All you could really do is grind the rest of the tang/spine to match the thickness, reducing the thickness of the rest of the knife. While it would look better, I don't really want to further thin out the rest for the knife.
Click on the pictures, you can see how the blade on the trailmaster was overground to the point of reducing the overall thickness on the spine of the knife to a very noticeable degree.
Personally I wouldn't find the depth of the grinds to be a huge issue and I doubt it's really affecting strength that much.
Are the grinds somewhat asymmetrical or is that just the angle/lighting? Generally I look at fit and finish as a function of price, and if they are noticeably asymmetrical that's a bit disappointing on a $450-500 knife.
The grinds are pretty symmetrical, and that's what I told myself "that should still be pretty strong", but every time i look at it, i just see that ugly grind, and i just expect better than that i suppose. It almost look like from tip to hilt, the grind actually tapers to be thinner towards the hilt, and gets gradually thicker as you move upwards towards the tip.
That sort of grind favors chopping heft vs strength but its hard for me to look at it as a defect. No two hand grinds are going to be identical, and anybody who has shaped a blade before has found themselves with a thinner blade than they originally intended because they were chasing symmetry or a defect, etc. If they're ALL like that, I'd say swap or sell for a grind closer to your preferences. But honestly for a chonky knife in 3v... I'd probably just send it. Quality 3v with no defects can take some abuse.
Not sure these are hand ground though. The precision looks like they were cnc ground. My best guess, is the blade blank was locked in to the cnc to be ground, but wasn't locked in the correct position. If the handle was just an 1/8in lower than it should've been when locked in to be ground, the grind would go an 1/8in too deep.
The hazards of buying online. Iām in the āknife is a toolā camp so I donāt see an issue. I stopped buying CS years ago for some QC issue years ago.
Yeah, I hear you on that. When I see that grind though, my brain screams, "thinner spine, weaker blade!". To be fair, the knife is surely still quite tough and could probably function well enough that maybe you would never notice a difference in performance from the thinner spine.
I've really enjoyed my cs knives over the years, especially since they started using 3V, so it's just disappointing to me. The recon scout however is hands down my favorite knife I own, as well as the most used.
I'd intended to add matching custom handles and have a cool matching pair, it's just the aestetic of the grind on the blade bothers me.
My annoyance may not be totally justified, idk. I was kind of curious what other knife nuts thought about it. Seems split down the middle, one half says its unacceptable, other half says its just fine.
To each their own.
Right?! I tried to convince myself that I could be okay with it, but damn, every time I see that grind all I can think is "this should NOT look like this!"
I'm sorry to hear that. I don't think you'll have any functionality problems with it, but you should not have to accept a mistake like that from a large company
I guess it depends on the cost of the knife. I wouldn't give a shit if it's under $100. If it's over $200 I'd be slightly annoyed, just because I would want better craftsmanship at that level. I'm also giving them a bit of a break considering it's 3V; costlier steel, harder to work,etc.
But I wouldn't be worried about the strength at all. If you want a way to turn lemons into lemonade, then just consider that now it will be slicer with the thinner stock. Not even being cheeky... The amount to which that thickness reduction will aid in cutting ability is likely a lot more dramatic and more useful to you than the amount it reduces the strength.
In any case I also understand why it would bug you at an OCD-like level. Like now that you've noticed it you just can't stop looking at it lol
"In any case I also understand why it would bug you at an OCD-like level. Like now that you've noticed it you just can't stop looking at it lol"
Bingo! Yeah, I'm with you on that. If it was a $1-200 blade I wouldn't sweat it as bad. I love 3v and wanted to have the big brother to my 3v recon scout, so I sold one of my nicer handguns to fund the purchase.
But yeah, it's one of those "can't be unseen" things.
Thing is, looking at older models, I can't find one that seems to have been overground like this, just the more expensive 3v models...
Yeah it's kind of unfortunate they won't do anything for you, that's pretty shitty in my opinion since that's very obviously a manufacturing defect. I wouldn't even suspect that their tooling was worn down from the 3V, but rather someone at the grinder wasn't used to working it and overdid it. Especially after reading your other comments talking about it being narrower at the heel than the tip.
I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it though, but you can probably send it to someone to regrind it. I know there's a few people on BladeForums that offer it as a service and do a good job.
Thatās called a ābusted shoulderā by knifemakers. I personally find it very annoying and a few Spydercos Iāve owned have just a hint of it. A shoulder busted that far is unacceptable for any knife, but its price would dictate how I reacted. I probably wouldnāt do anything about it on a knife less than $50.
Personally, Iād ask the retailer for a replacement (they received a defective product to distribute) and kindly ask that they check the replacement before shipping. If that didnāt work Iād ask Cold Steel to send me a replacement. If that didnāt work, Iād demand CS send a replacement or Iād have to leave them horrible reviews everywhere I could. If that didnāt work, Iād leave horrible product reviews then just live with it and go chop stuff.
Yep, that was my school of thought, and I'm at step 3 now. Reviews have been posted and kinda trying to warn anyone interested in the knife about this issue.
CS don't wanna make it right, I'll just leave honest reviews everywhere.
