Schatt and Morgan fit & finish

[sistasquirrel]

Recently purchased 2 Schatt and Morgan's from Fleabay. One was a Winterbottom Bone 2 blade Barlow and the other was a Micarta Moutainman lockback. Both were listed as 'mint' condition- unused in box. BOTH have blade play/wobble. These are both quite beautiful looking knives- they are the first S&M'S I've collected,so now I'm wondering if the blade wobble is common to the Schatt&Morgan brand, or have I unwittingly bought factory seconds? The seller I bought from has dozens of S&M'S listed from the 2000's. Nothing of the markings on either knife suggest that they are seconds. Blade wobble is my pet hate in knives and I'm considering returning them both. It's a shame 'cause I have a couple of earlier Queen folders and they are superb. absolutely A1 !!!
We don't see any S&M'S downunda, so I have no previous experience with this brand, I normally stick to GEC's and Northwoods for modern folders, as these have proven to be excellent quality knives.
Can anyone shed any light on my Ebay experience?
Cheers from the Bushdocta and the Missus docta......

[boggs]

No, not seconds....S&M doesn't sell seconds to the public...but I'm not surprised about the blade play on the L.B. kinda common,though the barlow should of been right on

[justold52]

sistasquirrel Hello;

I have many S&Ms and 1 out of about 100 I have sent back to Queens. The wobble is very ez for them to fix. If it was my knife I would sent it to Queens and not mess with the seller. How ever it may take 1 1/2 mo. to get it back. Perhaps do to all other repairs up now. Does the seller have more of the same knife. If so return to the seller may be faster. Your shipping cost eather way ...
I just got a GEC Barlow with a crack in the handle. So I am sending it to GEC.

Ken

[mito0]

BOTH have blade play/wobble.

pretty common with the mountain man, but the barlow is a surprise. like justold said, send them to queen and they'll fix them free of charge.

I normally stick to GEC's and Northwoods...

almost all northwoods folders are made by queen using the same standards they use for s&m, so expect similar fit and finish.

[sistasquirrel]

Thanks for the replies. After sleeping on it (ouch!!) I decided to send back to the seller and test the strength of their refund policy. The Barlow is a beautiful little knife but if you look at the back of the blade where the tang contacts the backspring, you can see it starting to burr- the fit is not right. As for the mountain man, a pretty knife in Black Micarta with a MOP shield inlay, it is really lightly constructed, with almost no heft, not what I was expecting from a knife with a name like "MOUNTAIN MAN"!! I guess I'll stick to the brands I know in future- cheers from the Bushdocta downunda....

[knifeswapper]

I don't recall a black micarta mountain man; but they did make a buffalo horn w/pearl shield that has gone up quite a bit in value. If you are in it right you might look for a buyer to turn a few bucks. Most hard core knife collectors will have a bench and a buffer to resolve most blade play issues in a couple minutes.

[boggs]

Mike...

They were produced this year 1 of 50 pieces........Clarence has them on his site

[justold52]

I have 2 of them. S&M 10113l SFO Mt Man Lockback Micarta Pearl Shield 4-7/16". I will add the 2 SFO Micarta do have more Wobble.

And one S&M Mt Man 14113L Lockback Bufflo 2002 Pearl Shield 4 ½”

I know Clarence and if your wanting a refund he will back it up, and refund. Not sure about your shipping.

Perhaps best to refund. If your not happy with a part of a knife 2 years later you will still not be happy with it. This same thing can and does happen to some GECs.

Ken

[knifeswapper]

Mike...

They were produced this year 1 of 50 pieces........Clarence has them on his site

Hmmm, I would have thought they would have seen enough feedback on Mountain Man play by now. The non-lock has no issues and the older lockers are not any worse than what is inherent in lockbacks (at least those that free flow) themselves. But that is one of two or three issues they are well aware.