Getting back that "SNAP"

S

stupidhead

Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
48
Is there a way, on some old folder I have, to revitalize the SNAP the knives had when new? Some of the knives I have look to be mint, but the blades just sort of sluggishly shut. I'd love to re-invigorate them.
 
stupidhead said:
Any kind of oil? Would a quick squirt of WD40 work?
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Do not use WD-40 for that usage. WD-40 is composed of a viscous oil cut with solvent. When the solvent evaporates, you are left with gooey stuff. Bad juju.

3-in-1 works good. That one is pure oil.
 
WD 40 does not leave a gooey residue. It dissolves existing oils and dirt. If it is not flushed completely the old oil and crud form a goo. Use more WD 40 and make sure it's flushed completely. Dry and then oil. Using a toothpick to pull some of the crud out helps.
Bill
 
Bill DeShivs said:
WD 40 does not leave a gooey residue. It dissolves existing oils and dirt. If it is not flushed completely the old oil and crud form a goo. Use more WD 40 and make sure it's flushed completely. Dry and then oil. Using a toothpick to pull some of the crud out helps.
Bill
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You are correct. It does not leave a gooey residue if it is flushed away or cleaned up with rags. It is excellent for cleaning. For lubrication I recommend a pure oil.
 
Just out of curiousness, what's the best way to make sure all the WD-40 is flushed from the pivot? Would canned air work?
 
Brake parts cleaner. But a little WD 40 left on won't hurt anything.
Bill
 
I've found pipe cleaners to work well at removing gunk from inside my folders. Usually a drop of Hoppes lubricating oil at the pivot(s) is enough to flush out and lubricate them, although this one old imperial might be getting a hot sopay bath in the near future as it just won't clean out that grinding noise.
 
freekboi said:
Just out of curiousness, what's the best way to make sure all the WD-40 is flushed from the pivot? Would canned air work?
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wiping with a Q-tip would work if you can get it in to the pivot. A rag such as a piece of T-shirt material would also. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just the last step of your knife cleaning process should be a drop of regular oil rather than WD-40.

WD-40 is not really designed to be a lubricant. It is supposed to displace water and leave a protective film. It does those things extremely well. But what you want at the very end of your process is to lubricate the pin. So you want a standard lubricating oil. 3-in-one works. Or you can use a low viscosity machine oil such as for a sewing machine.
 
Thanks for all the tips. I used wd-40 to clean the knife off. I tried to keep it off the bone handle . . . then I used toothpicks to get all the gunk out (as much as possible - it was already pretty dang clean). But now I've gotten "snap" back in all three blades. It's not as good as new, but a lot better than it was. I then used a drop of oil for each of the blade pivots. Thanks so much for all the information.
 
keep em oiled, if the tangs wear down too much, you'll lose all the snap and the blades will get sloppy when fully open

this could take a while, so YMMV
 
Some words of warning.

If you are going to use canned air to blow out your folders after using Wd40 or whatever , make sure you do not have your face near it and wear some sort of glasses.
I have blown CLP back up into my face before and that was no fun..... You ever taste CLP ? :barf:
 
CLP in the old oculus is no fun either, although it was designed to be non-toxic, or so I frantically read on the back.

As far as keeping the snappiness in opening, +1 on cleaning the goop out and oiling. WD40 may be fine for the thorough, but a Q tip cleaning and some tetra grease or a similar lubricant will probably suffice, or at least be a good start.
 
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