Spyderco Forums

I just worry I will have to crank down on the replacement just as hard to keep it centered. Either way I'm sure my OCD will force me to replace it eventually.

zaphrodbox wrote:Hello Everyone,
Kinda new to the forums (also tend to read more than post) but long time Spyderco fan nonetheless. I recently was lucky enough to add two of these PM2's to my collection; one into the rotation for carry and the other to be safely tucked away. I have a question to ask of the rest of you who got 'em - Did anyone else find that the lock-stop screw head on the OEM pocket clip side was all chewed up and looks like it may even be stripped out? Don't get me wrong I will buy new screws from spyderco and change them myself without a complaint, but I noticed on my carry knife (in photo with clip moved to right-hand-tip-up) and then decided to check the other brand new one still in its package and it is the same way. Both blades are perfectly centered and the one I carry opens like a dream But it begs the question; did I manage to get a rare pair of these awesome PM2's that happen to have the same flaw in their finish straight from the factory?

Yes and no on mine. I can see obvious tooling marks on the outside portion of the screw heads, but the inside doesn't appear to be stripped or mangled at all. Very strange that it's only on the clip side and not the presentation side.

I only purchased one of these PM. Mine looks excellent all around. I even put on my reading glasses to examine it. :o

I was a bit surprised to notice that the outside of my 52100 Military's pivot screws look a bit chewed up... Almost as if they were gripped by a machine that slipped somehow while it was turning. Insides are fine.

Exactly, like maybe some faulty torque driver was running at too high PSI :confused: ??assuming the have pneumatic torque guns for assembly??
But if we keep hearing from people and it's always this specific screw; then I tend to think it is the last one tightened, and they have to really crank on it to straighten the whole frame and center the blade :confused: . This is obviously a wild guess on my behalf, but it's all I got. Kinda impossible solve without more than 3 out of 1200(??) or 2400(??) I mean at this point it could be anything right?
That was my goal in posting (really not meant as a complaint) more hoping to gain a more usable data-set.

BHQ and Spyderco set the bar high with this one. Simple clean raw G10 and a proven and highly anticipated steel, all in the Paramilitary 2 chassis! Primo.

zaphrodbox wrote:Thanks for the response Kaze and I'm sorry to hear it. One question, was it the same location screw in yours? I guess we'll see if any more people speak up - should be interesting at least. I will probably poach a screw from one of my s30v PM2s and sand these ones before they go into the blade I poach from... Haven't decided yet.

Hi zaphrodbox and welcome to the forum!

Some of the screws on my BHQ PM2 are a little bit chewed up as well, and were also extremely tight. A few others have mentioned it in the last few pages of this thread as well. It's a fairly common issue I've seen on Golden-made Spydies. Not sure if the screws they use are a bit soft or if they just have some worn driver bits that need to be retired or have the torque setting a bit too high on their powered drivers, but for whatever reason, I've found it to be pretty common.

That said, it's mostly a cosmetic thing as the only knives I've had where the screws were so damaged I couldn't get them out have been on a couple of factory seconds I've bought, but obviously I can excuse that since they were like 1/4-1/2 price...

Really it's the only consistent knock I have against the quality of the Golden Spydies. It's not a huge deal as long as you're careful / have a good torx set, but if they could just fix that issue at the factory, the knives would be pretty much perfect in my opinion.

SpeedHoles wrote:

BHQ and Spyderco set the bar high with this one. Simple clean raw G10 and a proven and highly anticipated steel, all in the Paramilitary 2 chassis! Primo.

Beautiful pic!!

I've been wanting a PM2 for a long time, and up until now had been waiting for a sprint run in a high apex stability steel. CPM-M4 certainly fits the bill, and so I jumped on this sprint.

Already re-profiled to ~8-10 dps freehand using an Atoma 140 and then polished using Sigma Power Select II 240x, King 1000x, and King 4000x waterstones prior to applying a convex microbevel using 16 micron CBN on a suede bench strop:




I have to say I am quite surprised at how relatively lean the grind on the PM2 is. I was expecting the edge bevels to end up much wider than this without thinning the primary grind! Really inclines me to pick up the 52100 sprint when it is released.

That edge is amazing!!!!

Archimedes wrote:That edge is amazing!!!!

Thanks. Here's a couple more pictures of it for you:




The funny part is that I don't generally deliberately mirror polish my edges anymore, the apparent mirror finish is just a bonus side effect of stropping using 16 micron CBN emulsion on suede.

These things just beg to be photographed in front of light.

timlara wrote: Hi zaphrodbox and welcome to the forum!

Some of the screws on my BHQ PM2 are a little bit chewed up as well, and were also extremely tight. A few others have mentioned it in the last few pages of this thread as well. It's a fairly common issue I've seen on Golden-made Spydies. Not sure if the screws they use are a bit soft or if they just have some worn driver bits that need to be retired or have the torque setting a bit too high on their powered drivers, but for whatever reason, I've found it to be pretty common.

That said, it's mostly a cosmetic thing as the only knives I've had where the screws were so damaged I couldn't get them out have been on a couple of factory seconds I've bought, but obviously I can excuse that since they were like 1/4-1/2 price...

Really it's the only consistent knock I have against the quality of the Golden Spydies. It's not a huge deal as long as you're careful / have a good torx set, but if they could just fix that issue at the factory, the knives would be pretty much perfect in my opinion.

Hello timlara and thanks for the welcome,
I agree it is completly cosmetic because both of my examples function perfectly. It bums me out that this is a complaint about Golden, but still not a big deal to me. I use and enjoy the **** out of this PM2 and every other I own, and it would take a whole lot more than scratched screws to change my opinion. :D Thanks for the info and imput, much appreciated,

M4 rusts! Hot summer.

Rusting isn't a huge concern with M4 for most people, but corrosion of some type will occur.

I've had my share of screw issues with golden Spydies, no clue why.

chrisjohn wrote:M4 rusts! Hot summer.

Patina can be your friend with M4, 52100, super blue etc. On my users I try to get some going right away by using on fruit, in the kitchen and such. I know some prefer to apply oil to the blade also but I prefer a natural patina.

Welcome to the forum chrisjohn. :)

chrisjohn wrote:M4 rusts! Hot summer.

And it easily rusts on top of a patina! I must have gotten a little sweaty while carrying this one and working outdoors, that's all I can think of. The rust came off easily with a little metal polish but left the patina.

bdblue wrote: And it easily rusts on top of a patina! I must have gotten a little sweaty while carrying this one and working outdoors, that's all I can think of. The rust came off easily with a little metal polish but left the patina.

That was my experience too with the M4 on my Gayle Bradley. The rust spots gave way to the more innocuous black oxide underneath. Other than sweat though, it's still pretty stain free, as is my PM2 despite the fact that I use both on foods like tomatoes, onions, and raw meats. I guess I'm just too diligent about washing them.

To close the case on my Loctite debacle though, I successfully managed to cut a slot in the head of the stripped screw for a flat head screwdriver, and removed it. Careful when doing this! Not just to make sure you don't damage anything else, but make that cut clean and straight down or the screwdriver won't be able to grip it and it'll just slide right out.

I got my replacement screws yesterday (thanks again Scott!) and they came with a little sampler of Loctite, at which point I let out a hearty belly laugh and set the tube aside. Then I go to put in the new screw and lo and behold, it already has a dab of blue Loctite on it! Jeez Spyderco, you are insistent! I let it go though. The screws are in their final resting place now, and at least if I do strip another head, I have backups (again, thanks Scott!).

Is it just the angle or did you bowie grind the spine?