I have been collecting for a few minutes now. It bothers me,that I read questions from buyers, and am unrealistically expected to have, perfectly centered blades (in the frames) or somehow, they are not worthy of being carried, collected or purchased? I don't know about the other folks here, but I personally haven't ever found any Spyderco that has been so off center as to not be slightly moved by adjusting the tension screw a bit? This has even gone gone so far as the normal set of pictures at the bay and such, must now include a down-the-barrel shot of the blade in the frame, or for sure you'll get a msg asking for the picture ar assuredness that its as such.
Is there REALLY that serious of a problem out there? And, how unrealistic is it to expect a perfectly centered knife blade in every production (non-custom, hand fitted) knife that comes off the line?
Who started this, and how do we correct it? Its really starting to irk me. I have started to tell buyers if they are really that picky, perhaps they should look elsewhere, or spend a few hundred more on a custom. If it was that bad, would Spyderco fix this slight slight under warranty?
Thanks for your ideas and responses. :spyder:
Why do buyers expect a PERFECTLY centered blade?
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jabba359
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I also think it's overrated. I've got a few knives that are off center when closed but they still seem to cut stuff okay when open. Maybe they'd cut better if they were more centered when closed. :p
That said, I post pictures of the centeredness when selling just because I know people obsess over it. I myself prefer the blades to be centered -who wouldn't?- but can say that I enjoy my uncentered knives just as much as those that are spot on.
That said, I post pictures of the centeredness when selling just because I know people obsess over it. I myself prefer the blades to be centered -who wouldn't?- but can say that I enjoy my uncentered knives just as much as those that are spot on.
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Liquid Cobra
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- Location: British Columbia, CANADA
I've had a few spyderco knives that weren't centered and it wasn't a big deal. My bob lum tanto had really bad centering issues and the blade grinded against the liners a few times damaging the blade as the liners were kind of sharp. Now that I know to look out for that I don't think it will be a big issue. But I can tell you I would rather have a centered blade than one that isn't. Both for aesthetics and function.
Most recently acquired: Military 2, Paramilitary 2 Tanto x2, YoJUMBO, Swayback, Siren, DLC Yojimbo 2, Native Chief, Shaman S90V, Para 3 LW, Ikuchi, UKPK, Smock, SUBVERT, Amalgam, Para 3 CTS-XHP, Kapara, Paramilitary 2 M390
Grail Paramilitary 2 M390 X 2! ACHIEVED!!
For more of my pictures see my Instagram account.
@liquid_cobra
Grail Paramilitary 2 M390 X 2! ACHIEVED!!
For more of my pictures see my Instagram account.
@liquid_cobra
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The Mastiff
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- Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2006 2:53 am
- Location: raleigh nc
I try to deal with sellers that will hand inspect knives for me. Not always possible but it works with the ones you establish good relations with. Blade alignment is one thing I do like. Blade warp bothers me even more now I'm in my 4th decade of freehand sharpening.
Realism is in order. I tend to dislike posts where buyers who regret their purchase inflate problems that are unimportant and literally use magnifying lenses to show unfinished spots that are generally not needed, or in places difficult to see and don't affect use one bit.
I'm more worried about performance but looks do count too.
Realism is in order. I tend to dislike posts where buyers who regret their purchase inflate problems that are unimportant and literally use magnifying lenses to show unfinished spots that are generally not needed, or in places difficult to see and don't affect use one bit.
I'm more worried about performance but looks do count too.
"A Mastiff is to a dog what a Lion is to a housecat. He stands alone and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race" Cynographia Britannic 1800
"Unless you're the lead dog the view is pretty much gonna stay the same!"
"Unless you're the lead dog the view is pretty much gonna stay the same!"
On an expensive knife (for me expensive) a well centered blade is somewhat important to me. But it's not a dealbreaker if the blade is slightly out of center. I have this on a few linerlocks...
I generally see it as a sign of good QC...
If a blade is rubbing against the liners, I would consider the knife as defective...
I generally see it as a sign of good QC...
If a blade is rubbing against the liners, I would consider the knife as defective...
