Warranty Mishap

[JNewell]

When I opened the box with my two M390s, I did out of curiosity line up the Spyderholes and compare blade length. They were not the same - maybe 2mm different. I didn't check whether one is "over" or the other is "under" some nominal spec. Until human beings are taken entirely out of the process of finishing and sharpening blades, there are going to be variations...it's unavoidable.

i can't post a pic right now but i'll answer for him.

i have my M4,a mint S30V and XHP milie in my hands right now. M4 and S30V are similar side by side, i've not bothered measuring both took the M4 to compare.

the XHP measures 3 and a hair mm less than the M4 from ricasso just where the hole meets to the tip, measured with a digital caliper. the XHP and m4 are sharpened, i've just raised a burr once on the XHP, the m4 actually has seen much more use/sharpening.

blade height at the ricasso on the M4 is 32mm, barely 30 on the XHP.

anyway i don't see this as a big problem, we're talking about milimeters here, i won't complain about blade life lost, it sounds really unrealistic to expect perfect consistency on production goods, i'll take a properly hand sharpened and honed blade out of the box for some length variations.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

CTS, can you show us some examples ? That's a large difference. I've not seen that in my little over 20 years of Spyderco's and over 200 not counting the ones I used to sell. Thanks,

Joe

Here is a picture. You can see the line where the plunge is that was formed when the blade was blanked. The edge should be in line with that line but quite a bit of material was sharpened away. I don't have the exact measurements but it was a couple mm. The overall length of the blade was also a few mm shorter. I believe it was about an 1/8" in both directions which is just over 3 mm which is a couple years of sharpening worth of metal removed.

I'm not trying to dogpile on but you asked for a picture. I have had other knives that were similar but this was the worst and was the M4 military which I waited a while to get, so it does happen. I also was not able to have anything done by Spyderco because they don't keep any spares. I think that should be a dimension that is checked when a knife is gone over for defects. I would rather have an unsharpened knife than one that is ground away because the worker can't get it sharp, assuming that is how it happens.

 

[tobotech]

I'm glad to have read this thread. Thank you all for sharing your experiences, the good and the bad.

Your evil plans to foil my purchase of the ELMAX mule has FAILED!
(however, I will keep your experiences in consideration for other future purchases)

 

[The Mastiff]

Here is a picture......

Thank you. Now I can see exactly what's being talked about here and compare it with some of mine.

That area is very difficult to grind & sharpen. I've seen much, much worse on knives in my day. I personally don't even consider that a fault. If it was me and it bothered me as much as it seems to I'd try to find a company that does everything on a CNC machine. That's what it'll take , along with higher prices for increases in tolerances overall.

Joe

 

[JNewell]

Agree...these are production knives...

Thank you. Now I can see exactly what's being talked about here and compare it with some of mine.

That area is very difficult to grind & sharpen. I've seen much, much worse on knives in my day. I personally don't even consider that a fault. If it was me and it bothered me as much as it seems to I'd try to find a company that does everything on a CNC machine. That's what it'll take , along with higher prices for increases in tolerances overall.

Joe

 

[Talley1013]

Here is a picture. You can see the line where the plunge is that was formed when the blade was blanked. The edge should be in line with that line but quite a bit of material was sharpened away. I don't have the exact measurements but it was a couple mm. The overall length of the blade was also a few mm shorter. I believe it was about an 1/8" in both directions which is just over 3 mm which is a couple years of sharpening worth of metal removed.

I'm not trying to dogpile on but you asked for a picture. I have had other knives that were similar but this was the worst and was the M4 military which I waited a while to get, so it does happen. I also was not able to have anything done by Spyderco because they don't keep any spares. I think that should be a dimension that is checked when a knife is gone over for defects. I would rather have an unsharpened knife than one that is ground away because the worker can't get it sharp, assuming that is how it happens.

While that grind may not be ideal, in the grand scheme of things thats not really that bad. The knives I was talking about were WAY worse than that. I wish I still had them so that I could take a picture. In my mind the knife in the picture is on the upper end of human error but still OK. I have noticed that a lot of Spydercos are over ground just near the choil which doesn't really affect the performance of the knife but occasionally the heavy handed grinding gets out of control and in that case the knife needs to considered a loss and not put into circulation.

 

[ssblood]

I've noticed some of the sharpening problems people are talking about. I attribute it to the nature of the super super steels my sprints are. I've had could that looked mangled, etc. In the end, if I really couldn't stand it I never had a problem finding someone else that wanted to own it. To many different knives around to lose sleep over one that just isn't right.

I've gotten to where I carry my M390 Para2 more than all the others put together, it just feels and looks right. The steel is awesome also... The grey sprint? Well, it turned into an Emerson for the GF.

 

[Heiheit]

You guys are talking about a different thing, that's more of a QC issue in production as opposed to handling during warranty repair. Maybe a different thread should be started.

 

[Knife Crazied]

My experience was I order a pocket clip for my wayne goddard jr and was sent the wrong one. I then contacted them again and once again they sent me a different but still wrong one. So I contacted 3 times and never did get the right clip so I gave up and just sold the knife.

