Native problem?

DaveReb

DaveReb

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Joined
Sep 15, 2007
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I have a Spyderco Native, and it has seemed to deverlop some horizontal and vertical play. It's not alot, but noticeable when I physically try to move the blade left and right while holding the tip. I have used this knife for work, but it has never been abused, or used for jobs other than cutting, i.e. cardboard, stripping wire insulation, and cutting tapes. I also developed a small chip in the blade from cutting cardboard, but I just about have it sharpened out of the knife, and haven't had another edge problem since. I've been thinking of sending the knife back for warranty repair, but I wanted to check here to see if a small amount of blade play, in all directions, is normal for these knives? I know I don't have this play with my Caly3, or my Para-military, of course these knive are a bit more expensive.

TIA
Dave
 
Up and down is usual with even a quality lock back, side to side is usually worrysome. Send it in if you wish, if nothing else it will get sharpened and tuned. If something is wrong they will fix it. Win either way.
 
I think with an FRN handled knife, there would be "some" blade play but very little. I have seen posted elsewhere here that you can take a razorblade and place it under the pivot pin and tap the pin a bit with a hammer and it will tighten up. I tried this on two of my Natives and it did tighten up. There is still a little bit of play but not as much. I really wish Spyderco would come out with a new Native with screw construction.
 
I bet if you really wanted a Native with screw construction, some talented individual could do that. But it would be nice if it came that way from the factory.

I had a couple of Natives that did not get used much, an neither one had blade play. But like I said, they did not get used much. I ultimately sold them, I realized I didn't care for the grip.
 
I'm going to send the knife in this week and see what happens. As I mentioned the knife was never abused, so I'll see what the warranty department thinks, the side to side seems pretty significant, holding it right now. I sold off my Delica 4 to get this, and while I do like the ergo's of the Native more, I'm prefering the screw construction and the SS liners of the Delica.

Thanks
Dave
 
...when I purchased my Native one month ago. I took it back to Walmart, showed it to Sporting goods and they allowed me to look at the other Natives they had behind the counter (3) so I could make an exchange. The other 3 were worse than the one I had. So I went to the northside Walmart and did the same. Again, they had 2 Natives in stock and they were about as loose as the one I had. So I kept the one I had...went home, took a brass punch and gave the pivot pin a couple of measured whacks and fixed it myself. It could be that some play is designed into the knife to insure that the blade opens smoothly and doesn't drag. I'm kind of a perfectionist so I had to "fix" it to my satisfaction. If you decide to do the same I'd recommend you go gentle on the "whacks" so you don't overdo it... Except for this one issue I love the knife.
 
My Native 3 still rock solid after approx 4 years of hard use. After 2 years of use some days i had to cut a lot of very thight spannerbands arround barrels . I had to twist the blade while cutting . It developed a tiny bit of play caused by the twist tension. I tapped the first pin after the pivotpin with a nylon hammer and after that it was rock solid again.
I messed up the edge a bit:o. It will come back (next week i guess) from Jurgen Schanz for a flatgrind job and pearl glass blasting.
 
I'd send it in, but I believe that's the problem with Spydercos W/O liners in their FRN handles. The FRN tends to flex a bit.
 
CL01 said:
I'd send it in, but I believe that's the problem with Spydercos W/O liners in their FRN handles. The FRN tends to flex a bit.
Click to expand...

It isn't a problem as it doesn't affect function, just somes peace of mind.
 
My native that I got from WalMart has no play, side to side or up and down. I'm still really impressed with this knife for a $30 knife, especially coming from a benchmade.
 
Thanks for all the tips and advice:thumbup:. I ended up sending the Native back too Spyderco today to see what the warranty dept. has too say.

Dave
 
I bought a Native at Walmart today and it has a tiny bit of play. Unless it gets worse, I won't worry about it. It would be nice if it had adjustable pivot screws, but a nice little knife for the money I like S30V steel a lot; stays sharp and easy to sharpen on the Sharpmaker.
 
After a year of wear, tear, use and [not too much] abuse, my S30V Native is still rock solid. Of course, the blade still likes to chip, but its holding up much better than it did the first 6 months. But the lock is SOLID and the pivot is tight.
 
Well the Native came home, turn around was about 3weeks with time in transit. Pretty speedy but the blade play is still there. It came with a note saying they sharpened and adjusted it to the best of their ability. It did come back sharp as Hell, but with the same wiggle it went out with. As I mentioned this knife has only seen light duty, cutting tapes and cardboards. I'm afraid to see what would happen if it got exposed to real work:eek: Granted it's just a $40.00 knife but with all the hype I read about it, I expected it to make for a pretty rugged work EDC. It looks like this one will end up in the tackle box, or the bottom of a drawer. I think the Native would be a perfect candidate for all screw construction and liners, heck while we're at it let's throw in a full flat gring:D. I love the handle ergos and blade shape of this knife and could definitely see it as my work EDC in this configuration. But as it is now I don't think it will last long in my work environment.
Lesson learned, This will be my last knife that doesn't have screw construction, or liners. I like to have the ability to adjust the pivot tension, and to be able to have it cleaned/repaired by me or the manufacturer. This is making me start to wonder about using my Caly3 as a work EDC, while it does have adjustable pivot tension, if something else starts to wear can it be disassembled and repaired? or will it end up just like the Native? Looks like a reason to swap these knives out for the new G10 Delica


Dave
 
no disrespect intended, but this sounds like a non issue too me. i would have no problem useing your knife for an edc.
 
I work construtction, so if the Native's lockup loosened up doing lite duty tasks, i.e. opening boxes, cutting paper and tapes. I only see it getting worse if I use it for heavy use. If I worked in an office or warehouse environment, where all I was doing is opening envelopes or cutting up boxes, it would more than likely be fine as it is. But in my trade it will be exposed to all kinds of heavy tasks, weather, and environments, that will stress the the handle and pivot. I just don't see it surviving very long if I were to make it a full time work EDC...which was my intention when I bought it.

Dave
 
Sounds like the D4 or E4 would be better for your purposes, both about the same price as the Native, with liners, screw construction and heavier duty blades.
 
I actually traded my D4 away to buy the Native, I preffered the handles of the Native to the D4. The E4 is too big for me to EDC legally.
But it looks like a new Native 4 is around the corner...so I'm going to wait and save my pennies. This is my dream knife....well one of them:D

Dave
 
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