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Sage 1 problems out of box

K

Krissig12

Joined
Sep 11, 2013
Messages
3,121
Just got my sage 1 from amazon today. When it arrived it was super tight and gritty, but after washing it out several times and lubing it up, nothing got any better. I played around with the pivot, but even with the screw almost completely out, it was just as tight. This also threw the blade centering off to the point where it was scraping the liner. I've been trying for an hour now, but I can't find any distinguishable sweetspot that the knife is good at. The major grittiness is gone now, but the knife is still too tight. I REALLY don't want to send it back, but what else is there to do. I tried taking it apart and polishing the washers, then lubing the important parts, but still very little improvement. Any ideas? Does it just need time to wear in?
 
Can you post a picture of the problem area. These guys on here are very knowledgeable, if anyone can help, they can and will. You just have to do the hardest thing with a new blade. Be a little patient. I am new to spydies but not to folders
 
You might be overdoing the oil. It really doesn't take much.
Make sure you aren't pinching the washers.
Do not get oil on the lockbar.
I've had several Sage series knives and every one of them has been completely smooth right out of the bag.
As far as the off centered blade, you should only need to loosen the pivot screw a little to allow for free movement. It shouldn't just fall open either.
 
Krissig12 said:
I REALLY don't want to send it back, but what else is there to do.
Click to expand...

Well, anything else really... That option went out the window when you tried to fix it on your own.

A bit of oil on the detent ball might help if you haven't tried that. Maybe make sure the body screws aren't overly tight.

Otherwise you can send it to spyderco for warranty service, but you really shouldn't have taken it apart.

Good luck.
-Steve
 
Here's where I'm at currently:

I removed the majority of the lube, put a tiny bit along the groove where the detent ball should slide as well as the ball itself, and tinkered with the pivot until I couldn't get it any better. I've been cycling it for the last couple hours, hoping it would break in, but still nothing so far.

I'll try to play with the other body screws and maybe check to make sure the washers aren't pinched like you guys said (by the way, what would they look like if they were?)

Thank for the help
 
Holy sh**!

I had no idea the rest of the screws made that much of a difference! All better now for the most part. Thanks everyone!
 
My suggestion is to send it back. The knife is defective.

I had the same thing happen recently with a ZT 350. It was tight on arrival with an off center blade that rubbed slightly. This is not the way the knife is supposed to be built and no amount of adjustments could prevent the blade from rubbing without virtually locking the blade in place. I contacted Amazon and told them there was a defect present. They asked no further questions except how I wanted to return the knife and whether I wanted a refund or exchange. Simple.

Amazon is great for returns. That is, if you bought it from Amazon and not one of the vendors who sell through Amazon. These vendors all have different return policies so you'll have to contact them directly. But do contact the seller because this ain't the way a knife is supposed to work.
 
lee48 said:
my suggestion is to send it back. The knife is defective.

I had the same thing happen recently with a zt 350. It was tight on arrival with an off center blade that rubbed slightly. This is not the way the knife is supposed to be built and no amount of adjustments could prevent the blade from rubbing without virtually locking the blade in place. I contacted amazon and told them there was a defect present. They asked no further questions except how i wanted to return the knife and whether i wanted a refund or exchange. Simple.

Amazon is great for returns. That is, if you bought it from amazon and not one of the vendors who sell through amazon. These vendors all have different return policies so you'll have to contact them directly. But do contact the seller because this ain't the way a knife is supposed to work.
Click to expand...
exactly!
 
I recently (last Thursday) received a Sage 1 from Amazon as well. Similarly I felt the initial action was a bit tight, but thankfully I didn't experience any grittiness. I adjusted the pivot screw slightly but it seemed to have no impact on the stiffness. After opening and closing the knife a few dozen times I started to realize it's not the pivot tension that is causing the perceived stiffness/friction. Instead, at least on my example, it's the force of the liner/detent ball on the blade. If I hold the liner lock open the blade action is silent and smooth and the tension is perfect.

At this point I'm willing to sacrifice 'lightening fast deployment' for the rock solid lock up. I figure over time it will get smoother, and, honestly, even if it doesn't it's no big deal. The Sage 1 is just about the perfect work week EDC for me. The fit and finish (slightly tight action aside) is as good as any production folder I've even owned, many of which cost 50-100% more. Overall the Sage 1 has become my new favorite blade... although my PM2 should be arriving within the next couple hours so who knows how long that will last.

