Spyderco Edge Help!

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  • BossmanPJ

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 22, 2013
    7,057
    Cecil County
    I have a brand new Delica 4. Full flat ground blade. Probably my favorite of my recent Spyderco purchases. Having said that:

    Today I cut a zip tie. Not a large one but not small either. Solid plastic nothing special.... The edge on my brand new Delica 4 is destroyed. Before today the edge was insanely factory sharp and had never cut anything. One zip tie and it is pathetic. It will not shave hair on my arm, and will not slice paper anywhere near the same.

    Has anyone else experienced this? None of my other Spyderco knives have had this problem. My Tenacious has cut a ton of things and never sharpened it is still sharper than the Delica is now.

    To my knowledge there are no counterfeit Delica 4 knives known. This knife came from a very reputable Spyderco dealer.

    Thoughts?
     

    Butcher

    Active Member
    May 3, 2005
    356
    Owings Mills
    VG10 steel contains vanadium, which is renown for its toughness. The steel is specially designed for high-quality blades used in cutlery. VG-10 can be sharpened to a fine edge that is very durable and can maintain a hardness of Rc 60 without becoming brittle. I would guess that you got a cheap knock off from China, or the edge angle is so acute that you dulled it on the zip tie and it needs to be resharpened at a wider angle
     

    Armadillofz1

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 25, 2012
    4,874
    DM-42
    Or it's a counterfeit. Did you purchase from an authorized dealer? The spyderco knockoffs are insanely convincing.

    *Edit* What butcher said.
     

    Mule

    Just Mule
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2013
    652
    I had a similar experience with an S30V Manix 2, which was purchased from a Spyderco Authorized dealer.

    While assembling a piece of Ikea furniture, i had to trim a wooden peg. Not sure what type of wood the peg was made of, but it was soft enough to take an impression of my fingernail when I pressed into it.

    I made three slicing cuts, while applying medium pressure. I wasn't babying the edge, but certainly wasn't subjecting it to major abuse, either.

    Afterward, most of the blade was still quite sharp, but there are two places on the belly where things just drag across without cutting.

    The factory edge was exceptionally sharp, but it's rather thin, and i suspect that i just ended up rolling it over in those two places.

    Gonna toss it onto my Wicked Edge to clean up the edge, and all should be good.
     

    BossmanPJ

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 22, 2013
    7,057
    Cecil County
    VG10 steel contains vanadium, which is renown for its toughness. The steel is specially designed for high-quality blades used in cutlery. VG-10 can be sharpened to a fine edge that is very durable and can maintain a hardness of Rc 60 without becoming brittle. I would guess that you got a cheap knock off from China, or the edge angle is so acute that you dulled it on the zip tie and it needs to be resharpened at a wider angle

    That is a thought about the edge. As I said, the knife came from a VERY reputable Spyderco authorized dealer. I have heard of almost all other models having counterfeits out there, but never the Delica 4.

    Maybe they have finally released one and I happened to be unlucky.
     

    BossmanPJ

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 22, 2013
    7,057
    Cecil County
    Or it's a counterfeit. Did you purchase from an authorized dealer? The spyderco knockoffs are insanely convincing.

    *Edit* What butcher said.

    Came from a VERY reputable dealer. How reputable you ask? I would wager most members on here that are into knives have bought several knives from them.

    I do not want to name the dealer of course, as I believe this to be a material problem with the edge and not a counterfeit. Everything else about the knife is 100% Spyderco. No question there.
     

    BossmanPJ

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 22, 2013
    7,057
    Cecil County
    What steel is your Delica's blade? VG-10, ZDP-189, or something else?

    VG-10. No way it should have dulled after cutting something like a zip tie. It will be in the mail on its way to Spyderco today. I'm sure they will make it right.

    Hell, identified my old EDC Tenacious in for sharpening and they sent me a brand new one! Still not sure why
     

    joppaj

    Sheepdog
    Staff member
    Moderator
    Apr 11, 2008
    46,452
    MD
    Yeah, VG-10 obviously shouldn't do that. Hopefully they make it right quickly.
     

    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,643
    PA
    Have seen it a few times on factory edges. The edge is ground against a sanding belt producing the desired angle, and a thin burr extends from the edge, it's then buffed to remove most of that burr, thin and shape the tiny bit that remains, this produces a fine razor's edge. if the burr is left a bit too long it doesn't have enough support, and rolls way too easily. You can usually bring the edge back to perfect with a few seconds worth of steeling or stropping, can be on leather, wood, a soft steel edge, or even cardboard, straightens the rolled edge, thins it out a bit more, and you are back in business. If you cut a lot of tough stuff like zip ties, you are probably better off with a double bevel edge, basically the edge is sharpened to an angle around 35 degrees, then just a couple passes on a stone at a 40 degree angle, dramatically shortens the burr, and provides more support for it, won't be as sharp as stropping a full low angle edge, but it will last a lot longer. Or you can pick up a full spyderedge knife to beat on, they hold up to tough cutting jobs FAR better than plain edge.
     

    joppaj

    Sheepdog
    Staff member
    Moderator
    Apr 11, 2008
    46,452
    MD
    As our esteemed vampire hunter notes, I prefer the full serrated for daily use. I carry a 79mm Rescue as my "around the house all purpose, open anything including all of our Amazon Prime orders" knife. I carried a 93mm Rescue for several years and it's only recently dulled enough that I need to send it in for sharpening.
     

    BossmanPJ

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 22, 2013
    7,057
    Cecil County
    Have seen it a few times on factory edges. The edge is ground against a sanding belt producing the desired angle, and a thin burr extends from the edge, it's then buffed to remove most of that burr, thin and shape the tiny bit that remains, this produces a fine razor's edge. if the burr is left a bit too long it doesn't have enough support, and rolls way too easily. You can usually bring the edge back to perfect with a few seconds worth of steeling or stropping, can be on leather, wood, a soft steel edge, or even cardboard, straightens the rolled edge, thins it out a bit more, and you are back in business. If you cut a lot of tough stuff like zip ties, you are probably better off with a double bevel edge, basically the edge is sharpened to an angle around 35 degrees, then just a couple passes on a stone at a 40 degree angle, dramatically shortens the burr, and provides more support for it, won't be as sharp as stropping a full low angle edge, but it will last a lot longer. Or you can pick up a full spyderedge knife to beat on, they hold up to tough cutting jobs FAR better than plain edge.

    As our esteemed vampire hunter notes, I prefer the full serrated for daily use. I carry a 79mm Rescue as my "around the house all purpose, open anything including all of our Amazon Prime orders" knife. I carried a 93mm Rescue for several years and it's only recently dulled enough that I need to send it in for sharpening.

    This is a good thought. I will pick up a Delica 4 in full serration for work. Had not crossed my mind. This will certainly limit the wear on the edge. I encounter some pretty crappy cutting situations at work from time to time.
     

    ponypeddler87

    Active Member
    Feb 17, 2013
    183
    St. Marys
    The more knives I buy the more I realize how soft VG-10 truly is. I find it prone to edge folding/rolling. Run it through a 2x4 very close to 90 degrees as close as possible with moderate pressure it will straighten out the edge and more than likely will shave again.
     

    BossmanPJ

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 22, 2013
    7,057
    Cecil County
    The more knives I buy the more I realize how soft VG-10 truly is. I find it prone to edge folding/rolling. Run it through a 2x4 very close to 90 degrees as close as possible with moderate pressure it will straighten out the edge and more than likely will shave again.

    A 2x4 like a wooden board?
     

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