Do the world class brands care about action, centering and lockup?

Sibyrnes said:
You know, we love photos here. Would be interesting to see what you consider "issues".
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Good to know what we love, thanks!

I think what I learned in this exercise is that I’m simply looking in the wrong place for answers which is my fault. I was hoping someone with knowledge of the manufacturing process to chime in about tolerances, differences in Production by region, what is and isn’t included in etc. while I enjoy the discourse, I should’ve assumed that most here are just like me being fans and collectors (albeit with far more collector experience) ready to share anecdotal experience which obviously varies a lot.

(I said several times that I was able to tune out all the ‘issues’ so thers nothing to show)
 
Talking Spyderco... Victorinox is the only brand comes close, owned 30 something.

A Japanese backlock is different and drop shuts compared to a USA backlock like a Native 5 or a Native Chief, with no washers I think, or just one. These are nice slow roll openers - not as smooth as the Taiwanese Chaparral. The Chap is just a VERY smooth backlock and I lost mine yesterday, just great function and walk/talk

They are the only Spydies I cannot flick open without wrist are these and the Chaparral. Police 4? No need to slow roll, I can flick it with my middle finger.

Compression locks are imo the easiest, I just can't use a two hander for anything but a specific task or leisure like cutting my food or something. At work I use a comp lock because I need that out of my pocket and open to go cut cut cut cut on a box and closed fast cause I'm running back in the store on the floor, because there's someone on the horn and she needs a price check. My favorite lock next to the backlock and most all of my 20 plus are perfect. I would avoid Para 3 LWs and go with a Sage 5 if you're a stickler on action though... The Sage 5 LW has liners and the action is PERFECT, the DLC too

Spyderco's Crucarta PM2 has been a steadfast companion. Cannot flip the clip to the tip down on this or my BD1N one. Sucks cause the knife is so good otherwise.

Police 4 LW K390 serr., Yojimbo Cruwear, Yojumbo, all waved are some other faves with perfect action, and my only framelocks are Spydies, my Cricket (AMAZING - so good that my girl stole it...) and my stunning Gayle Bradley Advocate in M4. Beautiful grind.

So... I'd say Spyderco is a touch ahead compared to Benchmade and all that ZT.
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
Nice selection. Which model is the 5th up from the bottom with the smaller hole? I like the narrower pocket profile.
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Swayback. It has very nice rounded scales and very slim footprint.

Ud5aD3Y.jpg
 
Hellasharp said:
Good to know what we love, thanks!

I think what I learned in this exercise is that I’m simply looking in the wrong place for answers which is my fault. I was hoping someone with knowledge of the manufacturing process to chime in about tolerances, differences in Production by region, what is and isn’t included in etc. while I enjoy the discourse, I should’ve assumed that most here are just like me being fans and collectors (albeit with far more collector experience) ready to share anecdotal experience which obviously varies a lot.

(I said several times that I was able to tune out all the ‘issues’ so thers nothing to show)
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Sorry, didn't mean to rub you wrong.:rolleyes:
 
Danke42 said:
All were centered to the eye and centered when checked with feeler gauges all were within 0.05mm +/-..
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I had never heard of a feeler gauge before, but now I see there are lots for sale on the Internet. Do you have any suggestions on good or bad brands, number of blades, range of thicknesses, etc.?
 
I’ve had great luck with American made Spydercos. Always centered with great action and grinds. I looked at some benchmades at my local gun store and they were all centered with great action also.
 
Almost all of my Striders, Hinderers, and CRK’s are and come off-centered. As long as the blade doesn’t rub against the scales it doesn’t really bother me.
 
As for the china and asian knives being well made and finished I would say that the cheap labor they can have more skilled workers and afford to put in more time to get them perfect. Does it make them better cutting tools? That’s going to depend on the steel, heat treat, design, geometry and materials.

Here In the USA manufacturers have to pay much more for skilled labor and they usually have a spec tolerance for fit and finish all through the production process to meet time per unit limits to be efficient, productive and make a decent profit while still producing a decent knife.

As for myself I’m more interested in the performance level and functionality than how it looks.
 
Another Shepherd said:
I had never heard of a feeler gauge before, but now I see there are lots for sale on the Internet. Do you have any suggestions on good or bad brands, number of blades, range of thicknesses, etc.?
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Hard to say, the one I have is mainly used on engines to set valves. Just get one like this and stack the thinner ones till you have the go / no go. They're like $10 at a car parts place.

41gnW-S2boL._AC_.jpg
 
Danke42 said:
Hard to say, the one I have is mainly used on engines to set valves. Just get one like this and stack the thinner ones till you have the go / no go. They're like $10 at a car parts place.
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Thanks, I'll do that!

