Just Got the Sage 1 (lemon?) - its not me its you!

nick21 said:
My Sage 1 is sorta gritty. I think it has something to do with the detent ball since when I push the liner all the way against the scale, the blade just drops without any grittiness.

I don't know how to fix it though
Click to expand...

Yup! i reached the same conclusion!
 
My Sage 1 rocks! Still super smooth after 9 months. I thought at one point the detent was weakening, however that was an issue a good cleaning fixed up nicely.

I also really like the sharp edge on the spyderhole.
 
Panta said:
yes i guess i belong to the second group you mentioned, BUT!
this are my knifes.

Spyderco Endura 4
CRKT ripple (first production & the later blue one)
Kershaw Scamp
buck Vantage Force Pro
CRKT Eraser
Boker Epicenter
Fox karambit
Zero Tolerance 200
Benchmade Adamas 275
Ontario Rat model 1 ...

i have no knife in my collection with so many sharp & so uncomfortable edges
not even 20% of the sage 1.

my 25$ Rat 1 is way way smoother.
the ripple mechanism is a smooth machine.
the Adamas is probably my second most smooth knife.
even the stiff non linear mechanism ZT 200 is smoother and more linear then this.
heck my unbeloved endura is way smoother & without so many sharp corners.


i can scrape my nail material with the sage like its a knife edge.
its like all the reviews Ive sean & read was a lie... its just terrible.

so that's why i have to ask again, could my sage be a lemon?
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The spyderhole is not chamfered so it can be a bit abrasive, but I have never had an issue with it. I find it much easier to use than a thumb stud. My advice would be to toughen up those thumbs! As far as the movement is concerned I have had several sage 1's and several rat 1's. The action is smoother on the sages. Perhaps yours has not broken in yet? As far as the fit and finish goes, the sage in my experience has been a lot more consistent. All of the sage 1's I have had have been identical to one another, same perfect centering, no lockbar dip when the knife is closed, and smooth action. When it comes to that Rats I have had some that are better than others.

It could be a defective sage, but without holding it it's hard to say. It would be surprising, as the Taichung factory seems to consistently produce great knives.

My advice would be the same as WTLJ. The sage 1 is a fantastic knife, but maybe the knife is just not for you. If you are overly concerned with smoothness, and fit and finish save up and buy a CRK.
 
Seneca18 said:
Spydercos are not for everyone and that's ok. Most of us here will have different ideas of what makes a great fit and finish but from my experience any Spyderco coming out of Taichung has about as good of F&F as you can get in that price range. If perfection is what you're after I would recommend as another has said, save your money and go the Sebenza route.
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actually my rat 1 is from Taiwan & it came perfectly buffed & finished.
(beside the spine which does not bother me)
 
I stopped caring about everything you wrote and your opinion on anything knife related after I read "over priced Endura".

I would suggest a Manix2 if you want the best "bang for the buck" but you would just be here complaining about it not making you breakfast in bed.
 
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Okay, from reading some replays here ..
i see its best to write a review & even attach a video review to it
to illustrate my Sage 1 issues clearly.
 
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here is my video of my sage 1, hope it better explain the issues:
[video=youtube;M_NQExpuX9o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_NQExpuX9o[/video]
 
You paid $135 for a PRODUCTION knife with premium materials. You can't expect hand finished results on a mass produced knife. As you demonstrated, the action was easily "fixed". I imagine a pivot adjustment alone would have solved your issues.

As has already been mentioned, a bit of "knife smithing" is to be expected with some production pieces. If the knife is too tight, adjust the pivot. Centering off? Adjust the pivot. Gritty? Clean and adjust the pivot.

I'm glad you were able to sort it out.
 
Guest5160 said:
You paid $135 for a PRODUCTION knife with premium materials. You can't expect hand finished results on a mass produced knife. As you demonstrated, the action was easily "fixed". I imagine a pivot adjustment alone would have solved your issues.

As has already been mentioned, a bit of "knife smithing" is to be expected with some production pieces. If the knife is too tight, adjust the pivot. Centering off? Adjust the pivot. Gritty? Clean and adjust the pivot.

I'm glad you were able to sort it out.
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i'm sure non biased viewers will see it for what it is.
It's also amazing the "Responsibility Teflon" of people here in this post.
 