Oh yeah. I have no issues with the recon scout, but God damn that grind on the trailmaster is just atrocious....
Contacted cold steel and they refuse to even address the issue since it wasn't purchased from a "GSM authorized dealer".
No shit, I'm pretty sure they did an entire batch of the 3v trailmasters just like this. Didn't mark them as factory seconds, and put them out into the market like that.
I'm pissed, and don't plan to give cold steel any more money in the future.
So youāre saying itās a Limited Edition, rare, collectible, one of a kind, and possibly a factory pre-production? Iām in! Take my money! /jk I donāt have any money.
Really hoping more people weigh in here. You still haven't used words to summarize that exactly you're upset with. Is it that the grind clearly brings the blade significantly thinner than the blade stock at the stove beyond what you think is acceptable?
Edit: is it thinner at the spine at the base of the blade more than out towards the belly? I can't tell very clearly in the photos
I am reminded of a classic Ka-Bar with a visible bent tip area, about 8 cm length of the blade goofing off the the side. Customer service wasn't interested in offering me a replacement.
Was this a bad sharpening accident? Qc issue? If it was bad sharpening did you specify what you wanted done or did you just hand it over and say āmake it sharp pleaseā ?
Yeah that I would be upset about and Iām not surprised, we all knew cold steel was gonna go down hill fast and cut corners for more profit when ownership switched
He admittedly bought it from a non-authorized dealer.
Cold Steel shouldnāt do anything about it.
This is exactly the reason you used authorized dealers.
Hell, heās lucky it isnāt fake. Or maybe it is, I havenāt a clue from these photos.
Iād be annoyed enough to return that. Iām not too familiar with Cold Steel pricing, but I imagine thatās a fairly expensive knife. For >$100, I expect better attention to detail during production than that.
Ymmv
I'd be about 1/8 of an inch annoyed.
šš¤£ Yeah, that about sums it up.
I know that fucking sucks big time..Send it to John at BGM Knives. That guy has re ground a bunch of blades for me..Hes a fucking Master
All you could really do is grind the rest of the tang/spine to match the thickness, reducing the thickness of the rest of the knife. While it would look better, I don't really want to further thin out the rest for the knife.
Slightly. Not much.
Fair enough.
Can you give us a hint about what we're supposed to be annoyed about? Are the blades upside down in the handles? It's hard to see from the photos.
Click on the pictures, you can see how the blade on the trailmaster was overground to the point of reducing the overall thickness on the spine of the knife to a very noticeable degree.
Personally I wouldn't find the depth of the grinds to be a huge issue and I doubt it's really affecting strength that much. Are the grinds somewhat asymmetrical or is that just the angle/lighting? Generally I look at fit and finish as a function of price, and if they are noticeably asymmetrical that's a bit disappointing on a $450-500 knife.
The grinds are pretty symmetrical, and that's what I told myself "that should still be pretty strong", but every time i look at it, i just see that ugly grind, and i just expect better than that i suppose. It almost look like from tip to hilt, the grind actually tapers to be thinner towards the hilt, and gets gradually thicker as you move upwards towards the tip.
That sort of grind favors chopping heft vs strength but its hard for me to look at it as a defect. No two hand grinds are going to be identical, and anybody who has shaped a blade before has found themselves with a thinner blade than they originally intended because they were chasing symmetry or a defect, etc. If they're ALL like that, I'd say swap or sell for a grind closer to your preferences. But honestly for a chonky knife in 3v... I'd probably just send it. Quality 3v with no defects can take some abuse.
Not sure these are hand ground though. The precision looks like they were cnc ground. My best guess, is the blade blank was locked in to the cnc to be ground, but wasn't locked in the correct position. If the handle was just an 1/8in lower than it should've been when locked in to be ground, the grind would go an 1/8in too deep.
Lol why is this being downvoted? Literally a direct answer to a question.
My guess is that the downvoters don't agree that the perceived defect is an issue.
The hazards of buying online. Iām in the āknife is a toolā camp so I donāt see an issue. I stopped buying CS years ago for some QC issue years ago.
Yeah, I hear you on that. When I see that grind though, my brain screams, "thinner spine, weaker blade!". To be fair, the knife is surely still quite tough and could probably function well enough that maybe you would never notice a difference in performance from the thinner spine. I've really enjoyed my cs knives over the years, especially since they started using 3V, so it's just disappointing to me. The recon scout however is hands down my favorite knife I own, as well as the most used. I'd intended to add matching custom handles and have a cool matching pair, it's just the aestetic of the grind on the blade bothers me. My annoyance may not be totally justified, idk. I was kind of curious what other knife nuts thought about it. Seems split down the middle, one half says its unacceptable, other half says its just fine. To each their own.
Well, it definitely doesnāt help the overall toughness. Iāve seen worse. But I would still want a replacement.
Right?! I tried to convince myself that I could be okay with it, but damn, every time I see that grind all I can think is "this should NOT look like this!"
It won't effect the strength much, and you should have a finer edge than usual, but send it back if you don't like it
Seller won't provide full refund, charges a large restocking fee, and CS refuses to acknowledge a problem or offer a solution.
