Welcome Home...THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF OUR COMMUNITY

iKnife Collector

The online community of knife collectors, A Knife Family Forged in Steel

My first question…what do you look at when you receive a new knife?

I have over the years had some very interesting discussions with manufactures, makers, collectors and users. I started having the discussions as a collector and they evolved as I became the owner here and they evolved again when I began publishing A Sharper Life.

My first question…what do you look at when you receive a new knife? How do you look at it? Donnie and I actually do two totaling different things.

Whether it is a user or a collector. If it is a manufacture knife I start with, how it fits closed in my hand. The first thing I look at is the back spring, no gaps, cracks, how big is it? Then when I open it, how hard is that? Is the half stop tight? When I close it, is it a smooth action? Then I get a good look at the blade, Is it rubbing anywhere? Is it sharp? Then it is on to the fit and finish. How do the scales look, are there gaps, are the pins seated or sticking up? LOL, then it starts all over with a polishing cloth.

Do I look to see if the blade is absolutely centered? No I actually do not. I need it to be seated where it is opening and closing unimpeded, straight and not rubbing.
Do I look to see if there are cracks in the scales? Sort of. If I see what may be a crack or a split, I run my fingernail over it. If my nail catches, there is a crack if not, then no.
Do I check to see if there is play? I certainly do. All knives are built to be tools, even if I am choosing it for a collectible. This is the point I am most critical of.

Now for the kick, I look at a custom differently. Over the years I have learned it is the difference between looking to buy a Jeep or a Range Rover. Do I expect them both to work as designed and hold up to use YES! Do I expect that paying 3 to 10 times more for one than the other means there will be more attention to every detail YES.

A maker gets more for his knives than a manufacture. Many will tell you that you are not paying for materials, you are paying for the talent that created it. Do I expect that the sole maker, selling knives at that price point, prove to me that his talent is worth the expense? Yes I do and rarely have I been disappointed.

I do not put either of those knives under a magnifying glass for their inspection, I would hard pressed to be using them for the intended purposes under those circumstances. I don’t take one out and baton with it unless it was created for that use. Never would I use one as a pry bar to see its strength. OK, I know your laughing now, but really…this is a conversation I had just last week. A collector told me they do all these things when they get a new knife. So let's have a bit of a survey

Now back to my original question… what do you look at when you receive a new knife?

Jan

Tags: a, at, do, knife?, look, new, receive, what, when, you

5 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by EMERY OGILVIE on January 17, 2016 at 9:02

HI , I CHECK FOR TOO MUCH PLAY IN THE BLADE & THE LOCK . ALSO WHETER OR NOT THE SCALES ARE CRACKED . . MY WIFE BOUGHT ME A BEAUTIFUL STAG LOCK BACK BY GERBER FROM SMOKY MTN . FOR CHRISTMAS , LOOKED GREAT BUT THE LOCK HUNG UP IN THE OPEN POSITION . HAD TO SEND IT BACK . THEY HAD NO MORE IN STOCK , WAS KINDA DISAPPOINTED BUT PICKED UP A HEN & ROOSTER INSTEAD . VERY NICE KNIFE .

▶ Reply

KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by Nathan Raptis on January 17, 2016 at 9:27

Hi Jan.

I look at fit and finish. If it is a folder, I like to see flush backsprings in open and closed positions. I also look at transitions from bolster to scale and backspring, liner and scale on the back. I like when the knife is open to have a nice line where the blade meets the spring. Sometimes on production knives the lines are not right and that bugs me. I also like symmetry in handle finishing and blade/bevel grinds. It all depends on if the knife is a user or something nice to look at. A user gets away with more because I use them and I view them as tools. Customs are another story. I am very picky.

Thank you for bringing this up.
Nathan

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Peter Creager on January 17, 2016 at 12:12

I collet fillet knives so when you open the package I do it carefully since you never know how the seller packaged it. What you see is what you get. What I look for is a quality made knife, which it springs right at you if it is a great knife. I just bought two knives made by a guy named Alex J. Collins. They are both no joke wild looking, so well made it brought a tear to my eye. This guy is dead but dang was he a knife makers knife maker. I was sort of shocked by the craftsmanship, the design, and only one was a fillet style. I bought the other because this guys knives , no doubt will skyrocket in price in the near future. I am good at picking winners in knife making, and this guy has every quality known to man. So I remove it from the sheath, look at the designs, take a cloth and remove any fingerprints or blemishes, apply a little bees wax, after I look at it for days , then store it away. I am trying to move and will be storing them in display cases in my garage. I usually buy top of the line stuff but I also love hand made stuff and folk knives. I love knives made by old guys who fished and made their own fillet knives. I have about a dozen or so of those types. I love looking how they were made so they could be used , never abused. Picture attached of two I just received and the Alex J. Collins knife I just got too.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stuart Ritterman on January 17, 2016 at 12:28

First of all, I'm not a fan of folders, though it seems as though most members can't get enough of them. I prefer knives that throw well and the fist thing I look at is balance. Then I look for integrity, the closer to a railroad spike, the better. A sharp blade is a nice feature but I am more interested to the point and the strength of the blade - I've never been disappointed in Cold Steel products.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on January 17, 2016 at 14:43

This answer came to my email but was obvously meant for all to be able to read :

Hi people.

I think that most of us research (to the best of our ability),any knife that we would think of buying.With so much info out there,it's unlikely that a knife would turn out to be a "bummer".When I get my goody,I just kind of just twist and turn it,click ,snap ,or whatever to open it.Fondle it (yeah ,I'm a bit nuts).

Later comes the nitty-gritty shake down.So many knives have coatings on them .Some coating make the steel look like it's tougher than it really is.And in truth,most of us won't use or carry a new pick(we have old guys for that),so we will never really know what the knife's real world prospects would be.

