Spyderco Advocate bearing Race A total Failure..

[Mick_1KRR]

The sooner manufacturers get off this silly bearing craze and focus more on large, supportive polished bronze washers the better. Since the day bearing knives came out i have said they will have these kinds of issues (i still cop tons of flack for saying it on forums these days), plus even models without this specific issue still have the bearings slowly cutting tracks into the titanium handles that are much softer, since hardly any have hard steel bushings between the two surfaces. Polish large washers and a good detent will flip just as well as bearings, last longer and offer much more lateral support. Bearings are a gimmick, also just another marketing angle to sell more knives. Best of luck with the repair.

 

[VermontEdge]

I am starting to think that bearings are something to avoid in future knife purchases for me. I have a couple of knives with bearings and my experience is that they are not smoother than my knives with washers.

I hope you are able to get your knife repaired without being charged for it.

I totally agree with this. I had a Southard for a while and LOVED it but my concerns around the bearings (and one or two other things) resulted in me selling it. I stick to phosphor bronze washers now as they're so simple and reliable.


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[AF]

Hi UAB89, I'm curious about this issue. Did you make any adjustments to the pivot in the month before you disassembled the knife? Like in an attempt to center the blade?

I'm wondering the same. But ultimately, it doesn't really matter if he over-tightened the pivot because an assembly that is so sensitive to adjustment that it will fail is not a good system.

 

[palonej]

Hi UAB89, I'm curious about this issue. Did you make any adjustments to the pivot in the month before you disassembled the knife? Like in an attempt to center the blade?

Am curious about this also. I know Sal said a few of the washer issues they have repaired were caused by over tightening pivots.
Joe

 

[cut it out]

Delete

 

[UAB89]

The sooner manufacturers get off this silly bearing craze and focus more on large, supportive polished bronze washers the better. Since the day bearing knives came out i have said they will have these kinds of issues (i still cop tons of flack for saying it on forums these days), plus model without this specific issue are even still slowly cutting tracks into titanium handles that are much softer, since hardly any have hard steel bushings between the two surfaces. Polish large washers and a good detent will flip just as well as bearings, last longer and offer much more lateral support. Bearings are a gimmick, also just another marketing angle to sell more knives. Best of luck with the repair.

I agree with you somewhat! I will say my favorite and smoothest knife I own is my shirogorov hati which is on phosphor Bronze washers and is an awesome flipper

I'm wondering the same. But ultimately, it doesn't really matter if he over-tightened the pivot because an assembly that is so sensitive to adjustment that it will fail is not a good system.

Yes I did attempt to get the knife back to center but I did not try to torque on the pivot down.. and it appears the way the d shaped pivot extends through it will not allow you to tighten the pivot to much.. but to answer your question I did tighten the pivot slightly however it centered back up and flipped just like it had previously


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[Surfingringo]

I'm wondering the same. But ultimately, it doesn't really matter if he over-tightened the pivot because an assembly that is so sensitive to adjustment that it will fail is not a good system.

Agreed, but I can't help but be curious if this problem has occurred in knives that have not had the pivot tension adjusted by the owner.

 

[UAB89]

Agreed, but I can't help but be curious if this problem has occurred in knives that have not had the pivot tension adjusted by the owner.

Yes I'm sure some will wander that however the fact that the lockbar tension alone leaves dents and makes for rough flipping action and the fact that the bearing races on the same side as the lockbar were not affected at all.. completely flat no divots or distortion tell me the problem is not related to pivot tightening(bearing races would be affected bilaterally) but lockbar tension and to thin of bearing races


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[Daniel]

Agreed, but I can't help but be curious if this problem has occurred in knives that have not had the pivot tension adjusted by the owner.

The answer is yes! Mine was not touched and it was not smooth at all. Whether the washer looks like this or not, I have no idea.

 

[jbmonkey]

interesting. thanks for posting.

 

[uxo2]

Delete

Cut it out !

