Going to the factory store in a bit.

SpyderPhreak

SpyderPhreak

Rocketman for hire
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Apr 13, 2004
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It's only about 15 minutes from where I live. Just thought I'd rub it in a little bit. :p :D

I hope they don't have one of the fluted Ti Military's in stock, or I don't know if I'll be able to resist temptation... :o
 
Have fun. I always enjoy my visits. Great staff and you can play with all the knives you want.
 
Well, that was fun!!! :D I have a CTS-XHP mule (blem) in hand now, that is going to be a fun project! :cool:

John also HOOKED ME UP!!! Wanna take a guess? :eek:
 
PB Wilson said:
So what do the blemishes look like on the new Mules?
Click to expand...

To be honest, not like much of anything. It certainly will not affect the knife in use!

The blemish is only on one side of the knife blade. It is a very minor spot at the back end of the primary grind right on the edge of the plunge line, where there is a slight high spot that appears as a line about 1/16" wide. It is hardly noticeable; You don't even see it unless the light hits it just right, and you can not even feel it. There are certainly other manufacturers out there that would not call it a blemish, but Spyderco's QC is a fw notches higher! Here are a couple pictures which show it as best as I can get it to show up (light colored line in the first pic, dark colored in the second). You can just barely see the line running along the top of where is says "CTS XHP". IMO, these Mules are a steal at $50!!! :thumbup:

CTS_Mule_Blem_Closeup1.jpg


CTS_Mule_Blem_Closeup2.jpg


Here is a picture of the booty I brought home! :emot-yarr:

Spyderco_FO_Booty2.jpg


The laminated steel chart was free, and has many of the new "super steels" listed. Nice! The new 2013 catalog is something else! I still haven't gotten through it all. There's the Mule of course, then my daughter's purple Ladybug I got her for Christmas, and finally there's the crown jewel, a grail knife, the Fluted Ti Military!!! :cool: :D

A close-up of the knives:

Spyderco_FO_Booty1.jpg


John was awesome and great to talk to! It is a love/hate thing having the factory outlet so close though! Definitely requires some self control. :eek:
 
Not much of a blem. Gotta give it up to Spyderco to not just pass them off as pristine blades. Shows a great deal of integrity.

Me being a tiny bit obsessive went with a couple non-blem blades. The price difference isn't that much. Not enough to kick myself about anyway.

I'm just so happy that I get to buy knives with top-tier steel at such a good price. Thanks for sharing the pics.

By the way, why the little notch in the tang holes? Are there different ways of making these blades depending on the country of origin? My Cobalt Mule from Seki Japan doesn't have that little notch. Just curious.
 
I would think the notch depends on how the blade and holes are formed. If it is stamped, laser cut, or water jet cut. One type of machine must cause that for some reason. Some of my Para 2 liners have a small notch on the outside perimeter that is similar.

I'm also surprised that small line is the only reason it made it to the blem heap. I have got high end Sprint runs with much more serious issues. Guess it just depends on the person doing the grading.
 
As I recall, that little notch is where the laser starts its cut. I'd have to dig all of mine out to tell you which have it and which don't.
 
yablanowitz said:
As I recall, that little notch is where the laser starts its cut. I'd have to dig all of mine out to tell you which have it and which don't.
Click to expand...

^^^ This. Note, only the 3/16" holes have this little notch. It actually won't make a bit of difference once you put handles on. The 1/4" lanyard hole toward the butt and the 4 big 3/8" holes have a bit of "splattered" metal stuck inside of them in one spot where the laser cut ended. If you choose to use these holes (I expect to be using the 1/4" one for a lanyard tube), they will need to be reamed out to ensure the hardware fits without interference. Since the 3/16" holes have the notch instead, I won't have to worry so much about that with my mosaic pins.

My guess is that it has something to with the size of the laser beam and the smallest size of a hole it can cut without overlap in the beam. Obviously it can do a 1/4" hole in one pass without the notch, so 3/16" must be below that tolerance for beam size.
 
My Mules arrived today and I found the same things. My other Mules have never had the laser notch.
 
yablanowitz said:
As I recall, that little notch is where the laser starts its cut. I'd have to dig all of mine out to tell you which have it and which don't.
Click to expand...

Typically laser cut parts have a small tab of material left at the point where the cut begins and ends. I would guess that the cut is done this way intentionally to avoid having a sharp sprue of material left protruding into the hole that would need to be removed in a secondary operation. The sprue would need to be removed to allow pins or screws to be inserted into the hole. Instead of having to figure out some way to remove a sprue protruding into the hole later they just program the laser to end its cut slightly "outside" of the diameter of the hole so that it burns off the sprue at the end of its cut. I could be wrong, but this seems logical to me.
 
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