What knife do you have that had the worst factory edge?

[XiaolongJackson]

Svord Peasant Knife Mini. Didn't bother me much though.

 

[HoosierQ]

I just received a new Mora Bushcraft black with an absolutely unusable edge. I couldn't believe my eyes when I tried to slice paper and it wouldn't even tear the paper. First time I ever got a Mora that was not sharp out of the sheath. Fortunately I am a certified knife knut so sharpening that Mora was no biggie and all is well

That happens with Mora. They just don't have their price point set high enough (thank goodness) to guarantee the QC on the edge. I must say that the only variation I have seen on Mora is the keeness of edge. Never gotten a bad handle or what turned out to be bad steel. I think they have built in quite a bit of QC into their automated manufacturing and where that's going to show up is edge keeness.

 

[Sharp Steel]

Because sending it back and asking for a new one takes weeks, costs me money for shipping charges, and will probably result in receiving another dull knife in exchange. If it's a company that has chronic problems with putting a decent factory edge on a knife, it's probably not wise to keep sending the knives back to them and hoping they get it right.

Whereas if I sharpen a knife myself, I'll end up with a knife that's as sharp as humanly possible that same day. This might not be possible if you lack the skill to sharpen your own knives, in which case you should probably send it to a trusted sharpener.



Really? A manufacturer that voids the warrant ON A KNIFE when you SHARPEN IT? What are you smoking? Have you ever heard of a car company whose warranty doesn't cover refuelling?

The worst edge I've yet seen came on a CS Ti-Lite. There were big ol' flat spots on the edge where the two grinds didn't even meet.

I didn't word my initial post correctly. Some of the previous posts in this thread mentioned knives that came completely dull, or had bad grinds. That led me to believe that they were receiving product that did not pass Quality Control, but made it to the customer. I was referring to the owner re-grinding/re-profiling a very dull knife, and possibly damaging the heat treat. Anyone can re-profile a knife, but not everyone does it correctly. Having read many threads about people turning their straight blades into accidental re-curves when sharpening was guiding my thinking at the time. In retrospect, I agree with your point in regards to the warranty.

 

[Gramps]

A Queen D2 slipjoint....for some reason, back a few years ago, they were shipping out blades ground like a butter knife.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Couple already mentioned on here.

Busse (I have had two with really thick/obtuse edges, especially at the tips). These were pretty easy for me to fix, because I have a belt sander for sharpening. Gives the impression that the sharpener was scared of getting the tip rounded, and did not give them enough passes, and did them at way to steep of an angle. Both were large choppers with 11-12 inch blades, meant for hard chopping. The edge issues were only toward the tip.

That said, they have been working on it.

Queen, I only have two. Both more expensive models (collaborations with custom makers). Both had edges not suitable for the small blades. Super steep angles, and much too much steel behind the edge.

Those Queen blades, with their diminutive little D2 steel took me longer than any knife I have ever re-profiled, including 16 inch blades on thick machete's and on the big Busse's. And I used my belt sander for them!!!!!!

 

[Jay S.]

ZT0551. Bought new and it came dull as a hammer. Was able to put a good edge on it but it took a bit of work. The worst was a Delica 4 British Green in ZDP189. Hard to believe right? It would not even tear paper and no matter what I did, I could not put an edge on it. Wicked Edge, Sharpmaker, Lansky and finally a Worksharp all to no avail. Finally got pissed and threw it away.

 

[Goosey]

My CS Vaquero came very sharp out of the box, but resharpening was a pain since the angle was in excess of 50 degrees inclusive at certain points. Had to reprofile.