Blade Centering

shubie

shubie

Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
37
I am curious why people are so concerned with blade centering? In my experience it doesn't make a difference in the way my knives deploy or close.

It seems like I have have been seeing a lot of talk about blade centering recently. Maybe it was always that way, and just hadn't caught my attention before. I have quite a few knives, some have perfect blade centering others do not. I find that my older knives seem to favor the left side, I imagine that is because of the pressure applied during deployment shifts the blade over time. My favorite knife, my 940 hugs the left side significantly, but works just as great as it ever did.

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I don't get it either; the blade is 'floating' closed. I only care about lock up and I suppose a blade centered when closed helps with that.
 
If a blade is so off center it is rubbing the handle that's bad. If it's off center, not rubbing, and straight when open and has good lockup I'm happy.

Sometimes an off center blade messes with my ocd, but I get over it. Some people are just too picky, or as said before don't use their knives. Its whatever.
 
eveled said:
They see it as an indicator of build quality. It doesn’t matter to me as long as it functions right and is straight when open.
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That make sense. I can see off centering as an indicator of poor quality control. Just seems like overkill being concerned with in from know brands like benchmade or spyderco who will take care of you if there are issues
 
I'm in with the craftsmanship and Qc group. That said , I have only one knife that ticks the liner on opening. I'm not sending one in for off center as long as it works
 
I certainly don't care or see it as an indication of quality.

Even when I was first starting to learn about " quality " and getting a bit obsessed with the details I was told were important blade centering did not seem important to me at all.
 
When I first got into knives I didn’t even think to look at it. Then I started lurking around here and digging more into knives and I started noticing it. Years ago I used to get really anal over it. Anymore not so much. I don’t pay any attention to it. I’ve cleaned and reassembled two knives this week and didn’t check for centering on either of them. It’s not going to affect the function or performance so I’m not gonna let something like that keep me from enjoying my knives, I learned my lesson. Also once lint, dirt, debris, etc builds up around the handles and it’s hard to notice it anyway.
 
I've never given centering or blade rub (multi-blade traditionals) a thought unless it affects the opening and/or closing.
With some patterns blades lightly rubbing each other can be pretty much expected, no matter who the manufacturer is. A two spring three blade stockman, for example. Case tells you to expect slight blade rub on those.

I also "don't get" the complaints about minor can't see them without a bright light gaps that won't pass a cigarette paper. You can't see them unless specifically looking, can't feel them when using the knife, and they don't affect the functionality, what's the big deal?
Some (but not all) of my knives have gaps like that. None of my knives has a case of wiggly wobbly blades. Why should I worry about an insignificant gap or other cosmetic "defect" (note quotes) like a scratch on the bolster or a itty bitty crack on/in a bone cover? Bone is a natural material. Cracks can be expected. A drop of super glue fixes it in a second or two. Not a big deal.
 
unwisefool said:
Could also be an indication that the blade is slightly warped.
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Indeed. This is true of my Spyderco Resilience. The blade ever so slightly warps to the right, kinda like my dog’s wiener.

I’m not too anal about blade centering. As some other folks have said here, as long as it doesn’t rub against the scales or impede function in any other way, I’m cool. Although it is nice to have well-centered blades.
 
afishhunter said:
I've never given centering or blade rub (multi-blade traditionals) a thought unless it affects the opening and/or closing.
With some patterns blades lightly rubbing each other can be pretty much expected, no matter who the manufacturer is. A two spring three blade stockman, for example. Case tells you to expect slight blade rub on those.

I also "don't get" the complaints about minor can't see them without a bright light gaps that won't pass a cigarette paper. You can't see them unless specifically looking, can't feel them when using the knife, and they don't affect the functionality, what's the big deal?
Some (but not all) of my knives have gaps like that. None of my knives has a case of wiggly wobbly blades. Why should I worry about an insignificant gap or other cosmetic "defect" (note quotes) like a scratch on the bolster or a itty bitty crack on/in a bone cover? Bone is a natural material. Cracks can be expected. A drop of super glue fixes it in a second or two. Not a big deal.
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Those little things don’t really bother me as well. But I can understand that some collectors want their knives as perfect as possible. Nothing wrong with that too. Different strokes, different folks. :)
 
An at least somewhat centered blade absolutely is a sign that someone cared enough about their product to get it right as opposed to shipping out something that’s just good enough. People go absolutely nuts where uneven grinds are concerned (and rightly so) so why should blade fitment be any different? This is especially true when you work your way up in price - when I’m paying mid-tech, semi-custom or custom prices fit and finish should be as close to perfect as humanly possible.

afishhunter said:
I've never given centering or blade rub (multi-blade traditionals) a thought unless it affects the opening and/or closing.
With some patterns blades lightly rubbing each other can be pretty much expected, no matter who the manufacturer is. A two spring three blade stockman, for example. Case tells you to expect slight blade rub on those.

I also "don't get" the complaints about minor can't see them without a bright light gaps that won't pass a cigarette paper. You can't see them unless specifically looking, can't feel them when using the knife, and they don't affect the functionality, what's the big deal?
Some (but not all) of my knives have gaps like that. None of my knives has a case of wiggly wobbly blades. Why should I worry about an insignificant gap or other cosmetic "defect" (note quotes) like a scratch on the bolster or a itty bitty crack on/in a bone cover? Bone is a natural material. Cracks can be expected. A drop of super glue fixes it in a second or two. Not a big deal.
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You can’t compare a knife with multiple blades that are crinked to fit together in a smallish space to a liner/framelock or lockback. There is absolutely no excuse for the blade to be hitting or rubbing on the liners of a single-bladed knife.
 
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I like a well centered blade. It denotes good craftsmanship and care in manufacture and good quality control.

That said, if it’s a hair off to one side or the other it doesn’t bother me much. In fact, blades can appear off center from how they’re closed, pivot tightness, etc. A small bit of variation should be expected.

If it’s way off IMO, or rubs, it’s going right back to where it came from.
 
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