Cru-wear TiCN dragonfly exclusive

[brumledb]

Bought one from Indianaknives. I don’t currently have a DF in the collection and have been waiting on a compelling variation. This fits that bill for me but no doubt it is expensive.

[PStone]

Got mine in over lunch. Kudos to IndianaKnives for lightning fast shipping!

But I gotta say, I’m not too happy with this one. Not at the price I paid. Lots of small chipping around edges of carbon fiber and around two screw cutouts. One scale is slightly warped away from the liners creating a gap. None of the liners and scales line up. Scales are proud of the liners some spots, and liners proud of scales in other parts. Makes everything feel rough and sharp. Clip screw is really really proud and makes it so hard to unclip. I also think the edge may be hitting the clip screw post because I already have a nice dent in the unused edge.




This may seem overly critical and nit picky, but I had really high expectations at $168map.

[TkoK83Spy]

I don't blame you there! I'd be upset with that, and possibly be the first knife I've ever sent back. Too many things going on there for that price.

[PStone]

I don't blame you there! I'd be upset with that, and possibly be the first knife I've ever sent back. Too many things going on there for that price.

No. I’m not gonna send it back. It’s not IndianaKnives fault. They were awesome. And I’d hate to see it get restocked for someone else. Not that they do that there(I don’t know either way). I’ll probably just send it in to Golden and move on.

[jdw]

For me this has been a consistent problem out of Seki for the last several years for any knife that isn't FRN. The poor quality of my Fradon Delica helped turn me off of this one.

[steelcity16]

For me this has been a consistent problem out of Seki for the last several years for any knife that isn't FRN. The poor quality of my Fradon Delica helped turn me off of this one.

Yeah, unfortunately it sounds all too common on the non-FRN knives out of Seki. I guess St. Nick's had a ton of QC issues with their G10 Delica as well.

I still may press my luck on this one and hope for the best. It's too cool to pass up.

[Buddafucco]

BladeHQ... https://www.bladehq.com/item--Spyderco- ... fe--123707

[PStone]

For me this has been a consistent problem out of Seki for the last several years for any knife that isn't FRN. The poor quality of my Fradon Delica helped turn me off of this one.

Yeah, unfortunately it sounds all too common on the non-FRN knives out of Seki. I guess St. Nick's had a ton of QC issues with their G10 Delica as well.

I still may press my luck on this one and hope for the best. It's too cool to pass up.

I’m with you. It was too cool to pass up. Fingers crossed for you! :spyder:

I did have the StNick Delica and it was absolutely perfect(aside from my dislike of the frn backspacer instead of metal) fit and finish. And my Battlestation f&f rivals my Taichung models. I personally don’t think all these issues with mine are just because it isn’t frn. There’s got to be more to the story of what’s happening in Seki. I’ll try my luck on that Phoenix though!

[PStone]

Ok. So I had some more time with this one and have changed my mind a bit. I realized last night that I hadn’t detailed any of the pros. Only the cons. So I’m an effort to to point out some positive things, I discovered there is more to love than hate with the knife.

The carbon fiber itself is stunning. Almost glass like finish. It’s also perfectly centered. The edge denting will stop after a few sharpenings, so maybe not as big of deal as I thought it was. The rest of the blade is sharp as any other spydie I’ve gotten. As well as the clip screw I complained about is 100% normal for the dragonfly. I’m keeping it and am NOT deterred from buying any more non-frn Seki models. This is actually the first time I ever got a knife with fit and finish issues and I may have gotten a little too worked up. It really is a cool knife and I think I may be happy now after some time to ponder. Thanks for reading and I hope you all buy one. You’ll be wishing you did next year :spyder:

[JRinFL]

My ~$100 (list price, if you can get one) GEC knives that require much more hand work do not have those issues. A knife that is $168 should be better than what is shown. My older G-10 Dragonfly is much better assembled than the one shown here. Also, my clip screw head on the older model is lower with a smoother profile. I don't know when or why the profile was changed.
If it were me, I'd try to get it replaced by the seller or Spyderco while replacements are still available. I really hope all are not like this one.

