Warrantee replacement for TGLB appears to be flawed as well.

[taiChiFighter]

I sent my new TGLB back to Busse a few weeks ago because of a defect in the grind. It suppose I should have been happy that it only took them a week to make me up a new one but, considering the fact that I had to wait 8 weeks for the first one, it sort of worried me that they may have rushed the job. Sure enough, it now appears that a sloppy sharpening job has resulted in an uneven cutting edge. Am I making a mountain out of a molehill or should one expect better from a $325 knife? Tell me what you guys think?

 

[Over Kill]

You cant see anything but a shadow of a tglb in that picture?

 

[jball1125]

If you ease the back tip off the table it should lay flat. In my experience it is normal for the back tip to be a little higher and honestly not sure how it would hinder performance.

 

[Translash]

Try aligning your blade with a ruler, because the edge looks parallel to the blood groove. The table you're putting it on may not be even.

 

[1whobuys]

Did you do this first?

If You Have A Problem With Your Busse Knife. . . Here's What To Do. . .
Contact the shop FIRST. Give us the opportunity to look at the problem and to fix it. If we DO NOT fix the problem or are so drunk that we refuse to assist you, (This has NEVER happened) then you can bring it to the forums and feel free to vent.

Given the proper tools, it does not take much to destroy a great knife. Given the internet, it does not take much to destroy a great reputation.

We have NEVER left a customer unsatisfied, when given the opportunity.

If you post about a problem before giving us the opportunity to fix it, your post may be deleted or locked.

Email both jerry@bussecombat.com & amy@bussecombat.com and call us at (419) 923-6471 (M-F 9:00am - 5:00pm Eastern)

Please allow at least 3 business days to respond to your email. If you do not hear from us, please call to make sure we received your email.

Let's Drink!

Jerry


.

Hope ya don't mind, Chuck. I made no edit to your post other than to just put Jerry's post in quotes (it will now link back to his locked sticky thread) and to strike out Amy's Busse email addy as it no longer works or is being checked as far as I know. lexi@bussecombat.com is probably better to CC emails to nowadays. Guess I need to ask Jerry to update that post, huh?

 

[dericdesmond]

Unless they have refused to help then I believe your thread title is the only thing flawed.

 

[unklfranco]

I would just send it back with a detailed explanation of what you believe is wrong with it. You are right, when you purchaes a Busse you should expect the best because in my opinion they are the best. I trust they will make it right. I cant recall anyone ever being unhappy with their products. I sent a Swampwarden back that I had poorly sharpened and they fixed it right up for me for free. If they will stand behind a sub 100 dollar knife that the customer messed up I feel they will take care of you. Good luck to you. That is a fine knife that I almost purchased myself.

Unklfranco

 

[rockgolfer]

If you are going to use it, then whats the problem?

 

[taiChiFighter]

Did you do this first?

If You Have A Problem With Your Busse Knife. . . Here's What To Do. . .
Contact the shop FIRST. Give us the opportunity to look at the problem and to fix it. If we DO NOT fix the problem or are so drunk that we refuse to assist you, (This has NEVER happened) then you can bring it to the forums and feel free to vent.

Given the proper tools, it does not take much to destroy a great knife. Given the internet, it does not take much to destroy a great reputation.

We have NEVER left a customer unsatisfied, when given the opportunity.

If you post about a problem before giving us the opportunity to fix it, your post may be deleted or locked.

Email both jerry@bussecombat.com & amy@bussecombat.com and call us at (419) 923-6471 (M-F 9:00am - 5:00pm Eastern)

Please allow at least 3 business days to respond to your email. If you do not hear from us, please call to make sure we received your email.

Let's Drink!

Jerry

.

Jerry,
I tend to be a little obsessive about relatively large ticket items and I honestly didn't post here to vent... I really wanted to get other people's opinion about whether I was making something out of nothing. Sending the knife back and forth over the border is a real PITA and I don't want to go through that again if it's not worth it. My only concern about the edge of the knife not being straight is that it might make it problematic to sharpen.

 

[rockgolfer]

It will work itself out over a sharpening session or two. You sent it back because your sharpening system would not clamp on it, correct? If you use a guide then it should blend it all together over the first time or two of using it and make it disapear.

 

[taiChiFighter]

Unless they have refused to help then I believe your thread title is the only thing flawed.

I've already sent it back once and had to deal with a real hassle with customs charging and $50 for a "purchase" rather than a warrantee return. Sending the knife back a second time would be a MAJOR Pita that I'd prefer to avoid and I was looking to find out if others thought it was a legitimate issue or not. Is that OK?

