Shipping of internal parts

[vlawson]

Just pick 4 of your biggest online distribution customers in the US and 2 in the EU and give them access to parts
They would stock them as a chance of buying another knife whilst browsing parts
( Knifecentre has to be one of them, because I use them because Australia is as dear as poison )

I like this. Talk to your distributors and see if they would be willing to stock parts. Then, work with them to find the supply/damand ratio to make it worthwhile? To further this idea (and inspired by the gun world, particularly Glocks...) someone could open a spydercoparts.com omline store and just sell internals...

[Stuman]

Collecting and shipping parts overseas is expensive. Will you pay for that service?

sal[/quote]
Hi there Sal,

I really admire your willingness to offer this question up because I suppose there questions with in this question amongst the other questions you have asked. Namely the big issue of having to insure and ship our Spyderco knives in for repair or warranted repairs. Which can cost more than some of the actual knives that are being sent in the first place but it would be cheaper to buy and send out parts than for us to spend a lot more on shipping the knife in the first place. Taking a full intact warranted knife apart is a no no so the only choice we currently have is to cringe and send in our knives un-insured risking the total unrecoverable loss or damage of the knife in the first place so that again is a no no. It is there for a big dilemma for us that don’t live in the states so there must be a reasonable solution to this ?. The only solution I can think of is either set up a small trained Spyderco repair & service shop some where in Europe or find a way of getting the knives to you that is cost affective and safe. Personally I think the latter one is the best, out sourcing the repair to a small Spyderco repair and service centre. If those are not on the table then I would definitely be prepared to purchase parts for knives as it is cheaper than sending my knife to the states as I’m not well off interms of spare money.

[RamZar]

Benchmade and ZT/Kershaw ship some parts for free and they charge for other more expensive parts and blade replacement. Of course, shipping parts for free has potential for abuse.

Shipping out parts for free has to be shouldered by someone somewhere.. definitely not the company else they'd go bankrupt. This why BM's and ZT's products are more expensive than spyderco's. A big NO for me if spyderco increases their prices just because people want screws shipped to them for free.
BTW, thank you very much sal for those free and gorgeous catalogs and brochures you ship to us for free too.

Kershaw sends parts for free (no charge at all) as well and they're not as expensive as Benchmade or ZT. Most Kershaw knives are under $100. There are many Spyderco knives over $100.

You can fill out a form on the Kershaw website and ask for parts listed at the bottom and you'll get them at no charge in about 7-10 business days for U.S. addresses. If you check too many options it sets up a red flag on their end.

It does note: "Parts requests are for warranty replacement (defective parts) only. Please note that we cannot send parts for discontinued models or parts other than those listed here."

• HANDLE SCREWS
• PIVOT BOLT SET
• SAFETY LOCK
• POCKET CLIP
• POCKET CLIP SCREWS
• TORSION BAR

[Nate]

Kershaw sends parts for free (no charge at all) as well and they're not as expensive as Benchmade or ZT. Most Kershaw knives are under $100. There are many Spyderco knives over $100.

Not to say Kershaw doesn't have a good model for Spyderco to look at, but I think Kershaw is an order of magnitude larger and probably has a much different structure in terms of volumes, costs, and distribution. What they can do may or may not translate well to what Spyderco does.

[BravoTango]

I would just like to say, it's huge to me that Spyderco is open minded enough to consider amending parts policy, and I'd gladly pay for replacement parts when the personal need arises, i'm even willing to pay a little extra so it can be worthwhile on spyderco's end in appreciation for the service and logistics behind it.

Kudos Sal & Crew. Appreciate ya.

[Bloke]

Lance nailed it in his post on page #3!

The very best warranty means diddly to me also.

The only thing that matters is, if in a situation were a part is required it is indeed available for purchase and even then I believe expectations need to be reasonable. I also believe expecting parts, irrespective of how small they may be for free is unreasonable as is the expectation a company should be able to supply every single part for every product they have ever produced.

[Ferris Wheels]

I applaud the consideration but it seems selling of individual internal parts would be akin to beating your head against the wall. As a large consumer of Spyderco products I don't want to see additional margin added to your products to cover the overhead of shipping a $0.10 screw that someone lost in the carpet when disassembling a Spyderco knife.

