Bought my first knife...what now?

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Dextr0z

Joined
Jan 25, 2007
Messages
13
I just bought my first real knives and my EDC one being a Spyderco Cara Cara G-10. I usually use my knives to cut food, paper, thin cardboard from time to time, but usually it has very little use on it. I have a tendency to open and close my knife when I'm bored also. What I want to know is 1) What should I do as soon as I take my knives out of their boxes. 2) Does my habit of opening and closing a lot harm the knife in the long run?

Thanks.
 
Dextr0z said:
I just bought my first real knives and my EDC one being a Spyderco Cara Cara G-10. I usually use my knives to cut food, paper, thin cardboard from time to time, but usually it has very little use on it. I have a tendency to open and close my knife when I'm bored also. What I want to know is 1) What should I do as soon as I take my knives out of their boxes. 2) Does my habit of opening and closing a lot harm the knife in the long run?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
what i do when i first get a new knife is wash it in warm/hot water with soap (dishwashing detergent) and a toothbrush or sponge or whatever. be careful not to cut yourself! go slow and always respect the blade (especially Spyderco (and Byrd, in my experience) -- they typically arrive very sharp.

i then dry it (with compressed air or just the "shake and blow/air out" method). then see if it needs any adjustment to the adjustable (torx, for example) scale screws and -- even more crucial -- the pivot pin. lube lightly, if you want (this is optional -- many use no lube, other swear by it).

finally -- and this is very optional -- sharpen it. i don't do this with new knives, but some are fanatical about it to obtain a better edge. Spyderco knives, for example, usually come extremely sharp, and my sharpening skills are so bad that i would worsen a new edge if i tried to make it better.

none of this is necessary when you first get a knife - its just what i do. you'll find your own routine pretty quickly.

and no -- i flick my spydies/byds all day with no problem. that's part of the reason i like them -- they are so flickable. its fun for me.
 
Dextr0z-
Congats on your new purchases. There are many others here that can answer your questions with more knowledge than myself but here are some thoughts.

1.)Enjoy your, knives that is the first thing to do when you open your box. I suggest not petting them however as cuts may occur. :D

2.)It depends on what your definition of excessive opening and closing but yes, in theory, constantly opening and closing your knives will shorten their lifespan. Look at it this way. When two surfaces move against one another friction occurs, when friction occurs wear occurs. More movement = more friction = more wear. Obviously we are talking about a lot of cycles to produce significant wear in a quality knife however, sooner or later it will wear down. That said I have knives that have been in constant use for over 13 yrs that are still going strong (including a spyderco). If you have a nervous habit that you need to play with something buy a clicker or something.

3.)Based on #2 purchase some lubricant for your knife it will help in the wear dept. Use the search button on this forum and study what others use. Use some reasoning as what will be best for your knife in your normal situations and get some lube accordingly.

4.)Start thinking sharpener. That knife which is super sharp now will get dull. If you let it get really dull it will be harder to get back to that level. Part of knife maint. is keeping it sharp. Again use the search function however the Spyderco Sharpmaker is a good one to look at and easy to use.

5.)With all this said USE YOUR KNIFE. Enjoy it.

6.)Hang around here and you will meet some fine people, gain extraordinary amounts of knowledge and get more and more addicted.
 
1. play with it for a day
2. Cut ur self in the first hour
3. fix wound
4. play with it more
5. cut ur self again adn throw knife in anger (really ur angry at urself not the knife)
6. run with it as fast as u can.
7 put it in a safe place
8. go to bed u have had a long day and lost alot of blood.....
 
Learn to sharpen it. Never let it get dull. It will be safer and more enjoyable to use and will last a lot longer.
 
Dextr0z said:
I just bought my first real knives and my EDC one being a Spyderco Cara Cara G-10. ....What I want to know is 1) What should I do as soon as I take my knives out of their boxes. 2) Does my habit of opening and closing a lot harm the knife in the long run?QUOTE]

In reverse order.
2) opening and closing a lot does not hurt the knife.

1) YMMV but one of the first things I usually do is sharpen the blade, even if it seems quite sharp out of the box. When I look at most new blades under a 5x lens, I see fine grind marks. (I buy the less expensive Spydercos etc. I have no Byrds so I don't know if they also have such grind marks.) IMO these weaken the edge so that it does not retain its sharpness as long as if there were no grind marks. If I find grind marks, I sharpen the new blade until I can no longer see the marks using a 5x lens. If you do not know how to sharpen, a Spyderco Sharpmaker is easy and anyone can use it.

Whether or not you feel a need to sharpen immediately, as several have said, you should learn to sharpen.

Enjoy your new blade!
Click to expand...
 
nate1714 said:
1. play with it for a day
2. Cut ur self in the first hour
3. fix wound
4. play with it more
5. cut ur self again adn throw knife in anger (really ur angry at urself not the knife)
6. run with it as fast as u can.
7 put it in a safe place
8. go to bed u have had a long day and lost alot of blood.....
Click to expand...

This cracked me up since I've always considered a knife "new" until I've cut myself with it (hopefully only once!).

Just started carrying a sweet mini-Copperlock and nicked myself the first day; I think I got off lucky this time...
 
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