Does anyone else have problems with most every purchase?

[gbelleh]

You know, sometimes I'm glad when a knife (or similar item) comes to me with an imperfection, because I'm more likely to actually use it as intended, rather than baby it.

I'm finding the longer I collect Spydercos, the less I'm afraid to put the first scratch on them. Because I realize that using such well designed tools as intended is just as satisfying as owning pristine, flawless examples. So, a slightly off center blade, or imperfection in a scale eventually becomes just another part of the character of a well worn tool that has served me well, and fulfilled its purpose.

[tanrichguy]

Hey Phrenik,

I've had a couple Spydies with uneven blade grind in the past and one knife that had to be returned to Spyderco under warranty replacement. With the blade grind issue I just sharpened it out if it was a user, or left it alone for a collector piece.
I admit I was miffed at first too but the vast majority of knives I've purchased from Spyderco have been really top quality. It is hard to develop a manufacturing process that will guarantee 100% accuracy 100% of the time. That being said I think Spyderco does it better than any other high volume manufacturer.

I think it would be a tremendous help and would add greatly to the discussion if you could post pictures of the defects.

The couple of times I've dealt with Charlynn in their warranty department she has been great-I even started a thread a while back to make it known she did a fantastic job helping me. Maybe give email another try?

I hope that your issues are resolved to your satisfaction and that you don't give up on collecting.

Cheers

Aaron

[kawr]

When I first started buying Spyderco knives I had high expectations that were mostly met except for the minor F&F flaws that are inherent in all production companies. At the time I was a little bothered by it but then I bought knives from other companies and quickly realized that nothing you buy from a production company is going to be absolutely perfect. The closest you can get to perfection is to buy from custom makers or semi custom makers like CRK. Now I appreciate Spyderco knives even more and in my eyes they are perfect for me in their form and function. Once you see what the other quality knife companies have to offer you then realize how frickin awesome Spyderco really is and decide to stick with them.

[kankryb]

I´m close to 200 :spyder: and I have to say NO

[Lord vader]

"Does anyone else have problems with most every purchase? "

no

None for me.Spyderco quality is in my book, second to none.

[Spider bite]

Every purchase... No. My last purchase ... Yes. I just had to send a G-10 Dragonfly in I got with alot of vertical blade play.

[buglerbilly]

Couple of hundred for me including a lot of Oldies from private collections and very few problems with any of them, but a few for sure, possibly 2 or 3....thats an acceptable percentage to be honest.

I've had more problems with one or two so-called Custom knife makers who do little but operate machines and have sub-contractors do most of the serious work..........a minority produce high-price knives with average to low quality of finish.

Regards,

BRIAN

[The Deacon]

Sounds like it might be a combination of overly high expectations and bad luck.

No idea how badly warped your is, but AFAIK, "slightly" warped rods would be considered within tolerances.

What you describe regarding the Spyderhole is normal, they never clean the inside and, depending on how it was cut (laser, water jet, etc) it can be a bit rough inside and have a sharp edge.

Out of the box sharpness is subjective to some extent, but also does vary due to the fact the knives are all sharpened by hand. Doubt any two identical knives by any maker, will be perfectly equal in terms of sharpness when purchased and, if they were, it would most likely be the exception rather than the rule. I've had excellent luck with the several hundred Spydercos I've purchased new. All but one or two were very sharp, but some of the sharp ones were even sharper than others.

FWIW, I was once told by a collector of a "semi-custom" brand considerably more expensive than Spyderco that his strategy was to buy at least five specimens of each knife, "cherry pick" the best, and sell the rest.

[NoFair]

I have quite a few (lost count :o ) and I've had very few issues with mine. The issues I've had were also small details so I haven't sent one back yet. I have gotten a couple of screws in the mail to replace stripped ones though (thx Charlynn ).

There is a bit of variation in out of the box edges, but all have been somewhere between decent and very very good.

I think some of the makers are bit better at QC than others with Moki and the Taiwanese maker of the Sages the best.
My Para2 was perfect and my latest Spydies from Golden have all been good though.

Sverre

[ChapmanPreferred]

Dear Jeffery Lee,

Very sorry to read about your quality control and tolerance issues/concerns. Also, it is inspiring to read your personal history and how it motivated your career path. I believe that you strive to privide flawless service to each patient you lavish care upon which must be challenging. I also understand the difficult economic times which have also made it very difficult for my family.

