caly 3 fit and finish

[a77]

Hi guys,
First off I would like to say I love my Caly 3 and I am not trying to bash it at all. I just have some questions about the fit and finish and would like to know these little things I've noticed are common with the Caly 3 model.

I took some photos, have a look.

First I noticed the pins on the clip side (for right-side carry) have slightly unevenly mushroomed heads with some minor damage to the carbon fibre nearby. Does anyone else notice that with their model?

Then I noticed some one edge of the backspacer is slightly rounded near the pivot, and on the underside of the knife near the handle some uneven grinding of the spacers. The chamfer of the on the carbon fibre scales seem to be a bit assymetrical but not a huge deal - I didn't take a photo of this.

So my questions are:
- are these things you have noticed yourself on this knife or others?
- do little imperfections like these bother you?

Just curious, and again, I love this knife and I'm not trying to bash it. I was just a bit surprised when I took a closer look at this knife to see these things - mainly the pins.

Thanks

[The Deacon]

Amazing what sufficient magnification brings out.

Nothing terribly out of the ordinary there. Deformation like that on the pins, if not universal, is extremely common and the norm, rather than the exception. It's the result of them being "set", sometimes you luck out, and the "rim" is concentric, most times it favors one side. The other imperfections, while not "normal" at those specific locations, are not terribly uncommon somewhere on a knife.

FWIW, I know at least two Spyderco collectors who like their knives as close to perfect as possible. They normally buy anywhere from four to six specimens of any knife, cherry pick the best, and sell the rest on eBay.

[D1omedes]

Wow, those are some nice close up shots.

I guess those minor imperfections are to be expected on production knives. As long as it doesn't affect performance, then it doesn't really bother me. If you really are looking for a perfect-looking knife then you need to collect hand-finished customs.

The more you use the Caly 3, and scratch the blade and such, the less you will care about those blemishes. Trust me.

[DMgangl]

The Deacon beat me to it. If its a user then its fine, nothing that you showed will affect the function. I would just use it.

DM

[a77]

Amazing what sufficient magnification brings out.

Actually it was quite hard to take those shots with my cheap camera, I felt it was hard to show the issues I was talking about.

This is all visible with the naked eye and on at least one pin it's quite obvious to the touch when you run your finger over it.

You are right, it is a production knife and I guess some of this stuff is to be expected.

After thinking about it, I am less likely to buy a knife of this price range online - might be worth paying more at the local shop after some inspection.

Thanks!

[Monkeywrangler]

Oddly enough those pics could just as easily be of my Caly3 (but with G10 and no 'issues' with the G10). However, I would not have noticed any of those things if you had not made your post. I don't consider them an issue. :)

[a77]

Hmm.. I might just drill out the pins and put some nice screws in there.

[The Deacon]

Hmm.. I might just drill out the pins and put some nice screws in there.

Before you do, you might want to have a look at this thread, and particularly at the first post on the second page of it.

[a77]

Ah, thanks for that link. I'll have to think about this one a bit more.

[Murdoc]

Luckily, on my CF Caly, the pins are close to 100% perfect. Not so on the G10 Caly where they are slightly off at the "back" side, the front is ok.

I never saw something like that rounded backspacer on the Caly's I inspected, and looking at mine, they don't show this.

Slightly uneven grinding on the spacers - "check" @ the G10, only on one side of the CF. Actually, I think this may be a feature, not a bug, since it keeps the blade from getting caught at the spacer when closed with some lateral force applied on the blade (hope I made myself clear here :o )

Slightly (!!) uneven chamfering on the CF scales - well, "check" again, but I just noticed it when closely looking at it right now. Don't know if it it would be easy to do better than it is... I couldn't, thats for sure

The worst of all the things you showed is IMO that one lockbar pivot pin that's really quite a bit off-center. Maybe that would bother me a bit, too. No biggie for a user, but since the whole knife is manufactured pretty nicely otherwise, I'd want to have a more "pefect" specimen IF it would be a safequeen. After all, the CF Caly is/was a limited production and has an impressive MSRP.

I've seen lots of Calys with these less than perfect pin heads. Maybe it isn't possible to execute this step better without creating too much problems during the manufacturing process, I don't know. But I do know that all the pins on my SALTs, Natives, Caly Jr.'s and the Remote Release 2 do look better than the ones on lots of the Caly 3s I've seen, since they are all centered well. I can only assume they are using a different machine/technique for the Caly3's than for all the others :confused:

Dennis

[sal]

Hi A77,

Welcome to the Spyderco forum and thanx for the support.

Our CFO just showed a quote to me from Michael J. Fox;

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence I can reach for; perfection is God's business".