[Snacktime]

My ~$100 (list price, if you can get one) GEC knives that require much more hand work do not have those issues. A knife that is $168 should be better than what is shown. My older G-10 Dragonfly is much better assembled than the one shown here. Also, my clip screw head on the older model is lower with a smoother profile. I don't know when or why the profile was changed.
If it were me, I'd try to get it replaced by the seller or Spyderco while replacements are still available. I really hope all are not like this one.

I 100% agree, industry standard for $100+ knife is perfection from the factory. Quality control is a moving target, every small change shifts the issue. So glad I am not a quality control engineer anymore!

[PStone]

My ~$100 (list price, if you can get one) GEC knives that require much more hand work do not have those issues. A knife that is $168 should be better than what is shown. My older G-10 Dragonfly is much better assembled than the one shown here. Also, my clip screw head on the older model is lower with a smoother profile. I don't know when or why the profile was changed.
If it were me, I'd try to get it replaced by the seller or Spyderco while replacements are still available. I really hope all are not like this one.

So you really think I should send it back? I won’t send it to the dealer but rather Spyderco in Golden. And I don’t think they do exclusive replacements. But they’ve also never ever done me wrong or left me unhappy. Hmmmm....

[JRinFL]

My ~$100 (list price, if you can get one) GEC knives that require much more hand work do not have those issues. A knife that is $168 should be better than what is shown. My older G-10 Dragonfly is much better assembled than the one shown here. Also, my clip screw head on the older model is lower with a smoother profile. I don't know when or why the profile was changed.
If it were me, I'd try to get it replaced by the seller or Spyderco while replacements are still available. I really hope all are not like this one.

So you really think I should send it back? I won’t send it to the dealer but rather Spyderco in Golden. And I don’t think they do exclusive replacements. But they’ve also never ever done me wrong or left me unhappy. Hmmmm....

It is worth a call to Spyderco. For an exclusive, I would also call the seller. They should understand the issue and help. I know it is not strictly their issue, but you cannot deal direct with the distributor who paid for the exclusive.

[PStone]

It is worth a call to Spyderco. For an exclusive, I would also call the seller. They should understand the issue and help. I know it is not strictly their issue, but you cannot deal direct with the distributor who paid for the exclusive.

Roger that. Then I think I will take your advice and reach out to w&r. The only real issue that I can’t address myself are the scale/liner lining up right. I was also comparing clip screws from the g10 version as well. That’s why I thought it was an issue. Thanks for your advice JR!

[Rinzler]

As much as I didn’t want to spend 168 for this knife, I ended up buying one because my workplace is restricted and this sized blade keeps me legal. I’m a big fan of Spyderco knives but this is purchase is very disappointing. So much so that I’m considering selling it. The CF material is extremely smooth with a high gloss finish. The edges are very rough and jagged and have not been cleaned up, and the radiused edges are very sharp on the flat gloss surface to normal cf edge transition. In other words, the flat plane along the scale perimeter is sharp also. The scales are not of the same dimensions as the metal frame components either. This leads to an uncomfortable feel in the hand. If the cf scales were of a different material (this is unlike any other Spyderco cf material I’ve seen) and if the execution of the construction was of higher quality, then I could stomach the high price. As is, I would have never bought the knife if I’d have seen it beforehand. In its current form I wouldn’t pay $50 for it.

[PStone]

As much as I didn’t want to spend 168 for this knife, I ended up buying one because my workplace is restricted and this sized blade keeps me legal. I’m a big fan of Spyderco knives but this is purchase is very disappointing. So much so that I’m considering selling it. The CF material is extremely smooth with a high gloss finish. The edges are very rough and jagged and have not been cleaned up, and the radiused edges are very sharp on the flat gloss surface to normal cf edge transition. In other words, the flat plane along the scale perimeter is sharp also. The scales are not of the same dimensions as the metal frame components either. This leads to an uncomfortable feel in the hand. If the cf scales were of a different material (this is unlike any other Spyderco cf material I’ve seen) and if the execution of the construction was of higher quality, then I could stomach the high price. As is, I would have never bought the knife if I’d have seen it beforehand. In its current form I wouldn’t pay $50 for it.

