Spyderco Advice...

[thejamppa]

I've got:
Spyderco Tenacious
Ladybug 3 H1
Caly3
Delica 4
Delica 4 FFG
Spyderco Urban.

All of these knives have even grinds as far I've seen. Only Delica 4 FFG has minor "polishing defect" near the spine, something you cannot feel with finger and just see against the lights reflection. IMHO just adds character and I can now tell which Delica 4 FFG is my baby.

But seriously, I've never had major problems with my knives. Sure my Caly3 was off centered but that was fixed like 30 seconds with torx 8 or 9. Having set of torxes is pretty much must for any knife enthusiast who has alot folders...

 

[THG]

It may also help if you learned to sharpen your knives correctly (if you don't know how.) and bought a knife over $60 designed to please the masses.

I know how to sharpen, thank you very much. I just wasn't pleased with the 50°+ angles of the factory bevels, so I sent them to the factory because I don't have time to profile all of them.

Right. So your exposure to ten Spyderco knives (vs. the hundred or so I've had, only 5-6 with off center blades and no grind issues. Not to mention the countless other people) stinks. Glad we cleared that up.

What else am I supposed to make of it? If you got 10 knives like I did with 8 of them having off-centered blades, what would you say? Are you saying that my thoughts are irrational?

And why is it that every other week we get another thread about an off-centered Spyderco blade but not Kershaw or Cold Steel or Benchmade? I guess everyone just has it out for Spyderco, right?

Like I said, Spyderco is my absolute favorite knife company. I have about 10 Spydercos, 1 Kershaw, and 2 Cold Steels, to put it in perspective. But I've gotta call them as I see them.

 

[twid]

The ones you listed with off centered blades all have frn handles. For whatever reason, all of mine with frn handles have off centered blades too. Adjusting the pivot has worked for me in centering the blade but makes the action stiffer, not worth the adjustment to me. I honestly dont care one bit as long as the blade doesn't rub the handle when it's closed.

 

[RevDevil]

@bigbre
You should always try and buy your knives from online knife stores if possible. It will usually prevent these kinds of things from happening. Unknown knife retailers that are hidden under the Amazon umbrella are not always a good value. You save what $5-10 then end up with a fugly knife. Not worth it. Too many great knife stores out there to choose from:

-not your mamas knives
-grand praire knives
-new graham
-knife center
-knifeworks
-cutlery shoppe
-warriors and wonders
on and on.

I too haven't had any issues that would cause me to lose sleep. I sent in my Manix 2 because the blade was hitting the liner ever so slightly. I got it back scalpel sharp and the blade is centered. They also took care of a resharpening of a serreted Para.

 

[kreole]

^ I'm 99% sure nearly all online dealers don't check the knives before they send them out. That's why people like Tom of Spydercovt exist.

Spyderco is a tool company, not an art company, so their qc doesn't require centered blades, since being off center doesn't affect cutting. If you want a perfect knife, going to a store and looking at them is the only option.

 

[Loneriderz]

No one is perfect. Out of 40 plus Spydercos I've had I've had only one off centred blade, the orange Military. It wasn't rubbing the scales but an eyesore nonetheless. I learnt to live with that one and I suggest the OP to do contact Spyderco if he can't. It is unlikely they'd do much about it though but IIRC there were a few posts on how to correct or alleviate the centredness here on BF and on Spyderco forums.

 

[wongKI]

I have had 5 Spydercos and handled lots more.

Of the 5-Delica 4 CE, Delica 2 SS, Orange Mili, Gayle Bradley, Stretch2 ZDP FRN, all had perfect blade grinds, but the Mili came with a blade slightly tilted towards the lock face.

All five blades came sharp enough to push cut newspaper, including the SE Delica2.

It's worth noting that Spyderco blades are hand-sharpened, so there'll be some significant variation.

 

[Josh K]

What else am I supposed to make of it? If you got 10 knives like I did with 8 of them having off-centered blades, what would you say? Are you saying that my thoughts are irrational?

And why is it that every other week we get another thread about an off-centered Spyderco blade but not Kershaw or Cold Steel or Benchmade? I guess everyone just has it out for Spyderco, right?

Like I said, Spyderco is my absolute favorite knife company. I have about 10 Spydercos, 1 Kershaw, and 2 Cold Steels, to put it in perspective. But I've gotta call them as I see them.

An off center blade would not be a concern for me.

 

[RevDevil]

^ I'm 99% sure nearly all online dealers don't check the knives before they send them out. That's why people like Tom of Spydercovt exist.

