replacement blade ?

pwet

pwet

Joined
Feb 13, 2009
Messages
1,134
hi,

i have a problem with spyderco CS, some days ago i asked them if i could buy a new blade for my "sharpening mule" stretch 2 CF/ZDP189 because it was full of dmt XC scratches.

to my surprise the answer was a plain "sorry, we don't sell or replace blades " .

wtf ????

i'm completely puzzled, why would a knife company refuse to sell a replacement blade ? i'm not asking for warranty service as i've messed it, i want to PAY for it.

what if i break it ? i have to buy the entire knife ? sounds very strange to me. especially for a knife that, at the cheapest, is roughly 250$ plus shipping here in europe.

please explain me what's the problem, is it because they can't install it themselves ? if so i'd just like to keep the damaged blade and avoid the hassle, risk of loss and price of sending the knife.

i hope someone will chime in with an answer.

thanks
 
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Part of it is because, especially with knives that are made in Japan, they don't have replacement parts available in Golden. I'd assume that keeping extra blades around in storage is not very economical in terms of material usage as well as storage-Spyderco's factory in Golden is not a very big building it's smaller than the elementary school I went to. Setting aside extra blades means putting time and materials into a resource that they cannot easily sell either. Also, blades have to be fitted to their individual lock mechanism-when you transfer blades around with lockbacks the spring has to go with it.

Depending on how severe the scratches are you'd be better off having someone grind and/or polish them out or if they're mostly on the edge itself you could probably work the out with enough elbow grease and patience. I know ZDP can be a pain in the butt to sharpen by hand but I reprofiled my CF Caly 3 entirely on my sharpmaker and it was worth it.
 
amati1543 said:
Part of it is because, especially with knives that are made in Japan, they don't have replacement parts available in Golden. I'd assume that keeping extra blades around in storage is not very economical in terms of material usage as well as storage-Spyderco's factory in Golden is not a very big building it's smaller than the elementary school I went to. Setting aside extra blades means putting time and materials into a resource that they cannot easily sell either. Also, blades have to be fitted to their individual lock mechanism-when you transfer blades around with lockbacks the spring has to go with it.

Depending on how severe the scratches are you'd be better off having someone grind and/or polish them out or if they're mostly on the edge itself you could probably work the out with enough elbow grease and patience. I know ZDP can be a pain in the butt to sharpen by hand but I reprofiled my CF Caly 3 entirely on my sharpmaker and it was worth it.
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This is a pretty good explanation.

As a caveat from that, you can send your stretch in for warranty/repair and request the blade be sanded/sharpened/buffed. Normally, they take the light scratches out for free when they sharpen them, but you might want to ask if you would need to pay extra.

Edit: just read through that again and I see that you live in France. I can see that sending the blade in for warranty service would be a pretty big hassle.
 
I don't see it as a problem. They sell knives, not parts. Of course it would be nice to be able to get a replacement blade like some other companies offer, but I don't think it's necessary for a company to do.
 
amati1543 said:
Part of it is because, especially with knives that are made in Japan, they don't have replacement parts available in Golden. I'd assume that keeping extra blades around in storage is not very economical in terms of material usage as well as storage-Spyderco's factory in Golden is not a very big building it's smaller than the elementary school I went to. Setting aside extra blades means putting time and materials into a resource that they cannot easily sell either. Also, blades have to be fitted to their individual lock mechanism-when you transfer blades around with lockbacks the spring has to go with it.

Depending on how severe the scratches are you'd be better off having someone grind and/or polish them out or if they're mostly on the edge itself you could probably work the out with enough elbow grease and patience. I know ZDP can be a pain in the butt to sharpen by hand but I reprofiled my CF Caly 3 entirely on my sharpmaker and it was worth it.
Click to expand...

There is also a small matter of Spyderco constantly making incremental improvements to their product line. Based on customer feedback and warranty work, they make small changes to their knives on a regular basis. That means it wouldn't be a question of warehousing a few hundred blades for each model, they'd have to have some of every run on hand. That might means thousands of blades altogether. It would be easier for them to hand make a new blade to fit the knife in question, and a custom job like that would easily cost them twice as much as a new knife would sell for.

