Spyderco-Viele owners....problem with clip

[silver_pilate]

First let me say that this has been one of the most enjoyable knives I've ever owned.



Unfortunately, the design of the knife has the clip secured only to the micarta scale. The screws don't even go through to the liner. This proved to be especially unfortunate for me when a swinging door caught the edge of the clip and stripped it from the handle. When the clip was stripped off, it also took a chunk of the relatively weak micarta with it.



Has anyone else had this problem? I've e-mailed Spyderco but haven't gotten a response. Is there any way this could be covered under warranty??



If not, how much would it run to repair?



Thanks for any replies, and God bless.



--nathan

[toothed]

silver_pilate, is your Viele the new version (w/VG-10 blade) or the old version? I have the newer version Viele and I think the clip screws do go into the ss liner. I swapped the black clip from a Tim Zowada with the chrome clip of the Viele and remember checking to ensure that the black Zowada screws were not too long when installed (exposed past inside surface of the liner). I don't have the knife with me now but I'll double check it later. btw, I like this knife very much too.

[silver_pilate]

toothed,

No, unfortunately, mine is the older Japanese-made version with the AUS-8 blade. The knife has performed superbly, and is one of the fastest opeing knives I own. As I understand it, they actually changed some of the structural and functional components of the newer Viele.

I was surprised to see the clip laying on the ground after that door caught it. I looked at the knife and was also surprised to find that the clip didn't screw into the liners. When the clip went, it took a good chunk out of the scale preventing the use of over-sized screws to resecure the clip. The scale must be rebuilt or replaced.

--nathan

[Dav]

Will other Micarta knives have this same problem/feature? How old do they have to be? I want to know how careful to be with my newest love - a partially serrated Shabaria.

Dav

[yog]

On the new Vieles the screws don't appear to be attached to the micarta sections at all.
On mine (new type) I had a slight problem with one of the outside screws coming undone about once a week. This is when I found that it wasn't biting into the micarta at all, but instead it was just the steel liner. I solved my problem by swaping the problematic out screw with the middle screw, which must just be a fraction longer as I haven't had the problem since.

Spyderco customer services may be a bit slow to respond, I don't think they get much practice <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle> but in my experience they do always get back to a customer. I think if it is how you describe you probably have a good case, but only Spyderco could tell you for sure.

"Walk softly, but carry a big stick."

[toothed]

silver_pilate, it's worth trying to fix the older Viele so keep at it. However, if you can afford to buy the newer VG-10 version by all means purchases one. IMO, the plain-edge looks nicer and should be less scary to sheeple. A quality gentleman's folder that is sneaky tactical--what more can you ask for?

[silver_pilate]

toothed,

Ah...but that's the beauty. Mine IS a plane edge. I really like this knife, and hopefully I can get it fixed.

I talked with Spyderco today on the phone and they said to send it in and they would look at it and see if it falls under warranty. The bad news is that it will likely take at least 4-5 weeks <img src="sad.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>.

Maybe I can get it back good as new, though.

--nathan