Cleaning a SAK

afultz075

afultz075

Joined
Sep 2, 2006
Messages
486
I put some Tuf-Glide on the pivot of the knife on my SAK One-Hand Trekker to see if I could smooth it up a bit. Big mistake! The action now feels very gritty and I wish I would've just used synthetic air tool oil like i've been using forever. I am going to have to flush the pivot with water to get this stuff out. Even though SAK steel is extremely hard to rust, I fear the water will lay in the crevaces and take forever to evaporate, resulting in rust. What's the best method to flush it out and ensure there's no rust? I know WD-40 is a good water displacer but some synthetics hate it, so I don't know how the black scales on the OHT will hold up to it.
 
The best method is an air compressor, the second best would be to clean wipe it off with a towel and get off as much moisture as possible, open all of the tools all of the way (leaving them partially open is very bad for backsprings, completely open returns them to rest), and use a hairdryer (don't let it get too hot, low or medium heat for more time rather than high heat for short periods. Then, if you're really worried, leave the tool open in sunlight so that airflow and the warmth of the sun can evaporate the water. Really though, don't worry. SAK's are very resilient, and you could always just spray some WD-40 into the joints to remove the water.
 
Good advice. Like I said, the only worry I have about the WD-40 is if it will eat away at the black scales of the OHT.
 
WD 40 shouldn't hurt it. Wash the knife with diswashing detergent and hot water. Towel it dry, then shake it to sling out as much water as you can. Then use the WD 40, liberally flushing all parts of the knife. Dry with paper towels. Then lubricate.
Bill
 
I put some GunSlick graphite grease on my sak. Get oil on your leg or get it on your knife. Not on the leg too little on the knife or too much grease on the knife and the knife will get gritty.
 
The recommended procedure for cleaning out SAKs from Victorinox is for you to get a large bowl of lukewarm water with dishwashing detergent. Then open and close your blades/tools repeatedly in the water. This will allow any grit/dust etc. to fluch out of the pivots. After the blade action feels fairly smooth again, rinse the knife out with pure water. Dry the blades etc, and then use a hair-dryer at lowest setting and blow at all pivots etc -- keep the dryer moving. You could also leave in the sunlight as suggested.

This worked really well for me when I got some sand in the pivots of my SAKs and in cleaning out old abandoned SAKs that I've picked up in the past.

You may want to oil the pivots after washing and drying. However, I suggest that in this case, less is more. Putting in too much oil in my experience attracts lint etc.

Hope this helps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top