Is your R2 like mine?

[Tinkerer]

I just got my new R2. It is beautiful. Distinctive. Fits the hand well. I like the clipped tip. The blade is perfectly centered. No horizontal blade play. Flat ground. Very nice.

However, mine has a significant amount of vertical blade play. I can actually see the pivot screw move back and forth a small amount when pulling up on the end of the blade. This is a real bummer, especially since everything else about the knife is great.

Anybody else's R2 like this?

Thanks,

Tinkerer

[jaislandboy]

Nope...got 3 :eek: of them with zero play...at least with my hand manipulations! :)

[J Smith]

No play here either.Maybe the pivot needs to be tightened a little.

[smcfalls13]

The pivot screw itself moves? I'm gonna second J Smith and say that sounds like it needs some tightening.

[Senate]

no play at all...

[The Deacon]

Pivot screws on a couple of mine were loose. You need to get some Locktite and a T-10 Torx driver. You might want to get a T-6 as well and do the rest of the screws too, especially the lockbar pivot, as that too "may" be, or become, loose. Would suggest tightening and loosening them a few times first without Locktite to get a feel for the correct tension. If you overtighten the blade pivot the knife becomes hard to open and close. If you overtighten the lockbar pivot, it may not drop into the locking notch properly and may make the knife difficult to close as well.

[Tinkerer]

I had tried various degrees of tightness on the blade pivot screw to no avail. To have any affect at all on the vertical blade play the pivot screw would be so tight that the blade would be VERY difficult to open. It seems like the hole the pivot goes through must be oversized allowing the pivot pin/screw to move.

I'd love to take it apart and look/measure but I don't want to do anything to void a warranty or return.

[The Deacon]

Might be best to send it back to Spyderco for a look over by Warranty and Repair. One of the difficulties here is that each of us may have different definitions of "normalcy" for some of the key terms. Most, if not all front locks exhibit a slight amount of vertical play. What one person perceives as "excessive" another may view as "within acceptable limits". Same with blade motion. I can say for a fact that, when adjusted to give what I consider acceptable blade play, the R2 takes considerably more effort to open than my Stretch. But the action of the Stretch is extremely light and smooth for its size. I have other front locks the same general size that require more effort that the R2 set up the way I have mine. So while I might say it is relatively difficult to open, I would not call it VERY difficult.

None of the above is to suggest that you do not have a legitimate problem, just to illustrate the difficulty of "remote diagnosis".

[Tinkerer]

Deacon,

I completely agree with your points about the definition of normalcy.
My R2 doesn't have an extremely large amount of play but it does have more than any of my other Spyderco's - even my older, well used, ones. That, coupled with the fact that I can see the pivot moving slightly back and forth makes it unacceptable (to me) in a brand new knife. From the much-appreciated feedback in this thread it sounds like mine is atypical.

Thanks,

[Stevie Ray]

Mine locks up nice and tight.