Does Anybody Know?

T

tjweeks

Joined
Apr 18, 2015
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Is there anyone out here in Spyderland that has got a Spyderco Southard that has quit flipping? I bought one here from some kind gentleman that had a good price on a Southard. He did not mention that it will not flip all the way open anymore. Spyderco will want an arm and a leg to fix it (I assume it's bad washers although I have not yet taken it apart). Does anyone know where I could buy some new washers and what dimensions they should be? If so please let me know and I would be very grateful. Thanks
 
What a guy, he's not even asking for your first born son. LOL!

It probably won't cost you more than shipping. Send it to the mother ship. They will take care of it.
 
Is it clean and lubed? If not give it a couple of drops of Rem Oil or BreakFree CLP (which I have used on expensive guns and knives for many years) and work the action. These 3-way lubes are readily available, not expensive and provide a cleaning, lubricating, and corrosion protection feature for anything metal. This lubricant was very popular when first used by the military for M16's, etc. during a small police conflict in SE Asia some years back.

I doubt anything is broken unless the knife has been abused as I know that the Spyderco engineers spent a lot of time (and probably money) designing this great flipper. I was surprised to see their MSRP on them when first release was about that of a Chris Reeve Sebbie. It is a great knife, IMHO.
 
tjweeks said:
Is there anyone out here in Spyderland that has got a Spyderco Southard that has quit flipping? I bought one here from some kind gentleman that had a good price on a Southard. He did not mention that it will not flip all the way open anymore. Spyderco will want an arm and a leg to fix it (I assume it's bad washers although I have not yet taken it apart). Does anyone know where I could buy some new washers and what dimensions they should be? If so please let me know and I would be very grateful. Thanks
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I once left my southard outside for a few months and it all but stopped flipping.

I had to disassemble it and clean the bearings; they had rusted. I took them to a paper towel and rubbed them around until rust stopped coming off. Put it back together after cleaning everything up and BAM! good as new.


But you really should send it home, spyderco does a great job, and you have a direct line to sal over here. I just live in the great white north, and I find doing repairs enjoyable
 
T tjweeks , the best advice is to send it in to Spyderco and see what they can do. Then, report back about your outcome. I’m very interested, as the Southard is my favorite knife ever, even though the bearing setup has always struck me as a bit fragile.

I’ve never heard of Spyderco gouging anyone with a hefty repair bill. Also, there have been a few sporadic reports about Spyderco fixing bearing issues with Southards lately, but the reports have been lacking specifics and detail.

That said, if for some reason you do take it upon yourself to troubleshoot, make sure that the plastic bearing retainers can spin freely in recesses of their respective scales. If they don’t, gently and slowly reduce their radius until they can. Use very fine sandpaper, 1000 grit or higher.

I’ve done this on two separate occasions when I’ve noticed a deteriorating action. It sounds crazy, but I swear something has caused those plastic bearing retainers to swell slightly. At the moment, the action on my Southard is as good as my ZT’s (which is high praise in my book).

Sorry for a long winded reply. Good luck getting it sorted. I’d love to hear how things turn out for you.
 
I got replacement bearings and hardened washers from someone on reddit, can't remember their handle...search for southard bearings. They improved the flipper action in a huge way.
 
Sal Glesser said:
Hi Tjweeks,

An arm, leg and maybe an ear. Just kidding. I think we would do the best job and I don't think it would be super costly.

sal
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You got an invite from Mr. Glesser himself, I would definitely send it back to Spyderco!
 
Sal Glesser said:
Hi Tjweeks,

An arm, leg and maybe an ear. Just kidding. I think we would do the best job and I don't think it would be super costly.

sal
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Mr. Glesser, What an honor. Okay, I got a Southard (that I personally have never opened) and a poor old Manix 2 dark blue Light weight That I have put the worlds worst sharpening job ever (s110v on a Spyderco Sharpmaker), It has taken me three years and the poor thing is starting to look like a karambit. Anything they can do on that will be an act of mercy.
It has been a pleasure talking to you-I like it when the Big Shots still care enough to walk in the trench's. Tom Weeks
 
Yeah I got a southard too that is fairly new, I love the knife but it's never left the house. It's a shame cause I would love to put it to use but I'm afraid if I even flip it too many times that the bearings are gonna end up like everyone elses. They are "functional" but don't flip anything like my ZT 0393, or any of my other flippers for that matter. I would happily pay spyderco to fix it but only if they are gonna put some thicker washers and or better bearings in it, not if they are gonna just put the same stock ones in there cause that obviously puts me back to square one with a knife I can't use.