I have found flaws in many a known brand. But depending on the cost ,I might not return it.On knives that run into $$$,I have not found many flaws.

On a side note,I have found CASE knives to be more likely to have small flaws than other big company's .

Bottom line,give it a day or two ,let the lust wear down a bit.Then think with the big head

john

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on January 17, 2016 at 16:05

I look at the box, then the knife it's looks, the walk and . talk, the fit of the blades, any imperfections, and the backspring when blades are open and closed...lol

▶ Reply

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Doug Webber on January 18, 2016 at 3:32

I buy a lot of used, or listed as used, Schrade knives off Ebay. The first thing I do is check the blades for use, snap, and wobble. Snap isn't always an issue as some of these knives have been in a display with the blades open for 30 or 40 years. I also check the scales for fading, same reason, from being displayed in the sun. I check for cracks and chips, they seem to de-value a knife by as much as 70%. Quite a few knives are advertised as bone or stag handled...If I get one with delrin instead, it's going back. I don't believe that everyone is trying to pull a fast one, a lot of folks don't know what they have... and a lot of folks can't be educated.

If I'm buying a new, small run knife, I check the fit and finish, etching and edge very closely. I'm also critical of how the scales match front to back. I want to get what I'm paying for. I don't really check the blade centering or rate the pull, but I won't accept a knife that has blades rubbing.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Derek Wells on January 18, 2016 at 23:24

I wasn't sure of what I did, so yesterday I took mental note with my latest arrival and discovered I don't really go for small details more the overall presentation & initial intuitive impressions. So I'll hold it look at the different aspects (sides) and take a tactile approach to the finish by rolling it around in my hands - I guess 'fondle' is the best expression. I do open and close checking for smoothness of the action and strength of pull/snap.

If there is a glaring fault such as a chip or crack in the covers that would jump out at me visually and I'd pick up any rough spots around the pins, covers & bolsters by feel. When I carry a knife in my pocket I do treat it a bit like a 'worry stone' so like that over-all smooth finish and poorly spun pin or one that wasn't finished flush would be an annoyance.

I guess I do take in things like gaps in the liner/back spring area, blade alignment and such but it's more just an intuitive thing rather than a check list I need to go through. I've had knives for weeks/months before I spot a cosmetic flaw .... sort of ... "oh I never noticed that before". Conversely I have had the odd one that I instantly "knew" was a dud. (fortunately not many.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Cory Hess on January 20, 2016 at 20:13

The first thing I do is check out the covers. I hold the knife flat in my hand and check out the mark side and then the pile. I'm not looking for anything in particular, just an overall "How does this knife look?".

After that I open the knife up. I'm checking the action. How smooth is it? How is the pull? If it has half-stops how hard is the snap into that position? I want a knife to feel secure when it snaps into place, but not so strong that it feels like it's going to pull lose of my grasp.

Once the knife is open I hold it as if I'm going to cut something. I test how it is going to feel to actually use. I'll usually even make little cutting motions, but I'm not sure that this helps with anything. It's just fun to do.

After that I close the knife. I let it snapped shut noting the talk and how it feels when it's closing. Again, I want it to be secure, but not feel out of control. I then open it back up and check for edge roll to see if the blade hit the backspring. Then it gets closed again.

At this point I start a closer inspection of the covers. Are the pins flush, domed, or sunk? I really don't like sunken pins. I look for gaps, but I'm not too picky about this. A little gap is OK. I look to see how the blades are centered. Being off in this regard is also OK as long as there is no rub. I despise blade rub.

Then I start looking at the spring. Is it flush closed, half-stop, and open? This is something that's nice to have, but I'm not going to reject a knife for being off in this regard.

As long as I'm satisfied with the knife at this point it gets put on my desk. It'll sit there for a couple of days and I'll play with it while I'm working. I need a knife that's fun to fondle. I'm a nail biter and having things to fidget with helps me to keep my fingers out of my mouth. If a knife isn't fun to run my fingers over it's not going to get carried.

At that point it either goes in my pocket or I start looking to sell it or trade it. If one of my knives is in mint condition that means that either it's brand new or I'm planning on getting rid of it. The rest get used at least enough to knock the new off.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on January 22, 2016 at 18:34

A knife to play with to keep from biting nails! The list of real reasons to carry just continues to grow!!

What I am seeing here is not far from what I actually expected. We all have a bit of a ritual when inspecting a knife for the first time. What I did not see was the extremes. The 2 strangest to me was placing the knife under a 200X microscope and also taking a folder out to baton. Everything I see here, at least is something you would expect the knife to do whether in performance or fit and finish. So thanks for reminding me that while we may be knife nuts we are not just nuts LOL

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on January 22, 2016 at 20:10

I'm kind of like Derek, wasn't sure of exactly how I did the initial once-over.

As I didn't have anything new, to open, I got one from my stash and started from there.
I first check the blades (walk, talk & all that). Since it was a multi-blade, I also checked for signs of blade rub. May be a might ocd, here, but I also make sure that no blade tips were exposed when other blades were open, some Seahorses have a problem with the Wharncliffe not fully seating. (Not a biggie if there is ample kick that can be filled down)
Next on to the exterior, check the scales, looking for cracks and gaps at the bolsters. Then check for proper fit at the bolsters.
Once these have been done, comes the hand test, someone once said I was fondling my knife, but I like to, for the lack of a better term, get a good feel of it

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by jeff on January 23, 2016 at 5:34

I guess anymore, when I buy a new knife..I am buying it more from a collectors point of view. I do not believe that I have bought a new knife to Use in quite a while. If I were buying one to use I guess Depending on the use intended, I might take it out batoning or skinning or cutting rope.. but not wanting to mar it up.. my inspection stays more ritual.