New Native IV CF - keep or send it back?

L

Longlosthiker

Joined
Dec 9, 2006
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I just received a Native IV CF this week. The carbon fiber looks great and overall I really like the knife. BUT, I noticed right away some grittiness when opening the blade which I just attributed to a dirty knife (as they often are, new from the factory). So I blasted it with compressed air, oiled generously, blasted with air again and wiped away the excess oil. But the grittiness on opening (and right at the end of closing) remained.

Now I'm thinking it's not just dirt but perhaps a flaw. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the grind is uneven and there are wear marks at the choil. I'm no knife expert and my only Spydie before this was a Delica FRN (which is awesome, btw). My question is, does this look acceptable to you or should I try to return it for exchange?

Uneven grind:
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Scratches at the choil
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Otherwise looks great
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I picked up the last two of the Kopa series as well (no issues with those :thumbup:)
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Have you tried disassembling the knife? It could be some grit on the washers or something. Use some rubbing alcohol and lubricant and the gritty opening should disappear.

Well, I've heard of uneven grinds before but didn't really know what people meant by that. Thanks for pointing it out. The uneven grind and scratches don't look like they will hinder performance and, to me, that's what counts. If the knife continues to have a gritty opening/closing after you clean it thoroughly, then contact Spyderco and send it in.
 
If you are planning to use it, I don't see the choil scratches mattering, and the uneven grind will go away if you reprofile or a few sharpenings at worst.

I agree about cleaning it out while apart to try to solve the grittiness. When I got an Endura, I cleaned the oil off with soap and water and decided to open it repeatedly before putting more oil on, thinking it would break it in faster. Instead, it soon felt very gritty, even with oil and cleaning (I tried compressed air, soap and water, and over-oiling in an attempt to flush it). I worried I had ruined it, and in a last ditch attempt took the blade out to clean it further. It ended up working.
 
No, I haven't disassembled it. I wanted to be sure I'll be keeping it before doing that. I've just blasted it with air, blasted it with RemOil, blasted with air again and cleaned it out as best I could with a pared down Q-tip. My concern is the possibility that those choil scratches are caused by the blade binding on the liner or lockwork...which cleaning would not resolve.

Perhaps "grittiness" is the wrong descriptor for how it opens. It is rough but not like there is sand in there. And it is only at the first little bit of opening, and last little bit of closing, maybe for 1/2" or so...like that choil binding is causing it. Once it clears it is smooth.
 
Longlosthiker,

I too just received my Native IV and it has the same "grittiness" when opening and I have seen youtube reviews that recall the same "grittiness" we are both experiencing. I don't think it's a singled out defect on yours. Seems that many have the same issue. For the money I feel it shouldn't have this problem, but other than that semi gritty feel it's a beautiful knife and it performs. I have noticed quite a few spydies are slightly off center on the grind, but has never affected my cutting or sharpening.

I actually took closer inspection, the grittness sound seems to only occur when beginning to open the blade and fully closing it. If you look closely at the back of the blade it is the tang that is scraping or skimming the back lock as it opens and closes. As I start to deploy the blade the grittiness starts as the back lock raises while the blade pivots out into the open position and I hear a bit more grittiness as it fully locks. In between it is fairly smooth but only when first opening and closest to closing does the knife make a gritty feel.

Hope that makes sense, maybe that is the same issue with yours.

I have noticed that the blade is san
 
ZippoThisKnifeThat said:
Hope that makes sense, maybe that is the same issue with yours.
Click to expand...


Yes, that sounds a lot like what's going on with my Native IV. I guess I'm relieved that it's normal, as I really do like the blade and it locks up solid as a bank vault. Examining the knife a little more, the carbon fiber has a very high level of fit n finish but the 'metalwork' (for lack of a better term) seems a bit more crude in some of the less obvious areas (Spydie hole, interior part of spine, etc.)....mildly disappointing in a knife this expensive (even on sale). This isn't true of my Delica or the Kopas or some of the other Spydies I've handled which have a high degree of finish/polish all over. (brother has Mini Manix, Caly 3, Dragonfly G10, Dad has Delica FRN, Mini Manix)

The Kopas are to be gifts for my Dad and brother, the Native is for me so I was a little bummed when I first started playing with it.
 
I had the same problem with my Native 4 CF. Grittiness on opening and closing. Oiled it and opened and closed it several times and noticed arcuate scratches on the tang over the Seki City stamp. I exchanged it for a different one. The 2nd one was much better. No grittiness.

Sounds like they're having a QC/QA problem in Seki City.