I believe the Caly3 to among the top 10% in production knives and probably in the top 30% of custom knives. Of course I'm biased, but I've been kickin' round this industry for many years. The design had 10 years of refinement. The maker is 3rd generation and among the best in the world. The carbon fiber scales are made in the US.

It is always possible to find imperfection in anything, if you seek it. I can find imperfection in any of my knives, incluing Chris Reeve and Jess Horn pieces.

I would not suggest "drilling out the rivets and putting screws in in their place. There is not enough room for screws or we would have used them. Unless you are a custom maker that can build a better knife than the Caly3, I believe you will probably not make it better.

sal

[tonydahose]

well i had to go take a look and sure enough a few pins look like that on my clay 3. would i have noticed it if i didnt read this thread...nope. i am sure with any supermodel you could find a few flaws in her appearance. would you like to have her on your arm even though she has tiny imperfections? would you even mention those imperfections to her and talk about plastic surgery to fix them? some things are better left alone...just my humble opinion.

edit: i came up with another analogy. the supermodel one is little off base but hey, they are easy on the eyes and i would love to see one of their mates/spouses mention the plastic surgery part..lol

if you bought a high end sports car would you go and tear down the engine because you think you could gain some more horsepower by doing X, Y and Z things? oh i forgot to mention that you aren't a mechanic either. i for one am guilty of thinking that i could design and build a knife, especially after tinkering with a few of the ones i own. it looks simple but i can bet any amount of money that it isn't. with the mule team and everyone building their own scales it is just normal to think to jump to the next step and make the whole knife. a fixed blade is much easier (i am guessing here) because of no moving parts and that is hard enough. i forgot whose thread (in the off topic section)it was where they screwed up the heat treatment and completely screwed up the blade. one of many lessons learned (and costly too) before you become an accomplished knife maker. i say leave well enough alone unless you would like an expensive paperweight.

[jzmtl]

I believe what you showed in your last pic was done intentionally, so the liners don't scratch blade too much.

[a77]

Slightly uneven grinding on the spacers - "check" @ the G10, only on one side of the CF. Actually, I think this may be a feature, not a bug, since it keeps the blade from getting caught at the spacer when closed with some lateral force applied on the blade (hope I made myself clear here :o )

I believe what you showed in your last pic was done intentionally, so the liners don't scratch blade too much.

Yes, I think it's intentional. I was just noting that it asymmetrical (one side is ground more than the other.)

[jzmtl]

Ah I see. Looking at mine carefully it's also like that, but doesn't bother me since it's so hard to notice.

[bh49]

May be I am doing something wrong. I never looked on the pins of my Caly3, but today I did it. Dam, on both user (three years old) and new backup piece (both G10), pins are in the same condition as pictured. It didn't bother me for three years, will not bother me in the future. Also, probably I will buy one more.
Just use this knife and enjoy slicing :)
good luck

[DMgangl]

May be I am doing something wrong. I never looked on the pins of my Caly3, but today I did it. Dam, on both user (three years old) and new backup piece (both G10), pins are in the same condition as pictured. It didn't bother me for three years, will not bother me in the future. Also, probably I will buy one more.
Just use this knife and enjoy slicing :)
good luck

Oh No! all your knives are defective you should send them to me for proper disposal :p :D

DM

[h2oflyer]

You did say Fit and Finish. I don't believe off center struck rivets have anything to do with Fit.

When I got my Caly3 I noticed the imperfect coining on the rivet heads right away,but after going over knife in real detail I was impressed with workmanship, especially where the liners were relieved at rear of choil along with tight tolerances, zero play and smooooth with no washers.

I just think of the knife maker in Seki City holding the Caly3 in a manual rivet setter and being concerned with setting force. Hand made knife ?

Wally

[JNewell]

May be I am doing something wrong. I never looked on the pins of my Caly3, but today I did it. Dam, on both user (three years old) and new backup piece (both G10), pins are in the same condition as pictured. It didn't bother me for three years, will not bother me in the future. Also, probably I will buy one more.
Just use this knife and enjoy slicing :)
good luck

Totally agree. I never noticed until someone made a stink in a prior thread. Funny thing is, the knife still looks good and cuts well for me. Go figger.

[Halfneck]

Up until the last few posts I never even paid attention to the pins on my Caly 3. Checked them out & some have deformation. Not really concerned though because there is no sharp burrs/edges from them & they seem to be keeping it together just fine. Only thing I noticed on my Caly 3 was that the inner liners were sharp along the inside. A little bit of time running the corner of my fine Sharpmaker rod along them & problem solved. Other than that the knife opens smoothly, blade is centered, and it's working just fine.