I've gone CF only: C94CFP UKPK (many thanks to Donut), C113CFPE Caly 3 ZDP189, C144CFPE Caly 3.5 ZDP189, C41CFP Native 4, C123CFP Sage 1, C134CFP Gayle Bradley, C152CFP Chaparral 1, C131CFP Bob Terzuola, C116CFP Superhawk, C101CF90VP2 Manix 2 S90V :)
exceptions: C113GPGY Caly 3 SB, C144GPGY Caly 3.5 SB, C10FPGY Endura SB, C11FPGY Delica SB, 2 x C36GPGY Military Cru-Wear, C154PPN Squeak Pink, MGREP Manbug ZDP189, C12PBN Matriarch brown, C94PBK UKPK
sold: some
looking for: anything CF
exceptions: C113GPGY Caly 3 SB, C144GPGY Caly 3.5 SB, C10FPGY Endura SB, C11FPGY Delica SB, 2 x C36GPGY Military Cru-Wear, C154PPN Squeak Pink, MGREP Manbug ZDP189, C12PBN Matriarch brown, C94PBK UKPK
sold: some
looking for: anything CF
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yablanowitz
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My personal opinion is that people today are anal retentive obsessive-compulsive narcissists with entitlement issues, most of whom have never manufactured anything in their lives and have no idea what it takes to produce the perfection they demand. They simply want it so they demand it and throw tantrums when they don't get it. But then I've never been very fond of people in general.
I don't believe in safe queens, only in pre-need replacements.
As an Industrial Designer I partly unterstand what you are saying... I won't demand perfection from a custom knife... But I can demand it from an industral manufacturing process that includes proper QC. But there will always be a relation to production cost... So as always you have to make sacrifices...yablanowitz wrote:My personal opinion is that people today are anal retentive obsessive-compulsive narcissists with entitlement issues, most of whom have never manufactured anything in their lives and have no idea what it takes to produce the perfection they demand. They simply want it so they demand it and throw tantrums when they don't get it. But then I've never been very fond of people in general.
I've gone CF only: C94CFP UKPK (many thanks to Donut), C113CFPE Caly 3 ZDP189, C144CFPE Caly 3.5 ZDP189, C41CFP Native 4, C123CFP Sage 1, C134CFP Gayle Bradley, C152CFP Chaparral 1, C131CFP Bob Terzuola, C116CFP Superhawk, C101CF90VP2 Manix 2 S90V :)
exceptions: C113GPGY Caly 3 SB, C144GPGY Caly 3.5 SB, C10FPGY Endura SB, C11FPGY Delica SB, 2 x C36GPGY Military Cru-Wear, C154PPN Squeak Pink, MGREP Manbug ZDP189, C12PBN Matriarch brown, C94PBK UKPK
sold: some
looking for: anything CF
exceptions: C113GPGY Caly 3 SB, C144GPGY Caly 3.5 SB, C10FPGY Endura SB, C11FPGY Delica SB, 2 x C36GPGY Military Cru-Wear, C154PPN Squeak Pink, MGREP Manbug ZDP189, C12PBN Matriarch brown, C94PBK UKPK
sold: some
looking for: anything CF
You missed the fact that most of those folks also don't want to pay a fair price for these things...yablanowitz wrote:My personal opinion is that people today are anal retentive obsessive-compulsive narcissists with entitlement issues, most of whom have never manufactured anything in their lives and have no idea what it takes to produce the perfection they demand. They simply want it so they demand it and throw tantrums when they don't get it. But then I've never been very fond of people in general.
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chuck_roxas45
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I did happen to see a lot of $5 chinese k/o's that had centered blades...
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Well lets see...
Do you expect a new car to have the front end aligned and steer straight?
Do you expect the hood/doors/trunk etc to line up with the rest of the body straight, or is it ok to have uneven gaps all over the place?
If you buy a pair of jeans, is it ok if the zipper is sewn in at an angle all crooked?
Is it ok if the scales on a knife don't line up with the liners?
Is it ok if the grind on each side of the knife is way different from each other?
I can go on all day, but all of those are things that don't stop the item from doing and performing the function it was designed for, but you would rather the issue weren't there. You can drive a car with poor alignment, the doors/hood/trunk will still open and shut just fine but look terrible, your zipper will still zip but you'll look like an idiot, the scales not lining up with the liners won't stop a knife from cutting and neither will an uneven grind, but all are things that you'd rather were symmetrical or lined up properly right?
Does it stop a knife from being useable if the blade isn't centered? Of course not, but I don't see anything wrong with preferring it to be and even not buying a knife if it isn't. Blade centering falls into the fit and finish category, which is why I buy $100+ knives and not $15 Walmart knives (which like Chuck pointed out, often have centered blades too).
