Spyderco Street Beat finishing flaws (pics)

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Indoril

Indoril

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May 27, 2013
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So I got two of my grail knives delivered today, both ordered from Knifeworks. One I could not be happier with (maker rhymes with wench-maid and model starts with 9 ends with 40)... but the other I'm a bit disappointed with.

The Spyderco Street Beat has always been my favorite fixed blade design, but for a knife of this price I expected much better finish. It's somewhat of a let down. The issues:

  1. Most obvious flaw: the gimping does not end evenly. It ends sort of at an angle, as if the gimping is deeper on one side, or the spine was ground not flat. See pic
  2. Near the back of the handle where the micarta scales meet the spine, there is about a 1.5 mm more "square" portion of micarta on one side which is completely lacking on the other scale. One side squares off while the other just curves right up until meeting the spine. Kind of hard to explain but again see pic
  3. Couple small scratches on the blade, and a shoddy looking sheath. Neither of these are a big deal and normally I wouldn't care, but it's the accumulation of all these little things that get to me.

flau.jpg


The weird gimping where it ends. No that's not the light obscuring it, it literally ends like that.

cpw0.jpg


The uneven micarta scales. As you can see, where the scales are narrowest, the RIGHT side is much more square. The left side isn't square at all, but it a smooth curve right up to the metal. It is quite asymmetrical


Am I nitpicking or having unreasonable expectations here? Or is this type of thing normal on a Street Beat? Should I bother returning or exchanging?
 
That is a bit disappointing, but any respectable dealer would allow a return or exchange.

Call your dealer and have them exchange it for a different Street Beat, making sure to inspect it before they ship it out.
 
TriviaMonster said:
That is a bit disappointing, but any respectable dealer would allow a return or exchange.

Call your dealer and have them exchange it for a different Street Beat, making sure to inspect it before they ship it out.
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I would do this, but I'm worried if I exchange it I could receive another knife with the same sort of imperfections. Depending on how common these flaws are, I might not be able to buy it unless I can inspect it personally, which would be a while since hardly any shops around me carry this blade.
 
Indoril said:
I would do this, but I'm worried if I exchange it I could receive another knife with the same sort of imperfections. Depending on how common these flaws are, I might not be able to buy it unless I can inspect it personally, which would be a while since hardly any shops around me carry this blade.
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Well, it probably won't be any worse, I'd give it a shot. I have seen at least one other account of somewhat uneven Micarta, but the messed-up gimping is unacceptable IMO.
 
Also, going by the dealer's return policy if I were to return it, would this be a case of the "customer not being satisfied with the product", or a manufacturer defect? If they consider it the former it would cost a lot more for me, since I would not be reimbursed for any of the shipping.
 
I would say the gimping is a defect but then again I'm not the dealer. :o I would assume "customer not satisfied" just means you don't like it for whatever reason... whereas this is definitely a good reason.
 
You'll just have to contact the dealer and see what they say. Include these pics in an email. Under normal circumstances neither of these issues would bother me all that much, but I can totally understand if it's one of your grail knives. Send it back either way. Even if you have to eat the shipping, it'll totally be worth it to have a more nicely finished example. :thumbup:
 
G. Scott H. said:
You'll just have to contact the dealer and see what they say. Include these pics in an email. Under normal circumstances neither of these issues would bother me all that much, but I can totally understand if it's one of your grail knives. Send it back either way. Even if you have to eat the shipping, it'll totally be worth it to have a more nicely finished example. :thumbup:
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I understand nothing is perfect, and to be honest if it wasn't for the gimping I would probably be OK with it. But after watching some vids on youtube, it seems that mine is definitely abnormal. Other ones have perfect gimping, with uniformly deep "gimps" that start evenly.

The 940 isn't perfect.. it's not exactly centered when closed and if I push on the blade I can make it touch the aluminum. But that's not a big deal; I'm willing to overlook that one tiny thing because everything else is fine But with the Spyderco, it's the accumulation of all these little things that bother me. For that reason you're probably right. It would be worth it to return or exchange it in the end
 
I agree. If you aren't satisfied then return it. Talk to the dealer. Maybe they can hand pick one.

Joe
 
Before posting here, I'd have called Roger at KnifeWorks. You know he will swap it out, right?
 
Mannlicher said:
Before posting here, I'd have called Roger at KnifeWorks. You know he will swap it out, right?
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Do you think so? At any rate I will give them a call tomorrow to see if they can help me. I was just unsure whether it would be better to resolve this from the manufacture or the dealer
 
I bought one and had the exact same issues. I contacted the seller, and they exchanged it for another one without any hassle. my second one was perfect. It is a great knife and for me worth the little bit of hassle of sending it away and waiting for a new one.
 
Indoril said:
Do you think so? At any rate I will give them a call tomorrow to see if they can help me. I was just unsure whether it would be better to resolve this from the manufacture or the dealer
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You might want to call today or Monday, KW isn't open on Saturday.
Roger or Ashley would be the best ones to talk to. Politely explain your issues and ask them to inspect a replacement for you. Most it might cost you is shipping, but in this case you may be able to get credit for shipping.
Shipping charge(s) is really the only issue here, they will be happy to select a better replacement if you are unhappy for any reason.

Don't really think you're nitpicking, even though each "problem" is kind of minor, but all of them combined is annoying and the Street Beat is not really an inexpensive knife. Mine is basically perfect.

KNaB said:
Roger is s stand-up guy. That's why knifeworks gets most of my business.
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:thumbup:
 
Return it to the dealer and they'll replace it for you in all likelihood, like everyone else says. On that note, I think these are collector grade nitpicks that nobody actually using the knife is likely to care about.
 
Alann45 said:
You might want to call today or Monday, KW isn't open on Saturday.
Roger or Ashley would be the best ones to talk to. Politely explain your issues and ask them to inspect a replacement for you. Most it might cost you is shipping, but in this case you may be able to get credit for shipping.
Shipping charge(s) is really the only issue here, they will be happy to select a better replacement if you are unhappy for any reason.

Don't really think you're nitpicking, even though each "problem" is kind of minor, but all of them combined is annoying and the Street Beat is not really an inexpensive knife. Mine is basically perfect.
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Thanks for the advice. I'm going camping this weekend, but will definitely give them a call monday or tuesday.

Kwon Kwang said:
Return it to the dealer and they'll replace it for you in all likelihood, like everyone else says. On that note, I think these are collector grade nitpicks that nobody actually using the knife is likely to care about.
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You're right, but the thing is the Street Beat is a collectible safe-queen for me. In fact it would be the only blade of mine that I would intentionally not use that often. For hard use I have my Griptilian or ESEE, but I acquired this knife mainly because of it's design and beauty.
 
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