 

[Last Visible Canary]

One can say "well it cost 325$, I should get custom quality" or 'it should be perfect if it's going to cost so much', but if this is the combat grade version of the knife - it's not custom, or semi custom, it's designed to be up to the specs and tolerances of the combat line. If your expecting perfection out of a combat grade edition, your likely going to be able to find a flaw of some kind in the majority of knives you purchase. If the argument is that it's going to be sold and thus should be of a high enough quality that it can be sold as 'flawless', it goes back to this being a combat grade edition that's designed with the primary focus of use, not of custom quality aesthetics (which takes an additional series of manufacturing steps and quality checks). The combat grade knives aren't just expensive because of the brand name or fit and finish - Jerry has said that each battle mistress (this was years ago) uses 90$ worth of steel (I had my computer stolen on wednesday, so I don't have my bookmarks at the ready. I'll try to find a citation for that number). These knives, even if you purchased them for the raw end materials, are still expensive even without the custom processes to make them pretty.

If you are only going to be satisfied with a knife that has a flawless grind on both sides as well as a straight main edge with no recurve present, you'll need to be very clear with the associate you speak to when sending it back. Busse Combat will go a long way to make sure your happy with your purchase, likely including spending extra time modifying a knife or hand picking the highest quality example of a production run, but only if they know that's required to satisfy you. Otherwise they're going to choose one that meets the quality requirements and tolerances of the combat grade line, as presented to every buyer who purchases one.

 

[taiChiFighter]

It will work itself out over a sharpening session or two. You sent it back because your sharpening system would not clamp on it, correct? If you use a guide then it should blend it all together over the first time or two of using it and make it disapear.

I hope so because I REALLY don't want to send it back again.

If you are only going to be satisfied with a knife that has a flawless grind on both sides as well as a straight main edge with no recurve present, you'll need to be very clear with the associate you speak to when sending it back. Busse Combat will go a long way to make sure your happy with your purchase, likely including spending extra time modifying a knife or hand picking the highest quality example of a production run, but only if they know that's required to satisfy you. Otherwise they're going to choose one that meets the quality requirements and tolerances of the combat grade line, as presented to every buyer who purchases one.

Honestly dude, I would never have even thought to mention that I expected a "flawless" grind and straight edge to the sales associate. I'm only familiar with mass produced knives I've owned from Spyderco, Emerson, Cold Steel and Kabar. These are all generally made to very tight tolerances and it wouldn't even occur to me that this isn't a given.

 

[rockgolfer]

Contact the shop. Tell them whats up and explain you want to try and sharpen it out. Give it a shot.

 

[chiral.grolim]

It looks like someone spent a little too much time sharpening that section of the belly, not enough time working down the heel. If the heel had been ground further, the blade would rotate more along the curve and lay "flat" to the heel for that final portion.

I think that it is good to let them know about it so that they know whom to speak to about his/her sharpening techniques and whom to speak to about sending over/under-ground edges off to customers (QC), particularly those over the border.

Is it cosmetic? Yes. Will it effect sharpening? With an aligner-system, yes, but those set-ups do not keep a uniform angle along the entire edge anyway. The edge-angle changes as the hone extends beyond the initial radius, so you'll have a more obtuse angle within the radius than outside of it. *shrug*

My recommendation if you're unhappy - try to sell that one to cover the cost of another, and call the shop with the order specifying this as a previous issue. Of course, you might be like me, a poor salesman Good luck.

 

[AZTimT]

Did you do this first?

If You Have A Problem With Your Busse Knife. . . Here's What To Do. . .
Contact the shop FIRST. Give us the opportunity to look at the problem and to fix it. If we DO NOT fix the problem or are so drunk that we refuse to assist you, (This has NEVER happened) then you can bring it to the forums and feel free to vent.

Given the proper tools, it does not take much to destroy a great knife. Given the internet, it does not take much to destroy a great reputation.

We have NEVER left a customer unsatisfied, when given the opportunity.

If you post about a problem before giving us the opportunity to fix it, your post may be deleted or locked.

Email both jerry@bussecombat.com & amy@bussecombat.com and call us at (419) 923-6471 (M-F 9:00am - 5:00pm Eastern)

Please allow at least 3 business days to respond to your email. If you do not hear from us, please call to make sure we received your email.

Let's Drink!

Jerry

.

Jerry,
I tend to be a little obsessive about relatively large ticket items and I honestly didn't post here to vent... I really wanted to get other people's opinion about whether I was making something out of nothing. Sending the knife back and forth over the border is a real PITA and I don't want to go through that again if it's not worth it. My only concern about the edge of the knife not being straight is that it might make it problematic to sharpen.

