Help needed fixing an old Bayes (colonial?) pocket knife.

C

crumpet8

Joined
Aug 31, 2019
Messages
83
hey,

https://imgur.com/a/i74gPJ3

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I just got this in the mail and even though it’s old it’s way too stiff. I can hear everything grinding when opening the main blade. The little one seems fine. It’s such a beautiful little pocket knife, I’d like to start using it more often, but it has to be a little more user friendly. Can anyone give me some direction as to how I can adjust it?

TIA,

Dan



i74gPJ3
 
Might just need cleaning and lubrication. That 'grinding' you're hearing & feeling, when opening the main blade, may just be some dirt or manufacturing grit (metal swarf or chips, or polishing/buffing compound) bound up in the pivot. Not sure any 'adjustment' would be possible without completely disassembling it. It's a nice-looking knife, and disassembly might do more harm than good.

Give the knife a bath in warm water with liquid dish detergent (Dawn, etc). Exercise the pivot, while it's immersed in the soapy water, by opening & closing the blade repeatedly while it's immersed. Be careful, it'll be slippery in the soapy water. That exercising of the pivot in the soapy water will hopefully dislodge and flush away some of whatever's binding up the pivot. Rinse the knife under hot running water, which will warm it up and help residual moisture evaporate. Then wipe it down inside & out and add a couple or three drops of oil in the pivot and alongside the springs where they rub against the liners.
 
I agree with David.

I start with opening and closing the blade under hot running water, rolling the knife around some as well. Then I'll dry it as best as I can. Then I squirt WD-40 into the pivot with the blade open and partially closed, inside the channel and the backside of the blade tang. Wipe clean. This usually takes care of it. Might need a second flushing. If that doesn't do it, but showed improvement, then I go the soapy water.
 
Use a soaking of WD 40 after using detergent and water, to remove all traces of moisture from the knife, then wipe dry.
 
Yes, the WD40 could be helpful as well, in flushing out any moisture left after the wash. I sometimes use it for this purpose, or isopropyl alcohol for the same.

I live in a drier climate and sometimes skip this step and can get away with that. But if the moisture won't otherwise evaporate off relatively quickly (a few minutes at most), then flushing with WD-40 or IPA is a good insurance policy. :)
 
Thanks so much everyone! I’ll get on this tomorrow and let you know now how it goes :) I wouldn’t have thought to run it under hot water for fear of water getting trapped and leading to rust etc. so that’s a big help.
 
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