Selling blades only or a blade of the month.

[jtoler_9]

Interestingly, I don't see any other major manufacturer offering anything like this either and it would surprise me if it hadn't at least been considered by most of them (and likely discarded as not profitable or worth the effort, seeing as how it hasn't been implemented by anyone I'm aware of).

Isn't Benchmade already doing this? You can go on their website and pick handle color and choose between a few steel options and blade profile options. They may not have M4 available yet, but the program they run seems similar to what I am reading here. I may have missed the point. Wouldn't be the first time.

[The Deacon]

Yes, both the ideas of swappable blades and a "Spyderco Custom Shop" have been brought up more than once before, and shot down by Sal each time. I doubt his concerns with, and rejection of, the idea of blade swapping are likely to change, at least not in the near future. However, and please note that this is pure speculation on my part, the primary objection to the Custom Shop idea has always been that Golden was already running at full capacity and could not keep up with demand. Offering such a service may have become somewhat less unrealistic now that Spyderco's newly expanded US production facility is operational.

[Mic1]

Interestingly, I don't see any other major manufacturer offering anything like this either and it would surprise me if it hadn't at least been considered by most of them (and likely discarded as not profitable or worth the effort, seeing as how it hasn't been implemented by anyone I'm aware of).

Isn't Benchmade already doing this? You can go on their website and pick handle color and choose between a few steel options and blade profile options. They may not have M4 available yet, but the program they run seems similar to what I am reading here. I may have missed the point. Wouldn't be the first time.[/


That is actually several times more than what I have been suggesting. This is what I have been saying along with a few others. No custom shop no scale colors or materials none of that not even your choice of blade steel.

Just blades for current standard production models already in production. Like the Manix 2 which comes in s30v g10 and FRN s110v. So if you wanted a blade s110v for your G10 Manix 2 and did not want to buy an FRN and break it apart for the blade you could order a blade only from spyderco being warned that it would void your warranty and that if you got hurt for any reason they would not be responsible. And you will pay a premium price for just a blade.That's it nothing more no scales no custom shop. It would not affect your collection or LE,sprint, or exclusive steels for let say Bento. You could still buy 10 sprints and sell them for triple on eBay later as low as that may be.

If that is what benchmade is doing it is far beyond what I was thinking.

[jtoler_9]

That is actually several times more than what I have been suggesting. This is what I have been saying along with a few others. No custom shop no scale colors or materials none of that not even your choice of blade steel.
Just blades for current standard production models already in production.

Ok, I get it now. Thanks for the clarification. Interesting idea.

I think a build your own site might be more in the ballpark of a realistic possibility than Spyderco making blade blanks that can only be used when users void their warranty. Either way it's an interesting idea.

[Surfingringo]

Hey mic1, I don't think anyone is taking this personally at all. Several folks are just telling you their opinions about why they don't think it's a great idea. This just seems to be happening at a higher rate than what you expected.

As far as my thoughts on the idea, I have had the chance to speak with some of the folks at Spyderco at the factory and at the Blade show and they are all constantly going 90 to nothing and always working on about 100 projects at once. I don't dislike your idea at all and can even see it being functional in a perfect world but I can't really imagine them initiating a program that would add so much work to a plate that is already full to overflowing. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, that's just my guess. Of course Sal constantly surprises me and he may come on here and say he's starting a program like this next month. If I were a betting man I would wager against it though. :)

[bearfacedkiller]

But all this conversation has been between members with what I assume ( maybe falsely) is there individual opinions on why it will or won't work.

We are just telling you what Sal has told us before. Do some searches for "folding mule team" or something like that and you should find a few threads about this sort of idea. :)

I typed in blade swap and blade only and got the phone book. I do normally look before I put up a topic. I would have not thought to look for "folding mule team" .

Happy to help. Many of us like the idea of the mule team project but many of us either do not or can not carry a fixed blade so the idea of a folding mule has come up. Sal said that if there was to be a folding mule team project that it would have to be a slip joint because he didn't want any liability issues from poorly fitted locks. Personally, as a Caly3 fan, the idea of a UKPK platform mule project sounds amazing to me and I would be all over it. Unfortunately it seems to be a bit of a pipe dream.

I realize this is different than what you are proposing but the limitations seem to be the same.

[dubya3]

I think it would be a logistical nightmare, and would probably kill the current (and very successful for Spyderco) concept of sprint runs.

Exactly. Sprints are good enough for me when I want upgraded materials, plus the collector in me feels it'd hurt the value of sprint's in the long run

Hand slapping my face.

I give up!

I'm not a flipper and have no intention of selling the few sprints I have anytime soon but for those that have paid a premium to get the combos they want in knives (I'm a CF/S90V geek), the "build a knife" would really hurt your collection of sprints.

Yup, some people collect knives. Can you believe it!? I have collectors and users. Although being able to choose your materials and build a knife through Spyderco would be awesome for the user in me, the collector who would see my hard earned purchases lose a lot of value wouldn't like it. It won't happen wither way so it really doesn't matter I suppose. To each their own.

[Mic1]

I think it would be a logistical nightmare, and would probably kill the current (and very successful for Spyderco) concept of sprint runs.

Exactly. Sprints are good enough for me when I want upgraded materials, plus the collector in me feels it'd hurt the value of sprint's in the long run

Hand slapping my face.

I give up!

I'm not a flipper and have no intention of selling the few sprints I have anytime soon but for those that have paid a premium to get the combos they want in knives (I'm a CF/S90V geek), the "build a knife" would really hurt your collection of sprints.

Yup, some people collect knives. Can you believe it!? I have collectors and users. Although being able to choose your materials and build a knife through Spyderco would be awesome for the user in me, the collector who would see my hard earned purchases lose a lot of value wouldn't like it. It won't happen wither way so it really doesn't matter I suppose. To each their own.

