Military irregularities

vanadium

vanadium

Basic Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2003
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I recently purchased a plainedge Spyderco Military in CPM-S30V. It's a great knife. My hand is adapting to it very nicely, and I actually prefer it to my old Police Model which somehow got away from me after 9 years of reliable service. However, I've noticed a couple of things its manufacture that I'd like to share.

One is an irregularity in the cuts behind the "hump" which are intended to help your thumb get traction in the sabre grip. The edges of the cuts are quite jagged. I understand that the CPM steels are extremely hard to work, so this doesn't really surprise me, but I thought I'd point it out.

Another irregularity is in the screws. Examining the six small screws, some are set very deeply below the surface of the scales, whereas others are almost flush with the surface. Is this normal? I have not tried adjusting them because I don't have a tiny enough Torx.

Lastly, I have one suggestion about the Spyderhole. The hole on my old Police Model had its inner edge softened a bit. Not quite a bevel, but definitely not a 90° edge. The Military doesn't have this feature, and I find that it much more readily chews up my thumb. When will the comfortable Police hole make its way to the Military?

Sal, my personal thanks for creating the Military.

-Van
 
First, congrats for your new acquisition. The Millie is perhaps one of the best creations of Sal & Co.
Now just a small mention about the hole. Initially, the holes were bevelled, as you have noticed at your Police. After a while, they considered that this makes the hole slippery so they let them just the way they are; also considering that if you really want, you may easily chamfer the hole yourself.
 
Vanadium, Congrats on the new Millie. I also recently acquired a new S30V Millie PE. I have had it almost a week and it is already a sure bet for EDC status. It's a wonderful piece of engineering, thanks Sal.

The traction cuts on mine are also a little jagged, as if there was a little bit of burr on them, but not enough to do anything about.

As to the Spydiehole I was actually expecting it to have a sharp inside radius. The last two spydies I acquired, a PS Endura VG-10 and a VG-10 Calypso Jr., had extremely sharp Spydieholes. I have a pocket diamond sharpener rod like the one below that I use it to "clean up" and fine tune my Spydies with. I have seen them around WallyWorld and Lowe's for the same price. For some reason, the Millie I received feels like it has had the "burr" knocked off the hole. Who knows?!?

EZE-LAP® Mini Pocket Diamond Sharpener

The screws on mine are all uniformly countersunk at about .3MM (eyeballed). I don't know what to tell you beyond that.

The only concerns I had with mine was that the surface of the clip on mine was a little scratched up, but I would do that anyway with carry. The very end of my clip had a little bit of an edge on it from where it had been stamped from the blank that would rub/scratch my pinkie finger when I opened the knife. I just took the clip off, smoothed it down with the above-mentioned sharpener, bent the clip in to be a little tighter, and reinstalled the clip. The G-10 also felt a little rough out of the box, but that has worn just riding in my pocket.

Congrats on the new blade, I trust it will serve you well over the years.

ROM831

Edited - Did ya really think I could post something this long without mistakes?
 
On closer inspection of the screws, it's clear that one of them (non-clip side, center) was forced in at an angle.

My dealer doesn't have another one in stock, and Spyderco says it takes "about 3-4 weeks" to do repairs. Bleh.

I know I could try to remove the screw and re-insert it properly, but the threads must be somewhat mangled, and since the integrity of the lock is at stake, I'm not taking any chances.
 
Where on earth are you guys finding these S30V Militaries??
I've been searching pretty much the entire net, without success...

Thanks, Christiaan.
 
Nobody has it up on their sites yet, I just had to call around to see if anybody had any in stock.
 
Yes, I'd noticed, but unfortunately they only have the serrated model in S30V, whereas I am looking for a plain edge:( .

Thanks though, Christiaan.
 
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