Shaman SPY27 nearly protruding tip

[spydorinox]

There seems to be more knives from Golden missing good QC these days?
The recent threads here of the Native salt and 15v para 3 are just two examples.

The Shaman in particular is an expensive knife and perhaps a higher standard of care before it reaches the customer could be applied?

The old an often used adage of “but we’re getting high end steel at a low cost” starts to wear thin after yet another is released from the factory with sub-par QC.

Anyway, I hope it gets sorted. Both the Shaman and the other problems coming out of Golden.

I ran into this problem on my Manix 2 also. Today I also got in a Sage 5 Salt that looks like this:



It's barely enough to keep it safe when closed right now, which means I basically can't sharpen the knife maybe once before it's unsafe to carry. And this is from Taichung.

Returned the same model for that issue a few weeks back. Very noticeable and I could cut my finger if I pushed it down on the area and pulled back toward the tip.

[ejames13]

A real shame because the cobalt blue SPY27 variant is one of the best looking IMO.

[AlDriven]

Hey Spydie Crew,

I’m a new forum member, but not new to knives. I can confidently say Spyderco is the best large production company there is, but the recent buy was a bit concerning. I am the guy who posted on Reddit regarding my SPY27 Shaman. I asked Adept Knives (who I purchased from) to please find the best variant as I knew this was a small problem isolated to a batch. He did so and when I received it, I noticed it was a bit ‘higher’ when closed, but didn’t pay too much attention to it. After a day carry I did in fact nick my thumb twice (as the thumb is sideways ideally when grabbing from the front pocket).

After this I posted on Reddit to see if more people had this issue. The post gained quite a lot of traction and there was comparisons of different variants and not only was my knives tip much higher than other variants but the overall profile when closed appears as if the SPY27 variant was slightly above the scales? Almost as if the Spydie hold is not buried slightly like the others. Very noticeable when compared to an S30V variant, for example.

I do not know the extent of production regarding this model or something has changed with this variant but something is off. I’m aware Sal has commented on this forum but myself and a great gentleman would like to see if we can circle around this issue. More so to improve the QC of this variant as it’s spyderco through and through.

I’m not sure if this production issue has been resolved. I have called spyderco as I do not want to carry this knife anymore, given the hazard. I spoke to a gentleman that let me know Sal is aware. He told me ‘yeah we are aware, yours was probably ground too much’ but there’s something else going on based on the closed profile. I asked if it’s possible to get an exchange for an S30V variant as they’re similarly priced exactly but he didn’t comment on this as he didn’t want to speak for the warranty department. He took my name down, but I’m not sure how long until I will hear back.

I’m willing to wait for Spyderco’s reply for a potential exchange but given the uncertainty of receiving another one with the same issue, I rather get an S30V variant at a lower cost if possible.

Appreciate the input from all of you.

[TazKristi]

Hi, AlDriven:
Welcome to our forum. Could you please send me a private message with your name, email address, and phone number? If possible, please include the name of the person you spoke to (just to help me track down the status).

We're sorry for your disappointment and appreciate the opportunity to make it right.

Kristi

[WilliamMunny]

I'm relatively new to this community, and Spyderco as a whole, but I was very impressed with my 15V Shaman.
I am however not new to knives, and have been a member on reddit for quite a while, part of its knife community.
My specific Shaman does not have this issue, but someone recently shared theirs, also the SPY27 model, and many people commented that this specific one has this issue. One person said they had to switch to tip down carry because the factory edge was pointing out enough to poke him if he grabbed it from his pocket wrong, another user said he bought 6 Shamans, and 5 out of them were like this, 3 being the SPY27 varient. There's close to a dozen people saying the same issue, primarily on the SPY27 Shaman.

Is there something done differently with this specific model? I've compared pictures of mine with the factory G10 scales against other's pictures with the G10 scales, and it's almost as if the blade is tilted 2-4° more "up" as their finger hole is completely visible, while mine is slightly hidden.

Was something changed with this model? I thought it was excessive grinding of the main bevel at first but looking at all the pictures it appears more than that. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link the thread or not, but there's a bunch of good comparison pictures in it that show the difference.

Do you, or anyone for that matter, have any pictures of how the Spydie hole sits when closed of a knife with the protruding tip vs a tip that sits low in the handle?

