Crooked guard or gap in guard acceptable for near $400 knife?

I own several dozen cold steel knives and have only had one with fit and finish issues: a ti-lite. The problems with your tai pan are not acceptable, even at a quarter of the price you paid.
 
Gaston444 - In retrospect your advice on buying a San Mai or Aus-8 knife would have been the better course. What I really wanted was the San Mai version of this knife but they are scarce & expensive the ones I could locate. I must admit to this having been made in CPM-3V steel as part of the reason for purchasing but have to admit knowing nothing about steels really. I had dismissed Aus-8 because of having read that someone considered it "chippy", so therefore never went searching for one on those, but have to acknowledge I really am ignorant of steels. Probably the best advice I have read is it basically doesn't matter what steel/metal it is made from (within reason) but the knife makers knowledge of how to bring the best quality's out of that metal is the most important thing.

Skyhorse - thanks for tip, sure is a wicked looking knife but I prefer one with a symmetrical handle and made with a steel for low maintenance. I understand the sharpening qualities of 1095 are great, & it appears to be a pretty tough metal as well but I am a pretty lazy person & all ready have rust accumulated on a 1095 blade stored (foolishly) in a cardboard sheath (it had never seen water at all)

john april - thanks for contributing here John, nice to have a knife maker give their perspective of things. If this was indeed a factory second (& that means 3 factory seconds that had been shipped to me) that raises questions on how Cold Steel now gets rid of them. Perhaps there were too many flawed Tai Pans coming out of the Taiwanese factory & they thought they could slide them out as new mint knives. I even had an apology conveyed to me from Lynn Thompson for the quality of the knives coming from the new factory in Taiwan. This is part of how complex & somewhat convoluted this whole situation has been.

GooberBoober - the knife cost me (Aust) $367.84 ($293 US today) + $18 shipping/Insurance. At the time (October 2016) KnifeCentre may have had it for the $209 US advertised today, or may have had it for more, I cannot be certain. What I do know is Cold Steel advertises this for $379.99 US today & I think this has been so for some time . What I did not want to have to deal with is a import certificate to have to bring it into Australia therefore buying it locally. I get what your saying, title says near $400 knife, & that is a fair point but even at the adjusted price I think the important point of my argument remains unaffected, i.e. this is an expensive knife that had obvious flaws & it is not unreasonable at all to not accept such a knife.

Hermit Dave - Each image in sequence shows, 1st knife purchase, 1st replacement, 2nd replacement.

To everyone else thanks for contributing. I kind of had doubts about whether I was being unrealistic in my expectations but now feel that is not the case.
 
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Jesse B. said:
This "permit" business is a farce! You live in AUSTRALIA.
Does the saltwater crocodile need a permit to eat you?
Does the inland Taipan need a permit to kill you?
Does the huntsman spider need a permit to... be really creepy? (and possibly lay eggs in your brain?)

I would've thought they'd be handing out daggers to Australian schoolchildren--at least until they're old enough to handle government-issued flamethrowers. ;)
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Love the observation there Jesse B, a bit of lateral thinking going on there :)
 
Why can they not get this right for the price when a 60$ classic KA - Bar can ?
I've even seen sub 20$ Chinese KA - Bar copy's that can get this right.
This is unacceptable, and this does not look in any way like a 400$ knife.
 
The one with gaps and the one with the obviously crooked guard would both bug the heck out of me, and are not acceptable. I don't really see any noticeable crookedness in the last pic, though that could just be the angle or the quality of my eyesight. :D I went and checked my 3V Tai Pan (which is about 6 months old), and there are no gaps and the guard it straight. It amazes me that you've had issues with two separate replacements. It's almost like there was a bad batch and your original and subsequent replacements all came from said batch. The Tai Pan is normally a beautiful, flawless piece of cutlery (and one of the coolest daggers ever made, imho). I hope you can get things worked out and experience the Tai Pan the way it should be. Best of luck. :thumbsup:
 
G. Scott H. said:
The one with gaps and the one with the obviously crooked guard would both bug the heck out of me, and are not acceptable. I don't really see any noticeable crookedness in the last pic, though that could just be the angle or the quality of my eyesight. :D I went and checked my 3V Tai Pan (which is about 6 months old), and there are no gaps and the guard it straight. It amazes me that you've had issues with two separate replacements. It's almost like there was a bad batch and your original and subsequent replacements all came from said batch. The Tai Pan is normally a beautiful, flawless piece of cutlery (and one of the coolest daggers ever made, imho). I hope you can get things worked out and experience the Tai Pan the way it should be. Best of luck. :thumbsup:
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Hi G. Scott H., understand your not able to pick up the angle of the last pick, it isn't that easy from the image there (angle of image taken?). What I suggest is you open up both images on the computer (admittedly I have a 27 inch monitor) & flip b/w the 2 of them quickly & it becomes far more obvious + the fact that the angle is shaped the opposite of the other knife. What is really needed is to have a life size image & it is easy to see then.

