Help - Can't Open A Northfield 77

Vaporstang · Feb 29, 2016

I bought a Northfield 77 Harness Jack listed as new (which I do not doubt) and it is near impossible to open. The main blade is really hard to open and the leather working blade is near impossible. My thumbnail is going to take at least a day to recover before I can try again. This is not practical as a user... Is there anything that can be done to loosen it up? Suggestions? Thanks!

Kitten Party · Feb 29, 2016

I assume you oiled the joints?

Vaporstang · Feb 29, 2016

No - Not yet. I'm thinking it is the spring force that is too strong. But I will give that a try.

cbr1000 · Feb 29, 2016

Vaporstang said:
I bought a Northfield 77 Harness Jack listed as new (which I do not doubt) and it is near impossible to open. The main blade is really hard to open and the leather working blade is near impossible. My thumbnail is going to take at least a day to recover before I can try again. This is not practical as a user... Is there anything that can be done to loosen it up? Suggestions? Thanks!

From my experience, sometimes the new knifes have a bit of material in the joint. I drop some oil in the joint and work it for awhile. After working it you might see the oil work itself out with a bit of grey tint to it... wipe it away and repeat. This is all I've ever been able to do. For me, it makes it 5-10% easier to open by working in some oil and letting it drain out..repeat this a couple times. Other than that, cut your nail short and use it - over time it will become easier to use. I've read that you can clean it out with dishwashing soap, but I find using oil works fine. You might read leaving it open in different positions will make it easier to open but that didn't work for me. To sum it up, oil it - use it and you will be good after awhile.

Old Engineer · Feb 29, 2016

Vaporstang said:
I bought a Northfield 77 Harness Jack listed as new (which I do not doubt) and it is near impossible to open. The main blade is really hard to open and the leather working blade is near impossible. My thumbnail is going to take at least a day to recover before I can try again. This is not practical as a user... Is there anything that can be done to loosen it up? Suggestions? Thanks!

I use a wooden vice to clamp the blade and then move the handle to open the blade up. Then add some mineral oil and blow it out with compressed air while I wear Safety Glasses. Keep opening and closing it until it frees up or until the oil stays clean. I have never had a knife that never frees up. I have seen a few knives that were a little dirty. I also try to position my finger nail so that I actually am pushing the blade and not pulling it . Sounds stupid doesn't it ? Works for me though with my 77 Washington Harness Jack. Just working the blade over the sharp corners for the half and full stop will help some. If that does not do it , send it back.

Harry

Vaporstang · Feb 29, 2016

I was wondering about leaving it open in different positions to kind of relax the spring. Ok - I will try some oil first to clean it out and maybe some lithium grease to follow.

Vaporstang · Feb 29, 2016

Old Engineer said:
I use a wooden vice to clamp the blade and then move the handle to open the blade up. Then add some mineral oil and blow it out with compressed air while I wear Safety Glasses. Keep opening and closing it until it frees up or until the oil stays clean. I have never had a knife that never frees up. I have seen a few knives that were a little dirty. I also try to position my finger nail so that I actually am pushing the blade and not pulling it . Sounds stupid doesn't it ? Works for me though with my 77 Washington Harness Jack. Just working the blade over the sharp corners for the half and full stop will help some. If that does not do it , send it back.

Harry

Good to hear that you have worked the same knife. Thanks.

jc57 · Feb 29, 2016

I had a new GEC 15 that was so bad I thought I'd have to send it back to the dealer. Instead, I got the blade open, wrapped some blue painters tape around the blade several times, and then flushed the joint really well in HOT water with Dawn detergent, working the blade open and closed under water, swished it around, and rinsed it out real well. The heat of the water helps expand the metal a bit to make stuff come out easier, so make it as hot as you can stand putting your hand in.

Afterwards, I dried it out, blew some canned air in the joint, and then sprayed the joint with WD-40 to get rid of the rest of the water. Kept working it back and forth to work in the WD-40 and felt a little "crunch" like a grain of grit got crushed or something, and then all of a sudden it was smooth as silk.

