Spyderco Bushcraft

[Lurch]

Spyderco Bushcraft finally in stock.....

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

Oooh shiny !!

 

[Toddy]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing

Pity it's Christmas, and I'm out of spending pennies for shinies

atb,
M

 

[Mesquite]

Looking very nice indeed.... the description of Chris left me a bit puzzled though.

Who or what's a 'Tactical Bushcrafter'?

 

[C_Claycomb]

Tactical bushcrafter
A) A title created by some US marketting bloke , trying to make something sound cooler, by picking up and misconstruing fragments of an old internet thread which, with tongue in cheek, described a black utility type knife as a "tactical" bushcraft knife. The knife being "tactical" not the bushcraft.

Or

B) Britain is a small, densly populated country with little wilderness. In order to practice bushcraft without alerting other people, the practitioner must take "Leave No Trace" to another level. Think "Ninja-Bushcraft"...cunning, silent, invisible, moving like a shadow, leaving nothing but a dusting of wood shavings in their wake. The only sound that betrays their presense is the distant hiss of a Laplander saw or the swiftly muffled thud of a Gransfors. Tactical bushcraft at its best!

 

[lostplanet]

LOL, chris do you own a SpyBu? not being funny at all, just interested what you think of the final product. Think I might have to sell some more stuff, I really like the look of this knife.

 

[Lurch]

Looks like these are withdrawn from sale

I regret to inform you that the Bushcraft UK models just introduced by Spyderco are no longer shipping.

The designers, Chris Claycomb and the chaps at Bushcraft UK did an excellent job on the design. Our maker did an excellent job on manufacture. The problem it turns out is in the wood used for the handle.

The wood that I selected from our USA source was Spalted Maple. It was the most striking wood that the supplier had available. It was my understanding that the material was stabilized and would not shrink once formed. We’d had some problems with some of the prototypes shrinking so I was sensitive to the issue.

We were assured that the wood was stabilized and would not be a problem. The wood was custom cut and prepared in the US and sent to our maker in Taiwan.

We’d been working on the project for a couple of years and really wanted a top drawer piece. When the shipment arrived, we QC’d the run, numbered the collectors and began shipping parts.

A short while later, we noticed, and we had complaints of the wooden handles shrinking and cracking. We spoke with our supplier, who was quite surprised. They said that shouldn’t have happened. They said we should soak the knives in boiled linseed oil and it would solve the problem. We thought we could just wipe off the linseed oil.

After soaking the entire shipment in the linseed oil for more than a week. We still experienced some cracking in some of the pieces. We continued to ship the pieces that appeared ok, but we wrapped them in plastic and left linseed oil on the handle for additional protection.

Then we learned that the linseed oil didn’t easily wipe off. After trying a number of methods, the only thing we found that could actually remove the linseed oil is acetone. Not fun stuff to work with.

At this time, we don’t yet know what we are going to do with the 1000+ finished pieces that will more than likely all crack. The supplier can’t help us, other than to replace the wood. The maker is not responsible as they did a good job.

I would like to extend my apologies to Chris Calycomb and Bushcraft UK, A bummer for sure after all of their efforts.

I would like to extend my apologies to our customers, especially those that have been waiting for the model.

I would like to extend my apologies to our crew that had to mess with all of the attempted “fixes”.

We are considering making another run, once we find a wood that will in fact not shrink.

sal

 

[Toddy]

Oh that's not good.

Boiled linseed oil needs to air dry. It is generally adulterated with drying oila to help speed up the process though.

We use gallons of the unadulterated stuff in the workshops. Raw turps, that's the real stuff, cleans it off woodwork. At home I use real turps and beeswax as furniture polish and on the pieces made by the Galgael it creates a beautiful deep patina as well as nourishing the wood.

Do you think Sal would sell these knives as they are ? I have to admit at reduced prices I reckon they'd sell like hotcakes. Lots of folks happy to have a shot at sorting out the maple for themselves. Maybe not the collectors, but the folks who would like to try them as working bushie knives.

atb,
Toddy

 

[HillBill]

Not good at all. IMO it makes spyderco look like they have little knowledge of what they are doing. How did they not know that Linseed oil would dry/cure?

 

[Lurch]

I'll ask Sal but I reckon they'll want them back.
The thing is this knife is outside Spydie territory, they don't 'do' wood as a rule and I think it was a mistake to put wood on this one. It should have had a G10 or micarta handle or something similar IMO.

 

[Toddy]

I think this knife has been a learning experience all round tbh.

It's a heck of a loss for Sal to take though

cheers,
M

 

[C_Claycomb]

I have three. Two pre-production jobs and one of the final run complete with blade markings, which the first ones lacked. None were oiled and none have shown any sign of cracking. The first ones have been here many months, but the wood was from a different source. I don't expect though that there will be any problem with the latest one in our more humid climage. The air in parts of the US, particularly in winter, is dryer than hell.

Sal went with the best advice that he had and it is pretty gutting that things have not worked out.

 

[poddle]

Its rather expensive

 

[The Cumbrian]

What Toddy said.

I'm sure that there are lots of people on here who would like to have a go at repairing / rehandling them, if they were sold on for a reasonable price. At least then it wouldn't be a complete loss for Spyderco.

Cheers, Michael.

 

[poddle]

You can buy a handmade blank for around £60
maybe they should think of a price.

 

[Martyn]

Do you think Sal would sell these knives as they are ? I have to admit at reduced prices I reckon they'd sell like hotcakes. Lots of folks happy to have a shot at sorting out the maple for themselves. Maybe not the collectors, but the folks who would like to try them as working bushie knives.

atb,
Toddy

He might, but I doubt it to be honest. Like mojo said on BB, there would be loads turning up for sale here and there without mention of them being seconds. Sal has to think of Spyderco's reputation. There would probably only be a few that crack, but for the same reasons, Sal has had to recall all of them. It's a real shame and a hell of a loss to Spyderco.

 

[Martyn]

I have three. Two pre-production jobs and one of the final run complete with blade markings, which the first ones lacked. None were oiled and none have shown any sign of cracking. The first ones have been here many months, but the wood was from a different source. I don't expect though that there will be any problem with the latest one in our more humid climage. The air in parts of the US, particularly in winter, is dryer than hell.

Sal went with the best advice that he had and it is pretty gutting that things have not worked out.

The wood obviously isnt stabilised Chris, I'd be looking for compensation from the wood supplier.

 

[FGYT]

You can buy a handmade blank for around £60
maybe they should think of a price.

they where going to sell a limited run of blanks anyway ( Sal on BB) 200 off but never saw a price etc Spyderco Mule blanks in lots of exotic metals go for $20


I guess they could remove or just cross saw the handles etc so they are unusable with out rework etc you would get a blank with a sheath etc if ti was done like that

or release batches to known makers for rework etc to sell on would be some return and soem control



any way a real nasty turn up as the specially stabalized expensive scales where a big part of the sales shcpeel and cost justification

i hope it dosnt put them off the project


ATB

Duncan

 

[Martyn]

they where going to sell a limited run of blanks anyway ( Sal on BB) 200 off but never saw a price etc Spyderco Mule blanks in lots of exotic metals go for $20

That's a good point, if they were going to sell blanks anyway, then this could be a way of recouping some loss.