Just out of curiosity, how is it that so many of you get these Spydercos with all this supposed blade play? All the ones I've ever handled has been fine as far as blade tightness is concerned but yet I read ever day where someone bought a real one new where it had blade play. Is it perhaps an inquiry into QC that you hope to find an answer or are you all just gripping and ripping hoping to blame someone else?
I don't know, good question. But I can tell you from recent experience with Spyderco, ZT, Benchmade, and Boker Solingen - there is plenty of subpar inventory bouncing around out there, right alongside the good stuff. I think it's hardly fair to point a finger at the unsuspecting buyer as if it's their fault that they were sold what amounts to factory seconds that are not marked as such.
Some appear to feel that the makers are beyond reproach, and that the customers should all get in line like good little lemmings and take what's given to them without fussing about the sometimes cavernous differences in quality from sample to sample. I've sent back not one, but two Caly 3.5CF samples - one for blade play that could not be adjusted out without making it difficult to open the knife one-handed, and the other for a blade that had grinding marks on the side, parallel to the spine, and CF scales that looked like they had been skipped across asphalt. And don't get me started on ZT. They are really on my sh*t list right now. So yeah, this stuff is definitely out there.
That said, most of my twenty-odd Spydercos have arrived in tip-top shape. From my seat, they seem to do better in the QC department than some of their closest competitors, certain runs of certain models notwithstanding.
To the OP's question: use some blue loctite (#242) on the pivot screw - that will keep it from moving on you but still allow you to remove it with ease if/when needed.