I rarely see knives over $20 that look badly centered, but it is nice to be able to measure stuff.
 
I’ve had a few Spyderco’s with centering and/or lock stick issues over the years. However, I kinda consider it a challenge to work with the knife until the issue(s) is resolved. I truly enjoy the challenge, learn a thing or two upon occasion and appreciate the sense of satisfaction derived from rectifying the problem.
 
I don't really care about centering on Spydercos but my recent Native 5 in magnacut had very crooked jimping on the lockbar and where it met the handle was also crooked. I know they had some kind of issue with the lockbars causing the delay on these.
 
Hellasharp said:
Good to know what we love, thanks!

I think what I learned in this exercise is that I’m simply looking in the wrong place for answers which is my fault. I was hoping someone with knowledge of the manufacturing process to chime in about tolerances, differences in Production by region, what is and isn’t included in etc. while I enjoy the discourse, I should’ve assumed that most here are just like me being fans and collectors (albeit with far more collector experience) ready to share anecdotal experience which obviously varies a lot.

(I said several times that I was able to tune out all the ‘issues’ so thers nothing to show)
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You will for sure find people willing to tell you that they got a bad Spyderco but you'll way more people ready to tell you they own hundreds that are all fine.

Specifics on the manufacturing process will pretty well be internal only company info. The best thing to do for a general overview is to go to the sub forum below and tag Sal with your questions. He's patient and really familiar with he brand.
 
I've only been disappointed by 2 badly centred folding knives out of 70 folders (I mostly own fixed blades). One was my first and only Hinderer and the other a Benchmade.
 
Pretty good experience with Spyderco actually, but I really only have a small sample size. 😅 Can’t complain about the Para 3 and Manix 2 S110V. My Resilience was a bit off centered out of the box, but it doesn’t really impede function nor compromise safety. Not perfect, but I like that big knife.

IMO, the higher the asking price, the higher we should set our expectations. If a Civivi can have perfect action, lockup, and centering, a $200 US made knife should have all that and more. Condescending snobs will dismiss this as ‘whining’ but no sir, it’s called getting your money’s worth.
 
I think they are probably busy making as many knives as they can for normal people who buy 1, use it for work, and never sharpen it. Those people don't care if the blade tip is 2 degrees off center in the handle, and they are right in not caring because it does not matter. lol
 
Ilikesharpstuff said:
It's all subjective and comparing brands won't get you far. For everyone who bought an off-center Spyderco and a perfect Civivi, there's another guy who's Civivi wouldn't lock up but his Spyderco was spot on. Insert any two brands and the same will be true. Unless someone was going to take 100 knives from brand X, Y, and Z and compare how many were off center, how many had bad lockup, and how many had bad action, it's all just internet stories. Some things will always pass QC that shouldn't, and we don't really know what is a pass/fail from any individual company besides obvious flaws.

Even if you were to do such an experiment, what's acceptable vs. not? We talking the tip (with a possibly uneven grind) being 1/64" off center or 1/16"? What's bad lockup? A tiny bit of blade play or failing a spine whack? What about lock stick? Maybe it will break in maybe it will stick forever. How about action? Should everything be expected to flick open and drop shut right out of the box?
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I have never once heard of a Civivi that doesn't lock up, and their standard warranty fix is to swap the knife with another from the vendor you purchased from, which means the buyer doesn't have to worry about sending a knife back only to learn that the issue won't be corrected under warranty or receiving their knife in the same state of disrepair it went out in. They just get a new knife without hassle.
 
Ilikesharpstuff said:
It's all subjective and comparing brands won't get you far. For everyone who bought an off-center Spyderco and a perfect Civivi, there's another guy who's Civivi wouldn't lock up but his Spyderco was spot on. Insert any two brands and the same will be true. Unless someone was going to take 100 knives from brand X, Y, and Z and compare how many were off center, how many had bad lockup, and how many had bad action, it's all just internet stories. Some things will always pass QC that shouldn't, and we don't really know what is a pass/fail from any individual company besides obvious flaws.

Even if you were to do such an experiment, what's acceptable vs. not? We talking the tip (with a possibly uneven grind) being 1/64" off center or 1/16"? What's bad lockup? A tiny bit of blade play or failing a spine whack? What about lock stick? Maybe it will break in maybe it will stick forever. How about action? Should everything be expected to flick open and drop shut right out of the box?
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My latest purchase (a CF/M4 PM2) had the second worse lock stick of any knife I’ve held. Did the pencil trick, played with the screws, and over about a week it broke in perfectly…
I will say that Spyderco does the sharpest, most consistent edges (USA stuff at least), other than maybe ZT.
 
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