I again mentioned the "yellow" nickel and was told "thats the way they are" and if I did not like it he would refund my money.
I'm a little surprised since the catalog and the website do not show any knives with nickel hilts with a yellow tint to them. Maybe they changed there materials and decided not to let anyone know ?

When I received my knife last week with the thong hole drilled through the Duraluminum butt I was a little bent out of shape to have a bunch of metal shaving fall out of the hole since apparently Randall decided not to blow the shaving out of the hole after drilling it.

My knife had a wicked burr on the last inch of the blade which my buddy tried to remove by using his leather strop but ended up having to put it on a stone to take of it.

Not exactly the service or the quality that I would expect from a custom maker. Being in the quality control field maybe I should have flown down and inspected my knife for them before it shipped.

 

[Cobalt]

this probably needs to go in the GBU forum so I am sure it will go there momentarily. In the meantime, I have owned many randalls in the past and all of them were excellent fit and workmanship so I would hope that this aspect of their product has not changed and that this is an aberration.

 

[chuckschilling]

That's very disappointing to hear, to say the least. Nickel silver should have no hint of yellow, gold or brass coloration to it whatsoever. You waited a long time for that knife; and it's not unreasonable to expect it to conform to standards of fit and finish that mass-produced knives easily attain.

 

[Halbie]

That's very disappointing to hear, to say the least. Nickel silver should have no hint of yellow, gold or brass coloration to it whatsoever. You waited a long time for that knife; and it's not unreasonable to expect it to conform to standards of fit and finish that mass-produced knives easily attain.

They may be using something routinely referred to as "nickel silver" but a slightly different alloy:

From Wikipedia:


"Many alloys fall within the general term of "nickel silver". All contain copper and nickel, while some formulations may additionally include zinc, antimony, tin, lead or cadmium. A representative industrial formulation, Alloy No. 752, is 65% copper, 18% nickel, and 17% zinc. In metallurgical science, such alloys would be more properly termed nickel brass. The white alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel used in coins, such as the United States nickel, is better known as copper-nickel, cupro-nickel or cupronickel."


It's no excuse for sending you something so different from what was pictured, though. It just may be the reason they're saying that, hey, that's just the way it is.

 

[chuckschilling]

I'm aware of the fact that nickel silver is a brass alloy - but when used on knives, it is expected to be silver or silvery grey in color, with no brassy coloration. In fact, it's an extra-cost option on most Randall knives, and it's rather difficult to argue that someone paid up to $75 extra ($20 for a nickel silver hilt, $55 for a nickel silver pommel cap) for a nickel silver hilt that resembles the standard brass hilt

 

[Keith Montgomery]

Double post.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

It is not at all unusual to see a yellowish tint in nickel silver. This will be more obvious if it is right next to steel. Nickel silver is made up of copper 50 - 65%, zinc 17 - 25%, with the remainder being nickel. It is the copper that gives it the yellowish tint.

You can see a slight yellowish tint in the guard of the Buck below. This is normal.

 

[Michael Lovett]

On side note, Randall Knives has been around a long time. It is well accepted that Randall Knives are NOT custom made Knives. They are considered Bench made Knives. Randall Knives, collectors, and the Guild all refer to Randall Knives as Bench made. It is a small factory in an orange grove down in Fla.

I Love'em. Still want a #1!!! In Stag!




Mike

 

[mete]

Yes it should have a yellow tint especially when next to stainless steel and in certain types of light.

 

[Halbie]

I'm aware of the fact that nickel silver is a brass alloy - but when used on knives, it is expected to be silver or silvery grey in color, with no brassy coloration. In fact, it's an extra-cost option on most Randall knives, and it's rather difficult to argue that someone paid up to $75 extra ($20 for a nickel silver hilt, $55 for a nickel silver pommel cap) for a nickel silver hilt that resembles the standard brass hilt

Even after reading the subsequent comments about the normal yellow tint, I'd have to agree with you, if it's coming close to a brass color. I just wonder if they started using a slightly different nickel silver alloy in their production.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

this probably needs to go in the GBU forum so I am sure it will go there momentarily. In the meantime, I have owned many randalls in the past and all of them were excellent fit and workmanship so I would hope that this aspect of their product has not changed and that this is an aberration.

I currenlty own three. None of them have any yellow hue to any metal parts.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

I have been checking Randalls out on the internet and on almost every one that I found with nickel silver, the nickel silver had a slight yellow tint. None however were anywhere near the colour of brass.

 

[Lycosa]

Sorry to hear that. Can you live with that color? You might get used to it an NS won't tarnish. Did your friend do a nice job removing the burr? Things happen---Good Luck.

 

[Whitehorn]

Let's see a photo of the knife..

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Moving from General Knife Discussion to FEEDBACK ...

 

[Cougar Allen]

Can you take a picture of it next to another knife with nickel silver fittings? That's the only way to really show it. If it looks a little yellow in a picture by itself that could be the lighting or the camera's white balance, but if you can post a picture of it next to another knife (ideally an older Randall if you have one) then we can really see it.

 

[Spaceport]

Here are pictures of three Randalls with nickel silver guards and one with brass. All of the nickel silver's have a yellow tint. I grabbed the pictues quick so they're not great. I go through around four to five hundred Randalls a year and almost all the nickel silver has a yellow tint.

 

[the gimp]

I will post a picture up later this evening. My dispute with the Nickel having a yellow tint is that none of the knives in their brochures that have nickel hilts have any yellow what so ever. If other knife owners are recieving nickel hilts with a yellow tint then I can live with that but how about metal shaving and the burr on my blade ?

 

[Keith Montgomery]

...but how about metal shaving and the burr on my blade ?

Those are things that would have bothered me as well, especially the burr.

 

[Jeff S1]

The fact of forgetting to drill the tang hole itself is bad enough. Having to send it back, waiting even longer, then having metal shavings fall from the hole is insane!
The burr was another issue that was totally unaccceptable!

I speak of this first hand as I was the guy who removed the burr. It was aprox. 1 inch long from the tip back and very large. I like the overall knife itself, however Randall really dropped the ball in this situation. The customer service skills that Randall displayed were on the low side, based on my only experience with them, watching this process.