Sage - Ti framelock - s30V - made in Taiwan - First Thoughts

O

opgenorf

Joined
Jun 25, 2011
Messages
1,737
Hi Everyone,

Picked up a Ti handled Sage from Spyderco in a trade last week and decided to start using it around the house and thought I would post up a few initial thoughts:

F&F - The fit and finish on this knife are ten times the F&F on most production Benchmade.
Smoothness: Lets be honest, this knife is not a smooth opener, perhaps it will break in with use.
Overall Design: Excellent slicer and seems sturdy enough for most tasks.
Sharpness: this thing is sharp as all heck out of the box.

Overall: I like the knife and will keep it as a user around the house for now. looks funky but functions well
 
Congratulations on your purchase, that knife truly is a work of art. Will consider getting one in the future
 
Mine was one of the smoothest opening knives I've ever owned, it and a couple of William Henry's I own.

I was amazed at how smooth it opened. It is a factory knife, so there will be differences in them though.

Congrats on your new knife, its a really great knife.
 
My sage 2's lock bar has a whole lot of tension making it not very smooth. It does get better after a while.
 
opgenorf said:
Its a good user so far. Decent f&f for a non us Knife by a us company
Click to expand...

It's not just decent f&f for a non US knife, is EXCELLENT f&f for any production knife short of Chris Reeve.

It will smooth out over time. Personally, I cracked mine open and polished the internals (I also stone washed the blade and flame anodized the scales) and it is absolutely smooth as oiled glass. If you're not afraid of opening it up and voiding your warranty, polishing the internals (the washers in particular) can really speed up the break in process. Otherwise just wait it out, you'll be amazed how smooth this knife is.

One more thing to think about regarding smoothness is where your fingers are when opening the knife. If your fingers are on the lock bar you are increasing pressure from the detent ball onto the blade tang meaning the knife will be less smooth, additionally, because your fingers are on the lock bar, the vibrations from the detent ball rubbing against the blade will be transferred to your fingertips, again, making it feel less smooth. This is true for almost all frame locks. It will eventually smooth out as the detent ball polishes itself and a groove on the blade as it wears in, but can make almost any new framelock feel rough if you don't know better.
 
After a great deal of experience with Cold Steel's made in Taiwan Voyager series as well as hearing these stories of exceptional craftsmanship in regards to the Spyderco knives of Taiwanese origin I have come to respect Taiwan a great deal, IMO they are home to some incredible craftsmen. With that being said there are many who will never own the above knives due to the country of origin even though the fit and finish is akin to a similar knife that cost twice as much.
 
I think the Sage 2 is easily one of the best "value" knives out there at its price point. I'm in agreement with the OP, but I had a different experience on the smoothness of opening--mine was like butter right out of the box.
 
Everyone has solid points. F&F can be excellent from any country, but I am saying it has good F&F for a production from outside the US. What I mean is this: Generally, a production knife made in another country is a POS when it comes to F&F. EX: I have a Benchmade production made in China and its F&F is Freaking horrid.

Wait... Perhaps its a bad example as F&F on a lot of BMs are a complete joke.. Another story for a different thread.

Considering that this is one, a production knife, two, that its produced abroad, I have to say that this thing is fantastic for its price point. Still I think that the cost of Spyderco (MSRP) is blown out of proportion for the company and its product. Secondary market is even worse on some discontinued models, but this is true for all manufacturers where there is a higher demand than supply... I could complain all day about this phenomeAnynon. Either way I am enjoying the heck out of using this knife and really want to pick up some more Spydercos!!

Anyhow, I want to get one of these Spyderco Tuffs but will wait til these drop in price. $225 for a production folder from abroad,..... high priced

Update: Smoothness has not improved and with all framelocks i open without pressure on the lock. I imagine it will smoothen with use.
 
It will smooth out with use. The drag you feel is just the detent ball dragging on the ti. After some use it will rub a little trench in the ti and it will be smooth as butter.
 
I imagined it was but still comparing these to other knives i have that are Smoother out of the box with a similar set up. Meh, I like the knife and it is getting some serious use. thinking of polishing up the edge but i want to see the edge retention out of the box. going on a week of moderate to hard use and its keeping its edge.
 
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