Sent from Ash forum mobile

 

[pwet]

You guys are talking about a different thing, that's more of a QC issue in production as opposed to handling during warranty repair. Maybe a different thread should be started.

the overground blades issue surfaced because if this happens to a sprint run or limited exclusive there's nothing they can do as they don't stock spares. that's the relation with W&R.

 

[clockman]

On the Plus side, I've always talked to Charlynn, the person in warranty, and have had nothing but good experiences. She sent me a couple of clips for knives.

Example, I didn't like the silver clip on my Manix 2 se, she sent me a black clip from another knife in the stock of extra parts that fit my knife. I call and thanked her.

 

[RetiredGuns]

I sent in a used Para 1 digicam/DLC with blade play and it was determined that it could not be corrected to satisfaction so I was offered a new P2 Digicam/DLc as a replacement. Love it!

 

[kreole]

I sent in a used Para 1 digicam/DLC with blade play and it was determined that it could not be corrected to satisfaction so I was offered a new P2 Digicam/DLc as a replacement. Love it!

That sort of thing is nice until the knife you send in is a sprint or rare old knife. Then your choice is to lose it for store credit or keep the one with a problem.


I've only had one run-in with their CS. I had an issue with a Caly 3.5 pivot, which I asked about on their forum first to see if it is anything to worry over. Someone replied that he had the same problem and had the pivot replaced, so the suggestion was to contact them. When I did, I was told they hadn't seen the issue before and couldn't do anything about it (also that by removing the blade I had voided the warranty--though that isn't why they couldn't do anything).

Combine that with all these reports of "not correctable problems", and it doesn't really give me much confidence in their CS department. I suppose that is part of the reason so many people by a second copy of knives they like.

 

[Heiheit]

Slight update:

I got the shipping label today, but I'm waiting for Charlynn to respond to my email regarding my M390 milie with another issue.

 

[RetiredGuns]

That sort of thing is nice until the knife you send in is a sprint or rare old knife. Then your choice is to lose it for store credit or keep the one with a problem.

Yep, understood. Just giving my one and only experience with Spyderco CS. 20 or so and I've only this example.
If I sent my CPMD2 Para 1 in for work and was offered a P2 as a replacement I would indeed have a cow!

 

[ssblood]

My new Millie has lock rock... I am one for five in the last year on getting Spydercos without issues.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

The picture is zoomed in quite a bit and doesn't look as bad as it was. 1/8" is a pretty good amount of material. And it wasn't right in front of the tang, it extended the whole length of the blade. Just looking at the knife in comparison with another Military it was easy to see how much skinnier the blade was. I don't like skinny blades and that one just jumped out. If I couldn't see how skinny it was I would have probably never noticed.

I know these are production knives that are sharpened by hand, and I will put up with a lot of little things that others complaint about at times. However, I couldn't pay that much for that fault and keep it. Not only does it mess with the blade geometry, it takes life away from the blade. Guess it just bothers me and seems to be more and more common.

Thank you. Now I can see exactly what's being talked about here and compare it with some of mine.

That area is very difficult to grind & sharpen. I've seen much, much worse on knives in my day. I personally don't even consider that a fault. If it was me and it bothered me as much as it seems to I'd try to find a company that does everything on a CNC machine. That's what it'll take , along with higher prices for increases in tolerances overall.

Joe

 

[Talley1013]

I know these are production knives that are sharpened by hand, and I will put up with a lot of little things that others complaint about at times. However, I couldn't pay that much for that fault and keep it. Not only does it mess with the blade geometry, it takes life away from the blade. Guess it just bothers me and seems to be more and more common.

I couldn't agree more. It's a problem that needs to be addressed. I know Spyderco is out to make $, and they have got plenty of mine, but sometimes a knife just isn't good enough to leave the factory and should be scrapped for the good of the brand.

 

[EZ Bake]

The thing is, I could buy a $30 Buck or Kershaw at Walmart and receive top quality service for life. Spydercos aren't cheap, I would think they could afford better shop supervisors and Customer Service. I guess they spend all their budget on design and exotic steels, then give the scraps to the workers. Honestly, I can't support a company that might not support me in the future. It sucks because I love Spyderco knives, but there are other companies to go to.

I wouldn't necessarily go that far. Making the assumption of how they spend their money and what they pay the workers isn't really helping anything.

Keep in mind that Sal - the founder/owner of Spyderco is on here listening and acknowledging these complaints. If this is truly an issue (and with this many complaints, I think it is), I'd say they will definitely do something about the issues.

 

[The Mastiff]

I couldn't agree more. It's a problem that needs to be addressed. I know Spyderco is out to make $, and they have got plenty of mine, but sometimes a knife just isn't good enough to leave the factory and should be scrapped for the good of the brand

Talley, I have to disagree. I'd buy that knife without hesitation. It would not hinder the function of the knife for me at all. That's what I look at. Eye perfect just isn't that important to me in buying tools.

Yes, I've had and still have some pretty expensive customs and semi customs. Using a CR Sebenza for instance. Do you think the Sebenza will out cut the millie in the picture? Even without resharpening, both out of the box.

I'd love to actually see hard evidence of that.

Yet you call for scrapping a perfectly good knife for the good of the brand? Nah, not seeing that at all.

Joe