I'm conflicted about the Spitfire

skblades said:
Hey Mark,

No we do not do any modifications to the knives we get from Buck. The lockup issue is very grievous to us as you can imagine. What I will say is that if you order one and send me an email, I will personally open boxes until I find a proper locking knife. The issue is not consistent. Some are perfect, some are terrible and some are in between.
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I wish I had seen this thread.....Mine from you guys is out for delivery......So, I guess I will be rolling the dice on this. ;)
 
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Screwdriver said:
I wish I had seen this thread.....Mine from you guys is out for delivery......So, I guess I will be rolling the dice on this. ;)
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Please let us know how much play your knife has. Also I think I'am going to wait a bit on sending mine in as reading how backed up Buck is right now. Plus maybe just maybe they will find a for sure cure. 🤔
 
I would Ike to apologize for my rant. I'am just very disappointed with Buck for allowing this type of issue the with Spitfires to make it the consumers, I understand nothing in this world is perfect and the 722 isn't the most expensive knife they make but it's also not the cheapest. I also think this knife could've been a HOMERUN instead of strike out. Come on Buck get back to Quality we all are used to! I feel better now and will stop my rant. 👍
 
We are working on improving the up and down on these. Feedback from you all is one of the most important things we can get so we can keep improving.

Jeff
Quality and Warranty Manager
 
J Hubbard said:
We are working on improving the up and down on these. Feedback from you all is one of the most important things we can get so we can keep improving.

Jeff
Quality and Warranty Manager
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I'm so glad this is not falling on deaf ears. Thank you. I don't have a Spitfire (yet) but I do like them and this makes me feel better about purchasing one in the future.
 
Thank you Jeff for your response to this. One thing is for sure Buck's customer service has always been first class and looks like it still is. 😆👍
 
OK, got it in the mail today from SKBlades. Yeah...pretty bad up and down blade play. Almost as bad as a $5 Auto I bought years ago. So, is there any way to adjust it out?

BTW, JayC783's take on his is the same as mine, except where bold....and same date.

JayC783 said:
Black Spitfire:
  • The date on the box says 10-31-16
  • Gritty-ish action
  • Tight lockup
  • Some vertical blade play. It's nothing major (I would say mine is worse), but it's enough for me to notice it. It's become a minor annoyance. I find myself fidgeting with the blade moving it up and down while it is locked open. :o It was especially noticeable when I was cutting some zip ties. The orange one did not produce this feeling when I cut zip ties with it.
  • The edges and jimping on the handle feel a bit more aggressive than on the orange Spitfire. It's not uncomfortable by any means, but it's noticeable. (Mine feels real sharp...feels as if I was cutting something aggressivly, it might break skin)
  • When locked open, the lockbar sticks farther above the handle than with the orange Spitfire. On the orange one, the lockbar is pretty much flush with the handle when the blade is locked open. The lockbar is easier to push down on the black one, too.
  • The main pivot screw moves up and down ever so slightly when the blade is locked open, and I move the blade up and down. The orange one does not do that.
  • The same pivot screw, and the insert it's screwed into, can be rotated slightly by just pushing it. The orange one does not do that.
.
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Here it is....cause no pictures, no bueno.

P1020550_zpsjzwvdpgp.jpg
 
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That's too bad. It's a shame, because this knife looks like it could be a US made Delica killer with just a little more work.
 
jstrange said:
That's too bad. It's a shame, because this knife looks like it could be a US made Delica killer with just a little more work.
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Yeah....kinda annoyed...no, very annoyed.

I have two Vantage Pro's, one I carry and one that I don't that was supposed to be a gift. Anyhow, the one I carry had a bad lock and would close with just the slightest spine pressure. Sent it back for repair and it is good to go. Bought a Marksman and the first one was all screwed up. Blade grind was way off, had machining marks in the aluminum scales. Replacement was good.

Anyhow, I should have researched this better. Would never have bought this, but liked the S35VN and design.
 
Screwdriver said:
Yeah....kinda annoyed...no, very annoyed.

I have two Vantage Pro's, one I carry and one that I don't that was supposed to be a gift. Anyhow, the one I carry had a bad lock and would close with just the slightest spine pressure. Sent it back for repair and it is good to go. Bought a Marksman and the first one was all screwed up. Blade grind was way off, had machining marks in the aluminum scales. Replacement was good.