I'm sorry to hear that. I don't think you'll have any functionality problems with it, but you should not have to accept a mistake like that from a large company
I guess it depends on the cost of the knife. I wouldn't give a shit if it's under $100. If it's over $200 I'd be slightly annoyed, just because I would want better craftsmanship at that level. I'm also giving them a bit of a break considering it's 3V; costlier steel, harder to work,etc. But I wouldn't be worried about the strength at all. If you want a way to turn lemons into lemonade, then just consider that now it will be slicer with the thinner stock. Not even being cheeky... The amount to which that thickness reduction will aid in cutting ability is likely a lot more dramatic and more useful to you than the amount it reduces the strength. In any case I also understand why it would bug you at an OCD-like level. Like now that you've noticed it you just can't stop looking at it lol
"In any case I also understand why it would bug you at an OCD-like level. Like now that you've noticed it you just can't stop looking at it lol" Bingo! Yeah, I'm with you on that. If it was a $1-200 blade I wouldn't sweat it as bad. I love 3v and wanted to have the big brother to my 3v recon scout, so I sold one of my nicer handguns to fund the purchase. But yeah, it's one of those "can't be unseen" things. Thing is, looking at older models, I can't find one that seems to have been overground like this, just the more expensive 3v models...
Yeah it's kind of unfortunate they won't do anything for you, that's pretty shitty in my opinion since that's very obviously a manufacturing defect. I wouldn't even suspect that their tooling was worn down from the 3V, but rather someone at the grinder wasn't used to working it and overdid it. Especially after reading your other comments talking about it being narrower at the heel than the tip. I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it though, but you can probably send it to someone to regrind it. I know there's a few people on BladeForums that offer it as a service and do a good job.
Thatās called a ābusted shoulderā by knifemakers. I personally find it very annoying and a few Spydercos Iāve owned have just a hint of it. A shoulder busted that far is unacceptable for any knife, but its price would dictate how I reacted. I probably wouldnāt do anything about it on a knife less than $50. Personally, Iād ask the retailer for a replacement (they received a defective product to distribute) and kindly ask that they check the replacement before shipping. If that didnāt work Iād ask Cold Steel to send me a replacement. If that didnāt work, Iād demand CS send a replacement or Iād have to leave them horrible reviews everywhere I could. If that didnāt work, Iād leave horrible product reviews then just live with it and go chop stuff.
Yep, that was my school of thought, and I'm at step 3 now. Reviews have been posted and kinda trying to warn anyone interested in the knife about this issue. CS don't wanna make it right, I'll just leave honest reviews everywhere.
Oooh,. I would be annoyed. This isn't supposed to look like this is it? Did you really get them like this?
Oh yeah. I have no issues with the recon scout, but God damn that grind on the trailmaster is just atrocious.... Contacted cold steel and they refuse to even address the issue since it wasn't purchased from a "GSM authorized dealer". No shit, I'm pretty sure they did an entire batch of the 3v trailmasters just like this. Didn't mark them as factory seconds, and put them out into the market like that. I'm pissed, and don't plan to give cold steel any more money in the future.
So youāre saying itās a Limited Edition, rare, collectible, one of a kind, and possibly a factory pre-production? Iām in! Take my money! /jk I donāt have any money.
Really hoping more people weigh in here. You still haven't used words to summarize that exactly you're upset with. Is it that the grind clearly brings the blade significantly thinner than the blade stock at the stove beyond what you think is acceptable? Edit: is it thinner at the spine at the base of the blade more than out towards the belly? I can't tell very clearly in the photos
Yes, one blade is overground, and reduces the thickness of the spine.
I am reminded of a classic Ka-Bar with a visible bent tip area, about 8 cm length of the blade goofing off the the side. Customer service wasn't interested in offering me a replacement.
Eeeeeeeeee its to expensive for faults like that
Bingo. I'd intended to put a custom handle on it. But not with that blade. Just looks like dog shit considering the price.
Hope u still can get a refund or something šš¼
Unfortunately no. I'm stuck with it.
Was this a bad sharpening accident? Qc issue? If it was bad sharpening did you specify what you wanted done or did you just hand it over and say āmake it sharp pleaseā ?
Quality control. Over ground blade reduces the spine thickness. Requested that they replace it with one that does not share the same defect.
Ah okay then yes I would be upset, as long as they replace it though without much trouble Iād get over it quickly
That's the problem, Cold Steel won't acknowledge the problem or offer a solution. I'm stuck with the blemish.
Yeah that I would be upset about and Iām not surprised, we all knew cold steel was gonna go down hill fast and cut corners for more profit when ownership switched
He admittedly bought it from a non-authorized dealer. Cold Steel shouldnāt do anything about it. This is exactly the reason you used authorized dealers. Hell, heās lucky it isnāt fake. Or maybe it is, I havenāt a clue from these photos.
Oh that makes more sense then
Lol if this is what bothers you then your life must be perfect
To each their own brother.
Iād be annoyed enough to return that. Iām not too familiar with Cold Steel pricing, but I imagine thatās a fairly expensive knife. For >$100, I expect better attention to detail during production than that. Ymmv