Tony Bose Tribal Spear~New from Case!

[duckman1]

George, it looks like you put those knives through their paces!
I'm curious; what percentage of a Duck gets its shape from a knife such as that Tribal? I know it takes a lot of chips and shavings to make one!

I dont really use the tribal spear for a lot of carving. I used it today to take the bigger chips off. I have a set of Tony's knifes that I use. I carved miniature decoys today and used 3 different ones for different parts of the carvings. My little case swayback also saw some action.

 

[waynorth]

Thanks, George!

 

[zippin44]

Re: Tribal Spear - my blade's not centered. The knife is toast. Footage at 11pm.

I do have a TB/Case Dog Leg Jack and the blade rubs on one side. I guess I really should send that one back to Case.

 

[tomcrx]

Since we have the technology, when someone has a problem with a knife that is bad enough to publicly complain about, please post up some of images of the problem. That way, we can more better agree that something should be done or opine that you may be FOS.

I wish I had the skills. I tried but all the shots turned out blurry. I am going to try to get a refund or exchange through the dealer.

I don't mean to crap on the company or the designer, just getting my disappointment out I guess. Customs are hard to come by, even though I could easily afford them, and this was probably as close to a Bose as I will probably get unless I want to try to get on the 6+ year waiting list.

Sorry to derail the thread.

 

[sleevefullofaces]

Thanks for the welcome and to those that shared their experience and advice my hat is off to you.

Here is a pic of my off center blade. I also didn't mean to bring the thread down but this is my most off center blade out of all of my folders. Picture was taken on my phone so it kind of sucks.

I am going to email Case to see what they say about it.

Justin

 

[zippin44]

Mine is exactly the same as your picture below, and I would be very interested in Case's assessment. I've always had fixed blades, and my experience with slip joints is rather limited, so I'm not sure if the condition warrants remediation. As I previously mentioned, I have a Dog Leg Jack that is worse than this and actually rubs the side.

But on the positive side, I really like the Tribal Spear and am slowly working toward the day when I can cross the line and actually employ it to use. We're working on it.

Thanks for the welcome and to those that shared their experience and advice my hat is off to you.

Here is a pic of my off center blade. I also didn't mean to bring the thread down but this is my most off center blade out of all of my folders. Picture is big since I can't resize on my phone. (I'll fix it later)

I am going to email Case to see what they say about it.

Justin

 

[rprocter]

I still do not have the T.S. with Antique Bone that i ordered some time ago.
emailed the dealer to see what's up,'cause you guys all have 'em.
If i receive a knife with even blade grinds and edge grinds that go all the way to,and form the tip, good snap, good spring/spine alignment, no play, and nicely fitted scales and an off center blade, i'm keeping it.
i.e. if everything else is right, you've got a good knife. an off center blade is neither here nor there, as long as the blade is not actually rubbing against the liner, it doesn't matter. all the other 'stuff' i mentioned above matters.
roland

 

[zippin44]

Thanks Roland. That is helpful info that puts things into perspective.

 

[Kohai999]

Thanks for the welcome and to those that shared their experience and advice my hat is off to you.

Here is a pic of my off center blade. I also didn't mean to bring the thread down but this is my most off center blade out of all of my folders. Picture is big since I can't resize on my phone. (I'll fix it later)

I am going to email Case to see what they say about it.

Justin

I wouldn't accept a blade that off-center on any single bladed knife from ANY maker or manufacturer....other people may attempt to justify a FLAW in a knife....but that doesn't make it any less flawed.

It is really a question of what matters to you, and since we are dealing with objects that CAN be made with a proper side to side float on the blade, I expect that they will be.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[zippin44]

Thanks Steve. That is helpful info that puts things into perspective. Obviously, there are opposing differences of opinion on this issue. Not sure how I will proceed.

 

[KnifeHead]

I was talking to my toast this morning at breakfast about the issue of flawlessly made knives, perfectly centered blades and such things. My toast told me, "You should strive for perfection but the best you will accomplish is excellence". Wise toast, wise toast.

YOU LISTEN TO YOUR TOAST TOO!? Dang, I thought I was the only one.:thumbup:

 

[KnifeHead]

I wouldn't accept a blade that off-center on any single bladed knife from ANY maker or manufacturer....other people may attempt to justify a FLAW in a knife....but that doesn't make it any less flawed.

It is really a question of what matters to you, and since we are dealing with objects that CAN be made with a proper side to side float on the blade, I expect that they will be.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

BTW Steven...did anyone ever tell you you have a flaw in your name. Your T is too big.

 

[rprocter]

STeven, if you only own "flawless" knives, then you've got a tiny collection of zero. You know this has been thrashed over repeatedly in the "Customs" forum. Every knife has something, even if minute, that keeps it from being "perfect".
An off center blade, as long as it's not rubbing, has zero effect on function.
If it really bothers you, then you would not keep that knife, but most of us are more realistic and less anal.
roland

 

[KnifeHead]

Thanks for the welcome and to those that shared their experience and advice my hat is off to you.

