FFG Delica Issue, Need Some Input

[D1omedes]

From what I understand, the warranty says that it's void if you take it apart AND cause it to be damaged. If you stripped a screw, then you took it apart AND caused the damage. If you just take it apart and put it back together then start using it and the blade snaps under what should be normal circumstances, then your warranty still applies.

After all, they do sell the Delica and Endura replacement parts kits, right?

Yes, you're right.

I just don't like to think that I damaged one of my Spydies.

Word to the wise, beware of loctite. My first Delica came from the factory with that on the screws and I'm sure that's what contributed to me stripping one. Use a blow dryer or soldering iron to loosen any potential loctite before disassembly.

 

[Moondrop]

To be honest, I probably jumped the gun on this thread anyways as the lock already seems to be smoothing out slowly but surely. The rockiness is fading bit by bit... still there but lessened. Granted the people around me are going crazy with all the clicking. Probably actuated the lock 300 times in the past few days ha.

This thread has been especially interesting to me as I just recently got a Delica 1 and it had what I'd call a kind of grittiness at first. The knife itself seems as if it was never used and now I'm thinking maybe that grittiness is why or at least part of the reason. It was part of a lot I bought that included a Victorinox SwissTool that also seemed like it had never been used.

Anyway, it was gritty and kinda tight, so I just started working it open and closed over and over and it's gotten much smoother. I've got a couple of other issues with this knife, but they don't belong here.

 

[THG]

Anyway, it was gritty and kinda tight, so I just started working it open and closed over and over and it's gotten much smoother.

Same here. In the past 3 days alone, mine has become much, much smoother.

 

[TTTis]

Same here. In the past 3 days alone, mine has become much, much smoother.

I appreciate the advice on that, I've been working on this thing a lot since the start of this thread. On Friday there were three what I call "hiccups" on the way to full lock. Now there is only one... in two days it has improved that much, I'm assuming in another few that spot will be gone. Very cool.

Jumped the gun on this thread, but will probably serve as some nice info for future users.

 

[THG]

So how is yours coming along? Mine opens pretty damn smooth, now, and I can give it that "flick" to bring the blade down and close it single-handed.

 

[TTTis]

So how is yours coming along? Mine opens pretty damn smooth, now, and I can give it that "flick" to bring the blade down and close it single-handed.

Yo,

Is that referring to your brown ffg? Mine seems to be coming along pretty well, it still has that last little "bump" but seems to be getting better by the day. The bump is far less severe than when I first got it. And when I first got it, it seemed to have about three bumps, so now it is only down to one. Overall it is definitely smoothing out.

Are you doing anything other than just opening and closing? Oiling or anything like that?

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[THG]

Yo,

Is that referring to your brown ffg? Mine seems to be coming along pretty well, it still has that last little "bump" but seems to be getting better by the day. The bump is far less severe than when I first got it. And when I first got it, it seemed to have about three bumps, so now it is only down to one. Overall it is definitely smoothing out.

Are you doing anything other than just opening and closing? Oiling or anything like that?

Thanks again for the advice.

Yeah, this is my brown FFG D4. I do open and close it. One thing I do is unlock it, move it forward just a tiny bit (so that the lock bar touches the tang, but it's held unlocked), and then close it the rest of the way with my thumb. I do that because there is still some rockiness in closing at that part.

As far as oiling, I did give it my bi-monthly treatment. I wash the entire knife, then I heat it up with a hair dryer and let it cool. Then I get some gun oil in a syringe, open the knife until a little bit before it locks into place, and then I put some oil in the cutout of the notch where the lock bar locks into the tang. I put the oil in both sides. I also put a very small amount on the tang itself.

 

[TTTis]

One thing I do is unlock it, move it forward just a tiny bit (so that the lock bar touches the tang, but it's held unlocked), and then close it the rest of the way with my thumb. I do that because there is still some rockiness in closing at that part.

Ok I actually just recently (in the last day) started to do that too. That is exactly where the bump is on mine too. The bump seems to be lessened, but it is still there. I think just unlocking it that little bit will help with that.

As far as oiling, I did give it my bi-monthly treatment. I wash the entire knife, then I heat it up with a hair dryer and let it cool. Then I get some gun oil in a syringe, open the knife until a little bit before it locks into place, and then I put some oil in the cutout of the notch where the lock bar locks into the tang. I put the oil in both sides. I also put a very small amount on the tang itself.

Ok cool, I will have to make that a routine myself. Thank you. I'm excited for this knife to get glassy smooth, I know it is not far away.

 

[FlaMtnBkr]

It seems like if you want the lock bar to wear the tang in so that it gets real smooth, that adding oil to reduce friction would increase the time to wear in. I have never had to do that so I don't know, just seems like lubrication doing it's thing would be counter productive in this case.

 

[THG]

It seems like if you want the lock bar to wear the tang in so that it gets real smooth, that adding oil to reduce friction would increase the time to wear in. I have never had to do that so I don't know, just seems like lubrication doing it's thing would be counter productive in this case.

