Red loctite

[Jr0y08]

I realize this thread is pretty old but, ...
I just went and purchased a blow dryer purely for the purpose of heating up the red locktite on my para 3 screws.
I was able to get the pivot with no real issues, but sadly I managed to strip the heads of the two main body screws for the barrel standoff.

Now even if I had replacement screws (Not sure if they even send them. Nick Shabazz mentioned he doesn't think t hey do), I can't get the stripped screws out.

So I guess my question is what to do from here. Will spyderco take care of it if I send it in? Will I be charged for it and/or shipping? I'm waiting to hear back from customer service, but I'm just wondering if anyone has had excperience with this process.
Thanks,

[TriggerThumb]

Have you called spyderco customer service? You can also email but last time I did that it took them a month to respond. But I hear calling yields quicker responses.

[cabfrank]

I'm pretty sure it's $20 in this situation, but they'll fix it. They have to drill out the screws, and that's usually $20, from what I know. You ship it to them, and also enclose $5 for return shipping.

[Mr Danger]

Like cabfrank said, $20 if they have to drill, $5 if they can remove by hand.

I had a Para 3 that one of the screws stripped to the point it was impossible to remove by hand. I managed to get it out by putting the tightest fitting wiha bit in a cordless driver. The sudden torque was enough to break the red loctite. I really doubt a hair dryer is hit enough to make a difference, but I did use one to heat in case it provided some easement.

[TriggerThumb]

Wouldn't a soldering gun be good for direct heat to the screw? And I've seen the Dremel suggestion before, cutting in a groove for a flat head screwdriver.

[Jr0y08]

Yeah I just got off the phone with them.
I had tried emailing them, but did not get a reply.
Like you mentioned, they said if the screws are too far gone, there will be a $20 charge.
Hopefully they are able to get them out without having to drill them out, but I'm guessing not.
He suggested I should have sent the knife in to have them loosen the screws to begin with.
This idea seems ridiculous to me. To use red locktite and very soft screws, then expect people to send the knife back to loosen the screws for any routine maintenance or cleaning. So you pay the initial price for the knife and if you ever want to disassemble the knife, you pay at least another $10 for shipping and possibly $20 on top of that.

[steelcity16]

Yeah I just got off the phone with them.
I had tried emailing them, but did not get a reply.
Like you mentioned, they said if the screws are too far gone, there will be a $20 charge.
Hopefully they are able to get them out without having to drill them out, but I'm guessing not.
He suggested I should have sent the knife in to have them loosen the screws to begin with.
This idea seems ridiculous to me. To use red locktite and very soft screws, then expect people to send the knife back to loosen the screws for any routine maintenance or cleaning. So you pay the initial price for the knife and if you ever want to disassemble the knife, you pay at least another $10 for shipping and possibly $20 on top of that.

Yeah, the screws definitely need upgraded. They strip way too easily, even with good Wiha or PB Swiss bits. They are very soft in my opinion. They should make screws easily available via their website as well. Maybe sell 10 packs or 50 packs or something of each different size for a reasonable price and charge shipping.

[cabfrank]

I mean, I see your point, but even though the warranty wording has been recently updated, they still don't want to encourage disassembly.

[BravoTango]

I would gladly pay 10$ per set of hardened screws.... just saying. I just mangled, but not quite stripped some black ones on an all black PM2 and it's incredibly disheartening. everything else about Spyderco's knives screams quality, why the sub par screws? Sal, I think this is a good opportunity to evoke some change in the name of brand wide CQI.

an easier method to procure replacement hardware is another option that would be really nice. A simple order form for hardware excluding blades, liners, scales, and even lock mechanisms. leave these to W&R. I know there are plenty of people ready to throw money at Spyderco for this stuff.

I contacted W&R by phone and was told to send an email, we'll see what happens.

[Jr0y08]

I mean, I see your point, but even though the warranty wording has been recently updated, they still don't want to encourage disassembly.

While they might still discourage disassembly, they still alow it. So if they alow it, it shouldn't be made near impossible with red locktite and very soft screws.

Also, like someone mentioned, because they have created this issue they should offer screws for sale or free one time replacement or something, anything.

[Jr0y08]

I just dropped the knife off at the ups store to be shipped. The guy I spoke to in the warranty department said current turn around time is about 10 business days. That's not too bad, so I hope that's accurate.
I hate sending my knives off. This is the second knife I've sent away for service. The other is a benchmade which they still have. Their turn around time is 5 weeks and mine has been there for about 3.
I just put a beautiful kme mirror edge on my para 3 too!

[Dan_Mandingo]

I realize this thread is pretty old but, ...
I just went and purchased a blow dryer purely for the purpose of heating up the red locktite on my para 3 screws.
I was able to get the pivot with no real issues, but sadly I managed to strip the heads of the two main body screws for the barrel standoff.

Now even if I had replacement screws (Not sure if they even send them. Nick Shabazz mentioned he doesn't think t hey do), I can't get the stripped screws out.

So I guess my question is what to do from here. Will spyderco take care of it if I send it in? Will I be charged for it and/or shipping? I'm waiting to hear back from customer service, but I'm just wondering if anyone has had excperience with this process.
Thanks,

I thought red loctite was no longer being used for quite some time by this point. Had you just bought yours at the time of this post? Reason I'm asking is I just bought and received a Para 3.