What if you address it as two separate paths for the end user. Path one being a warranty repair because there has been a failure or other issue that occurred with the knife that falls under the policy. This would follow the already existing Spyderco warranty and repair process.

Path two would be the end user has caused whatever issue themselves and wishes to remedy the problem on their own. To provide this end user with a solution Spyderco could generate parts kits for every model that could then be stocked by dealers and distributors. I would envision these parts kits containing a full complement of screws, washers, springs, etc... but not blades, scales or clips. Spyderco would continue to produce said kits until a model reaches an end of life status at which time they could make a determination of how many kits to generate and put on the shelf. When those kits are gone, they are gone. This solution creates a product which has enough cost associated with it to cover baking in an appropriate margin and takes a significant portion of the distribution concerns and overhead off the shoulders of Spyderco. At the same time providing the requested parts and pieces by the Spyderco end users.

[Tucson Tom]

As others have said, I am impressed that Spyderco is giving ear to the requests made along these lines.

As for me, I don't have any real interest in this. In fact I think any itch or perceived need to take apart my Spyderco knives has all but faded. I have twice taken apart one of my knives. Once because I just had to try Rit dying scales (did it, it worked out fine, but I have no interest in repeating the experiment). The other time was when I got my first backlock knife and thought that the action was a tad too stiff. The Native 5 was easy to take apart, had no issues, and was easy to get back together. Wasted time -- I am smarter now though.

So if in the future, I had some Spyderco that needed fixing, I would send it in with a long apology and offer to pay for the fixing (assuming it isn't some warranty issue) and if the answer is "sorry Tom" then that is just how it is and life goes on. I can see how this is not so handy for those overseas, but then those people are taking a bigger risk if they fiddle with their knives.

As far as screws go, Spyderco is by no means the only source. I have another project (so I lied above, I have taken apart 3 Spyderco knives). I bought a used Tenacious (cheap at a local shop) with the idea of trying to make some micarta scales for it. The previous owner had done some haywire things with the original scales. The screws were metric and I wanted some that were a tad longer. Believe it or not Ace hardware had just what I needed. Way more work that it is worth by the way, but sorta fun if that is your kind of thing.

[ulix]

Hi,

my thoughts on this topic:

1. If Spyderco sends out free cataloges then there should also be a way to send out parts. (Maybe with a cheap shipping cost, say 3-5$ for overseas as well) Sometimes parts are better advertisment then cataloges!
2. Spyderco should try and use as many common/same parts as possible, so warehousing shouldn't be that big problem (I think I read it somewhre hre but well..)
3. Spyderco should send parts for everybody out, no expectation. Why? I lost from a spyderco knife a screw (clip screw). I contacted my dealer (germany) as said from spyderco. After 4-6Months I got a clip in the post for my knife, it was the wrong one, the screws didn't fit as well (I told them which clip I need exectly!), had to pay it. Then after another 4-6Month I got another clip, another wrong one... (had to pay as well). After the seconde time I gave up.
4. I don't think this mentallity send the knife back is not good when for example the action is not smooth (minor defaults). This should be fixed with parts. If there is another problem, which can't be fixed with parts alone then everybody should send in.

[dplafoll]

I would love to be able to get parts, but I also know it's difficult for a company the size of Spyderco, with multiple manufacturing locations, so many models with so many changes, to be able to do that. I would be excited to see some parts be stocked at retailers; I can see how that could eliminate some of the work for Spyderco if they're not selling the parts directly to customers, or selling to customers at a premium over the retailers. It's unfortunate that overseas users can't easily avail themselves of the warranty service, so I think wholesale parts sales to overseas retailers would help ease this issue.
Another benefit of the availability of parts would be not just so that a user can work on their knife, but that a professional(ish) knife service can do so. Obviously that would, without question or exception, void the warranty entirely, and Spyderco would still rather do it themselves, but (especially overseas) perhaps there are users who'd love to send their knives to someone who does various services already (sharpening, repairs, mods, etc.), some of which aren't really provided by Spyderco even for warranty service.
As for a list of part specs for various models, that sounds difficult to create and maintain for all models. But, for a subset of models it may not be too bad. Honestly, I could see how someone in this community would be willing to maintain the list as long as someone at Spyderco shoots them the occasional email with an addition or change (after the initial big data dump). You could limit the list and the stock of available parts to mostly just the evergreen models from Golden, Japan, Taiwan, and maybe China (plus perhaps the bearings/washers for Taiwan models that aren't evergreen, which is really just the Sage and Chaparral models anyways).