LOL, that is not Jerry, that is Chuck simply copying and pasting the info from the sticky two posts above yours when it is the top post in this forum ie:

I posted my thoughts in your other thread which makes two different locations for the same issue, neither of which follows the instructions of the sticky, that is why you are not finding everyone jumping on the bandwagon in agreement with you.
You have an edge pro and will sooner or later have to sharpen your knife if you keep and use it, so either it can be done now or sent to the shop for it, but either way it will only take a couple of minutes to correct.
The 'flaw' is simply 1/2" to 3/4" or less of edge near the choil that needs to be sharpened down less than half of what your pic shows due to the mirror & magification effect of the shadow caused by the lighting at that angle.
Either way, the 'flaw' will in no way effect the function of the knife. Recurves usually cost extra if you order a custom by the way.
Until the shop is contacted and given the opportunity to correct this, I see no further need for discussion.



Edited to add this picture without the strategic backlighting to make the shadow magnify such a slight recurve in the edge.

 

[elof_alv]

The slight recurve should not hamper sharpening! If it does, then maybe it is your skills that need improvement...
It will not affect performance, its not a chefs knife that you use on a cutting board! Just go and beat on it!!!

 

[dman62]

I'd sharpen it and put it to work. Unless you bought it to be a safe queen or just to show it to your buddies to make them think you're a bad@!! some usage will take care of any cosmetic issues. Busse knives are meant to be used hard. That's what you are paying a premium price for. Looking forward to pics and report after a weekend of beating on it!

 

[Last Visible Canary]

I was only able to find a qoute from jerry saying that D2 costs roughly 20$ in raw steel per 9" knife. I could be wrong in the cost of INFI per battle mistress.

I hope so because I REALLY don't want to send it back again.

Honestly dude, I would never have even thought to mention that I expected a "flawless" grind and straight edge to the sales associate. I'm only familiar with mass produced knives I've owned from Spyderco, Emerson, Cold Steel and Kabar. These are all generally made to very tight tolerances and it wouldn't even occur to me that this isn't a given.

From the image you posted it seems that the edge is 1/32" out of straightness. I don't even know if they have a straightness tolerance outside of visual inspection, or if their tolerance would be tighter than that. "flawless" means different things to different people, to me it means held to extremely tight tolerances for both geometric tolerancing and finish quality. Generally it means either a lot of time spent with master quality hand finishing, or that the knife never experiences hand finishing of any sort, that it goes through a manufacturing process that is completely machine/cnc driven. You can see surprisingly tight tolerances from very cheap knives as long as they never experience a manufacturing process that requires hand processing. As far as I know Busse still hand grinds their edges using jigs for angle accuracy. Because of this, they have to allow for hand production tolerancing that may be slightly larger than machine production tolerancing where other manufacturers like spyderco, cold steel and kabar wouldn't. I have no idea about Emerson because I don't know their production numbers enough to assume that they machine process everything.

Having worked in the optical industry we would put out glasses that had .33D out prism in both eyes, with .33D up down prism difference, that were 4 degree's off axis and .20D weak or strong on the overall power (for high powers). Knowing what a 'perfect' pair of glasses looks like thats a lot of things that make me go 'eeeh....' but every last one of them is within the tolerances set based on the ability of the industry machinery to produce within a given tolerance range, and the likely hood of customers experiences negative effects resulting from being within a certain range of tolerances. out of 1,000 customers I might help 1 or 2 that notice the difference, and less that can't accomodate to it over a week of wearing them.

To the same affect, if part of you manufacturing process involves hand processing you have to tolerance for the ability of the associate to maintain accuracy, and whether the customer is going to experience any negative side effects from it. In a kitchen knife a straight edge is critical to be able to chop thin vegatables, so you'd want your tolerance to be low, .01" inch. But for a combat knife that will be chopping wood, hand cutting fabrics and doing general 'combat zone' tasks, it isn't nearly as critical. So much so that it may only require a visual inspection down the length of the knife, and a wider tolerance (say .0625") if it's notably out of straightness. That tolerance may increase with a custom model because the appearance of straightness is more important since visual aesthetics takes a more critical role. Will the difference between a .001" toleranced straight edge vs. a .0625" toleranced out of straight edge be noticable in the scope of use for a combat grade and custom grade user? probably not unless you chopping vegetables on a flat surface.

Because this is a manufactured good that includes a hand manufacturing process it isn't quite as simple as 'well these cheap and midrange brands acheive this tolerance, so why can't everyone?'. If you are seeking a particular tolerance that tighter than the particular grade of finish provided by the manufacturer, it makes sense that you would have to request it. And it makes sense that a hand tolerance wouldn't be as tight as a machine tolerance.

 

[Gundog JYD#138]

If it bothers you send it back. If you are going to use it and sharpen it i would just let it go. Overall we cant make your decision for you. Make sure you talk to Jerry before you complain to much