Curious to what others think about disassembling your knives

I had to dissasemble my new griptilian today because it would bind every fourth or fifth opening. I mean going from blade freefall when releasing the axis lock to barely moving with some wrist action. The pivot was gucked up with whatever locktite material they used and it needed to be cleaned out. I also noticed that the washers had a some rough spots so i polished them up. A light film of oil and it opens and closes like butta.

Ten minutes of my time i didnt have to send it back, and wait, and maybe get one back just like it. Its a win/win for me. I dont care about the warranty. If i cant do what i want with my knife then i shouldnt buy it. I also dont subscribe to "screw it up and blame the manufacturer". Reminds me of a zt880 thread.
 
If you take care of it, it'll take care of you.

If It's not broken, don't fix it.

Those are the two that I live by.
 
Ever see someone try to close a framelock by pushing in on the lockbar?
Would you want that person dissembling your knife? Especially if you were liable to fix it if they messed it up?
 
I don't think there is anything wrong with disassembling knives if you are competent enough to execute your cleaning mods and or reassembly properly. I think that companies that say disassembly voids the warranty really means disammembling and then messing it up isn't covered.
 
Scottie3000 said:
I don't think there is anything wrong with disassembling knives if you are competent enough to execute your cleaning mods and or reassembly properly. I think that companies that say disassembly voids the warranty really means disammembling and then messing it up isn't covered.
Click to expand...

Sure, just don't go asking for warranty when you mess up the assembly. I dunno, are most people honest enough to admit that they messed up their knives when asked by the manufacturer?

I hang out sometimes at a car dealership with the mechanics and technicians. You wouldn't believe what people claim was wrong with their paint jobs that wasn't there when the cars were previously inspected.
 
I've taken a few apart when I waned to mod them in some way, or when they had accumulated years of grime, or just because i was curious. I took apart two Enduras to do a blade swap...a mistake I will not make again. You need four hands and a fixture to reinstall that heavy spring correctly.

In all of these cases, I would have owned my mistake if I had broken them. In fact, I did when I screwed up my Kershaw Random Task: see here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-gotta-be-kidding-right?p=7564724#post7564724 I take some of my knives apart. I also change my own oil and brake pads in spite of the fact the people at the dealership constantly try to convince me they are the only ones who can do it correctly.

I understand and respect Spyderco's position on this, because I can only imagine how often someone sends them a bag of knife parts and asks for it to be reassembled as a "warranty repair."
 
Last edited:
Shotgun said:
My guess is that manufacturers got tired of repairing stripped screws or damage from improper reassembly.
Click to expand...
That plus the fact they only want to assemble a knife once and not have to do it all over again when someone sends them a box of parts.
 
X_shooter said:
I had to dissasemble my new griptilian today because it would bind every fourth or fifth opening. I mean going from blade freefall when releasing the axis lock to barely moving with some wrist action. The pivot was gucked up with whatever locktite material they used and it needed to be cleaned out. I also noticed that the washers had a some rough spots so i polished them up. A light film of oil and it opens and closes like butta.

Ten minutes of my time i didnt have to send it back, and wait, and maybe get one back just like it. Its a win/win for me. I dont care about the warranty. If i cant do what i want with my knife then i shouldnt buy it. I also dont subscribe to "screw it up and blame the manufacturer". Reminds me of a zt880 thread.
Click to expand...
I believe J.D. made an excellent video to fix a similar issue.
[video=youtube;nSrmTWo4mgY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSrmTWo4mgY[/video]
 
I presume that the disassembly question refers to relatively recent folding knives that are assembled with bolts and other threaded fasteners. This does not apply to most older folding knives which were riveted or pressed in pin construction. My Buck 110 and similar style low serial number Schrade are such knives and I suspect that few owners are equipped to disassemble them. The same for swiss army knives or most Case and similar construction folding slip joint knives.

For the newer ones which allow disassembly I have not done so to any of mine yet other than some blade pivot adjustments but if it is needed I will probably give it a try.
 
singularity35 said:
Sure, just don't go asking for warranty when you mess up the assembly. I dunno, are most people honest enough to admit that they messed up their knives when asked by the manufacturer?

I hang out sometimes at a car dealership with the mechanics and technicians. You wouldn't believe what people claim was wrong with their paint jobs that wasn't there when the cars were previously inspected.
Click to expand...

Most are honest. But there is still a number of people will try to weasel their way out of paying. Overall I would say the weasels are in the minority.
To be honest when they weasel: we stand firm on charging.
When they offer to pay, then depending on the circumstance we wave the fee.
 
goodeyesniper said:
you are giving the average person way too much credit, man. You probably also think there's no way anyone would ever put open ended lugnuts on their car backwards, or the WHOLE SPARE WHEEL/TIRE on in reverse, etc... etc... but if you work in the real world, dealing with the average person you come across situations like this every day. Believe it or not, but it is extremely common for someone to use the wrong size torx, worn out drivers, or way overtighten a screw causing stripped head or threads. Not to mention lost screws/washers. Common sense and a tiny bit of technical know how are becoming more and more rare.

