Military Blade Play

coletrane811

coletrane811

Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
891
I have a Military that I just got on a trade. It's in great condition but it has a little front to back blade play (no side to side what so ever). The liner lock is probably close to 1mm from the blade when it's fully open. Is this normal (I wouldn't think so). I have never owned a Milli before and I really love the ergos on this knife. I emailed Spyderco on this, but haven't heard back from them. Any input from anyone that has any Spydy Military experience would be great!!

Thanks!
Cole
 
I have half a dozen Militaries, and what you describe is definitely NOT normal. If it is one of the older models, they had eccentric pivots that might have enough adjustment to fix the problem. Or to have caused the problem in the first place, if the former owner was trying to adjust it without knowing what he was doing.

As far as e-mailing Spyderco goes,
1) E-mail is not 100% reliable. Sometimes spam filters will kick you out, especially if you use a free e-mail service.
2) SHOT show is going on right now, so a bunch of people are out of the office and the rest are bound to be stretched pretty thin.

Unless you are proficient with tools, familiar with eccentric pivots and very patient, I would suggest boxing that dude up with a note explaining the problem and sending it home to Golden. If it was me, I'd include a check for $25, five for postage and twenty in case they decided the problem was the result of abuse and not covered by warranty. Odds are, if you get ahold of W&R they are going to tell you they can't tell you anything without seeing it anyway. ;)
 
No thats not normal I dont think I would use it until spyderco tales care of it.
 
It has S30V steel and the date code is GE which means it's about 2.5 years old. Is that an older model?
 
If it is a warranty, is it free to fix? Maybe I'll send it in with 2 checks, on for $5 and one for $20.
 
I just pulled the pivot bolt out and it's NOT an eccentric pivot bolt. Is there any way to adjust the vertical blade play with this style of pivot bolt? I could figure anything out.
 
Pictures of the lockup? If the lock has moved all the way to the right you won't be able to adjust the liner but if it hasn't you could take it apart and bend the lock a little so it's touching the blade tang again. Otherwise, I'd send it to Spyderco W&R.
 
Warrenty may take care of that, But with my linerlocks. If there is space between the liner and blade when open mine only became that way from abuse . I abused some and thats how i payed. But thats either a very bad QC problem, or it was abused and the Somepart of the locking mechanism is missing metal. Not saying you abused it but maybe someone did down the line. Hopefully spyderco will help you out. Good luck
Matt
 
trimcut123 said:
Warrenty may take care of that, But with my linerlocks. If there is space between the liner and blade when open mine only became that way from abuse . I abused some and thats how i payed. But thats either a very bad QC problem, or it was abused and the Somepart of the locking mechanism is missing metal. Not saying you abused it but maybe someone did down the line. Hopefully spyderco will help you out. Good luck
Matt
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I hope that it's fixable. I just can't see any way of adjusting it. When I read the Spyderco Warranty info it says that if they can't fix it, they just recommend that it be put out of commision. That will suck since I just got the knife. I'm sorry, but 2.5 years is not a lot of time for something like this to happen. The blade is in pretty good condition and the handle hardly looks like it's been carried at all. I can't imagine this was done by abuse. I will just have to talk to Spyderco directly and ask them what they think. I'll keep everyone posted.

Thanks for all the input!

Cole
 
Definitely wait the couple of days for everyone to settle back in from SHOT and call them. The Military is a really tough piece of equipment, which also means it can often be fixed where another knife would have fallen apart.
 
coletrane811 said:
I'm sorry, but 2.5 years is not a lot of time for something like this to happen. ............. I will just have to talk to Spyderco directly and ask them what they think. I'll keep everyone posted.

Thanks for all the input!

Cole
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You don't know what has been done to the knife during that time period. Read the warranty again. They need to "EXAMINE" the knife. They can only tell you what they think AFTER they have EXAMINED the knife.
 
oli said:
You don't know what has been done to the knife during that time period. Read the warranty again. They need to "EXAMINE" the knife. They can only tell you what they think AFTER they have EXAMINED the knife.
Click to expand...

That's exactly right, I don't know what has been done to this knife. I can say the knife doesn't look to have any major use. It's in great condition minus this blade play. Another thing I'm wondering is if this knife has been taken apart, does it void the warranty? I'm guessing yes. If that's the case, who am I to say it hasn't been taken apart by a previous owner. I'm tempted to just send it to STR and have him fix it instead of wasting 2-3 weeks on Spyderco and have them come back and tell me it's going to cost a lot of money to fix because the warranty voided.

I just called and talked to Repair and didn't get a lot of info. When I mentioned the date code on the box (GE), he said he didn't even know Spyderco's were date coded. Am I wrong in saying they are?
 
No, you are not wrong in saying the boxes are date-coded. What guarantee do you have that that is the original box? The word of the person who stuck you with a lemon? If I had just traded for a used knife and found out it had a lockup problem like that, I don't think I would be taking it up with the manufacturer, I'd be talking to the person I got it from. Two and a half years can be a LONG time for a knife.
 
yablanowitz said:
No, you are not wrong in saying the boxes are date-coded. What guarantee do you have that that is the original box? The word of the person who stuck you with a lemon? If I had just traded for a used knife and found out it had a lockup problem like that, I don't think I would be taking it up with the manufacturer, I'd be talking to the person I got it from. Two and a half years can be a LONG time for a knife.
Click to expand...

No doubt about it 2 years can be a long time, this knife just doesn't look to have been a user. The only wear on the knife is on the blade, a little scratching here and there. Hell, for all I know the previous owner may have just sat there flipping the knife open and closed to cause this problem. I'm in no way, shape, or form saying Spyderco is at fault in this situation, nor am I saying someone else is. I'm just looking for input as I've only owned 1 other Spyderco in my life and I'm not familiar with their warranty policies. I am sending it to Spyderco and hopefully they can fix it. I got a good deal on the trade, so if it's repairable, no biggie. If it isn't, then I'll take it in another direction.
 
Less than you might think. ;) That is an exercise which can be very hard on the lock.
 
Haven't checked... but thought I might throw this out..

Isn't the warranty not valid if your not the first owner??
 
darthsoaker said:
Haven't checked... but thought I might throw this out..

Isn't the warranty not valid if your not the first owner??
Click to expand...

Don't think that's true. It's still a Spyderco knife, why wouldn't the warranty still apply. Plus, how could they tell how many owners the knife has had?
 
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