Spyderco Caly 3.5

this_is_nascar · #101

Update: I got my Caly 3.5 quite a bit smoother on the opening/closing without too much effort. I don't have it setup to be "flickable", but that's how I want it. I'm going to start trying to carry this again today and see how it goes. It will see some apple duties throughout the day.

this_is_nascar · #102

ZL1 · #103

I got my 3.5 from Amazon Tuesday, but I exchanged it because the grind was very uneven.
I got another today! This one seems better. The only quirks are a sticky lockbar and it looks like the lanyard hole wasn't punched out the entire way.
Quick drop of blue lube smoothed the knife/lockbar up. No big deals :)

UpDok · #104

I just got one from the same place. Mine came in a box with the "HM" date code too.

First thing I did was wash the blade in soap & water in case I cut myself playing with it (SHARP). I can't get over how big a blade they put in such a small handle. It is about the same size as a Delica closed, but the blade is nearly as long as a Para2. This Caly 3.5 is nice and tight but not gritty, well-centered blade, and very well made. Very elegant, refined, understated appearance. I can understand why this is such a popular knife.

Thanks to Sal for making great knives!

Oh, and a couple drops of oil before I played with it much helped.

LDphifty · #105

ZL1 wrote:I got my 3.5 from Amazon Tuesday, but I exchanged it because the grind was very uneven.
I got another today! This one seems better. The only quirks are a sticky lockbar and it looks like the lanyard hole wasn't punched out the entire way.
Quick drop of blue lube smoothed the knife/lockbar up. No big deals :)

the caly i got today has an uneven grind as well. when looking at the tip in the closed position, the bevel looks like a chisel grind. i would have to remove a lot of material to get it symmetrical. It also has a good amount of up-and-down play. i think this one is going back.

how much up-and-down play is considered acceptable in this knife? The one that i got only needs a small amount of upward pressure to feel things moving through the lock bar. there is considerably more play in the caly than there is with my FRN lock backs

Revival · #106

It's very interesting that a lot of these recent caly 3.5's do not seem up to par in couple different aspects. Hopefully these problems are addressed as they are coming out very sloppy for some reason. The 3.5 is a great knife and japan needs to step it up especially because its a knife that Mr. Sal designed for himself.

Trevitrace · #107

I've been quite surprised by this myself. Makes me feel bad giving such glowing impression of the Calf 3/3.5 when mine have been spectacular while others have had lackluster results. I guess I only own the SB varieties, but mine have been flawless.

RanCoWeAla · #108

Revival wrote:It's very interesting that a lot of these recent caly 3.5's do not seem up to par in couple different aspects. Hopefully these problems are addressed as they are coming out very sloppy for some reason. The 3.5 is a great knife and japan needs to step it up especially because its a knife that Mr. Sal designed for himself.

Yeah after a friend helped me figure out the dating system and I saw where mine was made in March of 2011 it appears that something has definitely happened since then because it is flawless.

this_is_nascar · #109

LDphifty wrote:the caly i got today has an uneven grind as well. when looking at the tip in the closed position, the bevel looks like a chisel grind. i would have to remove a lot of material to get it symmetrical. It also has a good amount of up-and-down play. i think this one is going back.

how much up-and-down play is considered acceptable in this knife? The one that i got only needs a small amount of upward pressure to feel things moving through the lock bar. there is considerably more play in the caly than there is with my FRN lock backs

I've of the opinion that no up/down play should be acceptable, but I'm sure (like most other things), that I'm in the minority. When I see $15 lock-backs that are more solid than (2) Caly's that I've owned, then something is wrong. That's not to mention other issues like uneven grind, the need for cleaning right out of the box, etc.

Mallus · #110

Up-and-down blade play is difficult to avoid with lock backs, half of my Spydies have it to some noticeable degree, some from use and some ever since the beginning. None of these knives will close on their own, and in most cases I don't pay any attention to it in use. The exception is whittling, where more force is used and there the blade play bugs the most.

I've heard that Native 5 should be run with tighter tolerances (or something to that effect) and look forward to give it a go once it comes in a sprint of interesting steel.

bh49 · #111

Revival wrote:It's very interesting that a lot of these recent caly 3.5's do not seem up to par in couple different aspects. Hopefully these problems are addressed as they are coming out very sloppy for some reason. The 3.5 is a great knife and japan needs to step it up especially because its a knife that Mr. Sal designed for himself.

It seems to me that something is going on at Moki. Their knives used to be flawless with best F&F. I own few dozens of Spyderco, made by Moki. All of the near perfect, but they were made several years ago. Couple years ago I was surprised to hear about Calys gritty action. All of mine, I owned more than half of the dozen, were smooth since the first day. I was surprised even more to hear complains about Starmate. I like the knife, but decided to pass.

LDphifty · #112

i just realized that the lockbar on my new caly doesnt have the coining seen in this post:

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... inch-marks

is that still a part of the caly's production? does anyone who recently purchased one have the pinch marks on the lockbar?

UpDok · #113

LDphifty wrote:i just realized that the lockbar on my new caly doesnt have the coining seen in this post:

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... inch-marks

is that still a part of the caly's production? does anyone who recently purchased one have the pinch marks on the lockbar?

My new Caly 3.5 doesn't have the pinch marks. Guess I'm lucky. In light of the issues some people are having, I wonder if the Moki plant has a slacker in the assembly department?

xceptnl · #114

LDphifty wrote:i just realized that the lockbar on my new caly doesnt have the coining seen in this post:

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... inch-marks

is that still a part of the caly's production? does anyone who recently purchased one have the pinch marks on the lockbar?

I have models with and without the coining. I think it could be a batch adjustment based on tolerance variation?

LDphifty · #115

xceptnl wrote:I have models with and without the coining. I think it could be a batch adjustment based on tolerance variation?

was the one(s) without a newer purchase than the one(s) with?

xceptnl · #116

LDphifty wrote:was the one(s) without a newer purchase than the one(s) with?

Not really sure, I will compare tonight.

remnar · #117

LDphifty wrote:i just realized that the lockbar on my new caly doesnt have the coining seen in this post:

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... inch-marks

is that still a part of the caly's production? does anyone who recently purchased one have the pinch marks on the lockbar?

Mine does not have the pinch marks, but it also does not have blade play. In my opinion, a knife at this price point should not come from the factory with blade play. The only back lock spydie that I have that exhibits noticeable blade play is a well used SnapIt from the 90s.

gherea · #118

This is a high quality, versatile, well put together knife.

Until I bought this knife, my favorite EDC (among many options in my collection) had been the Benchmade Mini Griptillian (the less common sheepsfoot blade with hole opener) because it is small, light, easy to open and close, and feels great in the hand. I feel that the Spyderco Caly 3.5 is the first knife which can credibly compete with the Mini Griptillian for the title top EDC, at least for my needs (small but useful knife which does crowd my pocket). EDC means every day carry, by the way.

For those familiar with Spyderco, I'd say that this knife is much superior to their popular Delica model and a much better EDC choice for those looking for a relatively small knife.

this_is_nascar · #119

LDphifty wrote:i just realized that the lockbar on my new caly doesnt have the coining seen in this post:

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... inch-marks

is that still a part of the caly's production? does anyone who recently purchased one have the pinch marks on the lockbar?

The 1st Caly that I just returned had them, this new one from Amazon does not.

this_is_nascar · #120

LDphifty wrote:i just realized that the lockbar on my new caly doesnt have the coining seen in this post:

http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... inch-marks

is that still a part of the caly's production? does anyone who recently purchased one have the pinch marks on the lockbar?

The 1st Caly that I just returned had them, this new one from Amazon does not.