Blade Centering

AntDog said:
Adding the word “acceptable” fixed his statement? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
"lazyness", and "don't care", are just a two of many excuses. I don't think either are acceptable.
Can you think of an acceptable excuse? I can't.
It don't matter if it is a "modern" single blade knife or a single blade "traditional", or what the price point is. There is no acceptable reason for the blade to contact the liner on a new single blade knife.
 
What makes the difference between a 20 vs 400 dollars knife?

Essentially, they both serve the same function of cutting, but I would like to think we are paying the premium for better material, design, workmanship, build tolerances and customer service.

Whether the user care about any of that is of his/her own discretion, but at a higher price point, I think it is fair to expect the maker/manufacturer to provide the appropriate goods and services pertaining the price point.
 
Centering is something important to me in making a purchase for sure. If I wanted an off center blade I would buy a gas station knife. Any time I order a knife I put instructions to check for centering and lockup. This saves me and them the hassle of a return.

Off centered can lead to edge deformation with many knives having tight tolerances. A mm here or there and you may be hitting stop pins, stand offs, inside of handles, locks, ect.... adding scratches also is unnecessary. Things are also usually stronger in a straight line, if the off centered blade is still this way when deployed its a bigger deal.

May be just my ocd, but thats why we pay for the nicer things!
 
Back in the day when we only had the traditional type of knife centering was not a big deal at all. When a blade rubbed the liners that was a different story. It may be a internet thing about centering and all that. I do like for blades(s) to be centered if at all possible.
 
Ar a certain price range that thing better be dead center. Because I feel a good build is part of the price at a certain dollar amount. That said, I do own a few that are not dead center, but they don't rub the scales... it's all relative/ preference.
 
Yo Mama said:
Centering is something important to me in making a purchase for sure. If I wanted an off center blade I would buy a gas station knife. Any time I order a knife I put instructions to check for centering and lockup. This saves me and them the hassle of a return.

Off centered can lead to edge deformation with many knives having tight tolerances. A mm here or there and you may be hitting stop pins, stand offs, inside of handles, locks, ect.... adding scratches also is unnecessary. Things are also usually stronger in a straight line, if the off centered blade is still this way when deployed its a bigger deal.

May be just my ocd, but thats why we pay for the nicer things!
Click to expand...

Gotta say, this is where I'm at with it. Some of the insinuations in previous comments make it sound like wanting a centered blade is somehow an unreasonable thing. Or "As long as it works, GUD ENUFF!"

No, not at all. Many knives (certainly most of the usual suspects we discuss here most days) cost hundreds to many hundreds of dollars. I spend that much on a knife, it better be right. The action, fit, finish, and materials better be perfect. Hell, there are plenty of budget brands made by the Chinese or Italians that tick every one of those boxes. So, cheap knives don't really have any excuses either. A blade off center denotes an issue somewhere in construction, or in assembly before packaging.

Not a big fan of issues.
 
Because it looks bad/ugly. We as humans want to see things that are symmetrical. Also my first knife was a $30 Ontario Rat 1 that was perfectly centered. So if I get good centering on a $30 knife, I better get it on a $200 Benchmade.
 
Blade centering can usually be fixed, easily. But if it cannot be, then it bothers me. However, what bugs me the most is blade play especially up and down blade play, which is very difficult to eliminate.
 
I have to admit blade centering is an issue for me. If you can get it right on a 20-30 dollar knife, why not on a $125 Benchmade or Spyderco?

I have one Griptilian that was perfect until I swapped scales. You put the original scales back on and the blade goes back to center. The issue is not the knife but, it still drives me nuts.
 
An uncentered blade triggers my OCD. I’ll find myself checking the centering every time I pull out the knife as if it’ll get better riding in my pocket.:p

I enjoy tinkering with my knives (when I have time) and its a triumphant feeling to get a stubbornly uncentered blade to perfectly align. Sometimes it’s a matter of the tightening order of the pivot and body screws.
 
If it's a new knife, I would definitely expect it to be centered, but could possibly live with it being slightly off, depending on price. If it started out centered and then over time and use it became off-centered, could live with that too as long as it wasn't rubbing. But I would probably try to fix or improve it by loosening everything, wedging the blade to the other side, and then tightening it up again.
 
Sounds like most here agree with myself in the premise that there are basically 2 dimensions to look at here: #1 is price and #2 is degree.

Let's go in reverse and take #2. Like myself, most seem fine with a little bit of off-centering so long as it isn't major. The majority also agree too much off-centering (like touching one scale or the other) is grounds for return. I'm no fortune teller, mind reader or statistic gatherer but reckon 95% of "folder fans" would agree with these statements. For those who don't, well...........#1 comes into play......

Price really determines how content we may be with off-centering right? If you pick up a $65 Kershaw and its centering is off, likely it won't bother you much but if it is a $450 Hinderer, it might bug you to no end. Most agree right? Given the knife isn't off center to a huge degree, price is a big factor.

The other thing, could be #3 - desire of the knife. I know for myself I have overlooked a little off-centering in a folder for the mere sake it is either rare or just love it to death, a grail as it were. Here the degrees off and the price could matter or could not. If one loves a $200 knife, who is to say he should love it less than a $500 knife someone else may "love"? Thus one person might overlook a little off-centering on the $200 knife whereas the other person who prefers the $500 knife my find the off-centering on the $200 knife "unliveable".

Lastly, some pretty weird things just screw all analytics up and that is when you find $10 - $20 knives with absolute perfect centering and they may even be assisted as well. This is when you scratch your head (or maybe smack it) and ponder why your $175 Spyderco or Benchmade can't get with it. 🤔
 
A fine craftsman wouldn't think of selling an off-centered blade. Quality vs. Crap.
That's why a Chris Reeve Sebenza can be taken apart for cleaning and put back together, and Voila!...the blade
is PERFECTLY centered, every time.
 
A double ground folder with an off center blade is a defect. Some don’t care or even notice.

I only consider it an issue after a certain price point or if it affects function. I don’t expect perfection from an inexpensive factory knife.

I would never sell a double ground folder that didn’t have a centered blade.
 
As long as it does not rub, it is not much of an issue. However, as others have said if you buy an expensive knife, one of the things you pay for is attention to detail. An off center blade is just one of those details.
 
I've collectively spent thousands of dollars on many different price points of knives. They are all centered. Why would I settle for mediocrity now? If it's off centered and can't be corrected, it is subpar and gets sold. No, functionally it doesn't do anything. Would you prefer to marry the girl with the symmetrical jugs or the lopsided one? 🤷‍♂️
 
I guess I've just been lucky. All of my knives, good knives, have been close to or perfectly centered out of the box. My Spydies, BM and ZT knives all came perfect. I have to put a little effort into my ZT 0350 when I take it apart to clean to make sure the blade is centered but it is not that difficult. The only knives I don't care about centering for are my SAKs. Blade centering and play are the first things I look at when i buy a new knife. For me it indicates the quality of the manufacturing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top