- Joined
- Jun 3, 2001
- Messages
- 2,233
Well I got my paramilitary after a lot of going back and forth between that and the mini-manix, and after a short backorder at 1sks.com. I think as it stands, this is the perfect knife for me. Great materials, great design and ergonomics, great shape. It's an awesome knife. That said, there were a few disappointments, mostly with regard to the fit and finish.
1. The knife wasn't as sharp as all my other Spydercos have come. This isn't that big of a deal except that I'm not that good at sharpening, so it seems like straight out of the box is the only time I ever experience these knives at their sharpest. I got it shaving sharp pretty quickly with my sharpmaker, so it didn't really matter, but it was a bit of a let down compared to how scary my other knives were when I got them.
2. The little spacer between the G10 slabs where the lanyard hole is was very rough looking. It just looked unfinished.
3. The action was kind of rough. Again, not REALLY that big of a deal, but I was hoping it'd be smoother.
4. The notches on the thumb ramp are a weird coppery color and also uneven. This is the most disappointing thing to me, considering this knife is the most expensive knife I own. When I get a $100 Spyderco, I expect better machining than this.
I feel like a jerk returning a knife and besides, I didn't want to be without it for another week or more, so I decided to try and fix these issues myself. I've never taken apart a folder before, so it was a little scary, but I think I did a good job. I took the knife completely apart, polished the grommet spacer around the lanyard hole, polished the washers, blade, and liners where they all meet, and put it back together using blue Loctite.
The result is an absolutely SILKY smooth action. It is easily the smoothest knife I own or have ever handled. I am extremely pleased that less than an hour of work resulting in such a smooth action. The spacer around the lanyard hole looks nice and shiny now also.
The only thing I have left to do is try and correct the crappy job on the thumb ramp, but I don't have any files so that will need to wait. Even with the poor machining on the ramp, this is by far my favorite knife. I am considering getting an SE one to have a matched set, but I'm afraid I'll never carry another knife if I do.
After I did the Paramilitary, I was pleased with the results, and realized I enjoyed doing it, so I decided to polish my scratched-up Pacific. I took all of the scratches out of the blade with some 2000 grit sandpaper, removed the paint from the clip, then polished everything with a compound and a polishing wheel. I like the looks of it now. It has basically a mirror finish. Unfortunately, it's difficult to photograph now, but it looks great in person.
Finally, the pictures:
Here is my para straight out of the box:
And a closeup of the crummy thumb ramp:
Here we have the Pacific and Para both pre-polish:
Here is the Para disassembled, awaiting a polish:
The Para disassembled after the polish:
And reassembled:
The Pacific after the polish:
The Para reassembled:
Both knives after all the work:
The Pacific looks like it is still scratched, but those are just fingerprints and smudges. One downside to the polish is that it's tough to keep clean. When it is clean it GLEAMS, though. I love it. The clip looks awesome with the black spider on a bright background. Hopefully I'll get some better pictures some time soon. I just wanted to snap a few to get them up. I need to get some small files and fix the ramp, then the para will be the perfect knife.
1. The knife wasn't as sharp as all my other Spydercos have come. This isn't that big of a deal except that I'm not that good at sharpening, so it seems like straight out of the box is the only time I ever experience these knives at their sharpest. I got it shaving sharp pretty quickly with my sharpmaker, so it didn't really matter, but it was a bit of a let down compared to how scary my other knives were when I got them.
2. The little spacer between the G10 slabs where the lanyard hole is was very rough looking. It just looked unfinished.
3. The action was kind of rough. Again, not REALLY that big of a deal, but I was hoping it'd be smoother.
4. The notches on the thumb ramp are a weird coppery color and also uneven. This is the most disappointing thing to me, considering this knife is the most expensive knife I own. When I get a $100 Spyderco, I expect better machining than this.
I feel like a jerk returning a knife and besides, I didn't want to be without it for another week or more, so I decided to try and fix these issues myself. I've never taken apart a folder before, so it was a little scary, but I think I did a good job. I took the knife completely apart, polished the grommet spacer around the lanyard hole, polished the washers, blade, and liners where they all meet, and put it back together using blue Loctite.
The result is an absolutely SILKY smooth action. It is easily the smoothest knife I own or have ever handled. I am extremely pleased that less than an hour of work resulting in such a smooth action. The spacer around the lanyard hole looks nice and shiny now also.
The only thing I have left to do is try and correct the crappy job on the thumb ramp, but I don't have any files so that will need to wait. Even with the poor machining on the ramp, this is by far my favorite knife. I am considering getting an SE one to have a matched set, but I'm afraid I'll never carry another knife if I do.
After I did the Paramilitary, I was pleased with the results, and realized I enjoyed doing it, so I decided to polish my scratched-up Pacific. I took all of the scratches out of the blade with some 2000 grit sandpaper, removed the paint from the clip, then polished everything with a compound and a polishing wheel. I like the looks of it now. It has basically a mirror finish. Unfortunately, it's difficult to photograph now, but it looks great in person.
Finally, the pictures:
Here is my para straight out of the box:
And a closeup of the crummy thumb ramp:
Here we have the Pacific and Para both pre-polish:
Here is the Para disassembled, awaiting a polish:
The Para disassembled after the polish:
And reassembled:
The Pacific after the polish:
The Para reassembled:
Both knives after all the work:
The Pacific looks like it is still scratched, but those are just fingerprints and smudges. One downside to the polish is that it's tough to keep clean. When it is clean it GLEAMS, though. I love it. The clip looks awesome with the black spider on a bright background. Hopefully I'll get some better pictures some time soon. I just wanted to snap a few to get them up. I need to get some small files and fix the ramp, then the para will be the perfect knife.
