Crowned spines

Workingsloth777

Workingsloth777

Joined
Mar 10, 2019
Messages
306
While I understand that a crowned spine is not ideal for bushcraft or survival purposes what
I don’t understand is why we don’t see them in the edc world more often.
I know many makers have the capabilities so if any of you have some insight to this first world dilemma I would certainly appreciate it.

Thx,
Sloth
 
Possibly, yet I see crowned spines on many lionsteels and vipers so surely Benchmade or ZT or Spyderco could swing it.
 
A polished crown stands out nicely...

DuGpsJ0.jpg
 
Are those other knives you mentioned made in the US? Big difference in labor rates here vs overseas.
 
XL883N said:
Are those other knives you mentioned made in the US? Big difference in labor rates here vs overseas.
Click to expand...
Mostly I see them in Italian knives but occasionally in American production (see Chris Reeve pic above). So maybe most American manufacturers see it as an extra detail that can be overlooked?
It seems to be relatively prevalent in American customs though.
 
The only spines worth having are 90 degree spines. How else are we supposed to do our many daily firesteel strikings and shaving scrapings without one? At least that’s what YouTube knife guys tell me....

In all seriousness, it’s 100% a cost savings to not crown the spines. Like XL883N said, outside of CRK most of the companies that do it on more affordable knives are manufacturers that are outside of the US. It’s a “luxury detail” that has no impact on function and it’s easy to cut that step out of the production process.

I think more often in US manufacturers you’ll see a slight chamfering of the edges of the spine. It’s a cheaper step then fully crowning it and still gives a better feel to the end user
 
Silvanus said:
The only spines worth having are 90 degree spines. How else are we supposed to do our many daily firesteel strikings and shaving scrapings without one? At least that’s what YouTube knife guys tell me....

In all seriousness, it’s 100% a cost savings to not crown the spines. Like XL883N said, outside of CRK most of the companies that do it on more affordable knives are manufacturers that are outside of the US. It’s a “luxury detail” that has no impact on function and it’s easy to cut that step out of the production process.

I think more often in US manufacturers you’ll see a slight chamfering of the edges of the spine. It’s a cheaper step then fully crowning it and still gives a better feel to the end user
Click to expand...
Thanks for helpful input Silvanus, I just find it interesting that the foreign manufacturers are less interested in cutting costs on luxury details then most American manufacturers.
 
It’s not really that they are less interested in cutting costs, but that the overall manufacturing cost is considerably lower.

The Lionsteel SR-22A is currently about $165. It’s an aluminum integral frame lock flipper on bearings with a proprietary steel, crowned spine (I think), and a proprietary LBS system. If the same knife was made in the USA you could probably add $100 to that price easily, maybe more.

To compare, the Microtech Socom Elite is an aluminum handled, manual action knife on bearings made in the US and it’s base price $290
 
Silvanus said:
It’s not really that they are less interested in cutting costs, but that the overall manufacturing cost is considerably lower.

The Lionsteel SR-22A is currently about $165. It’s an aluminum integral frame lock flipper on bearings with a proprietary steel, crowned spine (I think), and a proprietary LBS system. If the same knife was made in the USA you could probably add $100 to that price easily, maybe more.

To compare, the Microtech Socom Elite is an aluminum handled, manual action knife on bearings made in the US and it’s base price $290
Click to expand...
Ok I see what your saying....well I wish we could see crowned spines a little more widely used in American manufacturers, I hate to see it chalked up to a “ luxury detail that isn’t worth the time and money to incorporate into a design”.
I’m not a knife maker or manufacturer but I’m pretty sure it couldn’t add too much to the price tag of a knife to be beyond reason. I would pay a little extra for it....but maybe I’ll just have to modify them myself (thx incidentally to key man for the input above).
 
Silvanus said:
It’s not really that they are less interested in cutting costs, but that the overall manufacturing cost is considerably lower.

The Lionsteel SR-22A is currently about $165. It’s an aluminum integral frame lock flipper on bearings with a proprietary steel, crowned spine (I think), and a proprietary LBS system. If the same knife was made in the USA you could probably add $100 to that price easily, maybe more.

To compare, the Microtech Socom Elite is an aluminum handled, manual action knife on bearings made in the US and it’s base price $290
Click to expand...

Microtechs are not in the same league as Lionsteel. Different ballgames. The Socom has a 1” longer blade than the 22, is a liner lock vs frame lock with inserts in the covers, cooler swedge & design...plus it’s a Microtech :)
 
I didnt say they were in the same league, I just compared their basic construction and materials used to illustrate a general difference in price relative to country of manufacture.
 
Silvanus said:
I didnt say they were in the same league, I just compared their basic construction and materials used to illustrate a general difference in price relative to country of manufacture.
Click to expand...

The difference in price between Lionsteel and Microtech has more to do with the intrinsic value of the product than country of manufacture.
 
It makes sense to have on an edc blade just for plain ol comfort purposes.

How hard is it to do it yourself?
Would you just use sandpaper??
 
Silvanus said:
It’s not really that they are less interested in cutting costs, but that the overall manufacturing cost is considerably lower.

The Lionsteel SR-22A is currently about $165. It’s an aluminum integral frame lock flipper on bearings with a proprietary steel, crowned spine (I think), and a proprietary LBS system. If the same knife was made in the USA you could probably add $100 to that price easily, maybe more.

To compare, the Microtech Socom Elite is an aluminum handled, manual action knife on bearings made in the US and it’s base price $290
Click to expand...

It's not that Italy's manufacturing costs are lower than they are in the US (manufacturing wages are essentially the same), it's that Microtech's prices aren't really justified by their quality or materials. Because they operate primarily in the auto/OTF market, where prices are driven up by legal barriers and lack of competition, their manual knives are priced similarly. Hogue sells knives comparable to the SOCOM for $100 less, and they're made as well or better than the Microtech. Kershaw will sell you a US-made, aluminum-handled, bearing-action Bareknuckle for less than $80.

I think the biggest thing with crowned spines is that there's no consumer expectation for them or even knowledge that it exists as an option. The manufacturers in Maniago (Viper, Fox, Mercury, MKM) all do crowned spines regularly, so there's an expectation there. The fact that they don't really exist outside of the Italian manufacturers, CRK, and customs is because there hasn't been enough pressure on makers to start doing it.
 
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