 

[brownshoe]

The sooner manufacturers get off this silly bearing craze and focus more on large, supportive polished bronze washers the better. Since the day bearing knives came out i have said they will have these kinds of issues (i still cop tons of flack for saying it on forums these days), plus model without this specific issue are even still slowly cutting tracks into titanium handles that are much softer, since hardly any have hard steel bushings between the two surfaces. Polish large washers and a good detent will flip just as well as bearings, last longer and offer much more lateral support. Bearings are a gimmick, also just another marketing angle to sell more knives. Best of luck with the repair.

Bearings are fun. My CRKT Eros has been flipping for 4 years with no problem. My CRK TiLock has been going strong as well.

Back about 15 years ago, Bob Terzuola showed that bronze washers were inferior to the Nylatron he uses. Per Bob, there is no need for lubrication in Bob's ACTF, thus no oil/grease to attract dirt and sand, not so with broze washers.

 

[CapitalizedLiving]

Assemble and mail in. Don't take crap from them about this. I really, really like Spyderco but they need to either stop making flippers or learn how to design them.

 

[xICEMANx]

Would love to see a response from Sal on this. Before Shot it's something they said they are working on. I have the exact same issue, and I've been told twice now by CS that it will be $25 and they will replace the washers. That's a bandaid, not a fix. IMO there should be no charge on these regardless if we disassembled the knife or not. I've ordered some washers from US knife maker that hopefully will fix the issue but overall I don't think I'll buy another Spyderco flipper until they figure this out. BTW bearings aren't the issue, Zt, Kizer, Reate,etc all make amazing flippers with bearings that don't have issues like this. It's the use of such small bearings and paper thin washers where there is no need.

 

[linuxology]

this is definitely an issue based on the numbers that have spoken up and probably many that have not. i'm a huge spyderco fan, but the facts are facts. No need to be of a fanboy status. sal has stated that spyderco was looking into it, so sure we will hear something? of course my 2 cents so take it at that

 

[Danke42]

There has already been an official factory response from Spyderco in the other Advocate thread.

If you have a knife with a problem send it in to them; full stop.

 

[palonej]

Not many bigger fans of Spydie, and Sal, than I........but there is NO way I would be paying $25 to fix something that was sent to me in that type of shape.
By now Spydie knows of the issue and should take care of these knives for no charge. And I have a feeling they will.
If something like this happened to me I would CALL Charlynn.......NOT e mail. I would explain the issue to her.
I've done this twice and never payed the $25.
Lastly.....it really isn't the money, for me, it's more the principle. The last time Charlynn helped me, with a Ti Millie, I was so grateful I sent her a nice bouquet of flowers.......much more than $25.
Good luck to all experiencing this.
Joe

 

[Brusiedmeat]

I have a domino that I received in a trade, took it apart due to gritty action and saw that the washers were dished pretty bad. This causes the blade will go off center everyday and the pivot needs to be tightened a hair to bring it back to center. The culprit is the very thin washers that is bending, and adjustment not avoidable. I will be sending this off to spyderco soon. I hate to say it but this is a common issue with the bearing flippers that have the thin washers. The slightest over torque in the pivot will most likely damage the washer for good.

 

[marcus52AR]

I have a domino that I received in a trade, took it apart due to gritty action and saw that the washers were dished pretty bad. This causes the blade will go off center everyday and the pivot needs to be tightened a hair to bring it back to center. The culprit is the very thin washers that is bending, and adjustment not avoidable. I will be sending this off to spyderco soon. I hate to say it but this is a common issue with the bearing flippers that have the thin washers. The slightest over torque in the pivot will most likely damage the washer for good.

I recommend once you get it back refrain from tinkering with the pivot tension. I sent my Domino in and it's been great since I got it back.

 

[SurfisLove]

Does Spyderco really use red loctite? Like there's so much to like about Spyderco, but my goodness there's so much to not like as well.

Yeah I would not try lying to them..they would be able to tell right away I took apart the knife 1 because of the scuffs I made trying to break the red loctite and 2 because I don't own red loctite and would reassemble with blue loctite..


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