Rookie Mistake Confessional

[Sully]

I'm still making rookie mistakes. But I am learning. Perhaps other rookies reading this can too. That is, if veterans cast ego aside and fess up to their "back in the day" royal Spyderco screw ups. The more embarrassing the error in judgment, the more impressive it is to share now, here.

Mine, so far, has to be being absolutely convinced that buying just the Ultra Fine rods for my Sharpmaker was the key to getting my edges from dull to sharp. Eventually, I did cave in and added the Diamond rods, making life so much easier. Still stubbornly fighting buying the Edge Pro, though. :D

Anyone else?

[Spideyhole]

I am a rookie and have host to get any knife scalpel sharp with the sharpmaker. What is the benefit of the diamond? I thought ther purpose of them was for reshaping, not sharpening. But what do I know. The question I have is how on earth do you get your edge to look like they do when out of the box? I have yet to get the same edge geometry and edge width that the knife had when brand new.

[Holland]

Here's mine lol :o

[Evil D]

I paid a ridiculous price for a 20CP Para 2 after they were all gone. It was the second knife I ever sharpened on my Edge Pro after I got it. I needed more practice. If you look close, I ground way over into the plunge line without even realizing I was doing it (the wide bevel was intentional though). To this day it still looks like crap and the only way to fix it is to regrind it (which I may do eventually just to thin it out).



Then I got a M4 Manix 2. I modded it some and was absolutely in love with it. Then during a routine reprofiling/sharpening, somehow the blade developed this weird "kink" in the edge...it was no longer curved like a belly and had developed a hard angle in it. This drove me crazy to the point that I removed so much metal trying to fix it that I screwed the blade up pretty bad. I was so disgusted by it I had to sell it.



Then there was my first Para 2. I got the wild urge to acid etch the blade. What I didn't know was that you need to paint the pivot with nail polish or something to prevent the acid from etching metal away from the pivot hole. The end result was so much blade play the blade jiggled in your hand and the lock was completely bottomed out. Sold it for dirt cheap.



"Experience is a comb that nature gives us once we are bald".

[Tdog]

My rookie mistake was losing my first Spydie given to me by my brother. An old stainless handle Delica, wish I still had it. Used, abused and was tough as nails. That was back before I really came to appreciate Spyderco knives. I also bought the ultra fine rods, haven't used them in a few years. Just haven't found the need. Probably my worst mistake (perhaps not rookie) was slicing my thumb open with a brand new Delica a few years back. Had oiled the pivot and was working the blade back a forth and OUCH! :o Off to the ER for stitches.

On a positive note, bought a block set of Henckel's Friodur at a garage/estate sale last week. The lady said $5.00 as I was looking at the knives. The edges and a couple of the tips were a bit rough. She lowered the price to $3.00....I just gave her the $5.00. :D
Best deal I ever made on knives. Out with the Edge Pro and sandpaper to fix the tips on a couple of the knives. While not beautiful, they definitely serve their intended purpose. And yes the Sharpmaker keeps these razor sharp as well. :spyder:

[farnorthdan]

OMG David, that M4 Manix makes me cringe every time you post up a picture of it :p

The rookie mistake that comes to mind for me was re-profiling a DLC digicam Para on my edge pro without taping the blade good enough and scratching the H E double toothpicks out of it, oh well, it actually made it easier to use the crap out of it. :D

[SpeedHoles]

Haha, one of mine was with a stainless Jester that had a broken tip. I thought I'd sharpen it out, but ended up with the short plain edge section a good 1/8"+ above the rest of the Spyderedge section, lol. Should have thought about it harder at the time and ground the spine down instead.


(Just broke the tip off of my Kahr Delica, so I'll be doing that to this one soon...)

[SpyderNut]

I've made (and continue to make :o ) rookie mistakes, but I've been very lucky not to have made them on my Spydercos. It still amazes me how easy it is to screw up making a Liner Lock. :o

[Evil D]

OMG David, that M4 Manix makes me cringe every time you post up a picture of it :p

I still get that sick feeling in my stomach every time I see the pics. If I ever hit the lottery that'll be one of the first ones I find a replacement for.

