Beadblasted blade, phosphor bronze washers

[jgkort]

Hi everyone,
Yesterday, I cleaned out a Fantoni HB-01 that I bought used. It has beadblasted Ti liners and a beadblasted blade. I found the opening and closing action to sound a bit "gritty". After cleaning and applying a bit of fluorinated grease, the action was smoother, but stil not 100%. My idea is, that this is caused by the friction between the washers and the beadblasted blade. I'm thinking of polishing the area where the washer sits comes into contact with the blade. Would you guys think this would make a difference? And if so, what would be a good way to do that?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

 

[J. Doyle]

That sucks. Yeah that's probably a huge part of the gritty feel. The other part probably is the detent ball dragging over that gritty finish. Those areas should have been masked off.

There's not a great way to polish just those areas, keeping them very flat without removing the bead blast everywhere else.

Here are some potential solutions you could try.

#1. Get some lapping compound and put it on all the contact surfaces. Assemble and snug down the pivot and work that blade over and over. You may need new washers after that.

#2. Convert from washers to bearings, counterbore pockets for the bearings will remove the blasted area. This requires specialty tooling and some machining skills/capabilities.

In either of those cases, you'll still have the detent path issue but it may be smoother than it is now.

 

[J. Doyle]

You could also just polish everything altogether but of course that changes the whole look of the knife.

 

[Diemaker]

Can you stone the areas you want polished? You don't need a perfect polish for the washers. And check the washers for burrs.

 

[Alberta Ed]

Try a different lube before you go to a lot of trouble. I use BreakFree CLP, but there are lots of alternatives available.

 

[killgar]

Another possible option, depending on the thickness of the stock washers, is to replace each single washer with two thinner washers. That way instead of the washers trying to turn against a bead-blasted surface (liner, blade), the washers would be turning against the surface of another washer.

Bronze phosphor washers are inexpensive and are available in a variety of sizes. I buy most of mine from USAKnifemaker. They come in .005", 010", .015", thicknesses, and sometimes can be found in .016" and .020".

If for example, the washers in your knife were .010" each, you might be able to swap them for two .005" washers per side, if you can find ones with the right inner and outer diameters.

I like to keep a variety of BP washer sizes on hand .

 

[jgkort]

Thanks for all your input, guys!

J. Doyle I'd prefer not polishing the entire blade, I actually really like the beadblasted look of it. Having pockets milled out for bearings would take away the appeal of the knife for me, I actually prefer knives on washers. As long as they're smooth, that is But, you did give me an idea, that I'm gonna try out tomorrow.

D Diemaker I'm thinking of a way to polish the areas on the blade. I'm going do some tinkering, I'll let you guys know if it worked out. Washers themselves don't have any burrs that I was able to see.

A Alberta Ed I did try out different kinds of lube. Started out with KPL, then tried Walther Gun Care. Last one was a product that gives me great results on other washer-based knives: Finish Line Extreme Fluoro, a quite thick fluorinated grease, with a terrible name

K killgar I was also thinking in that direction. Since the washers may have been "ground down" a bit by the blade finish, dropping in a pair of new ones would be a good idea. They're 0.0125" thick, ID 0.2", OD 0.6". I'll go and look for a place in the EU (in live in the Nehterlands) that sells them, in a variety of sizes.

I'll keep you posted on any progress!

 

[killgar]

When it comes to sizing washers with non-standard inner and outer diameters, I've had success using ones with slightly larger inner diameters, and slightly smaller outer diameters.

For example, a common standard inner diameter is 1/4", so if the ID of your washers is .2", then .25" might work out fine.

With thin washers it's possible to trim the outer edge with sharp scissors. And although I will occasionally enlarge the ID of thicker washers (.010" or thicker) with a fine round file, this is harder with .005" washers due to how thin the material is, but even that can be done.

Using "close to" sizes, and modifying washers is what I often have to do when installing BP washers with metric hardware, because metric size washers are not common.

 

[jgkort]

K killgar thanks, I'll see what sizes I can find here. I hadn't thought about being able to actually cut washers to size. Wouldn't that leave a bit of a bend? Or do you polish that off afterwards?

On the Fantoni, I found there was a bit of a burr at the end of the lockbar, causing a bit of drag. So, I filed that off.

I then experimented a bit and have come up with the idea of making makeshift washers out of polishing paper (first 1500, then 3000 grit), and temporarily glueing these to the liners of the knife, using spray adhesive. I then assembled it and opened and closed a few times. The areas where the actual washers would sit are now a lot smoother. After final assembly, the knife feels a looks smoother as well. I'd say: mission accomplished!

 

[killgar]

K killgar thanks, I'll see what sizes I can find here. I hadn't thought about being able to actually cut washers to size. Wouldn't that leave a bit of a bend? Or do you polish that off afterwards?

On the Fantoni, I found there was a bit of a burr at the end of the lockbar, causing a bit of drag. So, I filed that off.

I then experimented a bit and have come up with the idea of making makeshift washers out of polishing paper (first 1500, then 3000 grit), and temporarily glueing these to the liners of the knife, using spray adhesive. I then assembled it and opened and closed a few times. The areas where the actual washers would sit are now a lot smoother. After final assembly, the knife feels a looks smoother as well. I'd say: mission accomplished!

That's a neat trick with the polishing paper, I've never thought of that. I've sanded and polished pivot areas before, but never thought of cutting sandpaper circles and installing them in the knife to sand/polish the pivot areas. I'm going to have to remember that one. And I'll be sure to give you credit if I recommend it to others .

As for modifying BP washers, as I referenced, the really thin .005" thick ones are a bit more difficult to modify due to how thin they are, but it can be done. I just file a bit more slowly and gently than with the thicker ones, and I use sharp scissors (good shearing action) to avoid bending when trimming them. Then after I'm done I sand them with 2000 grit sandpaper to remove any burrs.

I'm glad you solved the issue with your knife. It's always nice when we can fix things ourselves .

 

[jgkort]

That's a neat trick with the polishing paper, I've never thought of that. I've sanded and polished pivot areas before, but never thought of cutting sandpaper circles and installing them in the knife to sand/polish the pivot areas. I'm going to have to remember that one. And I'll be sure to give you credit if I recommend it to others .

As for modifying BP washers, as I referenced, the really thin .005" thick ones are a bit more difficult to modify due to how thin they are, but it can be done. I just file a bit more slowly and gently than with the thicker ones, and I use sharp scissors (good shearing action) to avoid bending when trimming them. Then after I'm done I sand them with 2000 grit sandpaper to remove any burrs.

I'm glad you solved the issue with your knife. It's always nice when we can fix things ourselves .

Hi, thanks!
Sure, feel free to share this idea!
I get the idea with the thinner washers, I see how that would work.
Yes, I'm glad too, it's one of my favorite knives. Always nice to get a bit creative and fix stuff I appreciate your input!