Not saying you'd have the same results but it worked for me.

bflying · Feb 29, 2016

I have a 78 (American Jack) with a similar problem. Could not open either blade without pliers or significant damage to my strongest thumbnail. I had all kinds of suggestions to try from "send it back" to "work it" to "leave it open between full and half stop for weeks on end".

I opted for a pair of locking pliers, some protective leather, and many hours open/close tv. What else was there to do during some less than enthralling dish programming? At the time, most of my knives that needed KME lap sharpening had been done so. So this path would either endear me to the knife; or make me hate it.

At GEC, it probably would have taken only a second on a grinder, file, or lapping stone. But doing it myself also made it mine. The pull is still a heavy 8+, but doable if careful with thumbnail placement. Maybe someday I may try to locate some fine lapping paste, and work it a bit more. But for now, I can simply drop in my home made leather slip, and smile as I remember what a pain this beauty was when I received it. [emoji41]

My 78 on the left in pic.

marsturm · Feb 29, 2016

I have a GEC #73 liner lock that started out hard to open. I cleaned, oiled, and worked it, eventually it became impossible to open without risk of injury. I called GEC and they said to send it back for repairs. It took about 3 months but they repaired the knife and it is now usable.

Vaporstang · Feb 29, 2016

jc57 said:
I had a new GEC 15 that was so bad I thought I'd have to send it back to the dealer. Instead, I got the blade open, wrapped some blue painters tape around the blade several times, and then flushed the joint really well in HOT water with Dawn detergent, working the blade open and closed under water, swished it around, and rinsed it out real well. The heat of the water helps expand the metal a bit to make stuff come out easier, so make it as hot as you can stand putting your hand in.

Afterwards, I dried it out, blew some canned air in the joint, and then sprayed the joint with WD-40 to get rid of the rest of the water. Kept working it back and forth to work in the WD-40 and felt a little "crunch" like a grain of grit got crushed or something, and then all of a sudden it was smooth as silk.

Not saying you'd have the same results but it worked for me.

I don't know about water but maybe WD-40 which is pretty thin and able to penetrate and flush.

bflying said:
I have a 78 (American Jack) with a similar problem. Could not open either blade without pliers or significant damage to my strongest thumbnail. I had all kinds of suggestions to try from "send it back" to "work it" to "leave it open between full and half stop for weeks on end".

I opted for a pair of locking pliers, some protective leather, and many hours open/close tv. What else was there to do during some less than enthralling dish programming? At the time, most of my knives that needed KME lap sharpening had been done so. So this path would either endear me to the knife; or make me hate it.

At GEC, it probably would have taken only a second on a grinder, file, or lapping stone. But doing it myself also made it mine. The pull is still a heavy 8+, but doable if careful with thumbnail placement. Maybe someday I may try to locate some fine lapping paste, and work it a bit more. But for now, I can simply drop in my home made leather slip, and smile as I remember what a pain this beauty was when I received it. [emoji41]

My 78 on the left in pic.

I wonder if Flitz is not abrasive enough to work as a lapping compound followed by an oil flush. I'll try the more "non-intrusive" methods first.

marsturm said:
I have a GEC #73 liner lock that started out hard to open. I cleaned, oiled, and worked it, eventually it became impossible to open without risk of injury. I called GEC and they said to send it back for repairs. It took about 3 months but they repaired the knife and it is now usable.

Good to know they will take care of you - although I am not the original owner.

traumkommode · Mar 1, 2016

jc57 said:
I had a new GEC 15 that was so bad I thought I'd have to send it back to the dealer. Instead, I got the blade open, wrapped some blue painters tape around the blade several times, and then flushed the joint really well in HOT water with Dawn detergent, working the blade open and closed under water, swished it around, and rinsed it out real well. The heat of the water helps expand the metal a bit to make stuff come out easier, so make it as hot as you can stand putting your hand in.