More face slapping and a sigh.

[awa54]

It's common in the gun world and you can buy scales,stand offs, clips,screws etc and people make money doing that. But you may be right or no one wants to go first.

Most of the stuff you're mentioning is aftermarket, not OEM.

btw, I too feel like I'd be competent to fit a blade to many lock systems (I have done several seer mods and fitted a Timney, though I would leave more complex lockwork to a real gunsmith), but totally understand why a manufacturer with a reputation to protect would shy away from a project like this.

[Mic1]

Can we just let this drop I really don't think there is much more we can do to this horse.

[Brock O Lee]

Hehe, yes, that horse is very dead, and your face must be hurting by now...

[swigert]

Glad this ones over!!!!!

[Evil D]

Hey so what if they....



Lol just kidding. I hope everyone remembers that these hot topics like this are always a good thing. It's often hard to judge a person's tone through text. These kinds of topics always seem to get heated but they're just topics that people feel passionate about, and that's almost always a good thing.

[RadioactiveSpyder]

Hey I'm late to the dead horse whooping party, but I've taken quite a few Spydies apart to blade swap. First, it's not for the faint of heart and though not intellectually difficult, it's not something for one who doesn't trust completely their fine mechanical abilities. That said (whop goes the horse), about a third of my swaps didn't work because the blade would simply not mate correctly with a new lock or for some weird reason, the blade and locking mechanism don't take to their new handle frames quite right. Super tight tolerances and all that...

(Whop... )

[sparky2016]

Or a build a knife program like build a bear but for knives. Choose your steel and handle scales and they ship it to your door. :cool:

Benchmade is doing that:

http://customknife.benchmade.com/knives/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JAfromMN]

Good idea but it would be a nightmare on the spyder crew

[Philo Beddoe]

Or a build a knife program like build a bear but for knives. Choose your steel and handle scales and they ship it to your door. :cool:

Benchmade is doing that:

http://customknife.benchmade.com/knives/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This dead horse brought back to life..

Because of all the ongoing issues with fakes and forgeries Spyderco changed their policy and now doesn't sell any internal parts for any of their knives..at least that's what I got told a couple of weeks ago when I tried to order one of the thin bronze washers for a Millie..I got told it would have to be sent to Spyderco..fortunately I had a spare one in the spare parts bin.

Yes BM does have the "build a custom knife" option but unless I missed something that's for a complete knife?..not just a blade..if Spyderco started making and selling blades only that would make it a field day for the fakes..buy a real Spyderco blade and boom your $15 fake is that much closer and harder to tell apart from the to the real deal..I think Spyderco would have mark them or something? Adding to their work load.

Isn't Spyderco going to make all the current Golden made regular production knives in S110V/blurple? Manix, Millie..the Manix2 Xl is going to be one big hunk of Blurple G10..that one will stand out.

IMO with all the sprints and dealer exclusives Spyderco does they kind of sort of already have a ongoing custom knife program.

[SG89]

Or a build a knife program like build a bear but for knives. Choose your steel and handle scales and they ship it to your door. :cool:

Benchmade is doing that:

http://customknife.benchmade.com/knives/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This dead horse brought back to life..

Because of all the ongoing issues with fakes and forgeries Spyderco changed their policy and now doesn't sell any internal parts for any of their knives..at least that's what I got told a couple of weeks ago when I tried to order one of the thin bronze washers for a Millie..I got told it would have to be sent to Spyderco..fortunately I had a spare one in the spare parts bin.

Yes BM does have the "build a custom knife" option but unless I missed something that's for a complete knife?..not just a blade..if Spyderco started making and selling blades only that would make it a field day for the fakes..buy a real Spyderco blade and boom your $15 fake is that much closer and harder to tell apart from the to the real deal..I think Spyderco would have mark them or something? Adding to their work load.

Isn't Spyderco going to make all the current Golden made regular production knives in S110V/blurple? Manix, Millie..the Manix2 Xl is going to be one big hunk of Blurple G10..that one will stand out.

IMO with all the sprints and dealer exclusives Spyderco does they kind of sort of already have a ongoing custom knife program.

My comment was in jest. Note the build a bear reference. :p Spyderco already makes more knives than I know what to do with let alone afford plus all the "before my time" discontinued spydies on the market I have yet to discover. I have no issues with Spyderco and the way they do business.

[Blerv]

The amount of people who can't properly assemble or even disassemble a Spyderco knife are FAR greater than the people who can. Even with all the red bold font in the world it would be a logistical nightmare. People stripping screws and blaming the heat treat or selling knives with massive amounts of unsafe play and tainting the reputation of the company. "I had a PM2 once and it was a nightmare!" etc

Companies like CRK provide a wrench for tear-down. I could see them offering blade replacements as the knife would remain in warranty and would even be easier to assemble given the tolerances and provided tool.

IMHO, if you want a knife with blades you can replace there are plenty of nice boxcutters out there. I have a titanium one by Veleno Designs that uses Stanley "Carbide" blades. In fact, I thought Sal was working on one of those like 5 years ago. Having a fold-out with an opening hole would be awesome.


Edit: Crap, I missed the date too. My chance of surviving the zombie apocalypse is almost zero if I can't even avoid necrotic threads...

[TomAiello]

Or a build a knife program like build a bear but for knives. Choose your steel and handle scales and they ship it to your door. :cool:

BM does something like that. You can configure a custom knife on their web site, with a selection of colors, steel, and even custom graphics.

I'm not sure if Spyderco would want to go down that road, but it's a cool little program that lets people customize nice gifts and such.