What do you expect in a production knife?

recondoc1

recondoc1

Joined
Apr 27, 2001
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This is a question that has been in the forefront of my mind for the last few days. Different makers are marketing a veritable plethora of knives in this new "Golden Age" of blades. With everything that is on the market right now, in so many different price ranges, what do you expect from the maker for a particular price point.
For example: Materials, Fit, Finish, Function, Durablility Etc...In a given price range: 25-45, 45-75, 75-100, 100-200, and so on.

Here's a link to the experience that has this in the forefront of my mind right now. Quality Control Issues

Thanks for your input.
Doc
 
$25-45: Fair quality. Acceptable materials. Fair fit and finish. Some play acceptable.

$45-75: Similar to $25-45, but using better materials.

$75-100: High quality. Good to excellent materials. Great fit and finish. Tight lockup and minimal play.

$100-200: Top quality materials and fit and finish. No blade play acceptable. Near custom quality. Lifetime warranty.
 
$25-45: Spyderco has spoiled me... I expect a quality knife in terms of fit and finish, made with at least a good part of FRN (what you'd expect in a $25-$45 price range) and pretty good blade steel (however, I'm less finicky than others and consider 420HC to actually be pretty good steel, it's all in what you like)

$45-75: Same as $25-45 with a little bit better materials all around (G10/Micarta in place of zytel, better blade steel, something like that)

$75-100: Here, FRN is not allowed, for this amount of money I deserve some good handle material (6AL-4V Titanium, G10, Micarta, or even 6061-T6 Aluminum if the actually KNIFE is good enough), blade steel will also have to be one of my preferred steels (such as 440C, VG-10, or S30V, sometimes I will tolerate 154CM/ATS-34, but I don't like them much)

$100-$200: For a production knife, I expect pretty much no less than perfection, particularly the higher up you get

Hope this satisfies at least some of your curiousity
 
25-45: Acceptable and decent materials, sharpness out of box can be an iffy.

45-75: Decent good quality steel, good handles and decent sheath.

75-100: Folders: Good lock up, quality materials, decent warranty.
Fixed: Solid handle, quality steel and heat treat.

100-200: Folders: Excellent lock up, excellent quality materials, excellent warranty.
Fixed: As close to being custom as production can get. Grind lines may be a little off, but not so far off it gets intersting just sharpening it. Guard has to be solid with no gaps so that liquid can get in and eat away at the tang. Sheath has to be better than just good.

My opinions anyway.
 
Fairly simply, the edge should be sharp out of the box, minimal or no play (at least not enough to get me annoyed), lock that would hold under hand pressure, decent handle (I could care less what materials it's made of, but I do care of its shape) and it should carry fairly well.
Even CRKT M16 Zytel version woiuld fit this criteria.
 
$25-45: Shaving sharp. Good fit and finish. Blade play is unacceptable unless it's a lockback. Decent materials, at least AUS-6 or 420HC.

$45-75: Shaving sharp. Nicer fit an finish. At least AUS-8. High quality. Durable.

$75-100: Shaving sharp. Perfect fit an finish. Premium materails. No blade play. Excellent performance and design. Good warranty. No flaws.

$100-200: Scary sharp. Absolutely perfect. No cosmetic flaws. Thoughtful design. Extremely durable. High end materials. Outstanding warranty. No blade play. Excellent performers.


I'm pretty picky on any knife I consider buying regardless of cost. However, once I get to about $50.00, I expect attention to detail. $75.00 - $100.00 + means the knife needs to be perfect. I've seen a lot of knives over $100.00 that did not look as well made as $50.00 knives. If an expensive knife disappoints me in any way, it goes back.
 
The only thing I expect no matter the cost (high or low) is a good sharp edge. From there, the higher the cost, the more I expect in terms of fit/finish, materials, design, strength, etc.
 
I had the a Solution for a very short time. The knife was very well done it just didn't suit my tastes. It sounds as though you got a lemon.
I suggest contacting Buck with your complaints and letting them help you out, or taking it to Nagel's and seeing if they have another on hand.

As for expectations: at the $200+ mark I expect CRK level quality on all my blades.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Roy
 
Roy,
I've already emailed Buck and am awaiting a reply at this time. Unfortunately, this one didn't come from Nagel's.
In contrast, I just came back from buying a model 880SP. Fit and finish on this are absolutely perfect and it is well worth the money paid. I figure that the Solution that I got is indeed probably a lemon. I have a hard time understanding how you let a product with a price point that high, slip through your QC. Overall, it just doesn't make sense.
Doc
 
I forwarded your earlier thread on knife expectaions to our engineering and production quality folks. It is good to be reminded with a little dose of reality straight from consumers.

We put a lot into our collaborations as there are many reputations at stake and I do not like to hear folks are disapointed with the quality of workmanship.

Have you gotten your knife back yet?

Joe is out today as we had a serious wind storm last night and he had no power and some fallen tree issues at his house. I will touch base with him tomorrow.
 
I think that, regardless of price, the fit-and-finish and attention to detail should be excellent. It's just too easy with todays manufacturing technologies.
For example: Victorinox can consistantly make the tiny little Classic by the hundreds, and I have yet to find one with lousy fit-and-finish or lots of blade-play--and they only cost about $9.00.

I think the price should rise as the cost of materials rise. G-10 costs more than Zytel, titanium costs more than aluminum.
And I would expect to pay more for great inovations, like the Axis-lock, as well as custom collaborations.
And of course you pay more for precious and semi-precious stones, ivory, mother-of-pearl, gold, silver, ect.

The only way I would ever pay $200.00 or more is for a custom one-of-a-kind knife or a relic or historically significant blade.
I'm very suspicious of any factory maker who charges that kind of money for a mass produced knife.
 
Depends. If I were to buy a Buck Strider Folder, I wouldn't expect great fit or finish, even though it's not a very inexpensive knife. But I would expect it's toughness to be on par with the most overbuilt custom folders.

But, generally speaking, every knife from a quality manufacturer should be able to shave out of the box, have a non-420J2 blade and if it's a folder, it should pass at least a light spinewhack test. Knives which cost more than 100 bucks should be made of excellent materials and fit and finish may well be worse than that of the average custom, but it should be very sharp and have a decent sheath/reliable lock-up (fixed blade/folder).
 
Originally posted by Easyrider
Perfection! :eek: I will admit my standards might be a little high. :D
Click to expand...
The good news: it should signficantly reduce the number of viable knives you "need" to own.
The bad news: it probably won't matter much to your wallet ;)


As far as my expectations, they're pretty much in line with what ElectricZombie described, although I won't ever accept bladeplay, even on my cheapest folders.
 
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