My First Spyderco Knife!

[JS_KnifeNerd]

:spyder: Hey, it's JS_KnifeNerd :spyder:
I would like to show you my first Spyderco knife.

Overall I really like my knife. However, there are a few small issues.
My first issue is that it is hard to disengage the back lock. I am aware that over time I will form a callous and the lock will loosen up. Though I would appreciate it if someone had any idea as to making the process of loosening it up faster. My second issue as shown in the second picture is that on the finger choil on the opposite side from the engraving there are some scratch marks. I think this is because the handle scales are a little too close together. As a question for Spyderco, I am wondering if you can do anything about this. If not, it is okay because the scratches are on the side adjacent to the engraving.
Thank You So Much! :spyder:

[araneae]

Congrats on a great 1st Spyderco. You may be able to slightly loosen the handle screws that go through the lockbar to ease it up a bit. A good set of Torx drivers are a wise investment for any knife nerd. Also, the pivot might be loosened a tad too, as I recall, my Chap needed a little tweaking to make it just perfect for my taste. Loosening the pivot might help prevent the circular wear marks, but those marks aren't that uncommon on lockbacks and if you plan to use it, I would not worry about scratches as they only add character.

[The Meat man]

Very nice Jeremy and congratulations! It took me a lot longer than you to get my first Spyderco. Good to start early!

[soc_monki]

congratulations! dont fret too much about scratches and wear...it will happen if you plan to use the knife! it all tells a story (you should see my Tenacious...if it could speak it would tell you about the horrors of my sharpening ability!!)

get a good torx driver set (i have a cheap Lenox set from Lowes and it works, but its not the highest quality...im planning on getting a Wiha set, German made, very high quality! about 12 dollars...love my German tools...)

using the knife will break it in, but adjusting pivot tightness can help. its all about fine tuning it to you. im still fine tuning my ZT 0566! my spydercos in general have been pretty close to perfect out of the box, but i dont have a back lock one yet!

good luck! i have found once you get one Spyderco, its all downhill from there...i now own 6, with a 7th on the way, and a Para 3 Lightweight on preorder...haha!

[Mom3ntuM]

Congratulations, Great first knife.
The scratches are impossible to avoid if you use the knife, All Of my backlocks Have Them.
The backlock Will break inn a Little over time, but its very short and narrow So i don't know how Much easier It Will get, it's a lot harder Than on a New delica for instance.
I second the wiha bits, a cheap Way to insure you dont strip your screws.

[Marulaghost]

Hey Jeremy.
I can't help with the scratches. But i had the exact same issue with my chappie when i first got it. I want to tell you that you don't have to have the knife and get a thumb callous!
A lot of advice has already been suggested here that i also highly recommend.
A torx driver set is something i would suggest as other people have mentioned. It may be possible to loosen the screws just a hair to allow a smoother action (provided it's not so loose as to allow blade play)
But i think there's another way! An easier way! Maybe even a better way!
What i would like to add to this conversation would be to get a thin lubricant (nano oil has a set of oils with varying degrees of density) and a thick lubricant.
You're going to want to apply the thin oil to both sides of both pivots (the knife pivot and the lock pivot)
The thick oil is for the surfaces of the blade that contact the lock
Once applied, start working the knife action up and down repeatedly. This will spread the thin oil around. You're going to want a paper towel for lubricant that fills its way out of the innards of the knife.
The spring will lose some tension over time but the lubricant will make your experience happier immediately.
I remember having a day of using the chap all day and going to bed with my thumb throbbing. The day after i got lube and it was a thousand times better.
It's a great knife and i wouldn't want you thinking otherwise
Enjoy man

[Wartstein]

Hi Jeremy, congrats once more on your first Spyderco! I have the exact same model (sans the engraving of course... )

I think it's a very good thing that you are not a totally uncritical fanboy, but really discuss what you like, and also what you don't like in a knife. That's a big part of what this forum is about!

