First spyderco, uneven plunge lines

[spoonrobot]

I flipped and rotated your pictures, and honestly I don't see any issue.

[RustyIron]

I build a lot of stuff, and it's rare that anything is perfectly symmetrical. My thoughts for something of this nature is, if it looks good from the left side, it looks good from the right side, it looks good from the top, and it looks good from the bottom, then it's fine.

The use of precision measuring tools, magnified photographs, and sharpie pens to detect lack of symmetry is of no value.

[JRinFL]

I consider it to be similar to the issue of blade centering, there will be no consensus on whether or not it is a real issue.

"Perfect is the enemy of good" sums it up for me, but I'll not force that on another.

[cholla_remover]

The asymmetry is visible from the spine of the blade and the thumbhole - the plunge looks about 1mm off from one side to the other. I don't want the OP to get ganged up on for what I also felt was a warranty issue with my knife, possibly from the same batch. But ultimately I'm happy with my knife and I got good customer service. It certainly didn't stop me from buying more Spydercos!

I agree with what JRinFL is saying and hope this gets resolved to OP's satisfaction.

[ladybug93]

half the time when i see people post "issues" with their knives, i wonder to myself, "is that something i should have been looking for all this time?" that includes blade centering, uneven grinds, and various lockup issues as well. i even like to take closeup photos of my knife and i don't notice half the things other people do.

i don't say that to make fun or be dismissive, but as long as the knife feels good, functions properly, cuts well, is received in the condition it was described (i.e. no scratches or marks on a new knife), and isn't otherwise clearly defective, it's good enough for me.

i'm glad you like your knife. i've not owned a para 3, but i compared them in hand to the pm2 at sfo and i favored the para 3. it's a great knife! use it and enjoy it. :)

[sal]

Hi Mattie,

Welcome to our forum.

How is the "cut"?

sal

[Mattie]

Hi Mattie,

Welcome to our forum.

How is the 'cut"?

sal

Thank you.

I’m not sure what you mean by the “cut”?

[cabfrank]

Welcome. He means how does it cut things, or perform.

[Coastal]

Welcome, Mattie!

If it were me, I would ignore it and enjoy the knife. I can say this because you caused me to check some of mine, and the first 4 I picked up have the same issue, and I've been happily using them like that for months. In my case, it's 2 Caribbeans, a Siren, and a Military. Every one of them has asymmetric plunges. It's especially easy to observe on the Caribbeans, whose plunges run within a couple millimeters of the hole. On both of mine the plunge is fairly close to the hole on one side, and extremely close on the other. I have a feeling I could find a bunch more if I looked.

I hope you decide you can enjoy your knife as is, and save yourself the trouble of returning it. But if you decide to return it, a perfectly valid choice, I hope it goes well for you. Best of luck!

[irsh]

I'm also new to Spyderco knives and this post caused me to check out my new P3 LW more closely.
Mine is close to perfect for the plunge but made up for that with a fairly uneven edge grind near the tip. It's a user and certainly not a high dollar custom, so I haven't thought about it further. I assume I'll even it up down the road.
OP, I wouldn't sweat it.

[ChrisinHove]

Welcome to the forum!

Knives and Tools are a reputable dealer, so talk to them and ask for a replacement if you think it necessary.

[metaphoricalsimile]

I also have an eye for details like this, and after my first few spyderco knives all had detectible blade asymmetries I just sort of started to accept that it's par for the course for mass-manufactured products at this price level. When you're manufacturing something you have to choose a minimum acceptable product that passes QC, and unless you're charging a *lot* for your product that minimum acceptable isn't going to be perfect. In my experience the vast majority of my spdyerco knives have been perfect in *function*, even if they're not quite perfect in *form* and that's good enough for me.

[sal]

Hi Irish,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

[JSumm]

I don't want to down someone for what they like. We are all different and that is great! I did not start off with Spyderco, but got hooked on them because to me, they made great working knives that focused on performance. Full Flat Grind, great ergonomics, one-hand opening in lightweight packages.

Then the steel options, this forum with great people, and that was it. I was hooked. Started with Spyderco in 2020, 15 Spy knives (+ gifts) later and I could not be happier. Well, I could be happier with a Native Chief in pocket, but that will come. I really hope the OP gets to put some use behind it. That example or a trade in for another. I hope they really give it some time. I think they will be pleased.

[mazze]

I don’t know much about knives and I can’t contribute to this matter, but I can relate to it.
Spyderco knives and very expensive in Europe and probably people that buys them expect perfection in every way, even if that is not realistic. But I have three, from the same shop and they are all perfect
The fact that the founder and president of this multinational company is also an active (and caring) member of the forum is absolutely awesome.
I am an engineer at a food company and the question about “how is the cut” got me smiling and thinking about all the compromise’s that are needed to deliver top quality goods.
Absolute perfection is always the goal and perfect function is always the minimum.

[irsh]

Hi Irish,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

Thank you Sal, happy to be here.
Thank you for making wonderful tools that I can appreciate every day.

[Jim Malone]

Welcome Mattie. Maybe it's because i'm older and need reading glasses but i don't tend to microscopically check my knives for so called flaws. I have been collecting Spyderco knives for 35 years now and have never really looked at the plunge lines. In all those years the only time i was disappointed was with my first gen Ti Military. That knife has lock stick. Apart from that i was suprised by the nub on the shaman and the self closing spring on the big laci szabo folder. Those where the only things i ever disliked in all those years. And they even weren't so called quality problems. Maybe i don't inspect my knives all that well and there might be numerous flaws in my knives. The problem i have with scrutenizing your knife is where do you stop? What is acceptabel for you and what's not? Is it reasonable to expect a level of fit and finish for a certain price range. Let's say labour cost is 60€ per hour. How many work hours are you willing to spend on inspecting your knife and handfitting done by a bladesmith and pay extra on your PM3? Would you pay double or triple because the grinding was done by the most experienced bladesmith who takes double the amount of time to hand grind your knife and a dedicated single QC is done on your knife? If that is the case you should look into the hand made versions by the designers who worked with Spyderco in the past. I think Jens Ansœ could make you a on
e off custom build with impecable grind lines. But it won't be cheap. If you dislike the grindlines send it back to knives and tools they will replace it with a new knife made in the same factory. Hopefully the knife will fall into your expectations.
Btw Mattie is Dutch Slang for Buddy or friend.
And welcome to the forum.

[sal]

Hi Mazze,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

[Manixguy@1994]

As Michael said welcome to the Forum ! Just me , if not happy send it back , if not ignore it and enjoy the knife . It’s a valid question and not the first on this subject , I hope you enjoy your time on the Forum . MG2

[Bloke]

Welcome to the Forum, Mattie!

I’m a toolmaker by trade and have worked as a Mechanical design draftsman for over two decades. Fair to say I’d reckon, that accuracy is my business. Add to that, I’m a perfectionist by nature, which is a curse so there’s not much I miss irrespective of what I look at.

Back to your knife. It’s unfortunate the plunge grind is uneven and particularly so because we colonials living outside the US pay a premium for our Spyders.

I’m not sure of all your options but by returning it you may end up swapping the ***** for the witch so that’s something to think about.

Anyhow, I obviously have no definitive answer to your dilemma and telling you your knife is just a user tool is total BS in my book. What if you bought it as a part of a collection?

In summary mate, I’ve found I’m always best off closing one eye and blocking one ear to most things in this life, stepping back, taking a deep breath and just laughing at it all but that’s just me and my $AU0.02c worth.

Hope it all works out the way you’d like, mate.