I have received imperfect Spydercos, but I only remembering turning one knife in for warranty service and it was replaced by Spyderco. I currently have Spyderco Military with orange G10 scales that has the lanyard tube slightly off center to where you can feel it protruding out on the non-clip side of the handle. On the same knife the blade tip is not perfectly centered. Neither issue has impacted my use of the knife so I am willing to look past it and enjoy the knife. The Military is my all time favorite model.

I have actually gone out of my way to purchase Spydercos with imperfections from other people. I once purchased a Spyderco off eBay that was listed as the dullest NIB Spyderco ever. When I received it, I was able to remove the burr that was hiding the actual sharpness of the knife in less than 1 minute.

All that is irrelavent to you because your not me. I included it as an example of how it is okay to be different than anyone else who replies to your posted concerns. Especially for the gift you plan to give, I can relate to wanting to supply the recipient with the finest example of Spyderco manufacturing I could afford to give them.

I see that your descretionary time is very precious to you since you are working 12 hour shifts and probably aiding your family when you are not working or sleeping. I commend your commitment to your family.

I also hope that you will not completely write off Spyderco. It seems you have experienced the best and worst (including response to this thread) all within a very short amount of time. I know it would be challenging given your schedule, but I think a phone call could help you feel as though Spyderco is still there to hear your concerns.

I wish you the best!

Doug Chapman

[SaturnNyne]

Jeffrey,
Unfortunately, I have to agree with some of the others that you seem to be having a run of bad luck in this area. However, I really don't think it sounds like your expectations were unreasonable. I don't take your post as immature or a rant at all; you were just asking if your experience is normal—and I'd say it isn't. The only thing that might be nit-picky would be complaining about the hole being unusually sharp (I've had this problem and dealt with it by filing it down), but it sounds like that's not actually what you're saying. Hard to tell without a photo, but what you seem to be describing is a very noticeable manufacturing defect that left a bit of melted slag around the hole? If so, I've never seen that before and I'd say you're right to be disappointed by it, especially if it's a gift. If it's very small, perhaps it could be very carefully filed away with the corner of a sharpmaker rod, leaving a result the recipient probably wouldn't even notice? If it's truly large and obvious, I don't know what to tell you; rotten luck.

As for the dullness you describe (which seems to be more than just not-razory-sharp), I'd say that's also unusual and disappointing, though I feel like I've heard more reports of it lately. If it can't cut printer paper out of the box, that's a failed sharpening. The only one of mine that arrived kind of dull was the Persistence, but it still had a working edge that could more or less cut. Also the tiny plain section of my Aqua arrived dull to the point of really not being able to cut, but I think that's an issue with it rubbing against the sheath.

So, in short, I think you're right to be upset, but it sounds to me like the problem probably lies in a string of misfortune, rather than any real problem with Spyderco. I hope you'll stick around and come to find that Spyder products aren't disappointing after all; they do make quality stuff.

Just an example of how these things sometimes happen.... Many people with a more or less casual interest in flashlights will say that SureFires are the absolute best and the only brand they'll ever buy. They have tremendous faith in their quality and view them as nearly perfect. However, I just seem to have unusually bad luck with them; they're the only company I've consistently had issues with across multiple products. Bad led tints, a misaligned beam, an improperly assembled tail that leaked, a tail that became sticky with use, a clicky tail that failed after a day of light use.... From my perspective, the brand seems disappointing, and there definitely are areas where they have room for improvement, but many people are completely satisfied with them, and many have bought more and had fewer problems. Sometimes luck just isn't with us on certain brands or at certain times, but I hope your Spyder luck will turn around quickly!

As far as my Spyderco problems go, after about seven years of buying and using them:
-Native III developed vertical play after hard use; living with it.
-Persistence arrived kinda dull; sharpened up in a few minutes.
-Manix2 had very loose pivot; fixed myself rather than send it in.
-Ladybug had very sharp hole; smoothed out with SM rod.
-Pacific SE has poorly cut teeth that perform badly; trying to fix them myself, but Sal has already offered to take care of it if I can't.
-Aqua SE came with dull plain section at tip; sharpened easily, but I think this is a known minor issue with the fit of the sheath. Not too bothered.
So far, I've never had to send a knife back for repair. I've had a few minor issues, but really not very high rate of problems at all.

Hope that helps, good luck to you!

You know, sometimes I'm glad when a knife (or similar item) comes to me with an imperfection, because I'm more likely to actually use it as intended, rather than baby it.

