Finally taking the next steps..

Lord_Balkan

Lord_Balkan

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Aug 25, 2016
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I think I am finally taking the next steps and will begin trying to disassemble and do maintenance on my knives. Does anyone have any tips for someone new at this? Also, what is the consensus on lubrication?

For reference, I have

BM 810-1404
BM Megumi
ZT 0450
ZT 0452
Small Sebenza 21
BM Bedlam
BM 531
BM 710-1404

Thanks!

EDIT: By maintenance I mean keeping a sharp knife sharp and re-lubing to improve the action.
 
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Have a brightly lit work area, be well organized, have a tray to put things in so they won't roll off the table and make sure there are no pets in the room. Also, my personal experience is that disassembly and maintenance is very, very rarely actually necessary, but it's nice to practice and know how to for the rare occasions when it is (also it's yet another excuse to mess with knives :D).

On lubrication, I generally avoid it. Overusing a lubricant will actually help trap dirt and dust, and lubricant is mostly useful to avoid friction that will cause heat and damage the mechanism in question. With knives that's not really a problem, so I lube mine about as often as I lube my door hinges and for the same reasons.
 
Great suggestions and I'll add one more.......good tools!! Don't cheap out on the Torx set!! Wiha makes excellent ones!
Joe
 
One more thing.
I like to have a magnet on hand. Helps keep the really small screws under control. I have also found dropped screws more than once with a magnet
 
Sharpening does not require disassembly. I agree with the above suggestions for your disassembly. I have never used a lubricant on my modern folders. On slipjoints I use a light mineral oil.

Benchmade sells their own brand of lubricant/cleaner, Blue Lube Cleanser and Blue Lube Lubricant. I have never used either of them.

Some people prefer a grease rather than an oil. I have seen a lot of recommendations for Nano Oil and Tuff Glide but I have used neither.
 
Maintenance and lubrication is something that needs to be done. I have no problem disassembling a knife if needed and feel completely confident doing so. That said, I just don't feel the need to do so 95% of the time.

Normally, I can clean a knife as good as I need it just by using hot water, liquid soap, some q-tips and paper towels, and an old toothbrush if there is gunk in the handle texture. I start by working liquid soap into the pivot and open and close the knife a bunch and rub soap over the rest of the knife and sometimes let it sit a while if something seems to have dried out and gotten hard. Then just clean with the various items to get down into all the right spots. Then rinse well with hot water working the blade open and closed. Then I sling the knife to throw at as much water as possible. If you used warm water it should evaporate fairly quickly but you can use compressed air if you want it to dry quickly or if there is carbon steel that will rust quickly. A can of compressed air for electronics will work if you don't have a compressor.

What to use as lube is a highly debated topic and really comes down to what you think works best. I usually just use whatever I have on hand that is a light oil and put one drop on each side of the blade pivot and wipe up any excess.

The issue with taking the knife apart every time as I see it, is that there are lots of small screws that are fairly delicate and they can start to get the head stripped out after being cranked on a few times. You also need to have a feel for how much you can torque them before risking damage which you will get over time. Most have thread locker on them and can make them difficult to remove. A soldering iron with the hot tip held on the screw for a couple seconds will usually soften up the thread locker until it cools back down. It also isn't a bad idea to have a bottle of blue non permanent thread locker (loctite is a common brand) for any screws that want to loosen up on their own. I've really only had this happen with the pivot screw. You can also use fingernail polish if in a pinch.

Check out the maintenance and tinkering forum for lots of good info and if you want to get more opinions on a lube to use.
 
I use nano oil 10 on my knives, much better stuff than Tuff Glide IMO, on my Sebs I use the fluorinated grease, if you have the right tools, taking apart the knives is real easy I recommend Wiha bits, torx and hex, I always clean my knives, when I just get them, most of them don't have any lubrication at all, it makes a diffrence
 
I used to take apart knives fairly regularly but came to the realization that it is rarely needed. I haven't taken a knife apart in a few years except to change scales or replace a torsion bar.

Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
 
I agree with unwisefool, it is rarely necessary to disassemble a knife. Some of my most used knives have never been taken apart.

Anyways, for disassembly I'd recommend a set of Wiha drivers and a magnetic tray. For lube, I just put a few drops of Tuf-Glide in the pivot every now and then. Sharpening is done with a ceramic stone or DMT.
 
Agree. Disassembly usually does no good to folders such that it should be avoided if possible. There is a good reason why makers like Spyderco discourages people from taking apart their folding knives.
 
Wiha drivers are tops and I'm also a huge fan of nano oil. The applicators works great and my knifes got noticeably smoother after I started apply it.
 
I think I will pick up the nano oil and the wiha drivers then. I know I don't need to disassemble my knives but I'd like to try to tweak the action and make them as best as they can be.
 
If you're getting the Wihas go ahead and get a duplicate set. Lots of double sided stuffs.
 
I use dish soap, warm water, and compressed air. No need to disassemble. Disinfect with isopropyl alcohol if needed. I add a drop of mineral oil in the pivot of traditional slipjoints. Easy as that.
 
Blues Bender said:
I agree with unwisefool, it is rarely necessary to disassemble a knife. Some of my most used knives have never been taken apart.

Anyways, for disassembly I'd recommend a set of Wiha drivers and a magnetic tray. For lube, I just put a few drops of Tuf-Glide in the pivot every now and then. Sharpening is done with a ceramic stone or DMT.
Click to expand...

Do you use the tuff glide on your CRKs also? I feel like the fluorinated grease works the best on those applications.
 
kniferbro said:
If you're getting the Wihas go ahead and get a duplicate set. Lots of double sided stuffs.
Click to expand...

Yup!!!
They are inexpensive enough to get doubles and sometimes, ZT, you need 2 tools to adjust the pivot.......no locking side.
 
Before I disassemble I will shoot a bit of brake cleaner in the trouble spot. That stuff eats gunk for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and breakfast.
 
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