New Black Karahawk- Fit & Finish?

[Boar-gen]

Hi there,

I have just received the new black Karahawk and while the finish is great, the fit- not so much. Since I have the first generation Karahawk, it's very obvious to me that the black Karahawk I received is not of the same quality- as can be seen of the pictures below.

But the worse part is that it have a serious vertical blade movement, while the blade on my first generation Karahawk locks firmly in place.

My question to those of you that have the new Black Karahawk is if I just happen to get a knife which found it's way though the QC- despite having the worse fit I have ever seen in a Spyderco folder? Or is this, of some reason, what to expect?



Thanks and Regards,

Boar-gen

[jstrange]

Definitely a difference in the production quality between those.

[Boar-gen]

Hi jstrange,

Yes, a very obvious difference in production quality between the new black Karahawk and the first generation Karahawk. Looking at close up picture on Internet of the new non-coated Karahawk, it seems to have the same great fit as the first generation.

In case I just got a bad knife, I just received a 2nd black Karahawk and unfortunately it has the same bad fit. If I hold it up against the light and look at the spine, I can even see the screws in between the liners and the locking mechanism. I am very sorry, but the TiCN coated Karahawk is not of the Spyderco standard I am use to!

I am returning both knives to the local dealer for a full refund. So sad!

Boar-gen

[Liquid Cobra]

I was able to handle a few of these at my local shop and noticed they all had this problem as well.

[RLDubbya]

I just checked. My black-coated Karahawk from KnifeCenter does NOT have this problem, it looks quite close to the non-coated example in the pic.

Different production runs, maybe? Odd. I guess I would suggest that you don't give up on the K'Hawk based on my experience, which has been just stellar.

[Michael Janich]

Dear Boar-Gen:

One of the necessary compromises that comes with black coatings is that adjoining parts can't be finished together. In the case of the satin-finished Karahawk, the G-10 ring spacer is installed and THEN the back of the handle and interior of the ring are sanded so everything is perfectly flush. This is impossible with the TiCN-coated liners because sanding would remove the coating.

We are constantly looking for ways to improve our products and will definitely take your comments into consideration to see if there's a practical way to tighten the tolerances on the ring fit of black Karahawks.

Thank you for your feedback!

Stay safe,

Mike

[Boar-gen]

Hi Mike,

Thank you for the confirmation and explaination. But honestly, the fit on the two Karahawks I had were so bad that I had to return them. And having a black coating on the Karahawk could be done by doing the fitting first and the coating after that. Sure one extra step in the manufacturing process, which would result in a higher price. But personally I would gladly pay a higher price and have a perfect fit compare to the fit I got. And it was not only the finger ring that had problems with the fit. The whole locking mechanism looked like it was not properly screwed together.

Thanks and Regards,

Boar-gen

[RLDubbya]

One thing I did notice: every single scale screw on my copy was incredibly loose, had no Loc-Tite applied - and once tightened, all the gaps closed. I never did have any blade play in any direction. However, if I loosen the scale screws to where they were as I received the knife, I pick up the gap and can see light through the entire length of the handle.

Bob

[Josh623]

Dear Boar-Gen:

One of the necessary compromises that comes with black coatings is that adjoining parts can't be finished together. In the case of the satin-finished Karahawk, the G-10 ring spacer is installed and THEN the back of the handle and interior of the ring are sanded so everything is perfectly flush. This is impossible with the TiCN-coated liners because sanding would remove the coating.

We are constantly looking for ways to improve our products and will definitely take your comments into consideration to see if there's a practical way to tighten the tolerances on the ring fit of black Karahawks.

Thank you for your feedback!

Stay safe,

Mike

Mike, could it not be finished together prior to the coating, then disassembled and coated? This would seem to remedy the issue.