Yeah, I had thought of that... I just don't like seeing black metal on the tang being ground off lol

 

[TTTis]

It seems like if you want the lock bar to wear the tang in so that it gets real smooth, that adding oil to reduce friction would increase the time to wear in. I have never had to do that so I don't know, just seems like lubrication doing it's thing would be counter productive in this case.

Definitely agree with you on that one, but I'm kinda in the same boat as THG. I did take the knife apart today to clean it and stripped all the oil off. I just put a tiny amount on there, I'm thinking it will speed it along a little better.

Who knows, maybe some people who have done it will come in here to comment.

 

[Lord Bear]

Just some suggestions.
1) For now don't disassemble until you can be sure of the warranty issue.
2) Seems not to be grit, but in case it is, flushing it out might help. Over oil the pivot and tang, work the blade and keep wiping off what comes out. That would be the black gunk that appears at the joins/edges of surfaces. Should be present along the backlock/spine of handle area as well as around the pivot.
3) Tighten/loosen the pivot screw while doing #2.
4) Then try cleaning with soap/water/compressed air.

I've only had gritty/irregular opening issues several times out of many dozens of folders in the last 20 years. Flushing with something like Tuf-Glide by Sentry Solutions (my preferred brand) worked every time and eliminated having to accelerate wear and tear by opening/closing many, many times just to get it to smooth out.
By the way I don't think the OP jumped the gun on posting this thread. After all, enquiring minds want to know and where better to get good advice than on a knife forum?
Edit: Whoops! Already been disassembled. My bad. Ignore #1.

 

[TTTis]

Just some suggestions.
1) For now don't disassemble until you can be sure of the warranty issue.
2) Seems not to be grit, but in case it is, flushing it out might help. Over oil the pivot and tang, work the blade and keep wiping off what comes out. That would be the black gunk that appears at the joins/edges of surfaces. Should be present along the backlock/spine of handle area as well as around the pivot.
3) Tighten/loosen the pivot screw while doing #2.
4) Then try cleaning with soap/water/compressed air.

I've only had gritty/irregular opening issues several times out of many dozens of folders in the last 20 years. Flushing with something like Tuf-Glide by Sentry Solutions (my preferred brand) worked every time and eliminated having to accelerate wear and tear by opening/closing many, many times just to get it to smooth out.
By the way I don't think the OP jumped the gun on posting this thread. After all, enquiring minds want to know and where better to get good advice than on a knife forum?
Edit: Whoops! Already been disassembled. My bad. Ignore #1.

Ha yes, I've already disassembled and cleaned it out real good. I think that actually did help a good bit. It is definitely in the tang, if you run your finger over it you can actually feel the bump.

When I first started this thread even when I opened the knife quickly I felt those bumps in the tang. Now I don't feel them at all when the knife is opened quickly. I just feel them in the slow opening and it is only one bump instead of three. But even that one bump has been greatly reduced so it is coming along.

I've just been using mineral oil on the knife and it seems to work pretty well.

Thanks for the tips, especially on cleaning the grit out. I believe that will come in handy in the future.

 

[Creepo]

I have the same thing in my blue and in my gf's green one. It doesn't really stop when opening but it feels like it bumped onto something on the way, and this is with heavy lubrication. When looking at it in good light you can see the reflection jump, so there is some imperfection on the tang, it's definitely not perfectly round. Personally I don't mind it, I can still flick it open and it doesn't feel as gritty now as it did before. There is still some breaking in to do, but comparing to the green one (that has pretty much been sitting on the shelf) there is definitely some improvement, but still nowhere near as silky as my Rock Lobster (but that's a linerlock at a whole different price point).

 

[TTTis]

I'm not the most patient guy, so I decided to take some action to speed things along. I used some sandpaper (I think medium grit) to grind down the bump in the tang and then smoothed out the entire tang with some fine paper.... finished it off with some good lubrication. The action is now like glass and feels like my brothers older D3. It really didn't take much at all to get rid of the bump and would probably work itself out in time. Hah, some are more patient than others I tend to lean towards the "I want it now" side.

 

[THG]

Haha, I like how this thread has been a "work in progress." Mine is pretty damn smooth now. It's not close to my ZDP D4, but it's getting there. It's much, much smoother than when I first got it. Now I can easily give it that "forward flick" to unlock and close the blade.

I would try the sandpaper, but I like my knife to "grow out of its childhood" through its life experiences

 

[TTTis]

I would try the sandpaper, but I like my knife to "grow out of its childhood" through its life experiences

Haha, I know... I tried. I really wanted it to progress naturally, but my damn instant gratification mindset came into play and I couldn't take it anymore!

 

[Franz_N]

My FFG delica doesn't open very smoothly either, yesterday i swapped the blade with my other regular delica because i like the british racing green FRN color more than the grey from my FFG delica.

Both tangs looked just fine, and my FFG blade opened very smoothly on the green FRN handle. My regular delica blade on the grey FRN handle was extremely rough to open, more so than with the FFG blade, even with the pivot screw off. I think it may be the lock bar on the FFG delica handles that is the problem. Just thought i'd share with you guys.