Spyderco is a tool company, not an art company, so their qc doesn't require centered blades, since being off center doesn't affect cutting. If you want a perfect knife, going to a store and looking at them is the only option.

I respectfully disagree. Many dealers stake their reputation on delivering the best of their stock and will gladly swap it if a customer is not happy. New graham is one such dealer. If you call and ask them to check the blade or anything else ebfore shipping, the most certainly will.

Even Warriors and Wonders in Canada has done this, I have spokenw th Jay (the sales contact there) over the phone and his assurance was proven when I received and opened the package.

I do agree that not every dealer has the same desire or time for attention to detail, but that is what separates the best from the rest. Ultimately this is why customer loyalty to said shops runs deep.

 

[J85909266]

I can't stand off center blades, and have experienced them more often than not with all mid level production companies, some worse than others, of course. It's considered within spec for most companies. Even some Sebenzas have slightly off centered blades, and CRK considers them within spec, although this is much, much rarer.

It's just something you have to live with when you buy folders online. That's why some people prefer paying extra to buy them in person.

Many fan boys of every company will try to tell you that all 127 of theirs are perfect, and try to make you feel like an ass for even bringing it up, but don't buy it. Life isn't perfect, even knives. And yes, even really expensive, well loved knives at all price levels, including custom.

 

[mmarkh]

Out of my three Spyderco's the only one perfectly centered is my Citadel.My Manix and Waved Endura 4 are off slightly but it doesn't bother me because they don't rub. Uneven grings as long as they aren't too bad wouldn't bother me either but all my Spydies were good in that respect.

 

[THG]

The ones you listed with off centered blades all have frn handles. For whatever reason, all of mine with frn handles have off centered blades too. Adjusting the pivot has worked for me in centering the blade but makes the action stiffer, not worth the adjustment to me. I honestly dont care one bit as long as the blade doesn't rub the handle when it's closed.

That's a good observation that they're all FRN (which happens to be my favorite handle material.) I just looked at my Caly 3 (which I don't use; I haven't looked at it for a while), and its blade is actually centered. That's my only G10 knife.

An off center blade would not be a concern for me.

An off-centered blade isn't a concern for me either. Notice how mine are all off-center, and I keep buying more...

 

[knarfeng]

Hey yall,

I was wondering what yall thought i should do. I recently received a spyderco manix 2...

i really love the knife, but the problem is that when i received it, the blade was not centered and the grind was kind of messy.

my guess was that i got one that was returned to the seller and they just sent it back out. I got it from amazon.com through one of their sellers. I sent him an email and i received no response.

Will spyderco help me out? The grinds are not terribly worry-some because it is very very sharp and i plan on using it, they will work themselves out. the problem is that the blade was ground incorrectly causing the blade to turn to the left(i believe, i dont have it infront of me right now).

I ask because i have had this problem before with a kershaw or two that i sent to them with descriptions of the problems, and all they did was sharpen them and send them back!!! they were already sharp when i sent them...:grumpy:

What should i do?

-Alex

Dude! It's a production knife! Sharpen it to your liking and use it.

You young fellas amuse the hell out of me.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Grrr ... you're all young fellas ... except maybe Dennis and Uncle Allan.

Anyway! bigbre, as some of guys pointed out, a lot of imperfections will get rated as being within spec if they don't affect performance. But it's always a good idea to speak up if you're not happy, especially since you are familiar with the company's products.

Your best bet is to post pictures and do it in the Spyderco forum here -- I'll move the thread there now.

 

[sovereign]

Will Spyderco regard this as being "within spec", or can it be centered?:

 

[dsmegst]

Will Spyderco regard this as being "within spec", or can it be centered?:

I think that's within spec. I'm looking at my user CTS-XHP Manix 2 and it's almost exactly like yours except it tilts to the opposite side.

My test is to close the knife, twist the base (the pivot side) left and right. If the blade does not contact the sides at both extremes, that means it will never hit the liners.

I find that in most "off centered" Spydies, it's not the pivot that's the problem. The primary grind of the blade tilts more on one side compared to the other, making things uneven.

Here's a really badly done and exasurated drawing of what I mean:

So in this case, even the most perfectly designed and manufactured pivot will look "uneven."

EDIT: In my case, we're talking about 1/50 inch of unevenness in a blade grind that's almost 3 inches long. I say that's pretty damned close to perfect.

 

[ROBB]

Here's a really badly done and exasurated drawing of what I mean :



So in this case, even the most perfectly designed and manufactured pivot will look "uneven."

I could'nt have done it better. I have around a dozen Spyderco folders and not a problem with any of them. The only knife company I can think of with better QC is CRK.