Selling blades only or a blade of the month.

[Mic1]

So I was thinking about how I really like my Para 2 and Manix And the only reason I would buy a new knife is if the design changed or there was a steel I really want. Like my Manix I bought the FRN and swapped the blades. I was okay with spending $100 to get the steel I wanted in the frame I wanted. The spare parts were just a bonus. But why not a program one could register for and either buy new blades for there favorite knives in different steels or a blade of the month, quarter, or year type of deal. Where Spyderco could say they will be selling lets say for example just zdp blades for the Manix and are taking pre orders. Kinda like the mule knives but for your favorite folding model. I have not thought out all the details and i'm sure there are a few things like warranties, liability , only work for some models etc. But the pros are they could produce blades faster than whole knives. Sell them at a better markup as they would still be less than a whole knife. I for one would prefer this to buying a new para 2 or Manix every time I want to try a new blade steel. That would be something no one else is doing. Just like the way Hinderer sells scales and other aftermarket parts.

I was just day dreaming in traffic and thought I would post it. Like I said I did not think of all the pros and cons but on the surface it seems like a cool idea . Its like buying a stock 1911 and later putting a competition barrel in.

[spydieh0le]

Bringith me a m4 blade for my manix 2! :)
A day dream indeed...

[Mic1]

That's what I mean. Last night I was looking at an M4 Manix 2 to buy and try or swap blades. But it was $300 on eBay. Just not going to do it but if it was $75-$100 I would have no problem.

[SG89]

Or a build a knife program like build a bear but for knives. Choose your steel and handle scales and they ship it to your door. :cool:

[Mic1]

Or a build a knife program like build a bear but for knives. Choose your steel and handle scales and they ship it to your door. :cool:

Not to harsh on your dream and it's a cool one, but that would take more work for them and man power. It would be almost custom work. Like S&W custom shop. Also If they put a build a spider in my mall I'd go broke.

I was thinking if they were making s110v Manix in FRN why not sell just the blade as an upgrade to existing Manix owners. Easy for them good for us. It has to be easy for Spyderco requiring very little change to day to day operations. They could even keep it all in house no dealers to control it better.

[dubya3]

Won't happen because none of the regular models would sell well anymore and it would be a logistics nightmare.

I should add though, if the blade is made already, like the S110V manix, and it's a production blade, I would like to be able to send the knife in and buy a replacement blade. S30V blade breaks or you want to upgrade, just send it in with $xx and spyderco will swap the blade for you.

[HarleyXJGuy]

Or a build a knife program like build a bear but for knives. Choose your steel and handle scales and they ship it to your door. :cool:

Not to harsh on your dream and it's a cool one, but that would take more work for them and man power. It would be almost custom work. Like S&W custom shop. Also If they put a build a spider in my mall I'd go broke.

I was thinking if they were making s110v Manix in FRN why not sell just the blade as an upgrade to existing Manix owners. Easy for them good for us. It has to be easy for Spyderco requiring very little change to day to day operations. They could even keep it all in house no dealers to control it better.

But if SFO built the knife you would still have a warranty and less liability issues for Spyderco.

Also you know that M4 Manix's are still for sale in BBS for about 150 I think the price is?

[swigert]

Or a build a knife program like build a bear but for knives. Choose your steel and handle scales and they ship it to your door. :cool:

Not to harsh on your dream and it's a cool one, but that would take more work for them and man power. It would be almost custom work. Like S&W custom shop. Also If they put a build a spider in my mall I'd go broke.

I was thinking if they were making s110v Manix in FRN why not sell just the blade as an upgrade to existing Manix owners. Easy for them good for us. It has to be easy for Spyderco requiring very little change to day to day operations. They could even keep it all in house no dealers to control it better.

But if SFO built the knife you would still have a warranty and less liability issues for Spyderco.

Also you know that M4 Manix's are still for sale in BBS for about 150 I think the price is?

not for sale anymore

[Mic1]

Won't happen because none of the regular models would sell well anymore and it would be a logistics nightmare.

I should add though, if the blade is made already, like the S110V manix, and it's a production blade, I would like to be able to send the knife in and buy a replacement blade. S30V blade breaks or you want to upgrade, just send it in with $xx and spyderco will swap the blade for you.

No the build a knife is a pipe dream. But like you said if they make a blade already or they could do sprint runs of just blades. I don't think that would affect sales in a negative way at all. You could still have the same profit margin with less labor and materials. It would not change any of the FRN models and you would still have new models and sprint runs like the para 2 in m390 with blue scales only at bento. I don't see the problem with logistics or sales.

[Mic1]

Or a build a knife program like build a bear but for knives. Choose your steel and handle scales and they ship it to your door. :cool:

Not to harsh on your dream and it's a cool one, but that would take more work for them and man power. It would be almost custom work. Like S&W custom shop. Also If they put a build a spider in my mall I'd go broke.

I was thinking if they were making s110v Manix in FRN why not sell just the blade as an upgrade to existing Manix owners. Easy for them good for us. It has to be easy for Spyderco requiring very little change to day to day operations. They could even keep it all in house no dealers to control it better.