Now, if that makes me an "anal retentive obsessive-compulsive narcissists with entitlement issues", then I say when someone else earns me the money that I buy things with, then that person can decide what my standard of quality is supposed to be. We are a spoiled lot of knife fans, and we do get a lot for the money, but the fact remains that you can buy a perfectly usable $15 knife and do anything that the $200 Spyderco can do, so if I'm going to spend that much money, you better be damned sure I'm going to demand something as simple as a centered blade, especially when being centered is the norm, and being off centered is a fairly less common thing. If every other knife produced came off center, then that's something we would expect. In a way, Spyderco is partly to blame for this because they typically have such a high level of fit and finish, so the exception tends to stand out that much more.
Do you expect a new car to have the front end aligned and steer straight?
Do you expect the hood/doors/trunk etc to line up with the rest of the body straight, or is it ok to have uneven gaps all over the place?
If you buy a pair of jeans, is it ok if the zipper is sewn in at an angle all crooked?
Is it ok if the scales on a knife don't line up with the liners?
Is it ok if the grind on each side of the knife is way different from each other?
I can go on all day, but all of those are things that don't stop the item from doing and performing the function it was designed for, but you would rather the issue weren't there. You can drive a car with poor alignment, the doors/hood/trunk will still open and shut just fine but look terrible, your zipper will still zip but you'll look like an idiot, the scales not lining up with the liners won't stop a knife from cutting and neither will an uneven grind, but all are things that you'd rather were symmetrical or lined up properly right?
Does it stop a knife from being useable if the blade isn't centered? Of course not, but I don't see anything wrong with preferring it to be and even not buying a knife if it isn't. Blade centering falls into the fit and finish category, which is why I buy $100+ knives and not $15 Walmart knives (which like Chuck pointed out, often have centered blades too).
Now, if that makes me an "anal retentive obsessive-compulsive narcissists with entitlement issues", then I say when someone else earns me the money that I buy things with, then that person can decide what my standard of quality is supposed to be. We are a spoiled lot of knife fans, and we do get a lot for the money, but the fact remains that you can buy a perfectly usable $15 knife and do anything that the $200 Spyderco can do, so if I'm going to spend that much money, you better be damned sure I'm going to demand something as simple as a centered blade, especially when being centered is the norm, and being off centered is a fairly less common thing. If every other knife produced came off center, then that's something we would expect. In a way, Spyderco is partly to blame for this because they typically have such a high level of fit and finish, so the exception tends to stand out that much more.
~David
These are my exact thoughts, although I would never be able to string them together this nicely, lol.Evil D wrote:Well lets see...
Do you expect a new car to have the front end aligned and steer straight?
Do you expect the hood/doors/trunk etc to line up with the rest of the body straight, or is it ok to have uneven gaps all over the place?
If you buy a pair of jeans, is it ok if the zipper is sewn in at an angle all crooked?
Is it ok if the scales on a knife don't line up with the liners?
Is it ok if the grind on each side of the knife is way different from each other?
I can go on all day, but all of those are things that don't stop the item from doing and performing the function it was designed for, but you would rather the issue weren't there. You can drive a car with poor alignment, the doors/hood/trunk will still open and shut just fine but look terrible, your zipper will still zip but you'll look like an idiot, the scales not lining up with the liners won't stop a knife from cutting and neither will an uneven grind, but all are things that you'd rather were symmetrical or lined up properly right?
Does it stop a knife from being useable if the blade isn't centered? Of course not, but I don't see anything wrong with preferring it to be and even not buying a knife if it isn't. Blade centering falls into the fit and finish category, which is why I buy $100+ knives and not $15 Walmart knives (which like Chuck pointed out, often have centered blades too).
Now, if that makes me an "anal retentive obsessive-compulsive narcissists with entitlement issues", then I say when someone else earns me the money that I buy things with, then that person can decide what my standard of quality is supposed to be. We are a spoiled lot of knife fans, and we do get a lot for the money, but the fact remains that you can buy a perfectly usable $15 knife and do anything that the $200 Spyderco can do, so if I'm going to spend that much money, you better be damned sure I'm going to demand something as simple as a centered blade, especially when being centered is the norm, and being off centered is a fairly less common thing. If every other knife produced came off center, then that's something we would expect. In a way, Spyderco is partly to blame for this because they typically have such a high level of fit and finish, so the exception tends to stand out that much more.
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phillipsted
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Don't sugar coat it, yablanowitz - tell us what you really think! :cool:yablanowitz wrote:My personal opinion is that people today are anal retentive obsessive-compulsive narcissists with entitlement issues, most of whom have never manufactured anything in their lives and have no idea what it takes to produce the perfection they demand. They simply want it so they demand it and throw tantrums when they don't get it. But then I've never been very fond of people in general.
TedP