[AlDriven]

I'm relatively new to this community, and Spyderco as a whole, but I was very impressed with my 15V Shaman.
I am however not new to knives, and have been a member on reddit for quite a while, part of its knife community.
My specific Shaman does not have this issue, but someone recently shared theirs, also the SPY27 model, and many people commented that this specific one has this issue. One person said they had to switch to tip down carry because the factory edge was pointing out enough to poke him if he grabbed it from his pocket wrong, another user said he bought 6 Shamans, and 5 out of them were like this, 3 being the SPY27 varient. There's close to a dozen people saying the same issue, primarily on the SPY27 Shaman.

Is there something done differently with this specific model? I've compared pictures of mine with the factory G10 scales against other's pictures with the G10 scales, and it's almost as if the blade is tilted 2-4° more "up" as their finger hole is completely visible, while mine is slightly hidden.

Was something changed with this model? I thought it was excessive grinding of the main bevel at first but looking at all the pictures it appears more than that. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link the thread or not, but there's a bunch of good comparison pictures in it that show the difference.

Do you, or anyone for that matter, have any pictures of how the Spydie hole sits when closed of a knife with the protruding tip vs a tip that sits low in the handle?

I’m not sure if I can post a link to my original Reddit thread that got a lot of traction. But I’ll put some photos here from the discussion a lot of the people there were having when we were discussing some changes in the variants. If you notice on the 15V when compared to the SPY27, the blade is almost at an angle when closed causing the tip to be higher. Notice the overall profile and Spydie hole.

[AlDriven]

I didn’t note this above in my previous post, but the best way to notice is looking at the end of the G10 handle. You can see how buried the tip is/where the blade ends ‘into’ the G10 on the 15v version when compared to the SPY27.

[AlDriven]

I just sent my Shaman SPY27 in to get evaluated. Should be at the mothership on Friday. I added the title to this post in the notes on their form. I’m hoping this and the knife can be evaluated further not only by warranty department but by manufacturing itself if it means finally fixing this issue with the variant. If the current production models that were recently manufactured still have this, I kindly asked for an S30V replacement, as for some reason that one has none of these issues.

[Skylark427]

I'm relatively new to this community, and Spyderco as a whole, but I was very impressed with my 15V Shaman.
I am however not new to knives, and have been a member on reddit for quite a while, part of its knife community.
My specific Shaman does not have this issue, but someone recently shared theirs, also the SPY27 model, and many people commented that this specific one has this issue. One person said they had to switch to tip down carry because the factory edge was pointing out enough to poke him if he grabbed it from his pocket wrong, another user said he bought 6 Shamans, and 5 out of them were like this, 3 being the SPY27 varient. There's close to a dozen people saying the same issue, primarily on the SPY27 Shaman.

Is there something done differently with this specific model? I've compared pictures of mine with the factory G10 scales against other's pictures with the G10 scales, and it's almost as if the blade is tilted 2-4° more "up" as their finger hole is completely visible, while mine is slightly hidden.

Was something changed with this model? I thought it was excessive grinding of the main bevel at first but looking at all the pictures it appears more than that. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link the thread or not, but there's a bunch of good comparison pictures in it that show the difference.

Do you, or anyone for that matter, have any pictures of how the Spydie hole sits when closed of a knife with the protruding tip vs a tip that sits low in the handle?

I’m not sure if I can post a link to my original Reddit thread that got a lot of traction. But I’ll put some photos here from the discussion a lot of the people there were having when we were discussing some changes in the variants. If you notice on the 15V when compared to the SPY27, the blade is almost at an angle when closed causing the tip to be higher. Notice the overall profile and Spydie hole.

Yeah, this was my 15V variant I was talking about and how the overall tilt of the blade varies between Driven's Shaman with the stock scales. Additionally, here's a few pictures showing just how large of a difference there is between the two openings between the backspacer:



Notice how large the gap is between the backspacer and blade. Even with my new scales, that's at least a 1/16-3/32" difference in distance if not more. It's almost as if the entire blade is tilted more "up" on the SPY27 models specifically.

[Skylark427]

Now that all the photos are out there between mine and AlDriven's knife, does anyone have any idea what could cause this? The edge being incredibly ground is a different matter altogether. I'm mainly referring to the blade sitting several degrees tilted up from the pivot in relation to the scales.

It almost seems like the detent is in a different spot.

I absolutely love my 15V Shaman, so don't take this as me hating. In fact I consider my Shaman at the level of a custom with how well this collaboration was done, and I've got a few custom folders and fixed blades. My Shaman brought me to this community, and I absolutely love the steels Spyderco offers. It was like opening a new world to me.

It's just mind boggling looking at my Shaman BBB next to his SPY27, both closed. And there were several in the Reddit topic that were the same way.

