Worst knife QC straight from the factory?

knives_in_nature

knives_in_nature

Joined
Jul 7, 2014
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Have you ever bought a knife that just failed in QC in a few ways? Maybe one way in particular? What knife was it and what were the problems? I bought a new Benchmade 940 with insane blade play, and scratches right out of the box.
 
^^ HaHa, those were pretty bad. They did have forged blades though, I think out of old car keys! The worst for me was a Gerber EVO, Please don't judge me.:(
 
Kershaw Cryo. Blade was horribly off centered. Took it apart a few times but never got it right. It was starting to rub against one of the sides when I gave it away.
 
Before Ontario discontinued it, their US DEMO "camp knife" was the worst piece of garbage I've ever seen. I bought 6-8 of them figuring that not all of them would be defective, and they were. Gritty pivots, burnt edges with uneven grinds, pinched pivots that would suddenly let go of the tool halfway through opening and then refuse to open the rest of the way, and several snapped back springs. Horrible in every imaginable way.

Also, the Pumas I've seen (yes, the German-made ones!) as of about 5 years ago all had huge visible gaps between the scales/tang/guard as if they weren't even trying.
 
The Ontario 8557 Spec Plus folder was a piece of junk. I wanted to like it so bad, made in the US, 1095 blade. The lock broke the first time I used, cut my hand. The seller took it back just fine but I was really disappointed.
 
J.Nowill 'issue' Fairbairn Sykes: The whole thing had someone shrugging and saying "Huh. That'll do" oozing from it-

As sharp as damp cardboard from the box and the edge appeared to have been "sharpened" with farrier's rasp
Round tang pin going into a square hole.
1/8th" casting flash along the handle, pommel nut appear to have been linished by someone with hangover-shakes.
Sheath that fitted the knife as well as a cigarette inside a drainpipe.
All finished in the glossiest paint available at your local discount store.
 
I had a Kershaw rake, horrible grind, late lock up on liner and a scratch on one scale. Got it from a great online dealer, I was upset but they put a hand selected one in the mail before I mailed the defective one. It was a gift for my boy, few days late for birthday but I think it is his most used knife.
I thinned it out a tiny bit and it really is a beast for the money. All ended well thanks to one of our sponsors...
Russ
 
CRKT. Multiple knives with issues. Worst was a Lake. Terrible Fit/finish. Gritty action. Awful grinds. Steel chipped to no end. Even after disassembly and cleaning it was still gritty. I threw it away which was an insult to the rest of the garbage in the can. CRKT Dragon. Scales did not fit. Hung over in spots with not enough material in others. Sheath was terrible. Grinds were terrible. Blunted tip and near the tip was not even close to sharp. Sold it fully disclosed at quite a loss. Mah Eraser. Would have been a great knife but the lock up was all the way over right out of box. Hissatsu Folder. Impossible to open when torsion bar was installed. Should have never left the factory. Sold for a loss. Hissatsu Fixed blade. Sheath would have taken significant modification to hold the knife securely. Sold for a loss. Shinbu. Sheath needed significant modification to securely hold the knife. Sold at a big loss. I'm not even really mentioning that most of these blades came dull.
 
Buck vantage. I ordered the select with the black blade and the blade looked horrible. It was almost a tan color with spots all over it. It was so bad I sent it to Buck the same day I got it. It also had the centering issue that's common on that pattern. When I got it back, it had a new blade which still didn't look great and I had to tighten the pivot so much to keep the blade centered that the flipper is almost useless. Still love Buck though....
 
CRKT.....some small flipper with holes in scales...forget the model.
Flip it, gritty and tough, blade would move so bad off center it would rub. Tried tightening pivot, screw stripped on a brand new knife.
Threw it away.
 
Bought a knife from lowes for $12 once. Worst blade play you could imagine.

YouTube cutlerylover worst knife ever. It's astonishing.
 
This one....

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Of the ones I own, it would be a Taylor Brands Old Timer 34OTB with the bone handles. I have another of the Taylor Old Timers in the standard sawcut Delrin, the 93OT, that was no award winner for fit and finish but was within reason for the price and a decent knife. So 50% ratio there. Having satisfied my curiosity about them I will probably not buy another.
 
^^ That's the funniest thing I've seen on BFs in a long time!:thumbup: Love the molded case.
 
It does have surgical steel.

Some of the worst big name knives are these small Gerber stockmans with the stag handle. You have to open and close them a few times because there is a fair chance that the lock will fail about the 4th try. Some of the SOG fielders we get are gems too. Excess glue on the bolsters, cracked wood, etc.

Some of the best have been the fixed blades from Fiddleback and Pete at Cross knives. The folders from microtech and Southern Grind have been pretty impressive.
 
For me it was my Kershaw E.T. It locking mech is awesome and ingenious...however it has side to side play that can't be remedied. It became my EDC abuser for years just to see if it got worse...it didn't but that blade play annoys me. Fun to open and close when I'm bored.
 
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