First Impressions of SPY27 Steel

[BornIn1500]

Has there ever been an instance when they've lowered a price on something? I mean, if we were to apply that same logic to other things... the Delica must have R&D expenses and mold expenses paid off by now, but the price keeps going up. I don't see the cost of SPY27 models getting lowered. Just wishful thinking.

[pantagana23]

Has there ever been an instance when they've lowered a price on something? I mean, if we were to apply that same logic to other things... the Delica must have R&D expenses and mold expenses paid off by now, but the price keeps going up. I don't see the cost of SPY27 models getting lowered. Just wishful thinking.

Delica is related to Seki, so if they push production prices up (which is a yearly standard by 1-5% in my industry), so will Spyderco.

It's our problem if our paychecks don't follow :D

[Karl_H]

I suspect that prices will not get lowered, unless Spyderco unexpectedly has a large number of unsold knives.

I think the initial prices are disappointing. If SPY27 was being substituted for S30V, at the same price, then I think people would be more excited.

[Sharp Guy]

Certainly we're seeing some of the R&D costs in the current pricing with the spy27 para3 lw at $140, compared to say, the rex45 version at $122.50. I'm definitely curious to see where the prices go from here.

But what makes it confusing is that while the Para 3 is up $42 from using SPY27, the Mule in SPY27 is lower than many other previous Mules and that's using even more of this steel than a Para3. I'm not making sense of it.

Manix 2 LW is quite a bit more expensive too. It's almost the same price as the S110V model. Which is kind of surprising to me. Great steel from what I can tell so far but I don't see it as being that much better than something like BD1N. SPY27 might hold an edge a little longer (IDK) but, I sharpened both steels last night, and they seemed very similar to me. I'm still in for a Manix 2 LW but if this is going to replace S30V (my guess is that's the plan) I don't think it'll go over very well if the price of all those models is going to increase substantially because of it. Having a proprietary steel is cool and all but I'm not sure how many new models I'll be purchasing with it if the price is going to be much higher than something with comparable steel. I guess time will tell how this all plays out.

[JuPaul]

Certainly we're seeing some of the R&D costs in the current pricing with the spy27 para3 lw at $140, compared to say, the rex45 version at $122.50. I'm definitely curious to see where the prices go from here.

Hmm. When I heard Spyderco had Crucible make them some steel, I assumed they intended to make it one of their standard steels. I’m definitely less interested at those kinds of prices.

Well presumably the more of it they use, the cheaper it'd get. And once the R&D expenses are offset, they could lower the price as well. I would guess that spyderco hopes to make these competitive with s30v models, at least.

This.
If Spyderco is to justify development cost of a steel exclusive to them, should be pushing it to more models so the price drops.
SPY27, however, needs to be proven and recognized as a well rounded steel first.

Exactly. And until then, I'm willing to pay a bit of a premium for it on models I like to support their efforts to develop a great edc steel.

[BornIn1500]

Delica is related to Seki, so if they push production prices up (which is a yearly standard by 1-5% in my industry), so will Spyderco.

Alright we'll keep this to US models. Have they ever lowered a price on anything American made just because "R&D has been paid off"? I think pushing people to buy it thinking it will lower the price eventually is a futile attempt. I'm just saying I think this SPY27 pricing will stick around.

[pantagana23]

Delica is related to Seki, so if they push production prices up (which is a yearly standard by 1-5% in my industry), so will Spyderco.

Alright we'll keep this to US models. Have they ever lowered a price on anything American made just because "R&D has been paid off"? I think pushing people to buy it thinking it will lower the price eventually is a futile attempt. I'm just saying I think this SPY27 pricing will stick around.

I do agree that Spyderco is not cheap these days, when I look at Delica and see that you have CS Broken Skull with S35VN on the same price level, it does tickle.

But everyone will buy what they want if they want.

Plus Spyderco is the only brand in the knife industry involved with the customers to the level previously undreamt of, testing steels noone even heard of until today.

I for one will continue to support them.

Now, shall we continue to comment the new steel that Spyderco made happen :D

[Albatross]

Seems too early to judge the value of this brand new steel, but who knows.

If the foundry sets a price for some new, low-volume, untested by the market, proprietary steel, it only makes sense for them to drop the price in the future, if sales meet expectations. Spyderco developed this steel, but they don't make it. If the foundry lowers the cost of the steel, I would be surprised if Spyderco didn't adjust their own prices accordingly.