Here is a pic of my off center blade. I also didn't mean to bring the thread down but this is my most off center blade out of all of my folders. Picture was taken on my phone so it kind of sucks.

I am going to email Case to see what they say about it.

Justin

You're doing the right thing and I believe Case will make it right somehow.

 

[mendezj]

Like the Japanese masters say: Imperfection is perfection.

However, in knives, as in so many other things, perfection is costly. Either you have extremely sophisticated and expensive robot technology making your knives, or one very talented man spending hours making sure the blade is exactly aligned between the scales. What is cheap and easy is to shoot down the honest effort of a small company conscientiously making great knives even if the blade is 0.2 millimeter off center between the handle.

I mean, the knife trade needs positive and meaningful criticism especially during times of duress. I believe that a company that consistently puts out great looking knives but with very dull blades, needs to be reminded that knives are made for cutting. In other cases, it'd be more helpful, in my worthless $0.02, to try to find a solution before making everyone look bad.

I'm ducking now.

 

[FLymon]

STeven, if you only own "flawless" knives, then you've got a tiny collection of zero. You know this has been thrashed over repeatedly in the "Customs" forum. Every knife has something, even if minute, that keeps it from being "perfect".
An off center blade, as long as it's not rubbing, has zero effect on function.
If it really bothers you, then you would not keep that knife, but most of us are more realistic and less anal.
roland

"Flawless", like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder and a standard will likely never be agreed upon.
Speaking only for myself Roland, if you don't find this knife to be flawed:

I strongly doubt you are in the majority.
I mean I threw up a little in my mouth when I saw that picture.

And if you do hold the majority opinion, most of you can have those knives and I will gladly look elsewhere for my gratification. I just don't like or appreciate something like a pocket knife, that I have to pay for, that is obviously flawed.

And if anyone who should know (makers, machinists) wants to hazard a guess, how far off center would you say this knife is? I've seen 0.2mm being cited in a few posts here and that is 1/127th of an inch if I have done my math right, and I would think this blade exceeds that by a wide margin.
What say you?

 

[KnifeHead]

...Imperfection is perfection.....

Hey, I'm gonna use that every time someone gripes about my work. Thanks, Juan.

 

[Kohai999]

STeven, if you only own "flawless" knives, then you've got a tiny collection of zero. You know this has been thrashed over repeatedly in the "Customs" forum. Every knife has something, even if minute, that keeps it from being "perfect".
An off center blade, as long as it's not rubbing, has zero effect on function.
If it really bothers you, then you would not keep that knife, but most of us are more realistic and less anal.
roland

It's pretty major, Roland....maybe not for function, but certainly for aesthetics. This knife is not a bargain basement Chinese slipjoint that functions and looks better than the cost. This knife is designed and marketed to collectors, the least expensive model I saw was $285.00 online...it is very reasonable to expect top quality function AND aesthetics at this level.

"Anal"?....I prefer exacting....undoubtedly, I have high standards, and regularly reject knives that do not meet those standards, both in custom and production knives. It is my hard earned money being spent...no one else's.

Like the Japanese masters say: Imperfection is perfection.

However, in knives, as in so many other things, perfection is costly. Either you have extremely sophisticated and expensive robot technology making your knives, or one very talented man spending hours making sure the blade is exactly aligned between the scales. What is cheap and easy is to shoot down the honest effort of a small company conscientiously making great knives even if the blade is 0.2 millimeter off center between the handle.

The Japanese have a different culture than we do....would you like to discuss it elsewhere? The Japanese did not make this knife...Americans did....should we hold the makers to a lesser standard? Is that how America retains any semblance of greatness?

Zippo owns Case.....In addition to its recent purchase of the Ronson brand in the U.S. and Canada, Zippo also owns W.R. Case and Sons Cutlery Company, Bradford, PA, Zippo U.K., Ltd., London, England, and Zippo Fashion Italia, Vicenza, Italy....it is not a small company, and if it doesn't make a good product in a profitable manner....it becomes obsolete.

Please don't talk about "trying"....this is not high school football, and there is no "great effort" awards given for trying real hard in business. We are all adults here....this conversation is about what constitutes acceptable for the price paid....it should have nothing to do with the effort....you don't TRY to make money, you either do it and succeed, or don't and fail, unless you are in government.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[waynorth]

Queen cutlery is remaking all the springs on the BF 2010 knife because of exacting standards from guys like STeven here. I will include myself in this "anal" group.
The tooling is old and caused a problem that they knew wouldn't fly with us.
Interestingly, the resultant slight gap exists in the knife of their manufacture, that I sent back to them as an example of what we wanted. It was minor enough for that production a few years ago!
We are pushing them to a higher standard IMO!
And our knife only costs a third of what a Case-Bose knife costs.
At that price, I don't expect the blades to be perfectly centered, but at Case-Bose prices, I think they should be real close!

 

[KnifeHead]

I'll second that "real close" :thumbup: