Golden Quality

[JD Spydo]

I purchased at least half a dozen Golden Spyderco models between 2017 to 2019, and haven’t had a flaw in any of them. I’m not saying flaws don’t happen; they do. I just haven’t gotten any.

When I order a knife, I always call the online dealer and order over the phone. And I have a pre-written list of things (things I want, as well as flaws) I ask them to check the knife for, before they ship it. I’ve never had any dealer who thought this was unreasonable to ask. Doing it this way makes a BIG difference, instead of pressing buttons and hoping for the best. And there are only three different online dealers I order from.

Jim

That's great advice Jim. Also who you use for your "dealer" is important too. I've been using New Graham for most of my new knife purchases and I also get a lot of my sharpening gear from them as well. But there are at least 4 other dealers I could recommend that I've heard nothing but good about as well. But many times a really good quality minded dealer will see that before they ship. I've never got anything defective from New Graham and I've had nothing but excellent service from them.

But again I will state that I've had excellent results dealing with Spyderco's Warranty & Repair Department. I've worked in a manufacturing plant before and nothing is 100% perfect. We had "Quality Control" who found flaws all the time. That's just a sad fact of life with any manufactured item. But I'm sure they'll be more than glad to remedy the problem. And do let us know how it turns out.

[anycal]

I have seen it, and I am not terribly bothered by it. Sure I wish they were perfect, but I accept it. There are plenty of other things I will OCD about.

From my experience, the issue of uneven edges is not limited to Golden knives. I had three Seki knives recently where the two sides of the edge were off by quite a bit, or partially off at the tip. From Golden, REX 45 Military and 10V PM2 have pretty bad tips, much like the pic of the micarta Shaman.

As for the jimping. I have three newish Natives, and they are not perfect, but I wouldn't call it defect.

Calling the dealer prior to purchase to have them pick one? Probably not going to happen for knives that sell out in minutes. I actually tried it once, some time ago, for a production knife. It still came to me with lockrock.

Using the Spyderco warranty department? For sold out knives, all they can do is put a new edge on it. I can do that too. That means that you will loose steel, especially in length if you are trying to even up the tip. I just keep it the way it is; continue using and sharpening.

[Hardbawl]

At first I was surprised by this post. My EDC is a Native 5 Cruwear masterpiece that has been in my pocket for a year. This is the best folding knife I have ever had. The quality rivals custom made knives at three times the price. Just last week i took delivery on a Native Chief. Here again, the Chief is a masterpiece. Well done Golden staff. After reading all the posts, most have had great products from Golden and a few have received flawed items. Before you can fix something you have to figure out what is wrong. Perhaps a strict quality check in the shipping department would make for a higher percentage of happy customers. Just my never to be humble opinion.

[James Y]

Calling the dealer prior to purchase to have them pick one? Probably not going to happen for knives that sell out in minutes. I actually tried it once, some time ago, for a production knife. It still came to me with lockrock.

Sorry to hear that ordering over the phone didn’t work out for you.

I only order over the phone, and for over a decade. And maybe I’ve been lucky, but I’ve never gotten a knife with any of the problems I’ve had on my prepared list, or any at all, for that matter. I’ve bought only from New Graham, Blade HQ and Knifeworks; in recent years, mostly from Knifeworks. And one time I ordered a Cold Steel Broken Skull (years ago, when the model was newly released) from Blade HQ over the phone, immediately after learning they were selling for a very limited time at a special price of $45, and the same; got one without flaws (of course, in that instance, they could have just grabbed a knife in a box that happened to have no flaws anyway, without checking). I think that special sale sold out in maybe an hour or less.

I still say that ordering from a live person over the phone greatly reduces the chances of getting a knife with issues that will make you unhappy with it than just blindly ordering online, assuming you’re ordering from a dealer that emphasizes good customer service.

Jim

[eRoc]

After the Cru-carta Shaman, every single one of the 5 Shamans I’ve had has had the show-side tip over-ground. It’s a flaw in the sharpening robot’s programming.

Here’s my best picture of it. It doesn’t look severe from this bad angle, but the edge bevel was 1.5-2 times as tall at the tip than the average along the rest of the edge, and the BTE was well over 0.030”.C73F4114-DAFE-40DB-9720-914ADB116FBE.jpeg

At least the post-Cru-carta Shamans, some early backlock Lil’Natives, and St. Nick’s Lil’Natives we’re afflicted by this specific grind flaw.

Other models (Military, PM2, Manix) each have other recurring grind inconsistencies unique to them.

Most of my Manixes have also been ground unnecessarily thick BTE in the recent past.

Natives, in general, and the Rex 45 Lil’Natives, recently, have been ground really well I’m my limited experience.

Both my Shamans, 2 of 4 of my PM2's, my Lil'Native, and about 7 of 13 of my Para 3's have the same issue with the show side tip being overground. My two Embassy's and 3 Natives from Golden are fine. Doesn't bother me too much, but it is what it is.

[bgcameron]

I recently handled three Rex 45 Shamans. Two of them had even grinds.

[anycal]

Sorry to hear that ordering over the phone didn’t work out for you...

Jim

I am sure that if you get a hold of the right person, it can help.


I would like to add that most of my collection are Golden models. And the overall quality is very good. I had no issues of any kind for which I had to return a knife. All arrived sharp out of the box. Couple of examples of uneven edge is unfortunate, but I don't see it as any kind of a trend in lesser quality.

[GiftedMisfit]

Jimping lines up nicely. 100% centered and evenly ground. Big ole' backspacer is nice and flush as can be, no gaps left or right. Depress the lock and the blade releases smooth and free.

My most recent acquisition from Golden.

Spyderco Native Chief.

[odomandr]

I dont have any expectation that the person I am dealing with will open and inspect my purchases to ensure they are not flawed. I dont think the SFO will open a bunch to check they are precise. I hope that my dealers are not cherry picking the perfect examples and deciding who gets what.... having worked in retail i know that I would never open a product and inspect it. i doubt the owners of the retail places want to deal with lots of returns to manufacturers when the person can deal with them just as easily