But if SFO built the knife you would still have a warranty and less liability issues for Spyderco.

Also you know that M4 Manix's are still for sale in BBS for about 150 I think the price is?

Thanks anyway Harley but they are indeed sold out at bento.

[bearfacedkiller]

This has come up before in one form or another. The answer is always no. For safety and liability reasons Spyderco cannot have people fitting their own locks. Many of us are good at taking our knives apart but most people just bugger it up when they try.

[tvenuto]

Indeed, just did a Delica blade swap and it got a bit hairy at times. Also, I don't think the tolerances needed to fit any blade with any lock are fully appreciated.

[Mic1]

Indeed, just did a Delica blade swap and it got a bit hairy at times. Also, I don't think the tolerances needed to fit any blade with any lock are fully appreciated.

I had no problem with my Manix 2 fit like a glove easy. I get it that there could be liability but your selling knives there is already liability. But fitting the lock should not be a problem it's production not custom a Manix 2 should fit in any Manix 2 unless the blade is a reject. It's mass production it's kinda the whole point.

The only people I see this affecting negatively would be the guy who buys sprints to sell later for 200% - 300% or more. For sure they would not like this.

[yablanowitz]

In a nutshell, CQI. Constant Quality Improvement. A current production blade may or may not fit in last year's handle. Small changes are made along the way which can affect the reliability and safety of the lock. Get a few people swapping blades and there will be some problems. Get a few hundred people swapping blades and someone will do something stupid and get hurt, and this being the twenty-first century, they will blame the knife instead of their own stupidity. If Spyderco starts selling blades, they accept responsibility for that stupidity, and will shortly be bankrupt.

[Mic1]

So just like car parts ( replacement blade s110v for 2015-2018 Manix 2) and it's simple when you buy the blade you get a set of instructions PDF and a waiver when you buy on line you have to click agree before buying. It's a knife you think someone won't try to sue if they cut them self with one already put together because it was to sharp. There are those kind of people everywhere no matter what. People sue for hot coffee. You want a business where there's no liability and minimal chance of being sued I suggest you don't go into business. I know of a neighbor who tried to sue a landscape company for the time they mowed claiming mental stress and that they were doing it to harass him . He called the cops each time and HOA. There everywhere in every industry. I remodel homes I have to have A minimum of $2 million in just general liability.



Chris Reeve encourages you to take your knife apart and to do maintenance on them same for some other brands. Chris Reeve even give you tools and lubricant. As long as the parts fit I don't see it being any riskier than just selling knives. Now if it's just they don't want to I get that from one owner to another it's theirs they can do whatever they want however they want and that's the way it should be I'm not questioning that I never would.

[yablanowitz]

I wish it was that simple. They don't just update things once a year, it is a constant (undocumented) process, rolling changes that may happen any time. Do you know what month and year each of your knives was made? I certainly don't. I'm pretty good with my hands, and I've fitted a lot of parts over the years, including firearm triggers and sears. I would have complete confidence in any knife blade that I fitted. I can't say the same for a blade fitted by someone else until I had inspected it, and I certainly wouldn't trust one fitted by many of the people I know. Selling blades to the general public to put in their own knives is business suicide.

[Mic1]

I disagree coming from a gun background family owned store. If that was true there would be no drop in gun parts ever made. No after market barrels or 22 conversions etc etc on and on. As for random changes all the time that sounds like a nightmare if repairs need to be made on older knives since they would need to just give a new knife or hand retro fit your knife or have mass amount of labeled parts for each change to a given design. That sounds like a nightmare and not very efficient.

I should say this that I don't see problems or barriers only obsticals to be overcome. I can't , it is impossible, phrases like that are not in my vocabulary very often. So if I come off as argumenitiv I'm not trying to. The Internet is great but sometimes the feeling is lost. I am no great writer or scholar my grammar is not often perfect or my spelling. I write this as a conversation or a Stream of thought. A lot of times on my phone which does not help my writing.

[jabba359]

As bearfacedkiller pointed out, this has been requested from time to time and the answer is always "no". Personally, I wouldn't mind having something like this or a build-a-Spyderco program. But for Spyderco, it isn't worth the headache, or at least that is the impression I've gotten from the various responses to requests like this. Interestingly, I don't see any other major manufacturer offering anything like this either and it would surprise me if it hadn't at least been considered by most of them (and likely discarded as not profitable or worth the effort, seeing as how it hasn't been implemented by anyone I'm aware of).

[Evil D]

I'd sign a safety waver, I'd sign away my warranty, I'd pay a healthy price, just to be able to buy blades in different steels. It'll likely never happen, but a guy can dream. I was thinking about this a while back, with the S110V Manix 2's, and I realized that if it came down to having to destroy the FRN handle in order to get the blade out and swap it into a G10 handle, I'd likely be ok with that. That means I'd be ok with paying ~$105 just for a S110V blade.

[Mic1]

It's common in the gun world and you can buy scales,stand offs, clips,screws etc and people make money doing that. But you may be right or no one wants to go first.