I just recieved my first Byrd order from NGK, a Firebyrd, and Crossbill, and i have both a good and a bad review...
(all ratings are on a scale of 1-10)
first, lets get the bad review out of the way....
Byrd Firebyrd; this one was the first Byrd i pulled out of the box, sadly, i was *NOT* impressed in the least, it just felt *cheap*, really cheap, closer to a $5 gas station knife than a Spyderco designed knife has a right to...
the fit-and finish tolerances were substandard, the blade spring was not flush with the scale, and the blade was *extremely* difficult to open, felt like it had sand in it, and the blade was exceptionally dull, and it was *heavy* for such a small knife, initial impressions, i'd rate it a 5, no, make that a 4....
wait, it gets worse....
i decided to take the knife apart to clean and polish the internals, hoping that would smooth out the action....
i grabbed my Torx 6 screwdriver, and tried turning one of the screws, the driver spun freely, moving to a T-7 was too big, i inspected the screws....
*EVERY ONE* of the T-6 screws were *stripped*, i couldn't get a grip on them, i had to drill them out to take the knife apart....
once i had it apart, of course, i ended up losing one of the copper washers, that one i blame myself for, i cleaned and oiled the surfaces with mineral oil, polished up the remaining washer, then went to reassemble it
trying to find the right screws was annoying, all the screws that were long enough were too narrow to fit the hole, the screws that were wide enough weren't long enough....
so, the knife is sitting on my desk, partially dissasembled, waiting until i make a trip to the hardware store to get another copper washer and the right size screws to fix it, of course in hindsight, i should've returned it when i discovered the stripped screws, but lets be honest, it wouldn't make sense to ship a $12 knife back to the vendor, heck, the shipping costs would be half the cost of the knife alone, screws and washers i can fix myself anyway
final rating, taking into account the stripped screws and overall poor fit-and-finish;
final rating; 3
i hate rating a Spyderco design this low, but lets be honest here, the Firebyrd is *NOT* up to Spyderco's high standards, heck, it's not even up to Byrd standards, and it *is* a Byrd....
i never thought there'd be a Spyderco design i actually *hated*, that seemed to be built around a gimmick, but there it is, at least until i fix it, i *hate* the Firebyrd
once it is fixed, it'll either go in the center console of my car, or my other co-worker will inherit it (with the caveat that it's not a good example of Byrd quality), and i *won't* be purchasing another one to replace it...
Sorry Sal, this one gets a failing grade from me, at least until i fix it
now, onto the *good* review;
the Byrd Crossbill;
coming from my dissapointment with the Firebyrd (why do i always want to spell that one "Fyrebyrd"?), i wasn't looking forward to the Crossbill, visions of gritty opening, poor grinds, and uncomfortable "Comet-Hole" opening was swirling in my mind, the fact that the box it was in was a little squished didn't help matters any....
i held my breath and opened the box, pulled the Crossbill out....
Whoa!, it's bigger than i thought, it makes the Harpy seem small, nice and heavy though, but not heavy-cumbersome like the Firebyrd, heavy-solid and well constructed
i thumbed open the blade, and to my surprise, the comet-hole worked well, almost as good as the SpyderHole, the blade locked with an authoritative "snap", there was *no* side-to-side play, and just the *tiniest* amount of vertical play, but quite acceptable for a $20 knife
i was slightly dissapointed with the blade though, as it came rather dull, and there was a little flashing of unfinished metal on the tip, i'm at work and don't have my Sharpmaker with me, so i did the next best thing, grabbed a coffee cup, flipped it upside down, removed the flashing off the tip, and put a servicable working edge on it, it's not Sharpmaker sharp, but it's better than the out-of-box sharpness
the handle fills my hand well, and the double choils fit perfectly under my first two fingers, as reccomended by other Crossbill owners, i agree this model could use some jimping on the thumb ramp, of course the first thing i did was swap this one to tip-up carry
this will definitely be added to my EDC arsenal, for stuff i'd rather not use my nicer Spydies for, a good solid, entry-level knife, and a *superb* beater knife, too nice to be a true *beater*, really
final ratings;
out-of box condition; 7, it loses points for unfinished flashing at the tip, and less than optimal sharpness, but these two issues are easily solveable with a quick reprofile/resharpen job
Coffee-cup sharpening condition; 7.5, nice to see the 8Cr13MoV steel responds quickly to impromptu Coffee-mug sharpening, doesn't seem to respond to jeans-stropping, however, does seem to respond to cardboard box stropping..., 7.6 after cardboard stropping
things i'd change;
add jimping on the thumb-ramp
machine out a small hollow in the back of the handle frame, when the knife is closed and you squeeze on the blade, it pushes the tip into the frame, damaging the tip, this may actually be what caused the flashing at the tip, probably not, as the flashing was attached more at the spine of the blade, not the tip, i'll probably reprofile the tip slightly to make it less likely for the tip to be squished flat
i don't normally squeeze my knives for that express purpose, to prevet tip damage, but other NKP may do it, damaging the tip in the process
if other Byrds are of similar quality as the Crossbill, i'd have no problem reccomending them
i let both my co-workers handle the Crossbill, Bill and Steve, Bill's not a knife knut, but he's got a Leatherman Juice he's happy with, Steve's a newly-addicted Spyderholic
Bill is rather jaded and cynical, but was impressed with the Crossbill, very impressed for a $20 knife, Steve *loved* it, and i think he's going to order one soon, i handed it to him, he opened it, raved about how comfortable it was, it's decent heft, and it's great overall feel, he asked how much it was, and when i told him $20, he was *floored*, i thought he was going to place an order that second.....
