Spyderco Forums

It seems that something was off during the run of the Urban AEB-L sprint run. When closed the blade tip sits pretty high. A friend brought this to my attention and after comparing my regular Urban with the sprint it looks like they ground part of the choil down in an attempt to make the blade sit lower when closed and resting on the spring. The bottom pic is from a disassembly video just to show where the choil sits when closed.

I apologize as I’m having trouble posting the other pics but I think you get the idea. When the regular Urban is closed the tip sits much lower than the tip on the aeb-l. After several sharpenings it may leave the tip exposed. Anyone else notice this? I’ve confirmed the same issue with two others.

Does it look like this is from the way the backspring interface was laid out, or is it something like a pivot hole placement?

There have been a couple on the other thread that said they had this problem and the rest of those who posted reported no issues. Obviously, some have a few QC problems and many do not. Mine will be here in a day or two, so I will check it out first thing.

Finally got the pics up. I apologize if this has been discussed.

JacksonKnives wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:39 pm

Does it look like this is from the way the backspring interface was laid out, or is it something like a pivot hole placement?

Looks like the backspring layout to me.

Went to my local shop yesterday and picked one up. I examined two others before picking the one I wanted. All three had the same issue. The one that I picked out of the three had a more centered blade and smoother jimps

Redman5006 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:44 pm

4B1ACC8D-E63D-4598-A649-8B813C05F098.jpeg

It looks like that would be a lot easier to fix by grinding down the spring than the heel, but I'm sure there's a very long and interesting story behind the result. I'd guess the fix was done without disassembly to save a lot of time/money.

JacksonKnives wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:59 pm

Redman5006 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:44 pm

4B1ACC8D-E63D-4598-A649-8B813C05F098.jpeg

It looks like that would be a lot easier to fix by grinding down the spring than the heel, but I'm sure there's a very long and interesting story behind the result. I'd guess the fix was done without disassembly to save a lot of time/money.

I thought the same thing.

Many differences in blade/pivot, aebl vs k390. How many can you spot? :)
I've corrected both, BTW.

Edit: aebl is the top image.

Maybe Lionsteel (?) is focusing so much on their own new slipjoints they let Spyderco slide a bit? Very interesting pictures.

That has really changed a great deal.

By the time the tip of the aeb-l becomes exposed through use and sharpening, you’re really not going to be concerned about taking a smidge off the choil nub to drop it back down, though.

It's a non-issue for me. More important is the heat treat of the blade and how well it's ground.

It looks like there’s less blade now, or ground away. They look completely different.

I remember reading a couple complaints about the tip on the Urban K390 hitting the backspacer when the knife was closed, mine actually had that issue as well. I wonder if this is their fix for that problem, though it looks like they may have caused another one.

Wow! That comparison kinda disturbs me. Seems like the CQI ethos got lost muddled in translation. I’ll make do with mine, of course, but be wary of the next Maniago Spydie.

ETA: Don’t get me wrong. I love the Urban (wonderful design and affordable vehicle for intriguing steels), and I fully expect the mothership to lean in after this release. In Maniago, I will trust but verify.

ChrisinHove wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 18, 2019 12:26 am

That has really changed a great deal.

By the time the tip of the aeb-l becomes exposed through use and sharpening, you’re really not going to be concerned about taking a smidge off the choil nub to drop it back down, though.

My original post said "k390 vs aebl" which indicated k390 was the top image. This is incorrect.
I corrected my post to clarify. Sorry for the confusion.

I removed just enough from the spring/spacer on k390 for the blade to clear, and a little from the aebl choil nub to lower the tip when closed.
They both function identical and perfectly except aebl is a little stiffer opening, and has a positive half stop (detent) both opening and closing, where k390 only has a positive half stop when closing.

None of this will keep me from buying future releases, they are great little user knives.

What am I missing here...? It looks to me like they corrected the previous issue of the blade contacting the backspacer by adding more space between the two. Yet somehow this warrants complaining about "QC"...