Irrational fear of getting a nicked Spyderco?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I have this fear of purchasing a Spyderco knife with a nick in the blade. I have purchased others and they were fine. One had a tiny nick that I tried to sharpen out.

Is this an irrational fear or what do you say?

I was considering purchasing a new Spyderco.


Should I be afraid that I will receive one with a nick in the blade edge?

[anagarika]

If you're in the US, simply return it. If the seller accepts order note, you can tell them what you want them to check prior to shipping.

Happy buying!

[3rdGenRigger]

I'm not sure if you're being serious or not with this thread, but I'll assume so. I seem to remember reading your original thread about your one knife that came with a tiny nick in the blade. I currently have 28 Spydercos, and have sold and gifted over 10, and none of them had a nick in the blade, but some of them were sharper than others. A few things come to mind.

1) If you expect to use the knife (Not buy it as a safe queen for a collection that will never see any use) it will need to be sharpened at some point anyways, so sharpening out a tiny nick is far from a big deal.
2) I don't see many threads about Spydercos coming new from the factory with a nick in the blade...just the one that you made in fact, which leads me to believe it's not a common experience.
3) If you buy a brand new Spyderco and there IS a small nick in the blade, and it is on a safe queen knife that will be a collection piece, you can always exchange it for another.

Having said all this...are you really that worried about a blade nick or similar issue that probably affects far below 1% of brand new Spyderco knives that ship out? If it's a user, sharpen it out...you'll need to sharpen it anyways, and if anything it will be good practise. My green Tenacious wouldn't cleanly slice paper when I got it (Would tear on all parts of the edge), but with less than 20 minutes of work on the Sharpmaker I can slice receipt paper cleanly with all parts of the blade. If it's a safe queen, exchange it...doesn't seem like something that justifies a thread to me, but hey, maybe I'm missing something.

[anagarika]

I'd say if the nick is 0.5mm deep, return it.

Otherwise you'll need to remove 0.5mm throughout the whole edge getting rid of it, or live with a snag at that part until you sharpen that much. I hope I don't add to your worry, as simply sending back for replacement seems easy for US residence.

[Surfingringo]

I'm thinking about getting a new Ford truck but I'm afraid one of the tires might be low on air. Is this an irrational fear? Should I be afraid to buy a new truck?

:D Not trying to be a smarta$$ but this is kind of the same question.

[The Deacon]

First, you need to define "nick" a bit better. If you're talking something that looks like a misplaced sharpening notch, then by all means return the knife and move on, if you're talking something that, while visible, is only the depth of a human hair or less, then sharpen it out and move on. If you're talking something that only becomes noticeable under 10X magnification, or in photos that create a similar degree of enlargement, then find another hobby. In any case, yes, your fear is irrational. The chances of receiving a brand new Spyderco with truly damaged blade from a reputable dealer are so low they're not worth worrying about. The chances of getting one with a tiny, but visible, nick are no greater than those of getting one that needs sharpening for some other reason and probably less than those of getting a production pocket knife that needs immediate sharpening from almost any other company. Microscopic imperfections visible only when the edge is "sufficiently" enlarged, on the other hand, are so common as to constitute normalcy.

[linuxology]

Be not afraid.

[Knivesinedc]

My endura came with a nick in it. Pretty big too and by big I mean long not deep.. i just took my Sharpmaker and within a couple of strokes on the medium stones, it was out. just touched it up on the fine stones and it was good to go. not a big deal to me. It's an endura, they are the less expensive Spydercos so they are bound to have a defect or two every once in a while. the backspacer also isn't flush with the handle and it came like that, but i really don't want to have to send my knife to Spyderco and wait a month to get it back. I just live with it.

[wrdwrght]

I think you're irrational. But, then, who is rational? But about nicks, one on a new knife from an authorized seller will lead to an exchange, no?

[SpyderNut]

I'm thinking about getting a new Ford truck but I'm afraid one of the tires might be low on air. Is this an irrational fear? Should I be afraid to buy a new truck?

:D Not trying to be a smarta$$ but this is kind of the same question.

+1

P.S. Well, see now, 'Gringo, I think you'd be better off buying a new GM truck vs. Ford. Then you wouldn't have to ever worry about low tire pressure. :p

[JNewell]

Yes, you're out on the far edge of irrational, or beyond. I've been buying Spyderco knives since the mid-90s and have never gotten a nicked edge blade from Spyderco. In fact, in many years of buying knives, it's only happened once (a limited edition Benchmade). This is over many hundreds of knives, and I'm 99% sure that that one was a customer return that the dealer didn't inspect carefully enough before reselling it.

Relax. Enjoy. Buy a Sharpmaker.

[Ti Rod Tactical]

Well,...I guess it can happen,...a tough and busy day in QC maybe, or a bit too much partying the night before and something gets missed. I've bought more used knives than new ones actually,...a few hundred maybe over my 61 years, and only a very few had an edge nick. One well used Viet Nam era Randall "Kit" Model 1 had a LOT of them, but that was surely from hard use and I enjoyed bringing it back to top cutting ability. I think the previous owner must have opened tons of tin can meals with it,.. Ha!