BTW: That doesn't look acceptable, especially the grind. I'd recommend sending it back for another one. You could ask them to check the next one for grittiness before sending it.
 
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Normal stuff on production knives.
The CF Caly 3 is bad for scratching the tang.
 
u812 said:
Normal stuff on production knives.
The CF Caly 3 is bad for scratching the tang.
Click to expand...

Normal wear is one thing. I've got plenty of old folders, from 10 to more than 30 years old that show a little scuffing on the tang area from normal opening and closing. Nothing like the size and depth of the scratches on the Native 4 that I opened and closed 20 or 30 times. I just think they've got a QC/QA issue with the finish on the SS liners. Burrs being left around the lightening holes would be my guess

None of my other Spydercos have any sort of problem like this. They all open smoothly. Maybe it's a problem with the CF models. ;)

I'd expect any production knife that retails for more than $200 (even though it sold for $100) to not have that kind of a problem fresh out of the box.
 
Not saying I like it or agree with it,just seems to be normal on many Spydercos.
 
PG5768 said:
I had the same problem with my Native 4 CF. Grittiness on opening and closing. Oiled it and opened and closed it several times and noticed arcuate scratches on the tang over the Seki City stamp. I exchanged it for a different one. The 2nd one was much better. No grittiness.

Sounds like they're having a QC/QA problem in Seki City.

BTW: That doesn't look acceptable, especially the grind. I'd recommend sending it back for another one. You could ask them to check the next one for grittiness before sending it.
Click to expand...


I read on the Spyderco website forum that this knife was made by a contractor, basically a one person company....so perhaps outside the bounds of their normal Seki City production?

I've been on the fence about exchanging it. It sounds like the fit/finish of my knife is not uncommon to this model. Call me jaded, but I don't trust a shop to actually inspect a knife closely if I ask them to in an exchange....so I might get something better, the same, or worse.

Frankly this wouldn't bother me so much if this was a less expensive knife. But when my $50 knife has better fit/finish...well, it just rubs me the wrong way.
 
Longlosthiker said:
I read on the Spyderco website forum that this knife was made by a contractor, basically a one person company....so perhaps outside the bounds of their normal Seki City production?

I've been on the fence about exchanging it. It sounds like the fit/finish of my knife is not uncommon to this model. Call me jaded, but I don't trust a shop to actually inspect a knife closely if I ask them to in an exchange....so I might get something better, the same, or worse.

Frankly this wouldn't bother me so much if this was a less expensive knife. But when my $50 knife has better fit/finish...well, it just rubs me the wrong way.
Click to expand...

Sounds like they need to have a little better QA on whoever this contractor in Seki City is. For the MSRP, I'd expect this to be pretty close to flawless. Even for the selling price.

Roger at Knifeworks took care of me on this one. The other option would be Spyderco's warranty department.
 
PG5768 said:
Roger at Knifeworks took care of me on this one. The other option would be Spyderco's warranty department.
Click to expand...
I too got a CF Native from Roger, it showed up Sat. No grittyness at all. The blade(not grind)is a bit off center, but nothing that U would say hinders function. I really like this one!
 
u812 said:
Normal stuff on production knives.
The CF Caly 3 is bad for scratching the tang.
Click to expand...

The outer layer of steel is much softer on those knives and there may not be any PB washers on that model either - steel to steel.
 
That would be acceptable to me.

Previous to this thread and the one in general about the Walker Sprint I've never looked at the grind the way you guys have. Now I'm afraid to look at my collection. :eek:

If you have gritiness at the beginning of opening and right before lock-up you may just have a slightly rough lockbar. I generally fix this by opening/closing a few hundred times in front of the t.v.

Testing for this is easy. With the knife closed depress the lockbar and go through the open/close sequence. If it's not gritty then the lockbar or tang is the culprit, if it is still gritty it's either dirt/debris is the pivot area or scraping somewhere that should be easy to see when it's apart.
 
The blade is scraping the liner, hence the scratches and "grittyness". It could be your technique when opening or there is not proper clearance between the liner and the blade, I assume you are right handed, if so when you apply pressure with your thumb the side opposite would have the scratches, just like your pictures. If you are unhappy exchange it.
 
anti-torsion said:
The blade is scraping the liner, hence the scratches and "grittyness".
Click to expand...

That doesn't account for the gritiness on the last little bit of opening. I think it's a lockbar issue since the face contacts different points at the beginning of opening/closing and that portion of the face can be roughly finished.

And it is only at the first little bit of opening, and last little bit of closing, maybe for 1/2" or so...like that choil binding is causing it. Once it clears it is smooth.
Click to expand...
 
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