Problem with an exposed knife tip

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sams

Joined
Apr 21, 2001
Messages
1,446
I don't know if anyone else has expeirenced a problem with the tip of their Spyderco "sticking" out of the frame?

I use my wonderful Spyderco's and after a year or two, the tip becomes exposed a quarter to 3/8" of an inch. This is caused by sharpening the blade. I follow the profile, but after time, the tip sticks out too much. I sent a couple in to the shop, but the blade was refinshed and a 1/2" shorter, it just doesn't "feel" the same. I would buy new but the models change too fast and my Persian, Stretch, Native, Jess Horn, and Wegner were discontinued, & dangerous to carry. All I have left is a police model and an old Stretch and Pacific. I changed the "tip carry" on models I could, but my pants got cut, and my fingers were cut pretty bad.

If the scales were wider this would not happen. Case and my Buck knives did this same thing but to a lesser degree. I would slightly grind the tang and it would lower the blade and slove this problem. It won't work on the Spyderco knives. The lock up is different. I bought over 30 Spydercos over the years for myself and gifts, so I support the company. I like pocket knives and after 65 years of using them daily, I am interested in hearing other's opinion. I think this might be a design flaw ?
 
My friend, if you sharpen a pencil down to the eraser...it's not a design flaw when there isn't anything to hold on to.
 
I agree, BUT ................................................
if the end of the scales were designed differently ( wider) or shaped different this would not happen, i.e.design flaw.

I do NOT intend this thread as a complaint but a discussion open to new ideas. :)
 
Grind the kick down a bit, it will allow the blade to sit lower into the handles. I will agree with dishcore, oversharpening can be easily done. My oldest user Spyderco is a Military S30V, 7 years old and I've not gotten anywhere near that point yet.

You can upload pictures to the Internet, you don't need anything but some time and patience to do it. Photobucket, imgur, imageshack, etc all host pictures and are all free.
 
Hi Revdevil, I did mentiion I ground the kick down, but on the Spyderco it is different and grinding doesn't change the lock up . I didn't over sharpen. Just more use than the average. :)

If I used my knife during the day, normally 3-4 times on the job, I sharpen the knife to a razor edge when I get home before going to bed. I could tell some stories how many times people came to me to use my knives. Not a issue anymore, I don't work now, dying with cancer, :(

Thanks for the ideas. I will play with an imaging host and see what I can do, but I think you understand.
 
You might want to consider choosing designs where the tip sits deeper in the handle to begin with and/or the "open" side of the handle is less contoured. As an example, I doubt it would be possible to expose the tip of an version of the Native without severely altering the shape of the blade.
 
Start grinding the spine of the blade to bring the tip down to the point it buries in the handle. I don't consider this a design flaw. If the handles were wider then the ergonomics would be altered, or the spyderhole would be covered, or the knife would be wider when closed, or any mix of the above. Some knives bury the spine/tip deep in the handle when closed, like the Sebenza. Surely you're not suggesting every knife that doesn't close like the sebbie has a design flaw? Also, I'm not convinced that the kick was ever designed to be ground down to further bury the tip when closed, so I don't believe your description to be a design flaw as kicks were not designed for that purpose to begin with. And as I started this post with, I believe if grinding down the kick served as an adequate solution before, then grinding down the spine to lower the tip should also be an acceptable solution without labeling the issue as a "design flaw" :D
 
I'm having a hard time picturing exposing the blade tip above the handles when closed. Someone with this problem please post a picture.
 
GundaManiac said:
Start grinding the spine of the blade to bring the tip down to the point it buries in the handle. I don't consider this a design flaw. If the handles were wider then the ergonomics would be altered, or the spyderhole would be covered, or the knife would be wider when closed, or any mix of the above. Some knives bury the spine/tip deep in the handle when closed, like the Sebenza. Surely you're not suggesting every knife that doesn't close like the sebbie has a design flaw? Also, I'm not convinced that the kick was ever designed to be ground down to further bury the tip when closed, so I don't believe your description to be a design flaw as kicks were not designed for that purpose to begin with. And as I started this post with, I believe if grinding down the kick served as an adequate solution before, then grinding down the spine to lower the tip should also be an acceptable solution without labeling the issue as a "design flaw" :D
Click to expand...

