Spyderco QC, am I just unlucky?

T

ThumperACC

Joined
Feb 28, 2009
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220
Hi All,

I am fairly new to Spyderco, bought my first one a few months ago, the Sage and loved it. I have bought nothing by Spydies since.

I have bought:
2 - Sage CF Walker Liner Lock
1 - Spin Etched
1 - Caly3 CF/ZDP189
1 - Native4 CF
2 - D2 Paramilitary in Forest Green G10

The Native4 had a very defective lock and was replaced by Spyderco under warranty (fine service). The new one is great.

The second D2 Para has very significant lock play (and the liner moves past 1/2 way across the blade tang) and needs to be returned for adjustment/replacement as well. The first D2 Para locks up solid as a rock, with nice early lockup.

So, I have bought a total of 7 Spyderco's and 2 have had defective locks. :( You can see that I have bought mostly high end knives as well.

Someone please tell me that I am a statistical anomaly and that Spyderco's QC is really much better than my small sample indicates. I really love my Spydies and don't want to become gun shy about future purchases.

Help me believe...:thumbup:

Thanks,
Mike
 
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I would say it depends on where you're buying your knives... and whether or not you're buying seconds (stated or otherwise).

I've owned over 100 Spyderco knives over the last 3-5 years, and I've only seen 5 "defective" locks, all of them on used knives or seconds (also used). Mostly they were 3 damaged linerlocks, 1 compression lock, and one lockback that engaged properly, but got stuck on occasion, despite cleaning and other measures.
 
This is unusual, in my experience. I've handled well over a hundred or so Spydercos (mine and those of a few friends), and have not yet encountered a defective lock. Heck, my 1st gen Delica is going strong into it's 3rd decade! Not a single lock issue, ever. I just haven't even given it a second thought. I've taken Spyderco's lock integrity, on a new knife especially, for granted.
 
senoBDEC said:
I would say it depends on where you're buying your knives... and whether or not you're buying seconds (stated or otherwise).

I've owned over 100 Spyderco knives over the last 3-5 years, and I've only seen 5 "defective" locks, all of them on used knives or seconds (also used). Mostly they were 3 damaged linerlocks, 1 compression lock, and one lockback that engaged properly, but got stuck on occasion, despite cleaning and other measures.
Click to expand...

They are all new. I buy from Knifecenter.com, NewGraham.com, GrandPrairieKnives (gpknives.com) and TADGear.com. The defective ones came from gpknives and TADGear. TADGear was a first purchase.

So, every new spydie you have owned (I imagine a substantial portion of those 100) has had a properly functioning lock? I guess I am unlucky (or I need to be more selective with my online vendors).

Thanks,Mike
 
raindog101 said:
This is unusual, in my experience. I've handled well over a hundred or so Spydercos (mine and those of a few friends), and have not yet encountered a defective lock. Heck, my 1st gen Delica is going strong into it's 3rd decade! Not a single lock issue, ever. I just haven't even given it a second thought. I've taken Spyderco's lock integrity, on a new knife especially, for granted.
Click to expand...

You are making me feel better (and more unlucky :( :D). Your experience is good to hear.

Thanks,
Mike
 
All your vendors, including the ones who sold you defective locks, are reliable. Unless you have a good reason for asking, vendors don't check out the individual knives, they just pick a box off the shelf.

Better luck next time! :D
 
I've owned around 60-70 different Spydies of all varieties. Backlock, RIL, Compression lock, Ball Bearing lock, Liner lock, all locks worked and had great lockup. I'm even talking about some factory seconds here too. They all operated as designed to. Spyderco won't even let a second out the door if the lock is defective, it's usually a cosmetic blemish or some other minor fault. Like a blade that is slightly off-center.

Keep buying them Spydies! :thumbup::)
 
Esav Benyamin said:
All your vendors, including the ones who sold you defective locks, are reliable. Unless you have a good reason for asking, vendors don't check out the individual knives, they just pick a box off the shelf.

Better luck next time! :D
Click to expand...

