Spyderco Delica questions

C

chrisbrogden

Joined
Apr 8, 2003
Messages
209
Hi, everyone. I bought my first Spyderco today, a Delica with stainless steel handles, and it's beautiful. Some questions:

1. When closed, does the edge of the blade touch the handle? It seems hard to believe, but I swear from the sound of it that the edge is stopped by coming directly into contact with the handle. Is this the case? If so, how much does this affect blade sharpness?

2. How reliable is the lockback? I don't care about accidental releases, as that won't be happening, given the way I hold it. If the release mechanism is not touched, how easy/hard is it for the lock to fail? How easy is it to get the lock dirty, and how much does this affect its performance?

3. What sort of warranty does Spyderco offer? Since there's no easy way for me to take this apart and clean it, what happens when the pivot loosens up too much or something else goes wrong?

Any and all help is appreciated.

Thanks!

Chris
 
1. The edge shouldn't touch anything. If it does, return it or send it to Spyderco.

2. If you have a newer model with the Boye indent (the chunk taken out of the lock), it's pretty damn hard to accidentally release the lock. The lockback design is very strong. Do clean out the part of the blade where the lock connects though--keep it free of lint and gunk. If there's a chunk of something in there, it'll block the lock.

3. The pivot probably never will loosen up. You'd have to be pulling apart the handles for anything to loosen up, and any action that'd cause that much wear would probably constitue as abuse. Otherwise, Spyderco's are backed by a lifetime waranty, including free sharpening ($5 return postage).
 
1- I know what you feel because i had this impression with my first spyderco, the police. when you close it you hear a loud noise as if the blade was hitting the spring holder or back spacer (thanks to spyderco anatomy chart ;) )... and in fact it's not touching anything, I think it's the tang hitting the lock. your edge will never touch anything when the knife is closed, it's impossible...

2- Lockbacks are quite reliable with the boye indent when open, and when closed it's nearly impossible it opens accidentally or even with a wave movement... if it gets dirty, wash it with water and hand soap, dry it with hair dryer, apply a drip of lubricant in the mecanism and you're good to go :)

3- nothing to add after Planterz
 
Thanks for the help! After looking more closely at the closed blade, it doesn't look like it's touching the back spacer directly, so it must be a tang/lock contact that I'm hearing.

My Delica has the Boye indent, and it looks pretty difficult to open accidentally. It passed the spine whack and the white knuckle tests just fine, though I wouldn't want to trust it in a real white knuckle situation. I'll keep it clean and hope for the best.

On that subject, which lubricant(s) work well? WD-40? How about synthetic lube for bike chains?

Chris
 
Take a look at the edge straight-on with an LED light. If the edge is hitting the SS handle, you'll see a big "flat" spot reflecting light back at you. A friend of mine has an Al-handled navigator with that problem (not enough to cause a problem, BTW).
 
The part of the blade that should be contacting the inside of handle when closing is the "kick", that little protrusion on the blade just below where the cutting edge starts.

The Spyderco lockback mechanism is very reliable, and as mentioned before, just keep the well of the lock free of dust, etc., and it should do fine for normal uses. And usually the stainless handles are more durable than the FRN handles so unless you really twist and pry the handles apart, they shouldn't loosen to any serious degree (though the open/close action at the pivot may become looser/smoother through use).
Jim
 
WD40 is not a lube. It's more of a solvent/water displacer. Use Tuff Glide or Militech 1
 
Wooden toothpicks work great for cleaning pocket lint out of the pivot/lock area. If you get too much lint built up in there it can prevent the lock from engaging fully.
 
All good info... thanks!

How easily do the serrations on a Delica dull? AUS-6 has a lower carbon content than AUS-8, S30V, etc., so I expect the edge wouldn't stand up to hard use as well as a higher-carbon steel.

Chris
 
you shouldnt have any problem with sharpness. AUS6 is very well heatreated and Sal wouldnt sell it if there were a question.
 
Glad to hear. Given that I've only had my Delica for a few days, I think it's time to accept the information I've been given, shut the f**k up and actually use the knife as much as I can. I'll give you my thoughts in a year. :)

Chris
 
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