The OP does have a real point (ha ha).

For example, on my Caly 3 if I run my fingers across the tip while closed I could cut myself if I pressed hard enough. Sharpening the spine down to the edge won't help much at all, as the tip will continue to be only shallowly covered by the scales for the next quarter inch of blade--I'm not really interested in significantly shortening my blade just to do so.

As mentioned by RevDevil, grinding down the kick can help out a good bit. Take a look at the inside of a knife like a Caly 3, and you will see where the ricasso hits the backspacer. The corresponding area is exactly where you would want to grind it down a bit.
 
GundaManiac I agree, good points.
I WAS THINKING THE DESIGN OF THE SLAB, GRIP COULD BE ENLARGED AT THE END OF THE KNIFE NOT THE ENTIRE SLAB. "kINDA" LIKE A PROTRUDING ROUNDED LITTLE FINGER REST. :)

Coiledwire I can send you a pic.

The lock up on my Spydercos does not change the seating depth of the blade by grinding down the bottom of the blade by the hilt end. A Case made knife does.
 
sams said:
GundaManiac I agree, good points.
I WAS THINKING THE DESIGN OF THE SLAB, GRIP COULD BE ENLARGED AT THE END OF THE KNIFE NOT THE ENTIRE SLAB. "kINDA" LIKE A PROTRUDING ROUNDED LITTLE FINGER REST. :)

Coiledwire I can send you a pic.

The lock up on my Spydercos does not change the seating depth of the blade by grinding down the bottom of the blade by the hilt end. A Case made knife does.
Click to expand...

Please do. Then I can post it here, if you'd like, for a visual record of what we're talking about.
 
Cynic2701 said:
The OP does have a real point (ha ha).

For example, on my Caly 3 if I run my fingers across the tip while closed I could cut myself if I pressed hard enough. Sharpening the spine down to the edge won't help much at all, as the tip will continue to be only shallowly covered by the scales for the next quarter inch of blade--I'm not really interested in significantly shortening my blade just to do so.

As mentioned by RevDevil, grinding down the kick can help out a good bit. Take a look at the inside of a knife like a Caly 3, and you will see where the ricasso hits the backspacer. The corresponding area is exactly where you would want to grind it down a bit.
Click to expand...

This is a solution for knives without a ball detent, right?

If I were to make the blade on a Domino sit deeper in the handle, then the detent ball and the hole it sits in wouldn't line up.
 
Cynic2701 said:
The OP does have a real point (ha ha).

For example, on my Caly 3 if I run my fingers across the tip while closed I could cut myself if I pressed hard enough.
Click to expand...

I had this problem with a Caly 3.5. I ground down the kick a tiny amount and now the blade sits deeper in the handle. I recommend you either do the same (very carefully) or send the knife into Spyderco. It's likely a defect. When I ran a search I came up with another customer reporting the same problem. I should mention that I have a couple Calys and 3.5s and this was the only one with that issue.
 
Grinding on the tang to adjust the point that it stops closing works on some Spyderco knives and not on others, depending on the design. For example, it works on the Native 5, but it doesn't work on the Manix 2. If you are going to modify the knife anyway, you might as well pull one of the scales and perhaps a liner and see for yourself how the closing stop point is set.
Obviously you can't easily disassemble a pinned knife so you're flying blind on those.
 
Cynic2701 said:
The OP does have a real point (ha ha).

For example, on my Caly 3 if I run my fingers across the tip while closed I could cut myself if I pressed hard enough.
Click to expand...
Yep and if I stick my finger deep enough into an electrical outlet, I'll get a shock.
 
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