So there's sub-par fit and finish, and then there's this..

So I just got my brand new 2012 Mini-Commander in the mail after a week of waiting and checking the mailbox every few hours. I opened it and held it in my hands and could feel something felt odd. After looking at the handle, I saw that the G-10 liners were hilariously over and undersized for the steel and titanium liners. It was not just plain old ugly to look at, but it also definitely felt weird to hold.

I have attached the following pictures. My camera is a pretty bad and dated so it probably did not get the extent of the problem, it looks a bit more pronounced if you look at it in person.











It is like that around the entire handle, but most pronounced at each end. Comically oversized G-10 on one side, and hilariously undersized G-10 on the other.

I can forgive the knife arriving with dusty G-10 handles, or an extremely gritty opening. I don't mind a slightly off-centre blade or machine marks on my liners. Yet when it comes to something this ridiculous, I can't help but be a bit pissed off.

Why didn't the 'professional' guys at Emerson who put this knife together notice something that I, a normal guy, noticed in the first seconds of holding the knife? They make such a big deal about how they are a small family operation building a limited number of knives at a time, yet how can they miss something like this? When a knife's fit and finish go past cosmetic and start affecting ergonomics, that's when I make threads like this.

I am an Emerson fan. I own a Karambit, CQC-7V, Horseman, and Mini-15. So I am by no means a 'hater'. I just can't believe I'll have to waste my own time and money to fix this problem when it should have been stopped at the quality control lines of Emerson's factory.

 

Thanks for all the replies and kind words. I've had a bit of time (and a couple of beers) so I think I've mellowed down a bit. I will take it apart and reassemble while making sure everything lines up, although I am not too confident as just viewing it from six inches away, you can see that the G-10 really is cut weirdly. I think I am more mad since I now have to spend $40 to send back my brand new knife for a problem that anyone putting the knife together should have spotted from the start.

I have sent an email to the dealer I bought this from, and Emerson as well. I will update with any progress

 

Yeah, I did a complete takedown and made sure everything was lined up properly. Nope, still no go.

I made contact with them and I am sending in my knife this week. I just hope they have mini commanders in stock if they are going to replace this knife.

I actually bought it from a prestige dealer that I have been using for the past couple of years. I bought four Emersons from him in the past and this one would be my fifth. However, he has been pretty unhelpful and condescending when I tried contacting him. I bought a Mini 15 from him several weeks ago and it came with horrible blade centring. I managed to fix with after a takedown and clean up of the washers. So when I asked him to check this mini Commander prior to sending it to me, he most likely didn't. I asked him what happened when I got this knife and he actually said that I shouldn't expect too strict tolerances from a production knife D: He also said that if I was being too 'particular' maybe I should shop somewhere else where I could hold the knife and make sure it was up to my standards and that he wouldn't discuss the matter further (since I was trying to get help for shipping).

Obviously I called him out on this and he said that he couldn't be expected to check every single knife he sells. I told him about the email I sent him specifically asking him to check the knife BEFORE I even sent the funds and it looks like he did not. Now he back tracked to saying he DID check the knife but didn't notice the G-10 issue.

Such a sour experience, he is really happy and all smiles when taking my money but when he sends me out faulty goods that are supposed to be brand new he suddenly is less talkative.:thumbdn:

I won't name him just yet since I really am giving him the chance to remedy this by at least offering to go halves in intl. shipping since I wouldn't be in this place if he did check the knife per my request, its not like I was asking for a complete teardown and inspection. Just a 10 second check to see if the blade was centred, lock up was good, no side to side etc.. Blah, I was going to buy a small Sebenza and a few ESEE knives from him but not any more. I hope that this shipping cost outweighs any future business I will give him or send his way.