Dissasembling vs not dissasembling knives when cleaning

C

Conrad smith

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Apr 18, 2020
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Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I hope you can forgive me if I make any mistakes :)
I'd like to hear what each of your preferences are regarding cleaning your knives, specifically whether or not you dissasemble your knives or not, and how you go about cleaning them.

Stay safe and well all. :thumbsup:
 
Welcome. I'm over 50 years old and have carried all kinds of knives in all kinds of places and done all kinds of things with them and I have never disassembled a knife for cleaning. I have knives I exclusively carried and used daily for years and never took them apart.

Now, the flipper and fidgeting stuff has never been my thing so maybe I'm less sensitive to "lightening fast" deployment and "drop shutty" action. I can however, finger-flick open almost all of my Spydercos and they've never been taken down.
 
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Bill DeShivs said:
As a professional cutler, I have said many times that the screws in modern knives are for ASSEMBLY, not disassembly.
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Thanks for the input everyone :) Yes I've always thought that keeping them together is the option, but so many people think dissasebling knives is the way, so it does get confusing. I remeber my first knife was a ganzo and I never took it apart, I just cleaned with soap and water and used a hairdryer to dry it and then added a drop of oil. Trouble is when I did have to take it apart as it developed alot of issues I discovered alot of rust under the liners and clip and little places you can't see.

Is there a way to get around this?
 
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Conrad smith said:
Thanks for the input everyone :) Yes I've always thought that keeping them together is the option, but so many people think dissasebling knives is the way, so it does get confusing. I remeber my first knife was a ganzo and I never took it apart, I just cleaned with soap and water and used a hairdryer to dry it and then added a drop of oil. Trouble is when I did have to take it apart as it developed alot of issues I discovered alot of rust under the liners and clip and little places you can't see.

Is there a way to get around this?
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To start, don't buy Ganzo's. They are clones and they suck.
 
To be honest I just squirt soap all over the knife and into it. Wash it out with water. I usually wave the knife around to get the water out (it’s not as stupid or dangerous as it sounds). Then oil and I’m done.
I’ve done this with knives with bearings and washers. I never had problems with finding rust when I do take the knives apart.
 
Richard Coyle said:
To be honest I just squirt soap all over the knife and into it. Wash it out with water. I usually wave the knife around to get the water out (it’s not as stupid or dangerous as it sounds). Then oil and I’m done.
I’ve done this with knives with bearings and washers. I never had problems with finding rust when I do take the knives apart.
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Yeah I think it's safe to say that method works great, but I think it was my knife that was the problem lol.
 
I have been playing with knives for around 50 years and have never had the need to take one apart. Until very recently almost all knives were permanently pinned at the factory. It looks like either some of the modern designs are excessively weak or some of the younger users are excessively fidgeting.

n2s
 
I have only disassembled a knife once. I never got it back together. I think I threw out tHe resulting box of parts in my last move 10 years ago. I only have the knife sized torex screwdriver to remove loose screws to apply lock-tight and replace.
 
I like to take anything apart if it is not too invasive. If a knifemaker can't put some good screws in their knives then I will never buy another knife from them. How can I trust the steel in the blade if the screws are junk??
 
I don't bother taking them apart to clean. I just wash them in soapy water when doing dishes. Dry it out as good as possible, then oil. I've only taken them apart to replace springs or change scales. Not worth the hassle just for regular cleaning.
 
not2sharp said:
I have been playing with knives for around 50 years and have never had the need to take one apart. Until very recently almost all knives were permanently pinned at the factory. It looks like either some of the modern designs are excessively weak or some of the younger users are excessively fidgeting.

n2s
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Yes this is very interesting to me. For hundreds of years knives have always been pinned together, I'm not sure what made the majority of company's switch to screws, and then saying in their warranty you can't take them apart, and I can't see how making screws can be cheaper than having pinned knives.
Does anyone have any information about this, I and I'm sure many others would love to know?
Thanks for the input everyone, very intresting :)
 
I have taken several apart to clean and/or remove rust or corrosion.

In some instances it was a choice I made to extend the life of my knife.

An recent example was a Delica. The liners had rust on both sides. Took it apart, sanded and polished, put it back together. Not that big of a deal if you take your time and use quality tools.

Next up is a Griptillian that is rusting on the liners, and a ZDP-189 Stretch. For me, it’s just part of the deal to pull them apart for maintenance.

Not all knives need this done, but when I see corrosion I like to address it.
 
dannyp said:
I don't bother taking them apart to clean. I just wash them in soapy water when doing dishes. Dry it out as good as possible, then oil. I've only taken them apart to replace springs or change scales. Not worth the hassle just for regular cleaning.
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You don't dry it with compressed air? I would, and then I would heat it up with my heat gun.
 
MolokaiRider said:
I have taken several apart to clean and/or remove rust or corrosion.

In some instances it was a choice I made to extend the life of my knife.

An recent example was a Delica. The liners had rust on both sides. Took it apart, sanded and polished, put it back together. Not that big of a deal if you take your time and use quality tools.

Next up is a Griptillian that is rusting on the liners, and a ZDP-189 Stretch. For me, it’s just part of the deal to pull them apart for maintenance.

Not all knives need this done, but when I see corrosion I like to address it.
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Definatly a good point, if you have the right tools and take your time you should be fine. Yes I've only really taken my knives apart if I can see evidence of rust, or if cleaning won't help to free up the movement.
 
000Robert said:
You don't dry it with compressed air? I would, and then I would heat it up with my heat gun.
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Nah. I do use straight hot water when rinsing it off, so what I don't get off with a paper towel air dries pretty quickly. This is for modern knives with stainless steel and synthetic handles. I wouldn't do that with a carbon steel slipjoint.
 
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