I feel much the same way! When I first got my ZDP Calypso, I immediately started testing its cutting ability and putting scratches in the blade because I wanted to mar it a little before I could think about its price and rarity too much and get attached to its pristine condition. More recently, I think my Khukuri literally asks to be used. It's one of my favorite knives, much coveted before I finally purchased it, hard to replace, and climbing in value, so I find myself a little reluctant to use it aggressively; but the knife arrived with a very slight smudgy spot on the blade finish, it developed a small scratch near the emblem just about the first time I used it, and the corners on the back of the blade seem to develop small dings and nicks for no apparent reason. I'm starting to think the knife is actively trying to get me to show less concern for it. :)

[Mr Blonde]

Nope, I've had two knives I returend for service in the 10+ years I consider myself a spyderco collector. One was a SS Police model in which the spring on the lockback had 'slipped', making the lock unreliable. And the other was a Ti Military that had lock problems. Both were fixed or replaced quite fast.

If I find something on a Spydie I don't like or would like to improve, I can usually fix it myself with a bit of sharpening, polishing or adjusting the right screws.

It's my experience that newer collectors tend to see everything on a new knife through a microscope and generally have high expectations for a specific pricepoint, whereas 'older' collectors tend to look at only a few distinct aspects through a microscope and consider a broader range of pricepoints when examining f&f. Nothing wrong with that, I'm sure I was the same when I started collecting Spyderco. Thanks to forums like these, those experiences can be discussed and compared.

Wouter

[The Deacon]

Hard to tell without a photo, but what you seem to be describing is a very noticeable manufacturing defect that left a bit of melted slag around the hole? If so, I've never seen that before and I'd say you're right to be disappointed by it, especially if it's a gift.

You could be correct, but based on my own Spyderhawks, and quite a few other Spydercos, I have a hunch he's describing something like thls...

[CENTER][/CENTER]

on one of my H-1 Spyderhawks.

[CENTER][/CENTER]

Believe they're artifacts from the laser cutting of the hole. The one one Jefferey's knife could be larger that that, I know I have knives with bigger ones.

[HotSoup]

I didn't read the entire thread, but I have the same Spyderhawk, and it had the same issue. A very large burr left in the Spyderhole. I ground it out with a rotary tool and some fine sandpaper, but its really a toss-up. Sometimes the knives have them, sometimes they don't.

Its really an oversight that needs to be adressed IMO, but since its easily rectifiable, I don;t complain too much.

[2cha]

I've purchased about a hundred in the last year and I've had very few issues, and I've only sent one knife in under warranty--a ladybug that wouldn't lock--turns out just needed a good lube job. I was disappointed that when there was a scratch near my CC# on damascus delica--putting the knife into user category vs. shelf--but I was on the fence about using it anyway. Blade grinds aren't always perfect--but all mine have been close enough--I just keep in mind that IMO many spyderco knives have more hand work than those of major competitors, and with hand work at this price point, perfection isn't in the cards. Even the damascus delica wasn't priced for a perfect knife. A "perfect" knife that involves human hand-work starts at about--again, IMO--$300 and just goes up from there.

I know the feeling of disappointment though. as gbelleh pointed out, there are often little things "wrong" with brand new firearms that cost must more than knives--out of 6 firearm purchases this year, only 2 have been more or less perfect out of the box, the others either had minor scratches or other more serious problems that needed to be worked out. It sucks, but seems to just be part of the deal. (all of my guns were well under $1000 too, this might make a difference,...)

[ICSK]

Yes, I've had to send in 2/3 of my Spyderco products in for warranty as well. Unlike you, I'm able to call them during the day but I can still say it's ridiculously hard to get in contact with anybody from warranty and repair. I'd say only about 20% of my calls actually make it through while the rest go to the answering machine.

[FLYBYU44]

I believe that they have left the Spydie hole rough because it is easier to open, so they don't polish them smooth or anything. Still it should not have metal sticking out from it either. I've had a few problems, mostly just blade play on FRN and stainless models with rivots. I had a Military that the liner lock move all the way across, but I took it apart and when I put it back together it was good. I would expect some flaws seeing as how Spyderco's are production knives. I bet that on average they have way better QC then other knife companies out there.

[SolidState]

Are you buying directly from spyderco or from another dealer?

[zidfeldts]

I have bought about 40 Spydercos over the last couple of years. I have bought old ones, out of production and new ones. All of these have been sight unseen and I have yet to have an issue. Am I just lucky?

[TexSierra]

Spydercos are production made hand sharpened knives. Nothing is going to be perfect, but they are quite close. In fact, I actually find the imperfections attractive, as long as they are mild. Adds personality. But I collect Spydercos to use. Sounds to me like you need to shop for your knives in person or have your seller inspect before the sale.