Spyderco Forums

I bought a new Native 5 with the SPY27 blade steel after doing a lot of research trying to decide between it or S45VN. Once I finally got it (brand new), I noticed the tip was chipped as was a part of the blade edge. I used a jeweler's loupe and can tell the edge is brand new (never used / touched / sharpened). I am surprised that Spyderco would let this go through quality control. Either that, or SPY27 is so prone to chipping that whatever process they used to sharpen it or prep it caused the chipping.

Has anyone else encountered something similar with SPY27 right out of the box? I wouldn't mind fixing it myself if it were a $30-$50 knife, but this Native 5 wasn't exactly cheap.

Hi Metroplex,

Welcome to our forum.

Sorry for your issue. SPY27 is not prone to chipping. I too would be surprised that a chipped blade would pass QC. How large are these chips? From whom did you purchase the knife? Did you contact spyderco?

sal

No, I haven't. I find it hard to believe. Send it in to Spyderco and let them have a look at it. They will be able to tell if something is wrong and where it went wrong.

Hi Sal,
It was from Smoky Mountains Knife Works. I was going to wait on Monday to contact Spyderco but may just RMA it with SMKW. The chips are fairly small but noticeable to the eye and it will catch on my fingernail as well as printer paper

Where did you pick it up from?

Sending it in to Spyderco is the thing to do. This could have been previously purchased, damaged, then returned.

metroplex wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 26, 2022 3:13 pm

Has anyone else encountered something similar with SPY27 right out of the box?

I've found SPY27 to be rather chip resistant--as well as roll resistant. It kind of hits a sweet spot for my purposes.

If your knife is indeed chipped, then I'd just send it back to whoever you got it from and ask for a refund. If that's not an option, reach out to Spyderco's customer service.

Despite the excellent edges found on every Spyderco knife I've purchased, none has been perfect straight from the factory. I'm not complaining, as the company has figured out what's best for the majority of users. I'd rather create MY perfect edge myself, rather than pay an extra hundred bucks to have a craftsman do it at the factory.

The first S30V Endura I got from a vendor had a couple chips/rolls in the edge. "Ish" happens. QC is a human process and stuff can make it through, although I'd bet it's very rare. We just got lucky.

Send the knife back and ask for an exchange. Should be fairly simple.

It seems rather strange to find not just 1 but 2 chips on a new blade in a steel that is considered to be fairly resistant to such damage.

I don’t doubt the OP’s disappointment, but do wonder whether they have been misled about it being new.

Only thing I had is stubborn burrs on some factory edges coming from Spyderco (Everytime from a high wear resistant steel and from Seki City).

Never any chip. and all of my N5 LW came pristine.

I'm going to see if the mods let me post this, but I took pictures using my iPhone and a jeweler's loupe. I took a pic of the tip from my Delica 4 as a comparison, but you can see the small chip on the SPY27 blade and the tip as well. I'm just going to RMA it with SMKW.

metroplex wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 27, 2022 4:50 pm

I'm going to see if the mods let me post this, but I took pictures using my iPhone and a jeweler's loupe. I took a pic of the tip from my Delica 4 as a comparison, but you can see the small chip on the SPY27 blade and the tip as well. I'm just going to RMA it with SMKW.

Those are definitely chips in the blade. Impossible to know where in it's life that those bumps occurred. SMKW will take care of you. Perhaps you can ask them to inspect a replacement? Best of luck.

For what it's worth, I'm waiting on 2 N5s in SPY27 myself. Can't wait for my honeymoon with the steel. I'd ask for a replacement (if you're as excited as I am), but I hope you're satisfied no matter which way you choose to proceed.


Cheers.

Probably a retuned knife. There are only a couple dealers that I know of that disclose what knives have been returned and offer a discount.

Ive seen tip damage like that before. Its called being dropped onto the floor tip first.

That knife probably got pulled out of the box a few times as a demo piece and hit the ground at some point.

I didn't want to post a comment in reference to what seems like a lot of armchair-quarterback knife users sprouting up all over the internet community around knives, but I do believe this has a huge factor in these "brand new" products being shipped to ELUs with supposed "QC defects". Easy to purchase a knife, film a video, take a few pics to post your opinion and return said knife. Plenty of room for error, even in fondling. I'd like to be more optimistic that more people aren't just becoming show-room collectors, or one-off video blasters, but the proof is in the pudding on the interwebs. Kind of hard to understand that the more average Joe's in society have the budget for hundreds of knives, but who am I to say. What I will say, is I don't think this is a fair assessment of Spyderco as a company, of which I think more people have found their control of quality to be improving over time, rather than allowing these small hiccups to be shipped through their hands.


Just my penny worth.

Appreciate all the input. I've RMA'd this with SMKW and it was their last one. This isn't my first Spyderco and it doesn't deter me from trying Spyderco in the future. I just didn't appreciate buying a new knife (that wasn't cheap) and having to deal with this.

metroplex wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 27, 2022 4:50 pm

I'm going to see if the mods let me post this, but I took pictures using my iPhone and a jeweler's loupe.

I’m not trying to minimalize your plight, but I’ve had perfectly fine knives from the factory that ended up looking worse than that after one day of use. If the knife is going to be a user, those tiny dings will get sharpened out, and replaced by new ones.

RustyIron wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 28, 2022 2:42 pm

metroplex wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 27, 2022 4:50 pm

I'm going to see if the mods let me post this, but I took pictures using my iPhone and a jeweler's loupe.

I’m not trying to minimalize your plight, but I’ve had perfectly fine knives from the factory that ended up looking worse than that after one day of use. If the knife is going to be a user, those tiny dings will get sharpened out, and replaced by new ones.

I totally understand, and I use my Delica 4 all the time but haven't seen any dings like that. I'm not a heavy user by any means. I just didn't feel it was right to have a new knife come in worse shape than my 5+ year old Delica 4.

Just an update.
I ordered another new Native 5 SPY27 and it arrived. The blade looks immaculate through the loupe. Cuts very cleanly! The FRN handle still lacks the finer texture from the Delica 4's FRN which was one of my gripes with the N5 but I'll live with it! The FRN on Delica 4 looks more like glass-filled nylon and just feels a bit nicer.

Same clear plastic bag as the other SPY27 from SMKW but it had a printed letter from Spyderco talking about the SPY27 metallurgy (this wasn't in the SMKW package) and a bigger circular Spyderco sticker. The letter was quite useful as it explains how Spyderco set forward to build upon VG10 (which is probably my favorite knife steel).

I sent the other knife back to SMKW and will just wait on the RMA process. Appreciate everyone's input on SPY27. Looks like it's going to be a great steel.