That said, I was quite surprised when I received my new Spyderco Cat yesterday, for there is a single edge nick about 5/8" in from the plunge line, and maybe 1/2 to 3/4 mm deep. (photo below). I guess I was due, but I'm certainly not as concerned or phobic about it like I might be on a $500.00 or more knife. The fact is everybody misses something at times,...yes even me,....just part of being human.

The knife cost $51.00 shipped first class, so I figured I paid $48.00 for the knife. The seller has a good rep and I never asked for them to check the blade prior to shipping, so I'll keep them out of it.

I might have even shipped it back for an exchange, but it was the last one available out of over a dozen originally. I could also have shipped it back for a full refund (seller offered), but decided to work with them with a reasonable credit and we compromised on $8.00 ,..... for a net cost to me without shipping factored in of $40.00 for the new Cat.

Fair I think..... and if I were one to name my knives I think I'll name this one "Nick", even after I fix it! :D

I planned on beveling and smoothing out some of the sharper scale and liner edges anyway, adding some jimping on the thumb ramp and possibly in the finger choil area, and adding a smooth detent ball ramp I've come to enjoy on other Spydies,......so now I'll just put a new edge on it too and call it a day. On a short blade like this even a full reprofile of the edge is not a big deal really.....

...and as we all know,...S**t Happens" :)

Oh, one other possibility.... a bit long but needed for context for those of you who have never worked in a factory setting.

About 25 years ago I worked for 3 years in a very busy shade factory, running a multi million dollar Venetian Blind slat cutting machine, and at times assembling cordless and other styles of accordian-like folding fabric shades at a company called Comfortex. What bugged me the most that you were given tough daily "quota" numbers to meet, which was fine IF they took into account material defects of the fabric that reached your station, or SIZE of the shades to be built up. They didn't... :confused:

You only had time for a short look at the fabric prior to assembly, to look for major things like small holes or a spot of dye that would make the shade fail in QC when it was hung and more closely inspected.

Sometimes the shades were really long and wide, and THAT shade counted the same in the quota factoring as a much shorter drop length and narrower shade. This made NO sense to me when factoring quota output, as the time to handle the longer shades was 2x to 4x a really short one! You'd see a mad dash for the short shade orders when they came unto the floor! :D

A long way around to saying on a $50 "retail" knife, you really can't spend a lot of time on each one looking for small defects,.... especially if there are quotas to meet. Not sure if that is the case with Spyderco in their plants, but maybe a worker was short on his quota that day and had to let one slide through,...just saying, as I'd seen that happen at times in the shade factory. :rolleyes:

[attila]

I had a small nick in my newly received Cruwear Para 3, but after one light sharpening, it's halfway gone. If you can get rid of the nick within a few sharpenings, it's not worth stressing about. Being a perfectionist about my knives, this was difficult for me at first, but then I nicked my HAP40 Endura and learned to live with nicks that sharpen out.

[Evil D]

I'm not ok with buying something that's supposed to be new that already has "damage", so I'd be irritated by a chip but then I also reprofile all my knives when new so I'd be fixing it anyway. I'm far more concerned with other fit and finish flaws and good lock up and pivot action.

[Ti Rod Tactical]

I'm not ok with buying something that's supposed to be new that already has "damage", so I'd be irritated by a chip but then I also reprofile all my knives when new so I'd be fixing it anyway. I'm far more concerned with other fit and finish flaws and good lock up and pivot action.

Yes,...and all the other fit and finish details and lockup were fine,...so getting a reasonable credit back makes it a fair trade in my mind. Like you I was already planning on a little fine tuning anyway. :)

[Midnightrider]

I'm thinking about getting a new Ford truck but I'm afraid one of the tires might be low on air. Is this an irrational fear? Should I be afraid to buy a new truck?

:D Not trying to be a smarta$$ but this is kind of the same question.

+1

P.S. Well, see now, 'Gringo, I think you'd be better off buying a new GM truck vs. Ford. Then you wouldn't have to ever worry about low tire pressure. :p

Dear Lord, help me resist responding to this post :p

[Raylas]

I've never gotten one, so I think it's pretty rare.

The only nicked spydercos I've had were after I used them.

[Nate]

I thought this thread was going to be about a fear of potentially buying a stolen Spyderco on the secondary market, which is probably also a little irrational, even if possible. :p

[Bloke]

SEF, good question, well asked! :)

I think your fear of buying knives with nicks in the blade is both rational and justified and I think you're very brave to admit your fear on a public forum. :cool:

Please don't despair as I suspect other members harbour similar fears and this thread may well promote a self help group.

Have you ever wondered why some members only carry serrated edge knives? :rolleyes:

[3rdGenRigger]

Zombie thread alert (More than 3 years old at this point)...not sure if that qualifies as full zombie or not, but I thought I'd point it out as people are now responding to it the same way as if it were fresh.