Yes, there is a downside to striving to deliver the best product possible.
 
amati1543 said:
Also, blades have to be fitted to their individual lock mechanism-when you transfer blades around with lockbacks the spring has to go with it.
Click to expand...

sure of that ? it's true for a custom maker but i doubt for production knives.

anyways i'm really surprised of this. sadly surprised. storage etc shouldn''t be my problem.

i'd be surprised that anyone find normal that a car manufacturer doesn't stock a normal motor part. what ? do you know how much variant of this motor they made ? it will be too hard for them to keep an inventory of each part. and their part makers are all around the world, just go buy a new car.

why for a knife ? i don't get it.
 
Spyderco does not replace blades, so they don't stock blades. If a blade proves defective under the terms of their warranty, they replace the entire knife. I'm not personally familiar with the policy of other knife companies, but from what I've read, Spyderco is not the only one which does not offer replacement blades.

Paul
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With regards to your problem, I think a good alternative would be finding a way to get it refinished. I think there is a member here doing bead blasting, or you can find a knife maker who would be willing to work on it for you.

That or take the chance to get a Krein regrind. Especially if you are interested in a thin edge.
 
pwet said:
sure of that ? it's true for a custom maker but i doubt for production knives.

anyways i'm really surprised of this. sadly surprised. storage etc shouldn''t be my problem.

i'd be surprised that anyone find normal that a car manufacturer doesn't stock a normal motor part. what ? do you know how much variant of this motor they made ? it will be too hard for them to keep an inventory of each part. and their part makers are all around the world, just go buy a new car.

why for a knife ? i don't get it.
Click to expand...

The difference is that car companies, generally, are big corporations that have a huge market worldwide. Spyderco, on the other hand, is a fairly small company. Also, car parts fit a variety of models, not just one, and as mentioned before, the incremental changes and improvements of designs makes it so some parts just don't work the same on new and older models. I can buy headlights for a '99 Mustang and throw them on an '04.
 
At least on quite a few models the blade is fitted to the lock. I doubt it would be cost effective to keep all the parts for all the variations of each models made.
Replacing a defective knife with a new one or offering credit for the value is a lot easier than replacing an entire $100000 car when a part breaks. They do have clips and screws for most models, but major repair AFAIK isn't done.

Sverre
 
pwet said:
sure of that ? it's true for a custom maker but i doubt for production knives.
Click to expand...

It's true for Spyderco. Lots of people do blade swaps, and change the lock as well. Sorry about your scratched up blade but maby you shouldn't have used a $250 knife to be your "sharpening mule".
 
Try buying a replacement part for your blender. A car isn't a very fair comparison. I'm also not sure I would be mad at Spyderco when they didn't scratch up your blade and scratches don't really effect the performance of the knife.

If you are that bothered by scratches you can buy one for about 140 and have it shipped over. The FRN version goes for around 90.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
The FRN version goes for around 90.
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this is my plan. so i can get a frn user and a good looking CF one.

it was obvious to me that a worldwide knife company like spyderco could change a blade on a knife. i'm wrong, still disapointed. other company can change blades for sure. wich ones doesn't ?

sorry for bothering

and btw for blenders and similar stuff... cheap companies won't replace anything, with big $ kitchen ware you can get new blades no problem. that's usually why people go high end. i thought it was the case here. i see a blade as "wear part" or "wearing parts" (is it the right term? ) of a knife, i would never ask for warranty for wear on a blade but i consider normal to get a replacement when it wears out.

anyway thanks for the answers !
 
Really the only two companies I know of that do replace blades are Buck and Benchmade. I've heard stories both ways about Kershaw so I think its model dependant.

Even with your car manufacturer analogy, depends on the company, the car, and how long its been out. I'd have a hell of a time trying to get chevy to find me a new motor for my 01 tracker, and they didn't stop selling until 04. Ford can be worse with parts for non-performance cars.