[sovereign]

Most likely the interface between the tang and stop pin as well as the detent, as mentioned on page 2. If someone has one that rides high and one that is correct they could pull the blades and compare.

[Skylark427]

That's kinda what I was thinking as well. Seeing the detent hole on page 2, I noticed it looked a bit larger than mine when I had mine apart(going by memory), mine looked only slightly larger than the ball itself(like most knives). I don't have 2 currently, but wanted an S30V model, which is a model I don't see this issue on.

Might be worth looking up disassembly videos on this specific model if they have one. The problem seems prevalent enough that maybe someone opened up 2 already and compared. I'm curious if anyone here has one of each and could share pictures.

Thank you by the way for the response. I had that as my main suspicion, but now I can at least tell the guys on Reddit with this issue what it likely is with a bit more confidence.

[WilliamMunny]

@AlDriven
@Skylark427

This is my Shaman XHP, finally got some good pictures. It definitely looks closer to the SPY-27 in the pictures as it does not sit deep in the scales like the 15v.

I can’t really catch my finger but I would be very afraid to reprofile the edge, taking any steel away would probably let my finger catch the tip.

On the fence if I should send it in, any thoughts? Is this just how a Shaman is made to be?

[sovereign]

The XHP/Micarta version was recalled due to a production issue and then released later: viewtopic.php?t=96378#p1777326

The isssue was never divulged AFAIK. Related?

[Skylark427]

@AlDriven
@Skylark427

This is my Shaman XHP, finally got some good pictures. It definitely looks closer to the SPY-27 in the pictures as it does not sit deep in the scales like the 15v.

I can’t really catch my finger but I would be very afraid to reprofile the edge, taking any steel away would probably let my finger catch the tip.

On the fence if I should send it in, any thoughts? Is this just how a Shaman is made to be?

IMG_6850.jpeg
IMG_6851.jpeg
IMG_6849.jpeg

I'm still stuck in the moderation approval stage on my posts so forgive me, some of my other posts aren't approved yet and there's just going to be delay.

Personally, I'd send it in, especially with the comment the other user posted about the recall on the XHP models.

Heres a few pictures of how mine sits, they're a few pictures of it I have before the scale change and a few after it. You can see my tip is about in line with the start of the inside liner, it sits just below the end of them if you look close.

To me, mine looks how it should be. Yours I'd be concerned with the same things you said, if you sharpen too many times or change the angle too much you might get poked by the tip. It looks like the XHP model has similar issues.

[Skylark427]

@WilliamMunny

Here's another comparison picture.
Edit: It flipped the image unless you click on it

[Guts]

How's the detent feel on the knives that have an almost protruding tip vs the ones that have a tip that sits deeper? If the detent feels a bit light, I'm wondering if the detent ball isn't sitting fully in the detent hole, which leads me to believe that the area where the tang interfaces with the stop pin wasn't ground enough causing the tip issue.

Does it look more like below? In particular take note of the distance between the compression lock bar and the blade. If the detent is fully engaged there should be little or no light like in this example.


If you have a weak detent, it'll probably look like this with much more distance between the compression lock bar and the blade.


I'm curious if there's a correlation between the detent lockup on the models with a nearly protruding tip vs the ones that have a deeper sitting tip. Or maybe the ones with a nearly protruding tip have a perfectly fine detent. Either way, it's at least one more possibility to rule out at least.

@WilliamMunny
@Skylark427

[WilliamMunny]

@TazKristi Is there any guidance on this issue? As with a few others I feel my XHP tip might be high but I also don't want to send it in if it's within spec and "normal" for this knife. My first Shaman so not much to compare it to side by side. I might not have noticed it except for this thread or after a few sharpenings.

Thanks!

[Skylark427]

@Guts I have even less light showing through the opening between the lock bar and the blade itself when my 15V model is closed than either of the photos you showed. Mine has basically enough room to fit a piece of printer paper through, and that's it.

I was also thinking it has something to do with the stop pin and the way the detent ball connects to the detent hole. It also seemed like my detent hole was smaller than than the one shown on page 2. I'm going by memory as I've only had it apart twice. But the hole itself seemed only slightly bigger than the ball it interfaces with on mine.

[Skylark427]

@Guts
Here's mine. Harder to see with the CME in place, but you get the idea. I has to really zoom in to capture the spacing.

I do not have another Shaman model to compare it to.
Edit: Detent and lockface is facing down when the image is clicked for full size
Also, wouldn't the stop pin being slightly larger cause the blade to sit several degrees higher in the handle?