Question about the Spyderco Foliage Green Rookie

[hugh_jorgan]

Hey guys, I just got my rookie in the mail today and I was wondering if anyone can help me out here. I am in no way a knife expert, and I am pretty new to spyderco knives. When inspecting this rookie, I noticed a couple of things right away. For one, it is impossible to flick open with one finger. This isn't a huge deal, but the other spyderco knives that I own are extremely easy to flick open.
Next, there seems to be some kind of sand(?) or grit inside the handle. I have no idea what it could be, but there is definitely the sound of some kind of grit scraping against the blade and handle when I open and close it.
Also, there seems to be quite a bit of play in the blade when I open it.

I am not a very picky person, but these things are extremely noticeable even to me.

Has anyone else here bought the rookie? Experienced any of these things? I appreciate any help!

 

[darthsoaker]

No Rookie here, but I'll try to help anyways.

Next, there seems to be some kind of sand(?) or grit inside the handle. I have no idea what it could be, but there is definitely the sound of some kind of grit scraping against the blade and handle when I open and close it.
Also, there seems to be quite a bit of play in the blade when I open it.

Both of these things may be caused by a loose pivot screw. Is the blade play side to side or up and down? Side to side can be easily fixed by tightening the pivot. Up and down, not so much.

If the pivot is too loose, it will allow the blade to scrape against the liner.

Do you have the proper Torx bit for the pivot?

 

[hugh_jorgan]

Thanks a lot for the reply. To answer your question, the blade play is side to side, sorry about not being specific on that. I don't currently have the proper bit to tighten the pivot, I guess I should look into that now that I have purchased a couple of spyderco knives.

I'll try that and see what happens. Thanks again.

 

[senoBDEC]

Second-hand or from online retailer?
Either way, if you purchased this knife new, it should not have come this way.

The proper bit is a Torx driver, you should be able to get the "8-in-1" hollow-handle screwdrivers at most hardware stores.
One thing I've found to work, once you do get it disassembled, use some alcohol wipes or simply make a small alcohol bath to dip the metal pieces into to remove dirt, dust, metal particles, etc.

I've never had a Spyderco lockback that was "extremely easy" to flick open, but the action should be very smooth on their lockbacks with minor resistance upon at the beginning of the opening arc.

 

[hugh_jorgan]

I purchased it from New Graham, this is the first knife that I've purchased from them(also I am not saying that any of this is the fault of New Graham. I don't think that at all). There is a lot of resistance on this knife though when opening, it just doesn't feel right. When trying to open it with one finger, it takes a lot of force just to get the knife out of the handle let alone open it completely.