Concerning the stiff backlock: There is quite an easy fix for that, but it requires to disassemble the knife.. What you'd have to do is to move the spring of the lock just a bit more to the front.
I did not have to do this on my Chap, since I really don't mind that the lock is a little harder to operate (but I am a climber plus play the guitar and have used lockback knives for years, so I probably DO have some callus already). But others did that little mod and had great succes, as far as I remember.

Thing is, since you're new to knives I am really not sure if I'd recommend disassembling (and of course then reassembling) your Chap... do you know some adult who is into folders or at least has some technical experience and skills?

In any case, maybe someone who actually did relocate the backspring can explain in detail what to do or maybe even post some pics here?

As for the scratches: Never mind those! Any blade you use will get some, I am of the opinion that makes a knife more personal and really more YOUR knife...:)
Though I have to admit: My Chap does not have scratches in that particular area (I would not mind at all if it had though). So it could be that the screws on your knife are tightened a bit more than on mine, but I am really just guessing here..

In any case: Enjoy your chap! It is a great design, and the lock, though maybe a little harder to operate, is the best backlock I experienced together with the one on the Native.

[Wartstein]

Jeremy, concerning making the backlock less hard to operate I wanted to add:

On youtube, there is a video by Nick Shabbaz "How to disassemble and maintain the Spyderco FRN Chaparral Pocketknife".

There you can see the spring of the backlock (looks like an almost black piece of wire). If one moves that spring just a bit more to the front (so that it does not extend fully to the end of the slot it´s rear end is located in), the lock will be easier to disengage.

Again a topic that´s a little harder for me to explain in English. And once more: Though it is not hard to dis - and reassemble the Chap if one has some experience with knives or is at least technically skilled, I don´t recommend it to a person new to knives.

But maybe you know some skilled adult who could watch the video and decide if he or she is safely up to the task.

[David R]

Concerning the stiff backlock: There is quite an easy fix for that, but it requires to disassemble the knife.. What you'd have to do is to move the spring of the lock just a bit more to the front.
I did not have to do this on my Chap, since I really don't mind that the lock is a little harder to operate (but I am a climber plus play the guitar and have used lockback knives for years, so I probably DO have some callus already). But others did that little mod and had great succes, as far as I remember.

Seconding this. Found this out when mine was disassembled and thought "what would happen if..." It works great for me this way.

For OP, congrats on your first Spydie. This is an excellent one to start with. It will spoil you a little. In my experience very few folders will slice as well as the Chaparral.

[Wartstein]

Concerning the stiff backlock: There is quite an easy fix for that, but it requires to disassemble the knife.. What you'd have to do is to move the spring of the lock just a bit more to the front.
I did not have to do this on my Chap, since I really don't mind that the lock is a little harder to operate (but I am a climber plus play the guitar and have used lockback knives for years, so I probably DO have some callus already). But others did that little mod and had great succes, as far as I remember.

Seconding this. Found this out when mine was disassembled and thought "what would happen if..." It works great for me this way.

For OP, congrats on your first Spydie. This is an excellent one to start with. It will spoil you a little. In my experience very few folders will slice as well as the Chaparral.

David, I guess you don´t have some pics of the mod for Jeremy to look at? I advised him in my post above to a vid of Nick Shabbaz where he can at least see the spring and figure, what to do, but not the relocation of the spring itself...

[Mom3ntuM]

That worked Great, moved the spring forward So the angle on the spring aligned with the angle on the backlock. About 3mm made a huge difference. :)
Sry about the poor picture quality.

[David R]

Concerning the stiff backlock: There is quite an easy fix for that, but it requires to disassemble the knife.. What you'd have to do is to move the spring of the lock just a bit more to the front.
I did not have to do this on my Chap, since I really don't mind that the lock is a little harder to operate (but I am a climber plus play the guitar and have used lockback knives for years, so I probably DO have some callus already). But others did that little mod and had great succes, as far as I remember.

Seconding this. Found this out when mine was disassembled and thought "what would happen if..." It works great for me this way.

For OP, congrats on your first Spydie. This is an excellent one to start with. It will spoil you a little. In my experience very few folders will slice as well as the Chaparral.

