Why no sharpening choil?

[Ruudr]

I‘m sure Sal or Eric have a good reason for it, but I wonder why most of the Spyderco knives don‘t have a sharpening choil.
I like the fact of a knife having a sharpening choil just for the ease of sharpening. During sharpening the blade snags at the side of the stone which can damage it. Also with my Wicked Edge system I can‘t get the edge fully sharpened. (With some knives a choil just looks cool too) :D

A downside of the choil is that when I cut soft material the material catches behind the choil. So it has some advantages/disadvantages imo.
It is also an extra step in production which can make the knife more expensive I think?

What are your opinions/findings?

[Daveho]

That spyderco are a bit lazy on this front-
That said it’s an easy fix with basic tools

[Evil D]

Because it's easier for those who want it to add it themselves than it is for those who don't want it to remove it.

[Ruudr]

Because it's easier for those who want it to add it themselves than it is for those who don't want it to remove it.

That voids the warranty

[Evil D]

Because it's easier for those who want it to add it themselves than it is for those who don't want it to remove it.

That voids the warranty

I highly doubt adding a little 1/16 inch notch into the edge is going to void your warranty unless you completely screw it up and manage to snap the blade off. You don't need a giant scoop cutout to have an effective sharpening choil. I put what basically amounts to a large chip sized dimple into some of mine and it works just as well as any factory version, and it snags less.

[Bloke]

Because it's easier for those who want it to add it themselves than it is for those who don't want it to remove it.

That voids the warranty

Is that a fact? It just seems a little strange that it would.

[Ruudr]

Because it's easier for those who want it to add it themselves than it is for those who don't want it to remove it.

That voids the warranty

Is that a fact? It just seems a little strange that it would.

I hope it does not void the warranty. But after reading the Warranty page on the website it clearly say it does.

What Does the Warranty Cover/Not Cover?
✓ Spyderco warrants that all of our genuine products are free from defects in material and workmanship.
✓ This warranty does not cover loss, theft, or any damages caused by accidents, abuse, misuse, improper handling, alterations, neglect, improper sharpening, normal wear and tear, or repairs performed by any service not authorized by Spyderco, Inc.

What I would like to know is why there isn´t a choil or is it never considered?

[Nate]

It also says "This warranty does not cover loss, theft, or any damages caused by..." before alterations.

I think Evil D's posts nailed everything that needed to be said.

[Evil D]

This has worked just fine for me. Maybe my sharpening choil needs are different than others :confused:



If that little dimple voids my warranty then I guess don't ever chip your edge while cutting something or you're killing your warranty.

[Sumdumguy]

I guarantee, if you send a knife in to the good people at Spyderco with a genuine warranty claim, they are not going to turn you away because of a tiny sharpening choil.

I've been wrong before, but I believe with all my beliefs that I am not.

Let's hear what the big man has to say.

As for the why.
"Because it's easier for those who want it to add it themselves than it is for those who don't want it to remove it" -Evil D

Couldn't be explained any better than that.

[Bloke]

I think Evil D's posts nailed everything that needed to be said.

100% agree and I think it would be highly unlikely you’d send a knife to Spyderco say with a defensive lock and they wouldn’t it fix it because you ground a sharpening choil in the blade. But I really don’t know.

[gundamaniac]

Likewise, my interpretation is that damages caused by the alteration aren't covered. So if you add a sharpening choil improperly (say, with a triangular file) and the blade snaps at the stress riser caused by the triangular choil, then warranty won't cover that. Or if you scratch or gouge the finish of the blade or handle while filing the choil, the warranty won't cover that. I'd imagine that, as Bloke says, if your warranty issue is something like a defective lock then Spyderco wouldn't begrudge you that fix just because of a little notch in your blade edge. (Otherwise I'd have to think that chips in blades would be grounds for denying any warranty work!)

[Evil D]

If a person went at their blade and ground in a 1/4 inch notch and overheated the blade, then the blade snapped off at the plunge line and they sent it to Spyderco claiming that the heat treat on the blade was defective, then yeah I can see that voiding your warranty. It would have to be something that directly relates to the act of cutting the choil, which is absolutely no different from reprofiling the bevel of the edge (less so in fact since you're removing WAY less steel for a sharpening choil).

When I started adding them I thought you needed a large ~1/8 inch notch like this Spyderco use from time to time...



So on my Manix 2 I added this big notch...



..which has proven to be absolutely overkill and snags on everything. I'm going to sharpen it out into a single serration.

What I do now is basically just intentionally nick the edge with a Dremel, and I've found it to be every bit as effective as what Spyderco uses on that Centofante. Then as I sharpen the knife more and more the notch slowly gets sharpened away and I can grind it again and keep it as deep as I like.

The notch on this Military is so small you can barely see it.

[Evil D]

This.....is absolutely ridiculous and a complete waste of cutting edge.

[bearfacedkiller]

Sal has answered in the past. It is easy to add one and difficult to remove one.

If sharpening doesn’t void your warranty, which it obviously doesn’t, then I do not see how this would.

I am glad they do not come with them. I dislike them.

As far as snagging goes. Just make the notch sharp like a serration. Always wondered why that isn’t more common?

[Evil D]

As far as snagging goes. Just make the notch sharp like a serration. Always wondered why that isn’t more common?

I really wonder myself too, especially lately as I've grown much more fond of serrations. One single large serration in that spot would give you both benefits of a sharpening choil and a serration to cut cord with, and it wouldn't snag like a typical choil does.

[MichaelScott]

This is an area that has never come up for me personally. Never felt the need to have one. Logically, as EvilD noted, you can add it, but not put it back. It adds complexity to an already complex process — properly grinding a specific blade shape from already difficult to work with steel — thereby introducing the possibility of errors and rejected blades (and lost cost of production for them at that point in the manufacturing process), ultimately increasesing cost to us. I would also guess that most of us who even know what a sharpening choil is don’t want one anyway.

[Deadboxhero]

If a person went at their blade and ground in a 1/4 inch notch and overheated the blade, then the blade snapped off at the plunge line and they sent it to Spyderco claiming that the heat treat on the blade was defective, then yeah I can see that voiding your warranty. It would have to be something that directly relates to the act of cutting the choil, which is absolutely no different from reprofiling the bevel of the edge (less so in fact since you're removing WAY less steel for a sharpening choil).

When I started adding them I thought you needed a large ~1/8 inch notch like this Spyderco use from time to time...



So on my Manix 2 I added this big notch...



..which has proven to be absolutely overkill and snags on everything. I'm going to sharpen it out into a single serration.

What I do now is basically just intentionally nick the edge with a Dremel, and I've found it to be every bit as effective as what Spyderco uses on that Centofante. Then as I sharpen the knife more and more the notch slowly gets sharpened away and I can grind it again and keep it as deep as I like.

The notch on this Military is so small you can barely see it.

Nice regrinds, was that by you?

[Evil D]

Nice regrinds, was that by you?

Nope, Big Chris :}

[Ruudr]

Thanks for the replies. I‘ve successfully made a sharpening choil on my Manix 2 Maxamet, Para3 Maxamet, Dragonfly and lil‘ Native. Looks good and it‘s functional.