Anyhow, I should have researched this better. Would never have bought this, but liked the S35VN and design.
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Screwdriver! I have been opening boxes like crazy to find the good ones and weed out the bad ones. Feel absolutely free to request and exchange with us and I'll pull you one from the good pile. I've had to resort to this since I can't just grab a box and ship them out anymore.
 
skblades said:
It's actually a hollow grind.
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I think pinna was say if the Spitfire had a flat grind also. I sure hope Buck gets this issue solved before Stephen get his next batch of Hornets 🐝. That and the Extreme could've been the cream of the crop. My blue S30Vs are the worst. Damm here I go . Hopefully it will all work out 🤓
 
Xr6x said:
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I think pinna was say if the Spitfire had a flat grind also. I sure hope Buck gets this issue solved before Stephen get his next batch of Hornets 🐝. That and the Extreme could've been the cream of the crop. My blue S30Vs are the worst. Damm here I go . Hopefully it will all work out 🤓
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Oh I get it now. Wow, bad reading skills over here!
 
I have a Buck Slimline, the big box exclusive version of the Spitfire, and the Spitfire Black from SK. I've been using the Slimline a lot lately at work. There is some up and down play but very little and I never notice it unless I purposely check it. The Spitfire Black is perfect.(Kudos to SK) and I really like it. Since it is a limited edition I've been shy about using it, did check the sharpness and it's sharp, really sharp.
It's a shame that so many others are having problems with the Spitfire. I was under the impression the excessive blade play problem was just a first run issue. I hope Buck gets things under control with that model because I believe it has everything to be an all time classic. I really like using my Slimline at work. I had that knife for over a year before actually putting it to use and now am sold on modern folders.
Once Buck corrects the problems with the Spitfire I'd recommend that anyone who has yet to get one, hurry up and get one. It's a fantastic blade.
 
Ordered one on Saturday and it shows as delivered (I'm at work). Not too shabby considering it made a cross country trip with a weekend included. Kudos to you Stephen for top notch customer service. I requested that you check to make sure that the lock up was tight, and judging by your above posts, I'm confident I'm going to come home to an excellent piece of cutlery.

John
 
jstrange said:
That's too bad. It's a shame, because this knife looks like it could be a US made Delica killer with just a little more work.
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I completely agree. The framework is there for the Spitfire to be something really special. I feel Buck could probably take on Spyderco with it, if they just give it a spit and polish. It's frustrating, really. They could even make a family of Spitfires, with different options, to try and sway the Spyderco crowd. I've been asked before if my Spitfire was a Spyderco. I've had people be surprised that the Spitfire was actually a Buck. If Buck actually improves the Spitfire to get rid of the issues, I hope they do something with it so we can tell the version 2 from the version 1.
 
Got my hands on mine last night. It's a thing of beauty.
Lockup is solid, with just a hint of lock rock. I notice that the lock bar sits just a touch up from being flush with the rear spacer when opened, but it is miniscule and does not rise above the handle material. Doesn't affect the locking mechanism at all, and if anything, it feels to me as if it makes it a touch stronger because I have to press down just that little bit more to disengage the lock.
Fit and finish overall is very nice. The blade is a thing of beauty; I really like the distressed look of the blade. It came extremely sharp right out of the box, and I have the bare spot on my wrist to back that up. The aluminum handle, while a little slippery, is nice and thin. I like how it rides in my pocket with the depth of the pocket clip; I can retrieve items from my pocket without the knife interfering with my hand.
The overall size of the blade and handle are right in my preferred length for both. I like smaller blades, usually preferring more towards the 3" range, but at 3 1/4", it does not look or feel overly large. I have not had the chance to use it yet, but look forward to doing so.
The only minor nit pick I could comment on, and it doesn't bother me much, is that the jimping is pretty aggressive.
SK Blades did a great job with these, both in design specs and customer service.
I understand that there are issues with some of these, but the one that I received do not appear to suffer from any of them. I do hope that Buck irons out whatever design or manufacturing issues they have because I agree with what has been posted above. This is definitely a design that holds the potential to be a home run for Buck.

John
 
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SKBlades did a solid and replaced the Spitfire and I got it today! PERFECT!

Now why can't Buck figure this out? The fact that two knives of the same design, one is flawed and one is perfect tells me Buck's tooling is way off. If Buck could get this sorted out it would be a Delica competitor.....
 
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