Seems surprising if you are thinking about a large company, but if I'm remembering right Spyderco has well under 100 employees at Golden, and is smaller than Benchmade, with more models made outside the US. It bothers me that you can't get a replacement blade, but not all that much, all things considered.


Not to mention that no more than 20 years ago most knife were considered "wear items" and few would have thought to reblade them. Locks wear, blades wear, and handles wear.

Good luck with your swap, make sure you check blade thickness on spyderco's site first, sometimes different materials end up with different width's.
 
EricV said:
Really the only two companies I know of that do replace blades are Buck and Benchmade. I've heard stories both ways about Kershaw so I think its model dependant.

Even with your car manufacturer analogy, depends on the company, the car, and how long its been out. I'd have a hell of a time trying to get chevy to find me a new motor for my 01 tracker, and they didn't stop selling until 04. Ford can be worse with parts for non-performance cars.

Seems surprising if you are thinking about a large company, but if I'm remembering right Spyderco has well under 100 employees at Golden, and is smaller than Benchmade, with more models made outside the US. It bothers me that you can't get a replacement blade, but not all that much, all things considered.


Not to mention that no more than 20 years ago most knife were considered "wear items" and few would have thought to reblade them. Locks wear, blades wear, and handles wear.

Good luck with your swap, make sure you check blade thickness on spyderco's site first, sometimes different materials end up with different width's.
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thanks for the thickness input.

for the wear knife 20 years ago where i live a knife was disposable but the price was too.

and i don't measure a company from the number of employees. where i live (france) spyderco is way more present that benchmade in b&m shops, in online shop, in forums, in people pockets and even a custom maker with 0 employee would replace me any part of a knife no matter if is order book is closed or not it's considered part of the service.

anyway i'll stop there guys 'cause i'm feeling that i start arguing more than searching for answer and i don't want that.

thanks for the kind answers everyone.
 
I'll re-suggest a refinish. Go hunt down the thread in Maintenance-dslteck was offering bead blasting for people. He probably still does. For cost of shipping both ways, it sounds like a good deal.

That Spyderco does not replace blades is stated very clearly on their website under warranty information. I guess next time you should check first ;)
 
wongKI said:
I'll re-suggest a refinish. Go hunt down the thread in Maintenance-dslteck was offering bead blasting for people. He probably still does. For cost of shipping both ways, it sounds like a good deal.

That Spyderco does not replace blades is stated very clearly on their website under warranty information. I guess next time you should check first ;)
Click to expand...

thanks, i guess i can find someone to bead blast it here without crossing the atlantic. no big deal. thinking about it i even think i can have it stonewashed for free. thanks again.
 
pwet,

Sorry to read about your disappointment. I believe you have clearly stated your thoughts and that you have made an excellent choice to avoid arguing. I really applaud your interest in repairing/maintaining your tool!

It would be very interesting to see your "Sharpening Mule" all scratched up and then a picture of the same knife after you have it blasted or had it stone washed.

Sincerely,

Doug
 
Hi Pwet,

Sorry about your dilemma.

There are many reasons for not replacing blades. Some knives (Golden made) we can work with, but the Stretch is made in Seki by one of the best makers. We just don't stock blades.

Having customers replae their own blades is a liability. That's why we can't warrantee them. We have no control over whether or not he blade was properly asembled.

If you were to send your knife to us, I'm sure we could make a large improvement, but you are far away.

We are pleased that we are well represented in France. We have many friends there (like Fred Perrin) that like our products. We also have a very effective distributor. But mostly, I think that the French people love knives.

sal
 
thanks for answering here sal, i appreciate. i already had the same answer by mail from your CS (btw you should raise charlynn ;) , she's been great, took some time to read my complain and answer in a very comprehensive manner, bravo :) ).

i still think that outsourcing is your choice and you should assume it even if spare parts happens to be more costly than domestic made ones. but obviously a scratched blade won't ruin my life so lets say i understand, it won't change my life and i'll forget this.


any way thanks for answering in person.
 
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