MISSION

The mission at Jarosz Knives is to craft knives to the best of my ability and to provide service of the same caliber. Whether it is a fancy build with all the bells and whistles or a working knife that’s on the job every day, I want you to have confidence in my work and know that it will perform exceptionally.


Warranty

I guarantee all knives and products manufactured and sold from my shop to be free from defects. Should a knife fail you for reasons that are not due to abuse, mistreatment, or normal long-term wear and tear, I will make the necessary repairs or replacements to make your tool operational again. In terms of normal wear and tear, knives are subject to wear over time. A knife that has been used daily for 15 years is not likely to be the same knife it was when it was purchased new. If the knife is in need of service, I will gladly provide cleaning, sharpening, and tune-ups, but replacement of worn-out parts (unless they are replaceable parts like hardware) or replacing the knife altogether is not possible. The knife will be serviced and returned, but a worn-out knife will not be allowed as an exploit to get a newer knife for free.

As previously mentioned, I will provide service in the form of sharpening, tune-ups, and cleaning for all of my knives. This is not a warranty issue but is something I am happy to offer to my customers. I only ask that you cover shipping expenses.

Disassembling your knife: I do not recommend you disassemble your knife. Any damages caused to the knife due to negligence and improper disassembly are absolutely NOT covered by warranty and will incur a fee if needing repair. These damages are subject to refusal and total void of the warranty if the damage is extensive enough. I am not going to tell you what you can or cannot do with your own property, but please do so at your own risk.

Cosmetic work is not a warranty issue and will not be provided. Please use your knives and enjoy them as the tools they are. Wear marks and patina are things that are created by the user of the tool and, in my opinion, give the knives a personal connection and soul.

Third Party Modifications: Any and all modifications made to a knife will completely void the warranty and I will refuse any further service on the knife. The only exception being sharpening the edge to an angle of your preference as long as it is done properly.

Updating Old Knives: It is my hope that I will always continue improving in my craft. If so, there should be many differences between a knife I made today and a knife I made 15 years ago. Skill is one component of that, but the processes which I employ to make knives are also always changing. Because of this, when you find an older knife, I will gladly service it and it is covered by warranty, but I am not going to modify or change an old knife to try to make improvements or add features that you’d find in a modern build. That knife is representative of my skillset and process from that timeframe and it will remain as such.


Understanding Your Knife

Are your knives handmade? Almost everything I make is handmade with some CNC assistance. What that means is that I have some components first made into blanks, and everything else is done by hand. For example, on my folders, the liners and blade are blanked using Wire Edm. A blank part is simply the a cutout of a shape. I do make some knives completely by hand, and occasionally I will do a project that involves more extensive CNC work. Please check the descriptions of my knives when they are listed for sale, or feel free to ask me if you are unsure.

KA-BAR Jarosz Collaborations:
Anything that is marked with the KA-BAR branding was produced by the production company KA-BAR. These knives were designed by me but were 100% manufactured by KA-BAR. These knives are often at a more budget-friendly price point than my custom knives and are a great way to introduce yourself to my work. I love seeing these knives used just as much as I do something from my own custom shop. If you purchase one, I hope that you enjoy it. Please contact KA-BAR if you have any service needs regarding these collaborations, as I cannot provide service for something I did not make.

The Spyderco Compression Lock:
The Compression Lock is a wonderful mechanism you can find primarily from Spyderco. I fell in love with this lock many years ago and made it a goal of mine to produce knives of my own using the mechanism. I have previously licensed the lock from Spyderco, and now with the expiration of the patent, I continue using it but still credit Spyderco by calling it the “Spyderco Compression Lock” as a nod of respect.
Quirks: The Compression Lock may seem similar to a liner lock, but it is actually quite different in the way it functions. As such, there are quirks and differences that you may notice when getting used to it. One of those quirks is lockup. In the Compression Lock, the lock bar acts as a wedge between the lock face and the stop pin and is “compressed” between the two surfaces. Because of the way this wedge works, sometimes the lock bar gets pinched into position just a little early, and the user may feel what seems like vertical “blade play.” I take great pride in making sure my knives function with proper lock geometry, and by using Wire EDM technology, the tolerances of my compression lock models are very tight. Your knife is not experiencing any sort of issue—it is just the result of how the parts are interfacing with one another. Sometimes this can be remedied with a little bit of graphite on the lock bar, and sometimes it goes away on its own. You may even notice it goes away depending on how you open the knife. Long story short, you have nothing to worry about. This same quirk is present in Spyderco models, as well as the few customs I have had the pleasure of handling that were made by other makers.
The compression lock is also a bit more prone to friction when disengaging. I recommend keeping any tension off of the spine when unlocking the knife because when you do have pressure applied there, you are compressing the lockbar and essentially grabbing it in place. Even with more friction between the components than other locks, there should never be a case where you cannot unlock it. This goes for any mechanism I manufacture.

Cleaning : Cleaning doesn’t need to be all that complicated. My prefered method is to use some WD-40 and Compressed Air. I  simply spray the WD-40 into the action of the knife, and then blow it out until it is clean and dry. After doing so, you may reapply your favorite lubricant to the edges of the washers where it will work it’s way into the pivot area as well as adding a drop to the detent ball which can be located on the lock bar just before the lock is engaged with the blade.

Sharpening: You are absolutely welcome to sharpen your knife. It will not void the warranty UNLESS you do so improperly and cook the steel or otherwise ruin the blade. I encourage user-level maintenance, and I think sharpening is a fundamental skill we should all practice. There are also many great assisted systems that make it a foolproof process even for a beginner.

 


Myths, Trends, Additional Info

  • Early Lockup: I am not a fan of extremely early lockup. In spite of the opinion of some, modern people do actually use and depend on knives, and sometimes those knives are mine. As such, I don’t use extremely early lockup because I am not confident in their security. Simple as that.
  • Drop Shut Action: This is only a measure of the fact that a blade will drop shut, not of the quality of the action. All of my knives are going to operate smoothly, but whether or not they “drop shut” is not important to me. That isn’t to say they won’t, but it is not a consideration when I execute my designs.
  • Washers/Bearings/Etc: I use Teflon washers, phosphor bronze washers, and ceramic bearings in my knives. If you aren’t sure what is in yours, please feel free to ask. I do try to list that information when I make a knife, but sometimes forget. If I used a particular washer/bearing in a knife, I started the knife with the intention of using that component, and therefore it is fitted and optimized for that component. I do not recommend swapping these components out to suit your personal preferences, and if you do such experimentation and it results in damage, I am not responsible for making repairs.
  • Will you modify my knife? No. I frequently get asked if I will make a different set of scales or make some other sort of change to an existing knife. Often this is because the knife was purchased secondhand and the new owner wants to add a personal touch. This is too expensive and time-consuming to do. Please only purchase a knife if it is something you truly want, not with the expectation that you can use it to get what you actually wanted.

Custom Orders

I do not accept custom orders. The best way to get a knife from me is to subscribe to my newsletter, follow my social media pages for announcements on upcoming releases, and attend knife shows.

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Thank you for supporting Jarosz Knives and the Jarosz Family,

Jesse M. Jarosz