Odd choil jimping on new Ti Millie (with pics)

JLBourne · #1

Greetings all. I decided to purchase a Ti military direct from Spyderco via SHOT show this year. They arrived a while back. When I was looking over the blade, I noticed the odd choil jimping and off centering. Just wondering if you all think this is what I should expect from the Ti Millie or if you all are seeing the same thing on your millies. My first and only experience with millies prior to this is my circa 2005 G-10 of which has served me well over the years. Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

markg · #2

I got a Ti Military this past Fall and also noted jimping that seemed a touch irregular. I would assume this is normal and unless you really pay attention to it, you would not really notice it. So I would say just carry on and enjoy your knife. :)

PMBohol · #3

Just my opinion but I would not be pleased with that kind of craftsmanship. I have a Delica that cost a fraction of your Millie and a Para 2 and both have perfect jimping. I would contact Spyderco. Their customer service is excellent. See what they have to say.

chuck_roxas45 · #4

That's the famous "reverse jimping" that a few of us have on our M390 millies. It still cuts fine. :D

Zenith · #5

You have a few options here.

1. You can tighten the pivot with the appropriate tool to get the centering right.
2. You can use a small triangle file to get the jimping correct.

or 3. Send the knife back with a letter to spyderco explaining your concerns.

Number 3 is the best option IMO and that is what their customer service is there.

Orion's Belt · #6

Like Chuck said, a few of us had some iffy jumping on our M390 Millies. I forgot about it until I saw this thread.

wquiles · #7

I got one of those CF M390's - they work/cut great. I would not worry about it

PMBohol · #8

Sounds like a well known "feature" from the past.

jackknifeh · #9

It may be the shadow of light angle in the pic but it looks like there is more space between the tang and liner on the left side (in pic) than the right side. Like there is an extra washer on one side. Enough to explain the uncentered tip end of the blade. It may just be the way it looks in the picture. The jimping looks like crap, no doubt. I truely think it stinks but it's one of the things I'd be able to live with. An uncentered tip end of a blade is another thing I can live with. Some people need therapy to get over an uncentered blade when the knife is closed. :) Blade play is something that really bugs me and I HATE a knife that wobbles with open and locked. I HATE IT! That is the thing that bugs me. Thankfully, I can adjust the blade play and on the pinned Spyders I've had they didn't have ANY blade play. So, if I were as concerned about jimping as I am about blade play I'd return it. OTOH, it sounds like the replacement might have the same issue. So, if you plan on using this knife and not displaying it I'd just use and enjoy it. It's too nice of a knife for you to be unhappy with. I'm the first to admit it's awful easy to start getting too picky. When it comes to production knives things like this we have to live with sometimes and Spyderco has SO few problems like this. The Chaparral CF grittiness made my spine quiver but I decided to live with it because I liked the knife so much. Thankfully, we now know how to correct this. :) All of this is just my feelings. I hope you can enjoy the knife. :)

If you want I will attempt to correct the jimping on your knife. I have a Dremel and lots of grinding, cutting and destroying accessories for it. :eek: I'd love to give it a try. :D

JLBourne · #10

Thank you all for your responses. I think I'll send this one back to Golden for evaluation. I'll google on how to do that, exactly.

Zenith · #11

JLBourne wrote:Thank you all for your responses. I think I'll send this one back to Golden for evaluation. I'll google on how to do that, exactly.

Google smoogle. Here you go. Pick up the phone and give them a call IMO is always best before posting anything.

http://www.spyderco.com/contact/

araneae · #12

Personally, I'd just use it.

chuck_roxas45 · #13

JLBourne wrote:Thank you all for your responses. I think I'll send this one back to Golden for evaluation. I'll google on how to do that, exactly.

Will you be asking them to evaluate if the jimping is crooked? Or are you asking them to evaluate if the knife will be safe to use?

black · #14

PMBohol wrote:Just my opinion but I would not be pleased with that kind of craftsmanship. I have a Delica that cost a fraction of your Millie and a Para 2 and both have perfect jimping.

Exactly. That's not what i expect from a Spyderco. It's what i would expect from a china copy to look like. I f i showed somebody a knife with that type of craftmanship and tell him that i paid 300$... honestly I would be ashamed. Just because some people still insist on knives being just tools - which they aren't anymore- justifies nothing.

JudasD · #15

black wrote:Exactly. That's not what i expect from a Spyderco. It's what i would expect from a china copy to look like. I f i showed somebody a knife with that type of craftmanship and tell him that i paid 300$... honestly I would be ashamed. Just because some people still insist on knives being just tools - which they aren't anymore- justifies nothing.