Tom personally checks each knife and won't ship it if there's a problem. One of the reasons I always order my Spyderco's through him.

I'd say you're an anomaly. I've heard a couple other people complain about QC on the Native 4, but mostly it's been good. The Para's and the compression lock are hard to fit properly because of the tight tolerances needed to make it work. Probably a fluke.

Spyderco will make it right though. :thumbup:
 
Josh K said:
Tom personally checks each knife and won't ship it if there's a problem. One of the reasons I always order my Spyderco's through him.

I'd say you're an anomaly. I've heard a couple other people complain about QC on the Native 4, but mostly it's been good. The Para's and the compression lock are hard to fit properly because of the tight tolerances needed to make it work. Probably a fluke.

Spyderco will make it right though. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Where does tom work?
 
I'm with Josh. I buy from Tom Berry too. For many reasons but his knife inspection before shipment is a huge reason to me. I've had my share of "grabbing a box off the shelf" and had issues with all MFG's I own and it's a pet peeve of mine to go through a return issue from the day I receive the knife. BIG pet peeve. If it's good enough for Tom Berry, it is good enough for me.
 
Howdy,
the problems you encountered can't really be pinpointed to one knife manufacturer or dealer. I had this purchase experience recently:

I bought two Benchmade HK 14025 knives from Knifecenter.com and both those knives were total lemons with terrible fit and finish. Around here the 14205 is considered an excellent knife, so both me and the guys at Knifecenter were very surprised! I guess it was just a bad batch that slipped through quality control and I was unlucky enough to end up with two of them! :grumpy:
Happy ending: Knifecenter immediately offered an exchange! For the return knives, they will make sure to inspect the new knives to make sure that they are flawless!
I guess this stuff just happens sometimes, unfortunately!
 
I went through two defective Manix 95's at New Graham before I found a good one. The Manix locks were fine, but the edge grind was uneven and the metal was sharp where it shouldn't of been. To me, quality control with Spyderco is questionable, so I now have an excuse to drive 4 hours to New Graham to play in knife heaven. :D
 
I've never had a lock issue with Spyderco after 40+ knives from them in all price ranges. I've also purchased from all of the dealers you mentioned and all of them have performed well for me.
 
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All the spydercos I have ever held were 100%. Well, except for one native which had an incredibly tight pivot (you couldn't open it one handed, had to wrench it open with two), I strongly suspect something happened to it after it left spyderco though.
 
I've owned over 100+ Spyderco's and never encountered any lock trouble yet. The only thing I have come across is a couple that are only slightly off center but really hasn't been a big deal. I hope you have better luck in the future but at least you have Spyderco's excellent warranty and customer service to back up their product
 
I've gotten a few with small cosmetic issues that slipped through QC (For example, the silver handle bug on my Centofante 3 is missing the tip of one leg), but never had a problem with locking.
 
I've only have 2 spyderco's, 1 Mini Persian and 1 Szabofly. The only problem I have had with QC is the Mini Persian had a few small scratches on the blade right out the box. No lock problems on the Persian and obviously no chance of lock problems on the szabofly so that one doesn't really count. I would have to say that 2 out of 7 isn't really that bad. Better luck next time...
 
I've owned over 100+ Spydies myself, and the only lock problem I had was MY Fault as I allowed lint to build up inside a Harpy and it didn't lock completely.
 
Granted I only have four Spydercos, but they've all been rock solid from the start. The only one with any noticable wobble is my Endura, and even then that's only because it's a large knife with no steel liners. But that tiny ammount of wobble isn't visible and doesn't do anything to the lock's integrity.

My Native is solid with no play, the same with my Centofante 4, and my Cricket has the best detent of any frame lock I've ever owned of any size (and that includes a Sebenza).

I think you just got unlucky. Next time you order ask them to chek 'em out. New Graham will happily inspect a knife for you (and they have on numerous occasions for me, and more than once while I was still on the phone placing my order). Of course, I usually order by phone because I like the personal touch and if you ask for something special on a web order they may or may not see it, they can't not hear you.

Good luck.
 
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