Spyderco byte - August 2016

The Spyderco bye August 2016 e-newsletter was sent out on 31 August 2016, and it contained the following articles.

Featured product: The C10ZFGR C11ZFGR

Endura® 4 Zome Green MSRP: $114.95 Origin: Japan Delica® 4 Zome Green MSRP: $109.95 Origin: Japan

New Zome Hand-Dyed Handles! Spyderco is proud to announce the latest additions to our best-selling Delica® 4 and Endura® 4 Lightweight families: our Zome models.

Zome (pronounced "zoh-may") is a class of Japanese handicrafts that specializes in dyeing textiles. It includes many different techniques of creating patterns on cloth using dyes derived from plants, flowers, fruit, and other natural sources. Some zome methods have been faithfully passed from generation to generation and the patterns they produce are deeply rooted in Japanese history and culture.

Inspired by this rich artistic heritage, Spyderco's Zome knives start with our lightweight models featuring light-colored injection-molded fiberglass-reinforced-nylon (FRN) handles. Expert Japanese artisans then use a technique reminiscent of traditional hiki-zome (brush dyeing) to hand brush various colors of dye onto the handles to create distinctive, one-of-a-kind patterns. The special dyes used completely permeate the FRN to permanently color it. This remarkable method can be used with different color palettes and base-color combinations to create distinctive "runs" of knives, while ensuring that no two knives are ever exactly alike.

Spyderco’s first Zome knives are Delica 4 and Endura 4 Lighweights with a stunning green zome dye palette and full-flat-ground VG-10 stainless steel blades. Brighten up your life by brightening up your knife!

Delica 4 C11ZFGR

Overall: 7.15in 182mm Blade: 2.90in 74mm Edge: 2.56in 65mm Weight: 2.4oz 68g Grind: Full-Flat Origin: Japan

Endura 4 C10ZFGR

Overall: 8.78in 223mm Blade: 3.80in 97mm Edge: 3.44in 87mm Weight: 3.3oz 94g Grind: Full-Flat Origin: Japan

Maxamet Blade Steel

Spyderco has a hard-earned reputation for pushing the envelope when it comes to high-performance blade steels. As leaders in the industry, we have also forged (pun intended) extremely strong relationships with the world’s best steel makers, and when they create something new and different, we are among the first to get a sample.

That was exactly what happened with Carpenter® Technology Corporation’s Micro-Melt® Maxamet blade steel. One of the world’s premier suppliers of high-performance steels, Carpenter developed Maxamet specifically for use in the rollers of their state-of-the-art steel rolling mills. Rolling and shaping hot steel demands a material that is incredibly hard and tough and can retain those properties at extremely high temperatures. Maxamet’s advanced alloy composition allows it to meet all those challenges and gives it qualities that offer extraordinary potential for use in other applications—like knife blades.

When Carpenter created Maxamet, they sent samples to various companies in the cutlery industry to evaluate its suitability as a blade material for factory-made knives. Although many tried, Spyderco was one of only a handful of companies to successfully develop the specialized methods necessary to machine, heat treat, and grind this advanced alloy to yield reliable, high-performance knife blades. After climbing that learning curve, we also did extensive scientific testing on Maxamet’s performance, edge retention, and toughness and found that it easily rivaled the very best steels we’ve ever used. We were impressed and are now thrilled to announce that we will be introducing it as a blade steel in elite versions of some of our best-selling US-made knives.

In simple terms, Maxamet is an ultra-hard high-speed tool steel produced by the powder metallurgy process. However, its complex alloy composition gives it properties that transcend conventional high-speed tool steels and approach those of cemented carbides—the super-hard materials used to machine other steels.

Maxamet’s remarkable alloy composition includes: Carbon: 2.15%, Manganese: 0.30%, Sulfur: 0.07%, Silicon: 0.25%, Chromium: 4.75%, Cobalt: 10.00%, Vanadium: 6.00%, and Tungsten: 13.00%. This sophisticated mix of elements, combined with the advantages of powdered metal technology, give it an extraordinary balance of wear resistance and toughness at high hardness levels. The trade-off, however, is that it does require more time and effort to sharpen. Maxamet is also a tool steel—not a stainless steel—and must be cleaned and maintained properly to prevent corrosion.

Fittingly, the first Spyderco knife to feature Maxamet blade steel was the MT24 Mule Team™. One of the primary purposes of a Mule is to offer a performance testing platform, so we felt it was the best place to start. The response from our customers has been extremely positive and it has already received some impressive reviews on the Spyderco forum.

MT24 Buy Now

Following on the heels of the MT24 will be the Manix™ 2 Lightweight with a Maxamet blade, which will have a “stone gray” fiberglass-reinforced-co-polymer (FRCP) handle. It should begin shipping in September 2016. Next in line after that will be a Maxamet Native® 5 Lightweight, which should be available by the end of the year.

At Spyderco we enjoy pushing the limits of knife technology and offering you high-performance cutting tools you just can’t get anywhere else. We are extremely proud to be one of the only companies in the world offering Maxamet blades on our knives and very excited to hear about your experiences with them.

Show Update

In early August, Spyderco exhibited at the Outdoor Retailer show Salt Lake City, Utah. This summer event offers retailers the opportunity to discover new products, learn about new trends and technologies, and meet face to face with the people behind the products. For manufacturers, it offers a platform to share their products with motivated retail buyers and media representatives who specialize in the outdoor, adventure travel, climbing, and other related industries.

Spyderco’s team proudly showcased our newest products and reconnected with many of our dealers at the show. We also spent lots of quality time with writers and editors from countless magazines, blogs, and web sites to share “coming attractions” of the knives that we’ll be releasing in the next few months.

To all of you who visited us at the show, thank you! We truly enjoyed seeing you and thank you for your continued passion for our products!

Snapshot Rugged Maniac

Several members of the Spyderco Crew recently took team building to an all new level by participating in the “Rugged Maniac” adventure race. This extremely demanding competition consists of a five-kilometer running course with 25 obstacles along the way. The obstacles challenged individual fitness, agility, and teamwork and included everything from water slides and trampolines to underground tunnels and fire jumps.

In the words of Spyderco’s Human Resources specialist, “It was a tons of fun. We really worked as a team and it just makes me appreciate the people I work with even more!”

Congratulations to all the Spyderco Rugged Maniacs for a job well done!!!