Grail Knife (for me) Obtained!

[Captain Skippy]

Finally got my hands on a Spydiechef yesterday. I’m so stoked. Love this knife. It will fit in my daily carry between the Smock and Shaman. I think I have enough Spydercos to switch daily for a month but those three are my favorites.

[JRinFL]

That's a great knife by all accounts. I don’t have Spydiechef, but I like Marcin Slysz’s designs and have two others of his.

[prndltech]

Don’t sell it. I had one originally and sold it. Had to buy it again.

[RazorSharp86]

Still my favorite Spyderco to date.

I use the heck out of mine and it shows it.
After carrying one nearly daily for about a year and a half or so, it has only gotten smoother, and aside from the lockbar travel that every single one of my SpydieChef models exhibited (I had 4 samples at one time), it is rock solid!

[donutsrule]

Congrats on the 'Chef! Mine (a CQI-1) has been part of my constant rotation since I got it.
Rotation: (Spydiechef, S110V Forum Native, Ikuchi, beater/yardwork ZDP Delica).

[kobold]

Congrats, I have one and I love it. Not selling. The reason I don't want a Drunken, so it automatically paid for itself just for existing.

[M Sea]

Congrats! The mighty Chef is one of my all-time favorite folders. Absolutely LOVE this knife!!!

[ladybug93]

congrats! i really want one, but i'm running out of justifications. it's going to be even harder after i get a s35vn resilience and an ikuchi. i'll still want it though. seems like a great piece.

[LSUisSEC]

Just got it today. This thing is great

[VooDooChild]

Chef is good.

[eventhorizon]

Congrats.

The Spydiechef is a love-hate thing for me... I love the design (propably my favourite in the Spyderco line up), but I hate the weak detent and the lock stick on mine.

[JRinFL]

The detent can be fixed pretty easily, however it should come from the factory with a better detent.

[eventhorizon]

I know. But I'm too afraid to somehow ruin it, I guess, so...

[Gamecock]

The detent can be fixed pretty easily, however it should come from the factory with a better detent.

How is that done?

I have a blue one coming Friday, so no issue yet (maybe that issue was fixed in one of the CQIs), but I'm curious how you would address it.

[JRinFL]

This post from shunsui is the best:

I posted earlier that my Amalgam shook open rather easily. I ordered a KYOCERA 1635-0625.094 Ball Nose End Mill to modify the detent hole.
https://www.amazon.com/KYOCERA-1635-062 ... B01MSM7KDD

First of all BIG thanks to M0DiFiEDZ for his classic video on all this detent mod stuff.
https://youtu.be/S5H96riLLS4

Also BIG thanks to Nick Shabazz for his video on the Amalagam:
How to disassemble and maintain the Spyderco Amalgam Pocketknife
https://youtu.be/nwqccMaeNpU

This is the stuff you need to do the job.


You can do the job with just hand force. No need for a drill or dremel tool.
I used a plain tap & die set collet to hold the KYOCERA 1635-0625.094

You'll need a T8 torx driver. I'd get a Wiha if I were you.
The Triplet 10x is an eye loupe to get a better look at your work.
The blue and white thing is just a carved up toothbrush handle I use for a sturdy pry bar.
I never even taped up the blade, but you might want to.

When you take the knife apart, you'll notice the detent hole is drilled all the way through the blade. This is handy because you can practice on the side that's not used for the detent and get a feel for the cutting tool.

Work slowly, cutting just a bit at a time, and reassemble the knife to test the detent as you go.

I tested the detent strength with a trigger pull gauge.

My original detent was between 7-11 oz. You could shake it open with one shake.

I did three grinds on the detent hole progressively increasing the detent strength:

15 oz
1 lb 7 oz
2 lb 4 oz

At 2 lbs 4 oz, the visible detent ball was about 80-90% in the hole. I didn't want to take it any further as I wanted the ball supporting the lock bar, rather than the bar flat on the blade.

Note that what I've done is enlarge the very top of the detent hole with a larger ball shaped cutting tool. The result is a bevel or cup at the top of the hole for the detent ball to nestle down in.
Keep in mind that everything here is rather small. Doesn't take much cutting to do the job.
I came close to overshooting where I wanted to be. Go slow.

This is the result



The Amalgam is a sweet knife. I wouldn't have gone to all this trouble if it wasn't worth it.
Mine cut better than any knife I've gotten out of the box. Wasn't going to send that back.
The added bonus is now I can modify my other ball detent knives more to my liking.

[Gamecock]

I got mine today and it is sweet...can’t find any flaws. Centered, no lock stick, very sharp. I love it and the blue looks great. It will be a regular in my pocket.