Caly 3.5 blade scraping liners?

Oofa · #1

I just received a new Caly 3.5 and my first impression before opening the blade was that they must have sent me a Caly 3 instead of a 3.5 because the knife looks quite small when closed. I was surprise at how small it seems in relation to the blade size. It is really a perfect size for edc and while it may look and feel small, light and compact when closed you still get that incredibly nice, centered, sharp 3.5" solid, blade with absolutely no blade play whatsoever once you open it. It really is just what I had been looking for in an edc.

Getting beyond the initial gritty, stiff opening and closing of the knife, (which as with many of my just off the shelf Spydercos, I believe will get better with a bit of use) I noticed that even though the blade is perfectly centered, it rubs on the liners at the base, where it is attached to the liners and scales when opening and closing it. It is leaving marks on the base of the blade. I'm not sure if it's a common quality control issue or not.

Anyone else notice that with their Caly 3.5 or Spydercos in general? Is that fixable?

phaust · #2

All Caly's have had it reported. There are no washers, so the flats of the blade near the pivot will rub the liners. The gritty feeling will go away as it wears in.

The Deacon · #3

Oofa wrote:I just received a new Caly 3.5 and my first impression before opening the blade was that they must have sent me a Caly 3 instead of a 3.5 because the knife looks quite small when closed. I was surprise at how small it seems in relation to the blade size. It is really a perfect size for edc and while it may look and feel small, light and compact when closed you still get that incredibly nice, centered, sharp 3.5" solid, blade with absolutely no blade play whatsoever once you open it. It really is just what I had been looking for in an edc.

Getting beyond the initial gritty, stiff opening and closing of the knife, (which as with many of my just off the shelf Spydercos, I believe will get better with a bit of use) I noticed that even though the blade is perfectly centered, it rubs on the liners at the base, where it is attached to the liners and scales when opening and closing it. It is leaving marks on the base of the blade. I'm not sure if it's a common quality control issue or not.

Anyone else notice that with their Caly 3.5 or Spydercos in general? Is that fixable?

If you're talking about what I think you are, then it's not unusual for it to happen on Spyderco midlocks in general, and on those built by Moki in particular. Moki does not use washers, so the blade is riding on the steel liners and that will inevitably leave marks on the blade.

Oofa · #4

Thank you. I was not aware of that. I had not considered the lack of washers. Marks or no marks, this Caly 3.5 is a winner for me.

wsdavies · #5

Mine rubs....

Blerv · #6

A little oil and air will speed up the process as well.

phillipsted · #7

The guys are right - and a little oil goes a long way toward helping you get the knife broken in.

TedP

drhanson · #8

I never owned a Spyderco before yesterday (been a BM guy) and since I live 30 minutes from the factory I went to the factory store yesterday and picked up a Caly 3.5 and a Para-Military 2. The Caly 3.5 was extremely gritty just as the OP described. I found a few hair thin metal shavings aprox. 1/2" to 3/4" long near the pivot. After I cleaned them out and lubed it with some Rem Oil its now smooth as silk.

KardinalSyn · #9

When mine came, it still had the metal shavings inside. Had to wash and oil several times. The grittiness did not go away. Finally sent it back to Spyderco as I felt that there was something wrong. They gave me several options and I chose to have the knife replaced with another one. There was some sort of a defect on mine which may have caused this grittiness. It is one of the best slicers in the line up. I miss mine.

Spyderbro · #10

The Deacon wrote:Moki does not use washers...

Why don't they? Is there an advantage to not using washers?

Clip · #11

Spyderbro wrote:Why don't they? Is there an advantage to not using washers?

The liners act as washers, distributing the force evenly. Therefore, no need. If you like the phosphor bronze/self-lubricating washers, they're definitely great and have their place, but it'd serve to make the Caly less streamlined, more complicated and are unneeded in my opinion. I just perform regular PMs and the knife is getting along fine. Also, using the liners alone allows more contact area/support on the blade pivot area.

I noticed my CF Caly3 and both SB 3.5s had very sharp edges/angles on their liners and the two SBs still had shavings in the handle that I blew out with compressed air On the 3, I took a 2000 grit piece of sandpaper and softened them slightly, but have also read a post by Sal about the indications of quality in Japan. If I remember, the ability to get a perfectly square edge and sharp angle is an indication of very high quality build over there, so makes sense why Moki finishes them sharp.