On some of my cheaper slip joints with irregular scale materials, the pin that goes through the spring bar isn't ground down properly. I really hate this! I have a couple knives where the pin sticks out several mm on either side and has sharp edges.
I'm guessing that on mass produced folders, the pin is ground down using a bench tool, with a minimum of human labour. Still, leaving jagged-edged pins sticking out where they can hurt your hand is penny wise, pound foolish. I fixed a couple knives that had this problem tonight using a cut off disc on my Dremel, and it only took like 2-3 minutes per knife.
What bothers me is that companies are using premium handle materials like stag, but they're too cheap to finish the handles properly, so you wind up with a knife you either have to fix yourself or watch out for the sharp pins whenever you use it.
For a stag handled folder, I think it makes sense to have someone take a look at the handle scale and decide where the pins are going to go, so they aren't halfway up a ridge or something. It also makes sense to have someone use a hand tool to finish the spring bar pin. If you aren't going to do these things, why use irregular but more expensive handle materials in the first place?
I guess it's not that big of a deal in the end since I can finish the pins myself using a Dremel, but it's one of those things that makes me feel like the world is headed in the wrong direction. There's no pride in these knives, just a waste of nice looking stag due to poor planning and slapdash execution. If it's worth using stag on the knife, it's worth finishing the job and making a quality product.
Sorry about ranting, I just wanted to get this off my chest, and my girlfriend doesn't care about stuff like this.
I'm guessing that on mass produced folders, the pin is ground down using a bench tool, with a minimum of human labour. Still, leaving jagged-edged pins sticking out where they can hurt your hand is penny wise, pound foolish. I fixed a couple knives that had this problem tonight using a cut off disc on my Dremel, and it only took like 2-3 minutes per knife.
What bothers me is that companies are using premium handle materials like stag, but they're too cheap to finish the handles properly, so you wind up with a knife you either have to fix yourself or watch out for the sharp pins whenever you use it.
For a stag handled folder, I think it makes sense to have someone take a look at the handle scale and decide where the pins are going to go, so they aren't halfway up a ridge or something. It also makes sense to have someone use a hand tool to finish the spring bar pin. If you aren't going to do these things, why use irregular but more expensive handle materials in the first place?
I guess it's not that big of a deal in the end since I can finish the pins myself using a Dremel, but it's one of those things that makes me feel like the world is headed in the wrong direction. There's no pride in these knives, just a waste of nice looking stag due to poor planning and slapdash execution. If it's worth using stag on the knife, it's worth finishing the job and making a quality product.
Sorry about ranting, I just wanted to get this off my chest, and my girlfriend doesn't care about stuff like this.