I did try to contact the guy on reddit about a week or so ago again and got no response. Does anybody know the thickness of the stock washers?

It would be great if one of these knife shops sold a southard bearing upgrade kit to take the guesswork out of it, unlikely though since it's discontinued.
 
sdmf74 said:
Yeah I got a southard too that is fairly new, I love the knife but it's never left the house. It's a shame cause I would love to put it to use but I'm afraid if I even flip it too many times that the bearings are gonna end up like everyone elses. They are "functional" but don't flip anything like my ZT 0393, or any of my other flippers for that matter. I would happily pay spyderco to fix it but only if they are gonna put some thicker washers and or better bearings in it, not if they are gonna just put the same stock ones in there cause that obviously puts me back to square one with a knife I can't use.

I did try to contact the guy on reddit about a week or so ago again and got no response. Does anybody know the thickness of the stock washers?

It would be great if one of these knife shops sold a southard bearing upgrade kit to take the guesswork out of it, unlikely though since it's discontinued.
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I have tried to find that guy too but he has dropped off the radar. I finally sent mine to Spyderco and they "fixed it". There was one thing about even that that kinda pissed me. I think those washers/bearing are obviously a manufacturer's error and I thought should have been a no questions warranty item. The guy I got this knife from had put a CF scale on it and so Spyderco charged me for the repair because it had been modified. It was only 20 something dollars but I mean what the heck. There have been several other knives that I believe that Tolk Southard did with Spyderco and a couple month's back all my outlets suddenly ran limited Spyderco sales with big drops on the price (like happened on the Southards).
I think these knives used the same washers as the southward. I guess they are draining the swamp. I have kind of always been uneasy with Spyderco because of their funky warranty. If you ever sit and read it word for word, it is definitely not a consumer friendly warranty. There are all these things-pocket clips, scale screws and more that are so easy to get taken care of by almost all the knife companies. With Spyderco everything costs and if you break a blade they will not replace even if you offer to pay the entire cost. Most of the others will throw on a new blade for $35. I hate it that I like Spyderco knives so much.
 
Yeah I agree as much as these knives cost the warranties should be stellar. Thanks for the info but you omiited the most important info. Did they upgrade the washers/bearings or install the stock ones?
 
sdmf74 said:
Did they upgrade the washers/bearings or install the stock ones?
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T tjweeks , I’ve been wondering the same. You’ve been very verbose about you dissatisfaction in having to pay a nominal fee to repair a knife for which you are not the original owner. You have been very silent about the repair itself.

OE washer/bearing replacement or something new & different?


S sdmf74 , I’ve used my Southard regularly, more and harder than most (but not all) of my other folders for three years now. My washers are undeniably dished, but she’s still flipping great (given the radius thing I mentioned in post #6). And yes, I’ve flipped the living cr*p out of it.

I won’t discredit anyone’s frustration or defend the wisdom of the pivot’s design, but IMO you should use and enjoy the knife. It’s still among my favorites.

Just one more thing to add in case you haven’t researched the old threads: It’s been postulated that over tightening the pivot has lead to some problems. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but the times I’ve disassembled mine I’m very careful on reassembly.
 
Sal Glesser said:
Hi Tjweeks,

An arm, leg and maybe an ear. Just kidding. I think we would do the best job and I don't think it would be super costly.

sal
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Blown away to see the man himself reply. Thank you for caring about your customers Mr. Glesser . any chance for a left handed pm3 in the near future?
 
I thought I'd lost my Southard for good.

Then I found it buried in the mud in my yard after a year outside, including a full winter in the Rocky Mountains at 8900 feet. Needless to say it was in bad shape. It opened like it was full of sand.

I dropped it off at the mothership on my way to work. A week and twenty bucks later, I had a Southard that absolutely was better than when I first got it. Feels like a custom now.

Send it to Sal.
 
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