Spyderco Forums

Sal and crew, what if you all made a hardened Delica or Para 2 blade blank. It would be finished except for the edge? It would give edge junkies a chance to put their own on.

That's quite an interesting thought. And I wouldn't surprise me if Spyderco were to do something like that. Especially with all the talk we have about grinds, edge types, angles and overall edge geometry. I'm sure it would fill a void with super steel junkies and maybe even amateur knife makers too.

It would also open up a bigger market for these supersteel blades. Good to see you back posting again Dodge :)

Pretty limited market for these which would also have the effect of taking production time and resources which are already limited. It would also likely be more expensive than you are thinking it would be.

Joe

What about trying this with a Spyderco Trainer? Many different styles come out with unsharpened trainer blades. Not sure if they are hardened.

Hopweaver wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 02, 2019 1:26 pm

What about trying this with a Spyderco Trainer? Many different styles come out with unsharpened trainer blades. Not sure if they are hardened.

The only problems I see with the trainer are the holes in the blade and the fact that it would no longer be a trainer,despite looking lik one. I was just looking for a semi finished blade I could swap in to an existing handle.

The Mastiff wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 02, 2019 12:38 pm

Pretty limited market for these which would also have the effect of taking production time and resources which are already limited. It would also likely be more expensive than you are thinking it would be.

Joe

There are niche knives that come out each year with Spyderco. I didn’t post an expectation of price so I don’t know how you would know what I think is reasonable. This would also be an opportunity for people with whatever user they decided to make the blank for to keep theirs going strong. It was just a conversation starter.

JD Spydo wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 02, 2019 10:57 am

That's quite an interesting thought. And I wouldn't surprise me if Spyderco were to do something like that. Especially with all the talk we have about grinds, edge types, angles and overall edge geometry. I'm sure it would fill a void with super steel junkies and maybe even amateur knife makers too.

It would also open up a bigger market for these supersteel blades. Good to see you back posting again Dodge :)

It would definitely scratch an itch for quite a few people.

Thanks man, it’s been a few and I’m home sick today so I fired up the ol’ forum and started clacking away!

The Mastiff wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 02, 2019 12:38 pm

Pretty limited market for these which would also have the effect of taking production time and resources which are already limited. It would also likely be more expensive than you are thinking it would be.

Joe

I agree, very limited market for sure. It never hurts to ask but I don't see this happening.

Dodge wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 02, 2019 1:45 pm

JD Spydo wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 02, 2019 10:57 am

That's quite an interesting thought. And I wouldn't surprise me if Spyderco were to do something like that. Especially with all the talk we have about grinds, edge types, angles and overall edge geometry. I'm sure it would fill a void with super steel junkies and maybe even amateur knife makers too.

It would also open up a bigger market for these supersteel blades. Good to see you back posting again Dodge :)

It would definitely scratch an itch for quite a few people.

Thanks man, it’s been a few and I’m home sick today so I fired up the ol’ forum and started clacking away!

You could also reach out to razoredgeknives. They do custom reblades, and could probably get you what you want. Not sure about pricing though. Only they can answer that. You would just have to request they not put a secondary bevel and final edge on. Check out their website and see the reblades they’ve done.

DirtMcGirt wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 02, 2019 3:14 pm

You could also reach out to razoredgeknives. They do custom reblades, and could probably get you what you want. Not sure about pricing though. Only they can answer that. You would just have to request they not put a secondary bevel and final edge on. Check out their website and see the reblades they’ve done.

Thanks, it appears they have closed their books on reblades.

The other difficulty with offering this as a stocked part number is that some parts will be a better or worse for for some handles. Spyderco's manufacturing process seems pretty finely-tuned, but with something like a backlock you'd often disappoint people.

You wouldn't really save much money; sure, if Spyderco were to build a new factory and process around unfinished blades it would be possible to save on time and overhead, but splitting a part off a running production line doesn't change the overhead cost that went into getting that run started. I'm sure Spyderco can (and does) make extra blades and other parts in their process, but that doesn't mean it's something they can reasonably offer to dozens or even a hundred people through a working retail supply chain.

I didn’t post an expectation of price so I don’t know how you would know what I think is reasonable.

My guess is they would cost as much as a fully finished knife if they are done in relatively small batches.

Joe

Sure, I like the idea, especially for the PM2.

It is unlikely to happen no doubt, for the reasons people have mentioned. I daresay there might be slight variances between lock dimensions over time as well, due to CQI.

But I still like the idea. Axes and knives used to come ‘edge ready’ with the understanding that the customer had the skills and knowledge to put exactly the kind of final edge grind they preferred on their tools. They often still do in Japan.

Since the edge is always more acute than the flat sides of the knife, that would mean a "blank" with just a full flat grind without a bevel would be slightly longer/taller than a finished knife. That means your blade may not be able to close properly from the factory (may hit the backspacker, etc.). So workers may not be able to check for fit and finish all around, such as detent or lock-up, on knives that can't close all the way. I foresee some potential issues here.

BornIn1500 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 02, 2019 10:54 pm

Since the edge is always more acute than the flat sides of the knife, that would mean a "blank" with just a full flat grind without a bevel would be slightly longer/taller than a finished knife. That means your blade may not be able to close properly from the factory (may hit the backspacker, etc.). So workers may not be able to check for fit and finish all around, such as detent or lock-up, on knives that can't close all the way. I foresee some potential issues here.

Yeah there's quite a lot of issues which would hinder actual production. In the spirit of brainstorming the idea though, I think blades of the past just had a fairly coarse, obtuse edge bevel applied, with the understanding that it was meant to be sharpened properly before use.

We discussed this a few years ago back when edge bevels were ground by hand and sometimes came very irregular. At the time I would buy a knife and immediately reprofile it so the bevels were even, and that always meant my blade was instantly getting thicker because of it. Back then I would have said yes absolutely I'd rather grind my own edge bevel but these days since they're ground by a robot they seem far more consistent and acceptable and it's been a while since I felt the need to reprofile a new knife. I guess it would depend on cost, if this were a significantly cheaper option I'd buy a couple blades just for experimenting with lower edge angles.

You could call it the Spyderco Blunt

:D :D


Plenty of blanks you can buy from knife making supplies websites.

Considering my biggest pet peeve is having to immediately reprofile a knife out of the box (looking at you Taichung) I think this sounds terrible. At least a wonky and obtuse edge already has some of the work done.

I don’t mind having to sharpen a new knife. I dislike having to pour four fingers of whiskey and break out the coarse stones for an hour of reprofiling on a new knife.

As much as I enjoy sharpening I also enjoy using a knife out of the box and not having to sharpen it immediately.

What's keeping you from putting your custom edge on a fully ground knife? I don't see the point of this.