Szabofly Problems

droc217 · #1

I've been flipping for over 10 years now. I bought a Szabofly and it was loose and the back of the blade would strike the handle. The pivot screws were tightened all the way and had loc-tite. The knife made a lot of noise when flipping, something like shaking tools in a tool box.

I sent it back to the factory and they sent me another Szabofly with the exact same problems.

I called their customer service and was told it was supposed to be loose because it has a long blade... Odd since my original Spyderfly is buttery smooth and only has about a 1/4" shorter blade (from lower pivot pin to blade tip to the Szabo's only and lower pivot pin to blade tip) and I can flip it without a peep. Also the pivot screws actually adjust.

I'm ticked off that a knife that costs this much money has such poor quality control and I'm even more ticked off that they sent me another one that has the exact same problems.

One more thing, the two pivot screws are DIFFERENT on the replacement they sent me. One is a T9 and the other seems to be a T8.5 (the 9 won't fit in it and the 8 is a little loose).

So I guess Spyderco has sent me a box to return the knife so I don't have to pay to ship it to them again.

We'll see how the whole thing pans out. Hopefully they can get this straightened out for me.

I've always admired Spydercos and I'd hate to stop buying their products, but they are expensive so I can't justify buying them if the quality isn't consistently going to be there. If I get some new gear for a deployment I won't have time to send it in for warranty repair.

rcbalt2 · #2

Hopefully they will make it right. I have one from the original run and it doesn't have that problem.

gtrtech · #3

From what I've been told there was a voluntary re-call of the Szabofly's and if you return it to Spyderco they will not return it to you, they will give you credit of the last MSRP.

VashHash · #4

I know they did that for the spyderfly as i've refused to send mine in but theres no recall on the szabo. My Szabofly spins just fine the back blade will hit the back of the handle but it's made this way. This keeps it secure when closed. I don't find mine to be loose though.

The Deacon · #5

VashHash wrote:
gtrtech wrote:From what I've been told there was a voluntary re-call of the Szabofly's and if you return it to Spyderco they will not return it to you, they will give you credit of the last MSRP.
I know they did that for the spyderfly as i've refused to send mine in but theres no recall on the szabo. My Szabofly spins just fine the back blade will hit the back of the handle but it's made this way. This keeps it secure when closed. I don't find mine to be loose though.

Technically, his answer is at least partially correct, but it's also very misleading. There was a recall of the original VG-10 Szabofly just after they were introduced a few years back. That recall had nothing to do with QC issues. The Szaboflies were recalled for the same bureaucratic BS reasons as the Spyderflies. However, unlike the Spyderflies, only a few VG-10 Szaboflies, probaby only the less than 200 CC#'d ones, had made it out into the field to begin with. The current 154CM Szabofly has not been recalled.

gtrtech · #6

I was looking at buying a Szabofly recently it was missing the clip and the latch, I sent Charlynn a e-mail to see if they had replacement parts this is from her e-mail.

Sorry we do not have parts needed for your knife. There was an issue with customs and over 4 years ago there was a voluntary re-call. There was nothing wrong with the knife just that a few of the parts were from overseas. Anyway, there isn't anything I can do to help you with the parts needed but if you were to send it in we could issue you an in house credit of the last MSRP we sold the knife at to be used towards a different Spyderco knife. If you mail your knife in I will not be able to mail it back to you.

droc217 · #7

I'm not sure what blade steel the first Szabofly I got was. It might have been 440 but all I remember of the markings were "Spyderco" on one side and "Golden, Colorado U.S.A. Earth" on the other.

The one they replaced it with is definitely different. It says "Laci Szabo", has the Spydie symbol, "Spyderco" and "154 CM" on one side and "Golden, Colorado U.S.A. Earth" on the other.

I hope I didn't give up a rare one, I'll kick myself.

IMHO you should be able to tighten the pivot screws, on any decent bali, all the way to where the blade won't swing without the screw bottoming out.

The Deacon · #8

droc217 wrote:I'm not sure what blade steel the first Szabofly I got was. It might have been 440 but all I remember of the markings were "Spyderco" on one side and "Golden, Colorado U.S.A. Earth" on the other.

The one they replaced it with is definitely different. It says "Laci Szabo", has the Spydie symbol, "Spyderco" and "154 CM" on one side and "Golden, Colorado U.S.A. Earth" on the other.

I hope I didn't give up a rare one, I'll kick myself.

IMHO you should be able to tighten the pivot screws, on any decent bali, all the way to where the blade won't swing without the screw bottoming out.

FWIW, both the original and new versions have Laci Szabo's name, Spyderco and the :spyder: on the left side of the blade, although the fonts and engraving method are different. Unlike the current version, the original did not have Golden, Colorado stamped on it anywhere. The original was VG-10...

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while the new one is 154CM...

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There are some differences in hardware as well.

The Spyderfly was the only Spyderco live blade balisong that used 440C. It started out being VG-10 but was switched to 440C to allow selling at a lower price. The Rainbow Spyderfly only ever came in 440C. Only current Spyderco balisong to use 440C is the Smallfly Trainer.

droc217 · #9

I really hate to argue, but I am positive about three things: Laci Szabo's name was not on the knife, no spydie symbol, and it at least said USA Earth on one side (it was the first time I saw it and I thought it was funny).

Before I sent the knife in for W & R I was looking around on the net and I thought it was strange when I saw "Laci Szabo" and the symbol in pics of other Szabo's since my knife didn't have them.

Too bad I didn't take any pictures...

The Deacon · #10

Well, there are several possibilities I can think of, the main points I was making were there never was a 440C Szabofly and that the back of the blade on the original VG-10 ones was completely unmarked, so you didn't turn in one of those.

droc217 · #11

-Edit-

droc217 · #12

I got an e-mail from Char the other day. She told me she personally inspected my knife and promised me everything but the moon if I wasn't satisfied.

I can't wait to get it back :)

droc217 · #13

Got it back today its perfect! Buttery smooth and adjustable.

I'm one happy spyderfan!