- Jacob
 
MisterEwing said:
I recently (last Thursday) received a Sage 1 from Amazon as well. Similarly I felt the initial action was a bit tight, but thankfully I didn't experience any grittiness. I adjusted the pivot screw slightly but it seemed to have no impact on the stiffness. After opening and closing the knife a few dozen times I started to realize it's not the pivot tension that is causing the perceived stiffness/friction. Instead, at least on my example, it's the force of the liner/detent ball on the blade. If I hold the liner lock open the blade action is silent and smooth and the tension is perfect.

At this point I'm willing to sacrifice 'lightening fast deployment' for the rock solid lock up. I figure over time it will get smoother, and, honestly, even if it doesn't it's no big deal. The Sage 1 is just about the perfect work week EDC for me. The fit and finish (slightly tight action aside) is as good as any production folder I've even owned, many of which cost 50-100% more. Overall the Sage 1 has become my new favorite blade... although my PM2 should be arriving within the next couple hours so who knows how long that will last.

- Jacob
Click to expand...

I agree that the stiffness could well be the Detent ball. On my recently acquired (used) Sage 1, I placed a small drop of oil on the ball and my blade opening became smoother. I tried adjusting the pivot screw and all it did was make the blade centering much worse.
 
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When my domino was super tight and off center, I fixed it by loosening all of the screws, both pivot and body, and tightening them back up one at a time, each side of each screw. It fixed it instantly and he lockup and action could not be any better.
 
Lee48 said:
My suggestion is to send it back. The knife is defective.

I had the same thing happen recently with a ZT 350. It was tight on arrival with an off center blade that rubbed slightly. This is not the way the knife is supposed to be built and no amount of adjustments could prevent the blade from rubbing without virtually locking the blade in place. I contacted Amazon and told them there was a defect present. They asked no further questions except how I wanted to return the knife and whether I wanted a refund or exchange. Simple.

Amazon is great for returns. That is, if you bought it from Amazon and not one of the vendors who sell through Amazon. These vendors all have different return policies so you'll have to contact them directly. But do contact the seller because this ain't the way a knife is supposed to work.
Click to expand...
So, you believe that returning an item that you've already tinkered with is ethical?
 
The Deacon said:
So, you believe that returning an item that you've already tinkered with is ethical?
Click to expand...

How is the view from that high horse?

It was not right when he got it. He took it apart with intentions to correct the problem and keep it. He didn't get it in perfect shape then break it and return it like it was a defect.

I bought a lawn mower from Sears a couple years ago. It wouldn't run right so I flushed the gas tank, cleaned the carb, and checked all the electrical connections. Still didn't fix the problem so I returned it. How unethical of me.
 
The Taiwan Spydercos that I've had have been some of the best. In fact, my Sage 2 was the smoothest out of the box Spyderco I've owned. You should send it back if you can't fix it to your liking. My first thought was that it was a fake, because every knife I've received from Spyderco has been pretty consistent and worked flawlessly.
 
The Deacon said:
Pretty good. How's the view from the gutter?
Click to expand...

Lol nice burn fella. Very typical of the common Internet forum "I have all these posts I'm sooo important! " guy, there are copies of you on every site.

Stick with insults instead of at least a semi intelligent reply that backs up your earlier "I'm holier than you" drivel.
 
johnny_boy02 said:
Lol nice burn fella. Very typical of the common Internet forum "I have all these posts I'm sooo important! " guy, there are copies of you on every site.

Stick with insults instead of at least a semi intelligent reply that backs up your earlier "I'm holier than you" drivel.
Click to expand...
Pretty simple really. You receive a knife you've purchased. You take it out and inspect it. If you don't like what you see, you make the seller aware of that and await their response. If they say, "try such-and-such before you return it" then fine, do as they suggested, but unless they do, you don't tinker with it, simply pack it up and return it. Otherwise, once you start tinkering with it, it's yours. Yes, there are some exceptions to that, like finding out the holes for clip mounting in the position you desire are not tapped, but they are few and far between and the things the OP described are not among them. If you think they are, then we have different ideas of what constitutes ethical behavior.
 
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