Bravo, Sal and Eric, *great* work on the Crossbill
(all ratings are on a scale of 1-10)
first, lets get the bad review out of the way....
Byrd Firebyrd; this one was the first Byrd i pulled out of the box, sadly, i was *NOT* impressed in the least, it just felt *cheap*, really cheap, closer to a $5 gas station knife than a Spyderco designed knife has a right to...
the fit-and finish tolerances were substandard, the blade spring was not flush with the scale, and the blade was *extremely* difficult to open, felt like it had sand in it, and the blade was exceptionally dull, and it was *heavy* for such a small knife, initial impressions, i'd rate it a 5, no, make that a 4....
wait, it gets worse....
i decided to take the knife apart to clean and polish the internals, hoping that would smooth out the action....
i grabbed my Torx 6 screwdriver, and tried turning one of the screws, the driver spun freely, moving to a T-7 was too big, i inspected the screws....
*EVERY ONE* of the T-6 screws were *stripped*, i couldn't get a grip on them, i had to drill them out to take the knife apart....
once i had it apart, of course, i ended up losing one of the copper washers, that one i blame myself for, i cleaned and oiled the surfaces with mineral oil, polished up the remaining washer, then went to reassemble it
trying to find the right screws was annoying, all the screws that were long enough were too narrow to fit the hole, the screws that were wide enough weren't long enough....
so, the knife is sitting on my desk, partially dissasembled, waiting until i make a trip to the hardware store to get another copper washer and the right size screws to fix it, of course in hindsight, i should've returned it when i discovered the stripped screws, but lets be honest, it wouldn't make sense to ship a $12 knife back to the vendor, heck, the shipping costs would be half the cost of the knife alone, screws and washers i can fix myself anyway
final rating, taking into account the stripped screws and overall poor fit-and-finish;
final rating; 3
i hate rating a Spyderco design this low, but lets be honest here, the Firebyrd is *NOT* up to Spyderco's high standards, heck, it's not even up to Byrd standards, and it *is* a Byrd....
i never thought there'd be a Spyderco design i actually *hated*, that seemed to be built around a gimmick, but there it is, at least until i fix it, i *hate* the Firebyrd
once it is fixed, it'll either go in the center console of my car, or my other co-worker will inherit it (with the caveat that it's not a good example of Byrd quality), and i *won't* be purchasing another one to replace it...
Sorry Sal, this one gets a failing grade from me, at least until i fix it
now, onto the *good* review;
the Byrd Crossbill;
coming from my dissapointment with the Firebyrd (why do i always want to spell that one "Fyrebyrd"?), i wasn't looking forward to the Crossbill, visions of gritty opening, poor grinds, and uncomfortable "Comet-Hole" opening was swirling in my mind, the fact that the box it was in was a little squished didn't help matters any....
i held my breath and opened the box, pulled the Crossbill out....
Whoa!, it's bigger than i thought, it makes the Harpy seem small, nice and heavy though, but not heavy-cumbersome like the Firebyrd, heavy-solid and well constructed
i thumbed open the blade, and to my surprise, the comet-hole worked well, almost as good as the SpyderHole, the blade locked with an authoritative "snap", there was *no* side-to-side play, and just the *tiniest* amount of vertical play, but quite acceptable for a $20 knife
i was slightly dissapointed with the blade though, as it came rather dull, and there was a little flashing of unfinished metal on the tip, i'm at work and don't have my Sharpmaker with me, so i did the next best thing, grabbed a coffee cup, flipped it upside down, removed the flashing off the tip, and put a servicable working edge on it, it's not Sharpmaker sharp, but it's better than the out-of-box sharpness
the handle fills my hand well, and the double choils fit perfectly under my first two fingers, as reccomended by other Crossbill owners, i agree this model could use some jimping on the thumb ramp, of course the first thing i did was swap this one to tip-up carry
this will definitely be added to my EDC arsenal, for stuff i'd rather not use my nicer Spydies for, a good solid, entry-level knife, and a *superb* beater knife, too nice to be a true *beater*, really
final ratings;
out-of box condition; 7, it loses points for unfinished flashing at the tip, and less than optimal sharpness, but these two issues are easily solveable with a quick reprofile/resharpen job
Coffee-cup sharpening condition; 7.5, nice to see the 8Cr13MoV steel responds quickly to impromptu Coffee-mug sharpening, doesn't seem to respond to jeans-stropping, however, does seem to respond to cardboard box stropping..., 7.6 after cardboard stropping
things i'd change;
add jimping on the thumb-ramp
machine out a small hollow in the back of the handle frame, when the knife is closed and you squeeze on the blade, it pushes the tip into the frame, damaging the tip, this may actually be what caused the flashing at the tip, probably not, as the flashing was attached more at the spine of the blade, not the tip, i'll probably reprofile the tip slightly to make it less likely for the tip to be squished flat
i don't normally squeeze my knives for that express purpose, to prevet tip damage, but other NKP may do it, damaging the tip in the process
if other Byrds are of similar quality as the Crossbill, i'd have no problem reccomending them
i let both my co-workers handle the Crossbill, Bill and Steve, Bill's not a knife knut, but he's got a Leatherman Juice he's happy with, Steve's a newly-addicted Spyderholic
Bill is rather jaded and cynical, but was impressed with the Crossbill, very impressed for a $20 knife, Steve *loved* it, and i think he's going to order one soon, i handed it to him, he opened it, raved about how comfortable it was, it's decent heft, and it's great overall feel, he asked how much it was, and when i told him $20, he was *floored*, i thought he was going to place an order that second.....
Bravo, Sal and Eric, *great* work on the Crossbill