Cold Steel also informed me they have sold thousands from the same batch with no one claiming the issues I have had -

Kevin,
Below, please find the final statement from Cold Steel on this matter.
-Cold Steel Public Relations and Marketing Department
______________________________________________

Dear Kevin,
We've personally inspected the three Tai Pan knives you purchased and consequently returned over the course of the last year and do not find the small imperfections you take issue with to be a manufacturing defect. Furthermore, thousands of customers receiving Tai Pan knives from the same shipments have not returned their knives to us citing any of the “problems” you allege. We are proud of our work; we know we produce the best quality production knives at the best price. Two of our dealers worked with you and tried to make you happy, but when that was impossible, they returned your money. It is the final opinion of Cold Steel that the perfection you seek is unattainable at the price point— period. We implore you to have a custom knife made to your stringent specifications, but remember, it will cost a lot more than the Tai Pan. We want to let you know that we do not appreciate your threats of trying to tarnish our reputation on forums, as it is unwarranted. Cold Steel and its dealers tried their very best to make you happy multiple times and nothing was ever good enough, so now we must part ways. We hope you find what you’re looking for.

Sincerely,
Cold Steel
 
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Hickory n steel said:
Why can they not get this right for the price when a 60$ classic KA - Bar can ?
I've even seen sub 20$ Chinese KA - Bar copy's that can get this right.
This is unacceptable, and this does not look in any way like a 400$ knife.
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I agree with you totally on this. I was going to see if I could find other daggers around my area & take a photo to prove that what Cold Steel claims is bogus, but that would involve quite a bit of time & believe me I have spent waaay too much time on this situation.
 
Shame on Cold Steel!! The 1st and 2nd knife are unacceptable. Their response is rude and insulting. I've defended Cold Steel many times, but this is inexcusable.
 
hermit dave said:
Shame on Cold Steel!! The 1st and 2nd knife are unacceptable. Their response is rude and insulting. I've defended Cold Steel many times, but this is inexcusable.
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Hi hermit dave, believe me there is far more to tell about this whole debacle, essentially the way I was treated by their appointed representative here in Australia & how that poor behaviour appears to have had the backing of Cold Steels President & Vice President (there just seems to be no alternative explanation). That's for another thread I think, but I am conflicted about doing so because it will essentially involve a person there who I believe was sympathetic to my issues (& so exposing that may have detrimental consequences for him). It is a complex situation.
 
First two pictures are unacceptable for that price point. If it was a $40 blade ( of course blade would need to be different material) I'd just say you got what you pay for it. I might take the third; but at that price point plus shipping to send replacements..... They could have just inspected the replacement knife they we're sending out.

Unless I'm missing something... Their response seems quite rude. I would rethink purchases from Cold Steel for future purchases.

Plus my Survive Knives, better quality & cheaper price, is better than that CS. Granted you can't just pick up a SK! Just saying they didn't need to be rude and insulting and what they're saying is not true.
 
The_Knife_Man said:
First two pictures are unacceptable for that price point. If it was a $40 blade ( of course blade would need to be different material) I'd just say you got what you pay for it. I might take the third; but at that price point plus shipping to send replacements..... They could have just inspected the replacement knife they we're sending out.

Unless I'm missing something... Their response seems quite rude. I would rethink purchases from Cold Steel for future purchases.

Plus my Survive Knives, better quality & cheaper price, is better than that CS. Granted you can't just pick up a SK! Just saying they didn't need to be rude and insulting and what they're saying is not true.
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SURVIVE! Knives are not “cheaper price” than similar material Cold Steels

An AK-47 Field Knife (5.5” blade DLC 3V, G-10 scales) can be had for less than $150 NIB. A GSO-6 goes for like $280.

Not saying that SK’s aren’t worth the price-they certainly are-but they aren’t less costly than Cold Steels.
 
The_Knife_Man said:
First two pictures are unacceptable for that price point. If it was a $40 blade ( of course blade would need to be different material) I'd just say you got what you pay for it. I might take the third; but at that price point plus shipping to send replacements..... They could have just inspected the replacement knife they we're sending out.

Unless I'm missing something... Their response seems quite rude. I would rethink purchases from Cold Steel for future purchases.

Plus my Survive Knives, better quality & cheaper price, is better than that CS. Granted you can't just pick up a SK! Just saying they didn't need to be rude and insulting and what they're saying is not true.
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Thanks for the input The_Knife_Man. Regarding the 3rd knife, while it was the least crooked, it was definitely not straight & enlarging the image to life size will show that. On top of all I went through to get to that stage I wasn't prepared to accept that. The representatives I dealt with for the replacement knives have never denied the hilt/guard were not straight, they just indicated that they thought the knives were acceptable (they had inspected both knives before sending out). The thing is they surely knew I would not find it acceptable (anyone can tell if a hilt/guard is placed on straight, & they knew of the history for this warranty claim) but they sent it out anyway. Show's you the kind of people I had been dealing with.
 
I'm going to call it a day guys, but will try to get back to answer people contributing. The thing is I rarely jump on the computer at home on week days (Public holiday here in OZ today) because the screen can give me issues sleeping at night when I get home after work (blue light issue?) so you may not get an answer till next weekend (also don't have much time at lunchtime work for answering).

Again, genuinely appreciate the input from people here.

Till next time
 
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