Hey Rinzler. That’s too bad. My experience is the same. I wouldn’t have bought it if I saw it first. Still was going to keep it anyways for the cool factor. But after a nudge from JRinFL, I called and spoke with Charlyn from W&R yesterday. She listened to my issues and advised me to try and get it replaced with the dealer first. Because they can’t replace an exclusive. But to go ahead and send mine in for evaluation since my dealer is out of stock. She was super nice and took more time than I feel she needed to in order to listen to me.

You should call them and talk to them. I know they’ll take care of us.

[GarageBoy]

G.Sakai can definitely do better, and I wish they would. A come back with a fun Japanese steel would be awesome
$40+ to upgrade to cf and cruwear (vs. the g10 one) is a tad steep.

[steelcity16]

This is all a bit of a bummer to see and hear. I have never had any issues with any of the MANY Seki knives I have and have previously owned. That said, I stick to FRN 99% of the time in my Seki knives. As much as I wanted a blacked out Dragonfly, and was willing to give this one a shot regardless of my disdain for smooth scales, lack of fondness for CF, and the high price tag, I decided to pass based on the QC issues. I plowed the money instead into a Hawkbill Dfly, some Z-cuts, and a few Ladybugs and Manbugs. I'll still hold out hope for a blacked out Dragonfly Salt and a Cru-carta Dragonfly (hopefully without the QC issues seen on recent non-FRN Seki knives).

[Senfkarte]

Got mine in over lunch. Kudos to IndianaKnives for lightning fast shipping!

But I gotta say, I’m not too happy with this one. Not at the price I paid. Lots of small chipping around edges of carbon fiber and around two screw cutouts. One scale is slightly warped away from the liners creating a gap. None of the liners and scales line up. Scales are proud of the liners some spots, and liners proud of scales in other parts. Makes everything feel rough and sharp. Clip screw is really really proud and makes it so hard to unclip. I also think the edge may be hitting the clip screw post because I already have a nice dent in the unused edge.

This may seem overly critical and nit picky, but I had really high expectations at $168map.

In my opinion this is far from overly critical and nit picky. A dent in the edge is something that's an absolute no go for every knife over a €5 gas station knife. The other two points also should not be present at a price point over €50 (all just my opinion). This knife is three times more the price.
That this one is an exclusive is a problem and I can understand, why you don't want to send it in. Maybe it's better to have a bad one then nothing. But even if it is not IndianaKnives fault, that the problems exist, they sold it to you and made money with this transaction. That's the risk of selling things. There always can be some problems with your item that you sell, and now it's their job to correct this, so you get the item you ordered without any big malfunction. If Spyderco will help you direct that's great and nice from Spyderco, but the first contact should go to IndianaKnives. At least that's how I see it. Maybe it's because I'm from Germany and that's the way things are here, I don't know.

[Zive]

After reading your report of the QC issues you’ve encountered I went back and re-examined my knife a little more closely. When held up to a light there was a small gap between the liners and scales at the back of the handle.

I got out my torx driver and found that there was a lot of travel before the rear screw tightened up. I moved on to the rest of the screws and other than the pivot they all had a ways to go. Now there is no space between the scales and spacers and my scales are flush with the back of the liners.

I’m assuming you’ve tried this already, but you might try backing the screws off, seeing if you can adjust to make the scales less proud, then re-tightening each screw a little bit at a time.

That said, for the price paid I don’t believe you should have to tweak anything to get it lined up and in good working order.

It seems that you like the knife despite the “rough edges” it turned up with. In my experience sending a sprint or exclusive into W&R means kissing it goodbye (not a ding on W&R, but that’s the reality of one-off pieces like this).

Hope you can get the knife in good order one way or another.

Cheers