[JuPaul]

I've been carrying the para3 lw maybe half of the days since I got it a little over a month ago, and using the factory edge for general light edc tasks most days: opening packages and mail, breaking down boxes, and other random around-the-house type jobs. Nothing heavy duty. Yesterday I checked and it would no longer shave, time for a fresh edge. My completely subjective, non-systematic impression is that edge retention (of the factory edge) seems to be somewhere greater than vg10, and somewhere slightly less than s30v. It was really pleasant to sharpen, though. Evening out the bevels was a breeze (especially after working on steels like k390 recently), it deburred very easily, and it polished up nicely. I'm certainly no expert sharpener, but I think a lot of people will enjoy sharpening this steel. I'm curious to see how the polished edge holds up.

[Ric]

Looks very nice.
How did you manage to get it so shiny?

Does the polished edge slice through paper easier than the factory edge?

[JuPaul]

Looks very nice.
How did you manage to get it so shiny?

Does the polished edge slice through paper easier than the factory edge?

I definitely took it to a higher level of polish than the factory does - this was going up to 1500 grit with diamond stones, then using 9 and 6 micron lapping films on a kme system. It will very cleanly slice newsprint now. I also thinned out the edge a little bit (from the factory it was about 18° on one side, 20° on the other, and I set it at 17dps).

[spyderg]

Had my spy27para3 for a few weeks now. Used for my typical edc tasks, packages, cardboard for recycling, kitchen, light yard work, nothing particularly heavy but stuff that left my 110v an utter chipped mess and turned my vg10 into a butter knife in similar amount of time. Steels like s30v, 35vn, d2 all hold up fairly well for me. 3v and Cruwear hold up great but my sweat is very corrosive. The spy27 has held an edge as well as the 3v or Cruwear, has zero chips and would still (do a poor job of) shaving arm hair before I touched the edge up on the DoubleStuff. The closest steel I compare it to, in my use, is Ctsxhp.

[TkoK83Spy]

As always, great edge Julia! I really need to step up to a nice guided system. Some of you guys/gals get some amazingly consistent and great edges. I'm totally lost when it comes to the microns thing!

Once I do...I'm going to have plenty of threads with plenty of questions :p

Keep your impressions coming everyone! This one has tempted me, though the high price for comparable steels has kept me away, and my dislike of frn. I feel I need at least one, heck..."Spy" is in my username haha!

[JuPaul]

As always, great edge Julia! I really need to step up to a nice guided system. Some of you guys/gals get some amazingly consistent and great edges. I'm totally lost when it comes to the microns thing!

Once I do...I'm going to have plenty of threads with plenty of questions :p

Keep your impressions coming everyone! This one has tempted me, though the high price for comparable steels has kept me away, and my dislike of frn. I feel I need at least one, heck..."Spy" is in my username haha!

Thanks! I have a ton of respect for the freehand sharpeners on here, but I really do love the KME. It's fun to use, and versatile. I'm just learning how to strop with it, and to sharpen a convex edge. Next I'm planning to try out different stones - ceramics first, and water stones, eventually.

I agree you need some spy27 in your life eventually. I think it'll be kinda like the Military - a spyderco collection just won't feel complete without it. As hard as you use your knives at work, it may not have what you want in terms of edge retention though (if 4v and rex45 are your benchmarks). Then again, it sharpens so easily that a pretty quick touch up or two might be all you'd need in a week. Surely it'll come out on a g10 model soon, right?

Edit to add: the micron thing threw me at first, too, until I realized they have grit equivalents. 9 microns = 1800 grit, 6 microns = 3000 grit, etc.

[sal]

Hi Julia,

Nice job on that edge.

sal

[Evil D]

..........

sal

Any plans for some serrations with this steel?

[JuPaul]

..........

sal

Any plans for some serrations with this steel?

Great question!

[sal]

Of course.

sal

[JuPaul]

Of course.

sal

And a great answer!

How's about a SE manix (lw or g10) in spy27?? :D

[TkoK83Spy]

Of course.

sal

And a great answer!

How's about a SE manix (lw or g10) in spy27?? :D

G10 in that beautiful cobalt blue would be an easy "take my money Sal"