Kramer by ZWILLING Euroline Carbon Collection Fit and Finish

Hello,
It's my first post here, so I hope it's the right place for it.

I bought the 10" version of KZ Carbon from SLT's website. I heard that fit and finish isn't the best attribute of these knives, but I didn't expect it to be this bad.
First, there are gaps around the two outer rivets (I was able to insert pieces of paper in the gap).
Second, there's some kind of pin hole on the handle.
Third, the tip (1.5") of the knife is bent to the right.

Did anyone encounter problems with the F&F of these knives to such degree?
Should I try ordering another knife hoping that this one was just a dud or are they all like that?
I'm thinking that the main problem here is the wooden handle, so going with the Essential line should eliminate the issue (they have polymer handles). If I go with the Essential, will I miss out on 51200 steel or should I think of it in terms of gaining FC61 (13C26/AEB-L) steel? Stainless or not doesn't matter to me that much.

I appreciate any input,
Thank you,

Ato

Welcome to the forum Ato. This is indeed the right place for such a question. I've not handled the knife in question but have read about similar problems. And some knives are ok. I recall that the Essential line is pretty well received. I'll leave it to others to comment further.

If you want to see some previous comments you can google the site.

Welcome!

You may find this thread informative: http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/30745-Is-this-Zwilling-Kramer-okay

Great, Thank you!
I'm returning the knife and will try getting another one.

Welcome aboard, Ato. Please share your findings with us about the replacement knife, perhaps we can discuss other options if it doesn't match either.

So, after returning Zwilling Kramer 52100 10" I went through two more knives that had similar fit and finish issues. Gaps around bolsters, but especially gaps around the rivets were bigger than I was comfortable with. The bent blades/tips (two were bent to the right, one to the left) didn't bother me as much.
Returning all carbon knives wasn't easy, as I liked pretty much everything else about them.

I decided on getting ZK Essential 10", hoping for better finish/more stable handle material. However, I was able to get an extremely good one-time discount for ZK Damascus 10".
My first impression was that ZK Damascus is grossly overpriced with retail price of $450. Workmanship and finish still weren't perfect. By perfect I mean they were noticeably worse than Zwilling PRO S or Wusthof Ikon Classic. I didn't care for how Damascus finish felt (or looked for that matter) - while the knife is sharp, the food loves to grip the blade. It felt like all that sharpness was countered by the blade's finish.

As I continued to use the knife, that blade "stickiness" issue became less noticeable. What I did notice is that the knife is not only sharp, but stays sharp! My wife at first didn't use the knife thinking I'd be returning it. So by the time she tried cooking with the knife, I already gave it a good run. I didn't re-sharpen it, yet she was amazed at how it cut. Size-wise, she'd prefer 8", but likes the tall profile. I think I could get her to agree that spending retail price (or with slight discount), could be a reasonable expense for such kitchen tool. So, we are keeping this knife.

As for ZK Carbon, I might still try it in 8" version and in addition, I'll probably fill out "what knife?" form at some point.

Ato.