Aesthetics. Symmetry, beauty. Asymmetry, ugliness. If a cheap knife has a centered blade, why doesn't this expensive knife...
It matters to many people.
It's a fact. We are wired this way. We even do this instinctively in our relations and especially attractions to potential mates. Symmetry and indicators of health. I suppose it's only natural for some of this to bleed over into our shopping habits.
Still, Yab got me LOL then Evil slapped me back to some clarity of vision enough to realize they are both correct. Or Valid. Or maybe funny too. Dunno, but it cheered me up that there are still plenty of grounded folks in this world we too often see the crazy side of.
:)
"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!"
All I'm saying is there's nothing wrong with having a preference. If one guy doesn't care that his blade is off center, that's cool for him and I applaud his leniency, but I don't think it's a crime to have expectations when you spend this much on knives. I'm glad some people feel that $100 is cheap for a knife, but to most of us that's big money for something that can easily be done with the $15 knife. You pay to play and I think at this level of pay it's ok to demand a certain level of fit and finish.
And for the record, I have only been "let down" once and that was on my old Military, and I was able to straighten it out.
Actually now that I think of it, my Rock Lobster is off center but they're not very easy to find and not very cheap when you do, so it doesn't even bother me that much. Would I prefer it to be centered? Absolutely. Does it stop me from using it? Nope.
But there is a bigger factor which I haven't seen mentioned. Given that any of my dozens of knives will serve me excellently for the rest of my life, why do I have so many? Like most with a bunch of Spydies I'm an obsessive person. I've owned over 100 different Spyderco knives at this point and what was driving me most of that time was the search for perfection. Was there a new or long discontinued model that offered me a tiny tiny improvement in some area? This is the nature of a significant part of the customer base, significant in number of knives purchased if not in customer numbers.
My perfect knife is slightly off center so that when I press my thumb against the blade to open it becomes perfectly centered. Did I mention that I'm obsessive?
Our reason is quite satisfied, in 999 cases out of every 1000 of us, if we can find a few arguments that will do to recite in case our credulity is criticized by someone else. Our faith is faith in someone else's faith, and in the greatest matters this is most the case.
- William James, from The Will to Believe, a guest lecture at Yale University in 1897
Some brands I've tried are pretty consistent, others less so. The SAKs I own are perfectly centered. Of course the automation and tight tolerances help but it's pretty impressive for $20 knives.
I have other brands that aren't centered consistently. My Spydercos are fairly well centered except the Ladybug I own isn't and the lefty Military is slightly off. I don't really mind slightly off center but I do prefer a centered blade as the price increases. It's just one of those things that, IMO, should be spot on as the price increases.
The thing is that often a centered blade as a sense of quality is misleading. There are plenty of horrible knives out there with perfectly centered blades. One's that will snap on your fingers or open in your pockets. :eek:
While any production knife maker has a few rotten apples get to the sales floor, I trust the name on the box and the emblem on the knife. It's the highest probability of quality.
For me, it kind of depends on the situation and the knife. Along with paying my hard-earned money for a knife comes expectations for a certain level of build quality. It may not matter to some, but the knife is designed to be manufactured with the blade centered. But there are tolerances in manufacturing and not every production blade is going to come with a perfectly centered blade. I've never sent a knife back for it, but it's nice when it arrives that way.
$450 for a Sebenza? It had better come with a centered blade. All three of my CRK's have. My latest, the SB Endura is slightly off, and I couldn't care less. It's all relative.
Blerv wrote:The thing is that often a centered blade as a sense of quality is misleading.
Centered blade doesn't guarantee quality, but blade visibly off center is indicator of poor workmanship. Things like scratched scales, blade or bolsters, uneven grind, blade discoloration or even rust (except the edge) will not prevent the knife from cutting, but will demonstrated poor fit and finish. As long as humans will be involved in production process, there will be defective products. Even leaders of quality like Toyota and Honda sometimes have issues.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf"
I think what a lot of people are glossing over is that the OP specifically called out "PERFECTLY" centered blades. He wasn't talking about blades that are way off or rubbing liners. I don't expect perfect centering. I expect it to be well centered, with leeway for small bias to one side or the other, as that should be expected in mass produced items. Do I prefer perfectly centered blades? Certainly! Would I pay more for a knife I want that has a perfectly centered blade then one that is barely off center? No way!
I don't think any of us are arguing that centered blades shouldn't be a goal of the manufacturer, nor should we hope for a blade that is off center. What I believe most of us are saying is the perfect centering isn't realistic on 100% of pieces and that a small deviation from center is well within acceptable tolerances for a mass produced item.
bh49 wrote:Centered blade doesn't guarantee quality, but blade visibly off center is indicator of poor workmanship. Things like scratched scales, blade or bolsters, uneven grind, blade discoloration or even rust (except the edge) will not prevent the knife from cutting, but will demonstrated poor fit and finish. As long as humans will be involved in production process, there will be defective products. Even leaders of quality like Toyota and Honda sometimes have issues.
My brother recently got a couple Sebenzas. People expect perfection from Chris Reeves Knives and they deliver something close to it. The final price of each knife contributes to the insane tolerances and flat-lapping of the titanium slabs. That means you can take it apart and put it together perfectly centered with smooth action. :)
Human hands result in occasional human errors. I feel worse though for the production knife makers that fans expect perfection from but aren't willing to pay for that extra finishing expense. These people are honestly doing the best they can with what is paid for. Usually the result is a near custom finish for a fraction of the cost.
jabba359 wrote:I don't think any of us are arguing that centered blades shouldn't be a goal of the manufacturer, nor should we hope for a blade that is off center. What I believe most of us are saying is the perfect centering isn't realistic on 100% of pieces and that a small deviation from center is well within acceptable tolerances for a mass produced item.
DLC will start to rub off after a while if the blade hits the liners. It also makes an ugly noise. As far as 'not quite perfect' centering, yes, I expect a knife that is over $100 to have at least decent (60-40) centering.
Delica PE, Dragonfly Salt SE, Stretch SE, Manbug SE, Mule 16, Sage 1, black/satin PM2, Native 5
I have a friend who.owns a store that sells those. I have seen a few shipments with boxes of 500.at a time. Id say 5-10 percent are badly off center. The rest are quite centered.
I think its OCD and too many you tube video reviews by knife "experts". Centering has no impact on usability or function of a blade. As long as a blade isn't dragging on the liner, I could care less how centered it is.
So many knives, so few pockets... :)
-Nick
Last in: N5 Magnacut The "Spirit" of the design does not come through unless used. -Sal