I really can't fault a company for taking a stance against disassembly, especially because disassembly is completely unnecessary in 99% of the cases, and the vast majority of knife users never take apart a knife just for cleaning/maintenance. It's like taking the head off of your engine block to change the oil. Yeah, it's kind of crappy that people like you who do know what they are doing face a penalty for taking apart a knife, but if they are discouraging this process in the first place, then playing making an exception for you only encourages more people to do it.

If people want to be OCD and take their knives apart for no reason, then they might have to realize they might face additional consequences. And if a knife is broken in the first place, it should be sent in to be taken apart, not taken apart yourself.

my two cents.
Click to expand...

Gotta agree, I am a production supervisor at an automotive manufacturing factory now, but I have been with the company for awhile now and have done about every job you can on building these cars. Knives are like cars in a sense, both have a lot of man hours going in them, both have skilled workers trained to assembly them to make sure you get a quality product the 1st time, and both will not warranty If you go out here and make modifications to your car or knife and expect it to be on the companies dime that's laughable. That being said some people are mechanically inclined and can look at something , tear it down and put it back together exactly the way it was no problem, I gotta say these people are in the minority, Some people can mess up a steel ball with a glass hammer, these people also a minority.

Most people fall somewhere in the middle, they have decent mechanical skills, Can certainly take some knives apart and put it back together, but can't others depending on their skill level, I have taken apart knives, but only when they get dirty and I can't clean them properly with the knife together, I understand that a knife company is not going to warranty your mistakes just as an auto maker won't honor your mods to your vehicle, But I recently contacted a knife company with a question and that question was, Your policy is that If i disassemble my knife the warranty is voided correct? Person replied That's correct, I said O.K well I'll be shipping the knife in to you guys for a "spa" treatment as It's a carbon steel blade and I may have some rust around the pivot , I don't want to void my warranty , So what can you guys do for me? The person replied nothing really, Just apply some rust inhibitor and be very careful and take care not to leave your knife wet or anything else that would cause rust. WHAT??? I said you guys will void my warranty if I take it apart but YOU people won't take it apart and check it for me? She said that is correct, Even though it is a ______ product, It is not made in our USA plant , so we don't have the parts on hand, to fix it if something needed to be replaced, at this point I was so mad I hung up the phone So I'm S.O.L on this paticular knife from the factory anyway so I guess I'll be taking it apart myself to inspect the pivot area, and do any cleaning/ rust removing myself since said company only stands behind their USA made knives.
 
I don't care either way about the manufacturer's warranty. As far as I'm concerned, once I have a knife in my hands it's never leaving me, even if it has a manufacturer's defect as soon as I open the box. I don't have any "investment" knives, and I don't have any billion dollar custom knives. Sure, if it ain't broke don't fix it. But if it IS broke, you can be damn sure I'm gonna be the one to fix it ;)
 
Allen R. That sounds like a fairly common Spyderco response. I like their knives but their warranty / customer service needs work, though it does sound like they are getting better lately. They are actually sending out some small parts like washers and screws which they used to not do. I am making an assumption you are talking about Spyderco but would be surprised to hear I'm wrong.

I've owned close to 75 of their knives and had some problems on brand new knives and gotten a couple ridiculous answers as a solution. I will keep buying them but I am just prepared to go without and return them when there is a problem and they won't stand behind them.
 
I think that manufacturers will often put conditions in their warranties just so they will have the option of saying "NO" to repair or replacement. And I don't hold that against them.

Personally, whether it's a knife, a gun, or a motorcycle, I like to be able to take my possessions apart down to their smallest pieces. I don't like the idea of my things "keeping secrets" from me. It's also a compulsion of self-reliance I have. I like knowing that I have the ability to fix my things if I have to without having to depend on others.

I don't take my knives apart for the fun of it. I only take them apart if I feel I have a good reason. For example, I like to have my pivots just a little loose, not sloppy loose, just not tight. As a result it's possible for dust and micro-grit to get in there and cause friction and abrasion. So if my knife has been exposed to such abrasive grit I will take it apart to give it a thorough cleaning. Otherwise I just clean them as best I can while they are still assembled.

Growing up my dad always told me "If you aren't sure that you can put something back together, don't go taking it apart. And if you take it apart anyways, don't come cryin' to me expecting me to fix it for you". My dad was a hard man. But sometimes that's a good thing.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Allen R. That sounds like a fairly common Spyderco response. I like their knives but their warranty / customer service needs work, though it does sound like they are getting better lately. They are actually sending out some small parts like washers and screws which they used to not do. I am making an assumption you are talking about Spyderco but would be surprised to hear I'm wrong.

I've owned close to 75 of their knives and had some problems on brand new knives and gotten a couple ridiculous answers as a solution. I will keep buying them but I am just prepared to go without and return them when there is a problem and they won't stand behind them.
Click to expand...

I don't want to Hijack the thread about the brand of the knife I was referring to but I'll be more than happy to share it via pm or email, (The company I was referring to has helped me out in the past , I had to send one knife in and they fixed it, and another one they just sent me the parts out for it), But if you are going to build knives overseas and not warranty them like you would the knives made here in the good old USA then they need to come with a disclaimer or something saying "hey if you have a problem we can't work on it" RANT OFF
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top