ZT0350 G10 Variance?

hondahirny

hondahirny

Joined
Apr 2, 2012
Messages
395
I just received my ZT350KW, which is a dealer exclusive with stonewashed S30V blade. Upon close inspection, I noticed that the G10 on one side is notably coarser than the other. The side with the clip (factory location) is a coarser texture. The other side is notably finer and less grippy.

I don't see this as a problem, but does strike me as odd. Maybe they changed batches of G10 and one side was switched before the other. Hmmm, these "mistakes" usually make things more collectible. I'll let it go for only $500. Any takers? ;)

Is your 350 identical G10 on both sides? Just curious. If this is intentional, any reasonable explanation as to why?

Knife itself is pretty sweet. Like the stonewashed finish. It's a tough little knife.
 
Just checked my 0350s and my KW and CBZDP are like you describe. All the others have matching G10 texture on both sides. Don't know the reason behind it.
 
I don't think it's meant to be that way. I've bought a bunch of 350s of all flavors in the past couple of months. The S30V version, tiger stripe, ZDP composite blade, etc. All of them have diff G10, literally. Some are coarse, or super fine, or in between. Probably just a manufacturing variance.
 
I just thought it was particularly odd to have texture variance on two sides of the same knife. Either way, I'd say this one's a keeper for me. I have several blades just under 4" and this one is a bit more compact than my Manix XL. Thanks for the feedback guys! For a second, I thought mine was special. I guess with Kershaw, we're all special :O)

PS Just pinged Kershaw via their web site. I'll post their reply once I get it.
 
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We currently use the finer textured G-10 almost exclusively. Occasionally there is some variation in the texture, but it is normally pretty consistent. We have used more coarse textured G-10 in the past, but it is uncommon now.
 
Jimmer, thanks for the reply on that. To add to Kershaw feedback, here's an excerpt from an email reply I received today. It was from Jeremy at Kershaw:

"The variance in texture on your knife is an unintended consequence of the manufacturing process. In general, we use medium textured G-10, so the texture is usually pretty consistent. However, there is occasionally some variance in the texture on the G-10 stock that we purchase. Your scales must have come from different batches and were then assembled, resulting in the variance you see. It should have been caught, but it wasn't. It is not a functional issue, but if ytou would like us to correct it, feel free to send the knife in and we'll replace one of the scales to make it match."

So, it was an error, but not one I really care about. My ZT has a G10 personality disorder, that's all :O) I used to work at a solar panel manufacturing plant and we once made panels where one side had a different revision of component than the other side. Not a functional issue at all, but it was visually different. It's what happens when two different people feed the assembly robots and two different inspectors look at each side. No one noticed until a couple palettes of them got stacked up and someone realized the error. Ooops. Unlike knives, the panels couldn't really be reworked. Ship it!

Kudos to Kershaw for wanting to take care of me. I emailed them under low priority via their on-line contact form. They got back to me in about a day, which is plenty quick. I'm going to keep my knife the way it is for now. It broke in nicely in a couple days and all aspects are nice and smooth. The liner lock is just perfect. Zero sticking during release and engages at ~50%. This is my first Kershaw/ZT product. It won't be the last. I'm eyeing that tiger stripe blade version now...
 
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