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Wow, incredible video. Blade with corners so crisp and clean that most custom makers would envy them. You may be mistaking that crispness for burrs, but I doubt anyone is seeing burrs, or that there actually any burrs there. No nasty grinding gritty sounds when you open and close it. So, despite your comments, the action is apparently smooth. The action also appears to be tight. Granted, that's not something that appeals to everyone. Some like their blades to swing like a garden gate, but some of us value our fingers and see it as a safety feature. Construction so perfect and tight that the knife continues to function with all the screws removed. Wonder how many knives can say that. Internals all look nice and smooth, and we have to assume you'd have complained about internal burrs or roughness if you found any. All in all, there's nothing there that would stop me from buying a Sage 1, if I was right handed.
 
This is pretty much the same stuff. I don't understand how it could scratch you and such. I think maybe you should give up on knives over $50. Maybe your point of diminished returns is lower than most here, and quite steep.
 
ha-hah,
doubt potential customers would appreciate the Teflon approach.

* * * * * * Abraham Lincoln:
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
 
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hope for spyderco you guys are fan boys
with acute case of brand myopic and nothing more..
 
Panta said:
ha-hah,
doubt potential customers would appreciate the Teflon approach.

* * * * * * Abraham Lincoln:
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
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Except your criticism, for the most part, is of things that are not negative. Crisp plunge lines, crisp angles on the hole, strong detent, all these are design features that at the worst detract nothing from the knife and at the best are hallmarks of high quality manufacturing.

Funny enough I'll bet loosening the pivot, applying Teflon [emoji6] powder, then retightening the pivot the correct amount would alleviate the grittiness and give you a smooth action.

Why do you post if you don't want to listen to solutions? By your own statement all other reviews of this knife are overwhelmingly positive. So if you're convinced you got a lemon then post up your thoughts, send this example back, and either try another example or move onto another model.
 
Panta said:
yes i guess i belong to the second group you mentioned, BUT!
this are my knifes.

Spyderco Endura 4
CRKT ripple (first production & the later blue one)
Kershaw Scamp
buck Vantage Force Pro
CRKT Eraser
Boker Epicenter
Fox karambit
Zero Tolerance 200
Benchmade Adamas 275
Ontario Rat model 1 ...

i have no knife in my collection with so many sharp & so uncomfortable edges
not even 20% of the sage 1.

my 25$ Rat 1 is way way smoother.
the ripple mechanism is a smooth machine.
the Adamas is probably my second most smooth knife.
even the stiff non linear mechanism ZT 200 is smoother and more linear then this.
heck my unbeloved endura is way smoother & without so many sharp corners.


i can scrape my nail material with the sage like its a knife edge.
its like all the reviews Ive sean & read was a lie... its just terrible.

so that's why i have to ask again, could my sage be a lemon?
Click to expand...

I am going to try and put this as nicely as I can. Your repeated attempts at explaining something are not coming across the way you might think they are. You sound (again) like you are just trolling to get a rise out of someone, provoking with your comments. You've already been down this road more than once and here we are once more. I might be wrong here, but I don't think you have enough understanding of "knives" to understand why the other knvies you listed are different.

Not all knives are the same, they do not have the same tolerances, they are not made in the same way, or of the same materials, the engineering and mechanisms are very different.

CRKT ripple (first production & the later blue one) - This has bearings vs washers and AUS8 vs S30V
Kershaw Scamp - has 8Cr13Mov steel, not really better than S30V
buck Vantage Force Pro - Nice knife, but many, many had centering issues and very late lock up.
CRKT Eraser - a very heavy blade, with a flipper
Boker Epicenter - Nice knife, not owned one so I cannot speak to it
Fox karambit - Not really a utility knife in the same category now is it?
Zero Tolerance 200 - heavy blade and knife, and again it has a flipper
Benchmade Adamas 275 - You complained and indicated lock rock, same as mine
Ontario Rat model 1 ... - AUS8 is not better than S30V for any extended medium use. First one I got was falling apart in my hands, literally.

That said, the Sage 1 is a very well finished and refined knife. I've had one since it was released and all I can say is that the design is well thought out (I don't really care for the large area of the front scale missing, but that is me), the edges are polished inside and out, blade was centered, very smooth, etc. The knives you claim are the smoothest also have thicker and much heavier blades with different grinds and different locking and opening mechanisms. Do you not think that might have something to do with it as well? My advice is to stop now, rethink, and possibly proofread your posts before submitting them so you don't sound so outright trollish? Short of that, you really just don't know what you are talking about, seriously. 14 knives? Some here have literally hundreds and hundreds of folders and fixed blades from inexpensive Swedish blades to one of a kind customs in the several $1000 range.
 
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