[aesmith]

I have yet to get the same edge geometry and edge width that the knife had when brand new.

I wouldn't want to, I see the factory grind as just something to get you started. Once you've got your knives broken in the bevel and edge will be your own, to your preferred angle and finish.

[dplafoll]

I let my first Spyderco get dull. Dragonfly 2, ZDP-189. I got it sharp again, on the Sharpmaker, without the diamond/CBN rods.
Mistake #1: not doing the research to know to buy some sort of better sharpening system along with a knife in ZDP
Mistake #2: not taking the knife to someone who could sharpen it in the meantime
Mistake #3: acquiring a Sharpmaker but not getting diamond or CBN rods.

[bh49]

Then I got a M4 Manix 2. I modded it some and was absolutely in love with it. Then during a routine reprofiling/sharpening, somehow the blade developed this weird "kink" in the edge...it was no longer curved like a belly and had developed a hard angle in it. This drove me crazy to the point that I removed so much metal trying to fix it that I screwed the blade up pretty bad. I was so disgusted by it I had to sell it.

Something like this I did to my 2013 N5


Absence of patience drove me to use of 50/80 grit WE stones. The result is above.
For a while I was debating with myself on the topic what to do:
a. replace the blade
b. sell the knife and put back-up to use
c. continue to use as is

So far I am on C option.

[tvenuto]

Good thread topic!

Early on in my spydie days, I put a bento box blue PM2 in my cart, thought twice about the astronomical $150 they were charging, and couldn't quite pull the trigger. About an hour later, I say to myself: "****, you only live once" and hit the checkout button. ERROR! The item you're requesting is sold out. I had one of the last of the (first run) blue PM2s in my cart, waited an hour, and lost the opportunity. So that's the first lesson: always pull the trigger on sprints!

The second, and related, bonehead move was preordering a production knife. Chastened by the above experience, I wanted to be sure I didn't miss out on the new Stealth Chaparral. I preordered it at the first place I could, and ended up paying about $40 more for it than I could have had I just waited a few months. Now, I think it was a good buy even at the price I paid, but there's no reason to pay more for your spydies, since it just means less spydies.

So my lessons are:
1. Always pull the trigger on limited runs/sprints/discontinued/exclusives. Even if you end up not wanting it, you'll definitely get your money back (and then some, usually).
2. Always wait on production knives, the market cools off after a while and when you do buy one you'll know you really want it, and the anticipation is part of the fun.

[JAfromMN]

No pics but I ruined my first endura 1 by trying to cut my own serrations.

Stupid

[bh49]

2. Always wait on production knives, the market cools off after a while and when you do buy one you'll know you really want it, and the anticipation is part of the fun.

I think that considering current MAP 40% off policy this rule kind of obsoleted :rolleyes: . Sorry.
Regarding the first rule, all depends on spring. I really didn't want to take chances with Worker and paid about$170, later they were available around $115-130 :o , but this is in the past due to the same MAP :eek: :D

[tvenuto]

A stands for "advertised." You will find them for less than 40% off.

[bh49]

A stands for "advertised." You will find them for less than 40% off.

So far I failed to find anything interesting to me for significantly less than MAP :o
Amazon is very close to MAP, even e-bay dealers are selling at MAP

[Squawk]

I sent back my first run Gayle Bradley folder to the dealer because i wanted one with skelletonized liners. It was one of those without "Taichung" and the GB logo. Still regretting that.

[Cujobob]

I've also made a mistake with the 50/80 WE stones on S110V (lightweight Manix 2). Most of my mistakes have been sharpening related. As far as purchasing, I got in on the wrong preorders for HAP sprint run knives and none were filled. Big bummer.

[Dodge]

I came here expecting to see Rookies...