Afterwards, I dried it out, blew some canned air in the joint, and then sprayed the joint with WD-40 to get rid of the rest of the water. Kept working it back and forth to work in the WD-40 and felt a little "crunch" like a grain of grit got crushed or something, and then all of a sudden it was smooth as silk.

Not saying you'd have the same results but it worked for me.

I have had very similar experiences, on GECs, Canal Streets, and Queens (Northwoods), the last of which was practically shedding brass hairs from the portion of the spring that flexes up.

SadSappySucker · Mar 1, 2016

I had the same experience with my 77 HJ. I had to use a screw driver to pry open the awl it was so stiff. I just pried open the awl and started flushing it with wd40. I did worked the awl for a while and then liberally oiled it. It worked wonders and settled in to a nice stiff but manageable pull.
I really miss that knife. I've been tempted to pick up another one, because I loved how sturdy the thing felt.

Good luck and drink lots of milk!

Fanglekai · Mar 1, 2016

Vaporstang said:
I don't know about water but maybe WD-40 which is pretty thin and able to penetrate and flush.

I wonder if Flitz is not abrasive enough to work as a lapping compound followed by an oil flush. I'll try the more "non-intrusive" methods first.

Good to know they will take care of you - although I am not the original owner.

I don't think their warranty is only for the original owner. I'd give them a call and see what they can do. A knife that's too hard to open isn't safe.

Bigfattyt · Mar 1, 2016

I love stiff springs. 8-9 on the pull scale is where I like them to start.

Many knives that I consider a 6 others consider unopenable. I had a big manly Swat officer tell me a few were unopenable, aND tore his nail. I opened them with my pinky nail.

I've had a few that had shavings in the action that made it nearly impossible to open.

You could send it to me. I'll open and close it a few thousand times and send it back.....

Kitten Party · Mar 1, 2016

I always use 3-1 oil to clean and mineral to maintain. For cleaning, like mentioned above, hot water and dish soap to flush everything whilst working the blade then oil, work more, ????, profit.

deltaboy · Mar 1, 2016

Dawn ,old tooth brush, hot water and WD-40. I taped up the blade on my Barlow and worked it nighty for 2 weeks before I could open it with out nail damage.

Vaporstang · Mar 1, 2016

Thanks for the help everyone. A lot of different options. I am deciding if I want to return it or try and work with it. I will update this thread with whatever I do and the results. Thanks again!

hamsco · Mar 1, 2016

GEC has repaired a knife for me when I was not the first owner. They had it back in less than a month, and did a great job.

Vaporstang · Mar 2, 2016

Update: I couldn't help myself and decided to work on it. I flushed the joints out with oil followed by a WD-40 knock-off and then oil again. I did this while working the blades. The WD-40 seemed to help the most, next time I'll use the WD-40 first. I did see some brass come out.

The Ugly
1) $%&# I cut myself good opening the son of a ........err opening the harness blade before I did anything else. It was just too stiff.
2) I still think it is crappy that the seller left this issue out of their description. (I did not buy it here on the Exchange.) Am I wrong? Of course I didn't ask either. I paid a premium for this.
3) I was /am extra frustrated because I am thinking about custom inlays for this one.

The Bad
1) I still think this is an unacceptable condition coming out of the factory. Am I wrong?
2) The oil / WD-40 treatment really helped the harness blade. I can open it now, but it is still too stiff in my opinion as a user. I can't see this being easy to use when in the middle of a project, especially with wet, oily, or sweaty hands.

The Good
1) The blades are really sharp! I found out the hard way - maybe I should have put this in "The Ugly" section LOL
2) The main blade was actually a little easier to open before I did anything. Just opening it the two or three times when I first got it must have helped. The oil / WD-40 and working it treatment has gotten this to an acceptable pull. It is still a little too stiff for my preferences.

My apologies for the whining within. I will continue to work on the harness blade. And thanks for all your help!!!