Help me Sal...my first spyderco (and first bali)

Artfully Martial

Artfully Martial

Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
4,761
I got my Spyderfly in today (from Newgraham) and I love it. I'm especially pleased that mine came in VG10 instead of the 440C that's advertised.

Alas, all was not well in Spyderco town. There are two real issues with my lovely Spyderfly....the latch is warped noticeably and there is play in the handles, one especially.

The latch works almost perfectly however. Nonetheless, there's a pretty significant bend in it...I wish I had a camera, but imagine that the end of the latch (on the side without the spring), instead of making 90 angles with the long part of the latch, makes on 75 and one 105 degree angles.

The second part is the play in the handles....pushing on one side, the handles move about 1 mm apart, which isn't that big of a deal...but on the other, it's more like 4 mms....one handle halfway passes the other. This is enough so that, when unlocked, I can make it rattle against the blade. I've tightened up the screws, and I can eliminate 85% of the play, but at that point, it has lost all swingability....

Anyway, I love the knife, but I'd really like these things to be fixed. I'm afraid to return it because I'd most likely get a 440C one back. I'll e-mail the folks I ordered it from, newgraham (I really like them), and see if they still have any vg10s, but honestly, I absolutely hate returning knives. I dislike not having them for another two weeks, but most of all, there's something about getting rid of a knife I like. Sentimental value.

I posted this in the bali forum, but I'd like to know what everyone over here thinks too. This isn't just a bali issue but a return/don't return sort of thing.

Sal, is there anyway I can fix this stuff myself? Could Spyderco send me a new latch and..whatever I need to fix the play?

Help anyone?
 
i would page a mod and ask this to be moved to the spyderco forum. Secondly, unless balis are legal to carry in your area, i would recomend not worrying about the steel because its a toy more than a user.
And a really bad ass toy at that, I got to handle a spyderfly recently and it is 20 bizillion times better than the el cheepo balis i have handled.
 
Huh, the Spyderfly's are listed as 440C. Wow. I feel lucky also.
I would return the knife to Spyderco. The latch itself is spring loaded and should not be dismantled. (It says so in the warrenty.) The play in the handles, that's your call. If it was just some tiny ammount, like 1mm a side, then I would say it doesn't matter. It's a balisong. But In your case I would say DEFINATELY send it to Spyderco. This is not exceptable and I'm sure Sal would agree.
As an aside, how do you feel about it's size? When I first got mine it seemed way to big. Now, I can't imagine having a smaller one.
-KC
PS: Sorry your first Spydy turned out like this. I'm sure you'll enjoy it once the problem is fixed.
 
I think you must have posted this in Blade Discussion by mistake. I'll move it to the Spyderco forum for you. :cool:
 
Thanks Cougar, yeah, I meant to post it in here, wasn't really thinking.

Here's a question...under the spyderco warranty, is it okay to wait to send it in? This sounds stupid, but I waited a week for this knife, and now that I have it in my hands, I can't let it go. I wouldn't mind sending it in maybe a week from now. If it's absolutely important that I send it in now though, I guess I can wait another week or two to play.
 
I'm starting to notice light streaking on one side of the blade where apparently the blade is making contact with the hilt. I don't know if these can be polished out or what.
 
I'm actually pretty concerned about all this...I don't want to be distracted from studying, but I can't help it....70 dollars is a lot to me right now....

Sorry, never answered your question knifeclerk. The size feels right to me. I do wish it were 3.9 inches so it'd be legal to carry here. I like its bigness though. It's just a huge chunk of steel when closed, and there's something very satisfying about that. Also, having tried out a benchmade with titanium handles, I sort of like to have that weight to swing in the SS.
 
kwitcher worrying and send it in. Then you can focus on other things.
 
well, I'm deciding whether to try again with the Spyderfly or just take the financial hit, and pay the difference to newgraham for a benchmade bali...I'm just...really depressed about this....I got way too excited about getting my first spyderco....
 
Life's too short to spend that amount of emotional energy on a knife. Just send it back to Spyderco. The one thing you won't have to worry about is Spyderco Warranty and Repair fixing any problems. Spyderco's customer service is tremendous!

David
 
Hi Artfully Martial,

I've read about your dilemma with our fly in several places. Sorry you are having a problem.

The best solution might be to send it back to us and let us sort it out. Certainly not worth getting depressed over.

Amanda said she sent you shipping instructions, and she's waiting to receive it.

sal
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top