Spyderco thumb hole problem: It cuts!

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VorpelSword

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Dec 27, 2007
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Spyderco thumb hole problem: It cuts!

I was given this pretty big Spyderco knife for Christmas by our son . . .so I gotta keep it.

I can't find the model designation anywhere on it and the packaging went up in smoke along with all the other wrapping paper just before the turkey was served.

Now we will; soon go to Colorado with the rest of the family and the knife has to come along, so I got it out and started to get failure with it. Puch! That thumbhole has sharp edges and cut the soft prt of my thumb.

Anyone elss have this problem?

What is the best way to modify this knife to be more friendly without wrecking it (which I am fully capable of doing)?
 
Take some fine sandpaper to the edge of the hole to knock the sharp edge off. Pretty simple!

Maybe I don’t read this forum enough but I’ve never heard anyone complain about this before. I’ve never felt the holes in any Spyderco to be sharp either.
 
VorpelSword said:
Spyderco thumb hole problem: It cuts!

I was given this pretty big Spyderco knife for Christmas by our son . . .so I gotta keep it.

I can't find the model designation anywhere on it and the packaging went up in smoke along with all the other wrapping paper just before the turkey was served.

Now we will; soon go to Colorado with the rest of the family and the knife has to come along, so I got it out and started to get failure with it. Puch! That thumbhole has sharp edges and cut the soft prt of my thumb.

Anyone elss have this problem?

What is the best way to modify this knife to be more friendly without wrecking it (which I am fully capable of doing)?
Click to expand...

The problem is not the knife, but your baby soft thumb. Thumb wrestle some 80 grit sandpaper for a week and come back to the knife. Bam, problem solved.
 
VorpelSword said:
Anyone elss have this problem?
Click to expand...

Yeah, this seems to come up every few years, often in the Spyderco subforum.

I believe Spyderco has tried chamfering the holes more in the past and then started getting complaints from other customers that the knives were too difficult to open. So now they generally leave them crisp - easier for the end user to remove material than add it back on.

As others have said, careful application of a fine abrasive will quickly fix the issue. Sharpmaker rods will work, for example.
 
I've had one or two Spyderco knives where the edge of the spydie hole was a bit "crisp"......
Kinda like Microtech thumb though..... Develop some calluses in the proper spot n should be better
Or sand the edge!!!!!!
 
I have had 1 model of spyderco that had a sort of sharp hole but it wouldn't cut skin. It would just scrape my nail if I flicked with it. Since you are going to Colorado you could always stop by Spyderco and see if they can look at it.
 
Callouses? Bull-$H!+.

I have done plenty of hard work in my day, first as a tree climber for Davey Tree and later working on oil rigs off-shore and in the "blankety" desert. I finally got myself re-educated and began a career working inside jobs.

At my age (now 71) I don't need to develop callouses.

I will try to break the "crisp" edge on the spyder-hole with something.
 
Some good advice above, I've used a ceramic rod to help radius the very corners of the hole.

My take on why it is so crisp, for those that wear gloves to make it catch the glove leather when trying to open the knife, rounded edges would not catch as well, where the crisp edge would, but, not everyone wears gloves all day long and again, that was just my 'take' on why Spyderco might want to leave that section crisp.

G2
 
ferider said:
A photo would be interesting ....

Regarding your question, they have these (0.75 - 1" diameter?) grinding balls for drills, that I'd use by hand to take off the edge. Easier than sandpaper not to scratch the knife.
Click to expand...

Yes, this. They also sell cone shaped grinders for drills which would also work. Just make sure to get the proper size and a high grit. Go slow by hand because you just want to “break” the edge, not add a chamfer.
 
Maybe there's a burr on the edge of the hole, otherwise I've never heard of anyone actually cutting their thumb.

I'm glad Spyderco leaves the holes sharp like that. It's easier to soften a too-crisp corner than to sharpen up a chamfered one. A few passes with some 1000 grit paper should do it.
 
Never had this problem.

I own over 160 Spyderco knives. About 140 are folders and about 120 of those use a hole as a blade opening device.

Wouldn't call the edges of any of the holes "sharp" and none of them has ever cut or abraded my thumb.

So, OP, since you can't ID the knife, can you post a some of pics of it?

I'm just wondering what model it is and if it might be a fake.
 
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I would guess that this is a Golden-made, uncoated blade? Not sure if it's universally true, but the US models seem to have crisper holes. The Taiwan-made models I've handled have a small bevel on the flat part of the hole, which makes them a little more forgiving.

Anyway, I agree with Jsega51 Jsega51 .
 
ktataragasi said:
It would just scrape my nail if I flicked with it.
Click to expand...

I've only had one thumb hole opening Spyderco, and the edge of the hole was sharp enough to catch on my fingernail and scrape some shavings off, but it never cut me. It seems to be common enough that people consider the edges of the hole too sharp. I moved that one along out of my collection because like most Spydercos, the ergonomics didn't agree with me.
 
If you are going to create a thread like this, it would be helpful to include your age and whether you are male or female. Also, if you are male, whether you have ever mowed the lawn or changed the oil in a car.
 
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