No matter what happens, not everyone will be happy. Spyderco is trying harder than most companies to do just that, however, and I think it's important for us as a community to keep that in mind in this discussion. They don't have to engage with us and they don't have to make any changes. But they are engaging, and listening, and maybe some positive changes will come from it.

[Stuman]

Hi Sal,

(Q) I know it’s got nothing to do with this but I’ve always wondered why Spyderco does not give out the Rockwell hardness of there knives ? Say in the catalog or the little leaflets that come in the box that tells you about the steels, Or generally ? I only ask because you are the best person to tell me on here.

[Tucson Tom]

I’ve always wondered why Spyderco does not give out the Rockwell hardness of there knives

At the risk of derailing this thread, I have wondered too. In some ways this is almost as important as knowing what steel the knife is made from.

[The Mastiff]

Perhaps just a note with a link to a store and the part number of the screw or washer at the store. As it is blades and backlock springs and anything else that might need fitting shouldn't be sold by Spyderco due to liability reasons. That kind of service needs a warranty appointment any way you look at it.

Joe

[Nate]

I’ve always wondered why Spyderco does not give out the Rockwell hardness of there knives

At the risk of derailing this thread, I have wondered too. In some ways this is almost as important as knowing what steel the knife is made from.

I think you guys will find most of the answers to that question here:

http://www.spyderco.com/forumII/viewtop ... =2&t=60533

[ChrisinHove]

...
I recently got a military in s90v that is a factory 2nd due to an uneven backspacer. I want a new backspacer, but I don't really need one. After reading this thread I can see I'm on my own finding one, and I'm fine with that....

Edit: The backspacer was simply in backwards?? Hard to believe this was the cause of it being a factory 2nd... I flipped it around and it's perfectly flush with the scales! Lol.

Result!

This post sums up the Disassembly issue nicely. Also, a part from Spyderco wouldn’t have ever been the solution.

[MichaelScott]

I’m wondering if this knife was not a “factory second”. It’s my understanding (and I could be totally wrong) that Spyderco has checked every knife that is destined for their SFO seconds sale including those that don’t pass manufactured specifications and those returned for repair or warranty work. If that knife wasn’t purchased from the SFO seconds sale bunch, I’d have my doubts. Could be one of those user mistakes that got passed off as a “second” and not returned to Spyderco.

[Mastermachetier]

It would be nice if you carried all the parts , but I think in reality if you carried screws and washers it would be enough to satisfy the people . Maybe in addition just carry partes for the most popular modals like the Delica , endura , native and such

[steelcity16]

In my opinion they should have parts available online for purchase. Screws, lanyard tubes, washer, spacers, etc. I don't expect them for free if I need them to replace parts Ive lost or mangled from monkeying around, but I feel like the option should be there to buy replacements. Charge a shipping and handling fee and charge for the parts. No big deal.

[MichaelScott]

In my opinion they should have parts available online for purchase. Screws, lanyard tubes, washer, spacers, etc. I don't expect them for free if I need them to replace parts Ive lost or mangled from monkeying around, but I feel like the option should be there to buy replacements. Charge a shipping and handling fee and charge for the parts. No big deal.

It most likely is a big deal as many of the replies have indicated.

[PSquared]

As a member outside the US, I'd like it if parts were available for sale. I liked the idea of the Delica and Endura parts kits that used to be available and still have one stashed away in my spare parts box. I've never needed any of the parts (and I cannot imagine needing a spare liner that was included) but I liked that it was available and I could drop it in my cart when shopping at my favourite on line dealer.

Maybe this needs to be looked at again ... there were obviously sound reasons at the time for discontinuing the parts kits but maybe there need to be parts kits for the signature series of knives?

In certain instances, were merited, parts might possibly be available ... the bearing issue might be an example - an "instal it yourself" CQI part with the purchaser being very clearly informed that this was all at their risk - if they want risk free, send the knife to warrantee service.