My apologies for posting this in English.
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
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