David, I guess you don´t have some pics of the mod for Jeremy to look at? I advised him in my post above to a vid of Nick Shabbaz where he can at least see the spring and figure, what to do, but not the relocation of the spring itself...

Somebody beat me to it. If that doesn't make it clear I can try to take some pics tonight.

[Wartstein]

Concerning the stiff backlock: There is quite an easy fix for that, but it requires to disassemble the knife.. What you'd have to do is to move the spring of the lock just a bit more to the front.
I did not have to do this on my Chap, since I really don't mind that the lock is a little harder to operate (but I am a climber plus play the guitar and have used lockback knives for years, so I probably DO have some callus already). But others did that little mod and had great succes, as far as I remember.

Seconding this. Found this out when mine was disassembled and thought "what would happen if..." It works great for me this way.

For OP, congrats on your first Spydie. This is an excellent one to start with. It will spoil you a little. In my experience very few folders will slice as well as the Chaparral.

David, I guess you don´t have some pics of the mod for Jeremy to look at? I advised him in my post above to a vid of Nick Shabbaz where he can at least see the spring and figure, what to do, but not the relocation of the spring itself...

Somebody beat me to it. If that doesn't make it clear I can try to take some pics tonight.

Thanks ! I was just asking forJS_knifenerd since I felt I could not explain the mod properly to him. I am sure if he should decide to try the mod and the pics already uploaded here are not clear enough, he knows now where to ask... :)

Maybe I'll do the relocation of the spring quickly on my own Chap, just to see how much difference that would make. But, as said, generally I like the lock as it is.

[JS_KnifeNerd]

Hey, it's JS_KnifeNerd :spyder:
I am finding you guys really nice and helpful, thank you! About the mod, I really think I could do it with the information you guys have shown. My only concern, however, is that by doing the mod, I will invalidate the Spyderco warranty. Please tell me if this is so. For bits and oil, I have made a thread, and I would preheat if you could tell me in more detail about that subject. When I get some good bits and oil I would like if you refreshed me with how to oil pivots and how to do that mod.
Thank you so much!!! :spyder:

[soc_monki]

You won't invalidate the warranty. Only if damage is caused by disassembly is when the warranty is void. Hope that helps!

[GADawgFan]

:spyder: Hey, it's JS_KnifeNerd :spyder:
I would like to show you my first Spyderco knife.
KP 1.jpg
KP 2.jpg
Overall I really like my knife. However, there are a few small issues.
My first issue is that it is hard to disengage the back lock. I am aware that over time I will form a callous and the lock will loosen up. Though I would appreciate it if someone had any idea as to making the process of loosening it up faster. My second issue as shown in the second picture is that on the finger choil on the opposite side from the engraving there are some scratch marks. I think this is because the handle scales are a little too close together. As a question for Spyderco, I am wondering if you can do anything about this. If not, it is okay because the scratches are on the side adjacent to the engraving.
Thank You So Much! :spyder:

Congrats!

[Wartstein]

Hey, it's JS_KnifeNerd :spyder:
I am finding you guys really nice and helpful, thank you! About the mod, I really think I could do it with the information you guys have shown. My only concern, however, is that by doing the mod, I will invalidate the Spyderco warranty. Please tell me if this is so. For bits and oil, I have made a thread, and I would preheat if you could tell me in more detail about that subject. When I get some good bits and oil I would like if you refreshed me with how to oil pivots and how to do that mod.
Thank you so much!!! :spyder:

Hey Jeremy,

I think it´s a good thing to learn how to disassemble and maintain your knife! The Chap is quite userfriendly in that capacity (Delica for example is harder to put together again). Still, if you never have disassembled a knife before: Really take your time, be sure that you don´t drop or loose any part and remember what fits where. The Nick Shabbaz video about disassembling and reassembling the Chap I adviced you to in a previous post should be quite helpfull!

Maybe you even have handycraft-lessons at school where you could do the mod; could be interesting for the other kids in your class too, maybe?

If you have disassembled the knife to the necessary degree, the mod itself is the easiest part to perform. Just relocate the spring a bit to the front, like Mom3ntuM showes in the pics he posted.