Agree 100%. I would not be happy with the way it looks either. Sometimes we use knives as tools. Other times we collect them. Often these lines blur and our collector mentality starts to apply to our users. Don't stop until you're proud of the purchase!

JD

chuck_roxas45 · #16

Well, let's see what Spyderco thinks when they "evaluate" the knife. I'm betting they'll say, it's within specs.

PMBohol · #17

Just for an additional comparison, back in the 70's and 80's, US automakers were putting together pieces of junk cars that had defects visible right from the showroom floor. It is well known what happened later when the Japanese makers came in with perfect cars. Spyderco is considered the Lexus of knife manufacturers so when I see something like that jimping I cringe a little. The Millie is considered one of their flagship knives.

Considering that the Para2 comes out of Golden perfectly, I would expect the same for the Millie.

chuck_roxas45 · #18

PMBohol wrote:Just for an additional comparison, back in the 70's and 80's, US automakers were putting together pieces of junk cars that had defects visible right from the showroom floor. It is well known what happened later when the Japanese makers came in with perfect cars. Spyderco is considered the Lexus of knife manufacturers so when I see something like that jimping I cringe a little. The Millie is considered one of their flagship knives.

Considering that the Para2 comes out of Golden perfectly, I would expect the same for the Millie.

You really can't make that analogy. A car has to have a few hundred or thousand parts to run correctly. A knife is a simple piece of sharpened steel and as long as grind and heat treat are spot on, it will cut well. These knives are made to be used and not put under the display case. The fact that 90 percent of knives from spyderco CAN be put on display and at the price point that they come at, speaks volumes about their production.

Making a spydie with as much attention to detail and as close tolerances as a sebenza, will make the price point around the same as a sebenza.

Who said the paras were perfect? Perfect knives don't exist in the real world. It's just a matter of how OCD you are.

This is just me but I bought my CF millie because I love the millie AND I wanna try out the M390 in the millie platform. I want to use it to cut things. Not to fondle and be annoyed by cosmetic imperfections. It will also not be in a display case. If I could have it perfect, I would. The thing is, I can't, at the price point it is offered at. i'm well satisfied to have an M390 millie inspite of the cosmetic faults because IN MY USE, it cuts just as well as one with proper jimping.

PMBohol · #19

What I was trying to get at was the pride of craftsmanship. Just like the car, we don't disassemble the product before buying to check the quality, so we have to trust the manufacturer. Since this knife does cost a bit of money one should expect excellent quality. If I wanted a work knife I would head to the market here and have the knife maker make one for me out of his stock of steel from leaf springs. In that respect Spyderco makes knives that function as well as look good.

No argument from me Chuck. I enjoy perfection when I see it in this imperfect world. My Para was perfect out of the box. Since that time I added some honorable dings to it but at least I can remember when it was flawless. Good to hear from you.

chuck_roxas45 · #20

PMBohol wrote:What I was trying to get at was the pride of craftsmanship. Just like the car, we don't disassemble the product before buying to check the quality, so we have to trust the manufacturer. Since this knife does cost a bit of money one should expect excellent quality. If I wanted a work knife I would head to the market here and have the knife maker make one for me out of his stock of steel from leaf springs. In that respect Spyderco makes knives that function as well as look good.

No argument from me Chuck. I enjoy perfection when I see it in this imperfect world. My Para was perfect out of the box. Since that time I added some honorable dings to it but at least I can remember when it was flawless. Good to hear from you.

Yeh, I get where you're coming from but to make each specimen as flawless as you want, will increase the price point of the knife. Your para may be perfect for you but it may not be for me. Additionally, a lot of paras come with blade play which for me isn't an indication of a perfect knife. The para is just so well designed that I'm willing to overlook something that doesn't affect performance but really bugs the heck out of my OCD.

In the same way, the reverse jimping on my CF millie is such that all the positives of the knife outweigh the negative of the reverse jimping for me.

Sorry for rambling but my point really is just, in making the special model millies so it will be available at a very reasonable cost to the end user, some kind of savings have to be made. So summing it up for me, I'd prefer a few cosmetically flawed knives in a production run, and the accompanying risk of getting them in an online purchase, rather to have no chance of getting one of these at all.

Would you prefer that Spyderco took the trouble and the expense to make EACH knife perfect(by your standards) but it will cost you as much or more than a sebenza?