Your Top 5 Knife No-Nos (Pet Peaves)

I don't have a large modern Case collection (maybe 75 pieces), but every one is a stellar example - I call it my all star team. I buy and sell alot on eBay, and those with ANY of the following 3 issues, go right back on eBay & do not stay with the firm ...

- side to side blade wobble when open (a tiny bit can be corrected in a vice, but other than that, it's a no go)
- weak snap (instant put it back in the box & goes back on the chopping block)
- non-centered blades when closed (can live with a bit off center, but if it's touching the liner, it's a goner)


EDIT: I lied ... probably my biggest pet peeve is the unevenly set pins on GEC knives (on the same knife we regularly see some nice and flush, others way too deeply set) - for what they charge, I can't believe they can't get it right & GEC customers don't seem to even care.
 
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Only Five? :D

Sunk or raised springs on open or closed, means poor assembly&detail

Sink hole pins when the others are flush or domed, as above....

Engraved bolsters, vulgar&tasteless

MOP, MOT or that awful Snail Shell stuff.. ditto above.:eek::D

Large gaps or blade-play, equals poor finish. Laziness, not to be passed off as part of the mystique of Traditionals & drop it in your pocket & shut it:rolleyes:

Aesthetics are important to me yes, there's quite enough ugliness in life without adding to it:eek:;)
 
1. Don't ask to use my knife. I'd rather you ask me to cut what needs cutting.
2. If you do use my humble knife, certainly don't use it then suggest I get myself a better knife. Get yourself a better knife or use your own better knife.
3. Don't hand back my knife in a different configuration than I handed it to you. If I hand it to you open, hand it back to me with that blade open. If I hand it to you closed, hand it back to me closed.
4. Don't sell or trade a knife I give you. Give it away to someone else or give it back to me, and I'll give it away to someone else.
5. Don't set my knife down open or unsheathed. Either close it first or slip the sheath on first.
 
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The biggest one for me is sharp edges on things like the spring, tang, liners, shield. A tool should be comfortable in the hand and the only place that should be sharp is the cutting edge.

Sunken cover pins, GEC is notorious for this and to me it shows a total lack of craftsmanship when I see this on a knife.

Overly thick primary grinds. Sure, you can put an edge on them, but they never really slice well. when I cut an apple with a blade that has thick grinds, it bugs me when the blade cleaves off a chunk like a wood splitting wedge does to a log. Add to that having a huge bevel where the steel has to be removed to get a decent edge, and the blade looks just wrong, and will be prone to binding when cutting something like thick cardboard.
 
1. Poorly sharpened blades direct from the manufacturer. I received a beautiful Case Congress as a gift from my son-in-law. Perfect fit and finish, but straight edged blades were sharpened way down past the sharpening nick and the edge left not straight but curved. The narrrow coping blade was ruined.
2. Chipped bone around domed pin heads
3. Proud liners with razor sharp edges
4. Natural blemishes and pores in bone covers left close to the bolsters, pins, or edges that over time will crack or crack and chip out
5. Large gaps around shields
 
Carbon fiber or similar materials

Screws

Saber grinds

Nail breakers

Lazy open blade retention
 
eisman said:
Bad grinds. In my opinion it's the grind, more than the steel, that makes the knife. I've seen some truly bad, asymmetrical, wavy, grinds on knives by makers who have a following, and I can't figure it out. I have no tolerance for this, especially from those who use NC machining.

Stupid designs and features. It's a knife, it's supposed to cut. Prybars, saws, hatchets; those are for the other stuff. The KISS principal leads to beautiful, functional, design.

Poor materials. I understand economics, and manufacturing, but some of the materials that have been used to make knives make my teeth grind.

Mistreatment. Blades that have been sharpened on an 80 grit wheel, bolsters hammered to stop blade play, failure to clean or oil; all of these frustrate me. It doesn't take that much more effort to properly care for a tool.

All the little stuff. Makers of $500 knives who can't be bothered to index the screws, or who tear up the screw head. Guys who buy a nice knife and have a laser "engrave" it with art a three year old could surpass. (actually any "engraving" that's not hand cut tends to annoy me.) Prices for production pieces that outrun custom. there's a lot, but we're all going to have specifics, mainly based on our experiences.
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I subscribe to all you have said, except for the indexed screws, but i'll explain.
In a knife design, in my opinion, if there are screw heads so big to require indexing, there is something wrong. On the contrary i like random oriented screw heads when they are very small, and in that case indexing runs the risk of appearing pedantic, in the lack of better words for delivering my point. I'd get the same feeling likewise looking a regular, repeated pattern on a jigged bone...
 
No particular order:
1. Multi-blade knives that rub
2. Tips of blade that sit proud in the closed position
3. Off-center
4. Pivots that need to be flushed right out of the box
5. Blade etches
 
stezann said:
In a knife design, in my opinion, if there are screw heads so big to require indexing, there is something wrong.
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If a watchmaker can index his screws, a custom knife makers should be able to also. To me it's one of the details that says that the maker knew what he was doing. I look for it on firearms and almost any custom made machinery. If the pieces are hand fit, failure to index screw heads is either a lack of attention to detail, or acceptance of randomness in the assembly. I'll take that on a machine made piece, but not one supposedly handmade.
 
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