How many Knife Companies allow breakdown of their folders?

pmek5

pmek5

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I know CRK allows breakdown of their folders for cleaning / lubercation, but what other production knife companies allow the same without voiding warranty?
 
While most may "Prohibit" disassembly, most are easily disassembled with no noticeable evidence. Actually for Customer service, CRKT willingly and free of charge sent me parts for one of their knives M-16 titanium, free of charge and free shipping in half the time I was told it would take.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
spyderco is the only company that comes to mind that prohibits disassembly.
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Actually I believe Benchmade prohibits that as well, though I do it anyways because the blade loosens up without loctite on the pivot. But then again, not sure if unscrewing the pivot alone counts as disassembly.
 
Benchmade takes the same position that Spyderco does, AFAIK - disassemble it and you risk voiding the warranty. Neither company necessarily enforces that line, but that is their position.
 
Emerson. From their FAQ page:

The easiest way is to rinse the knife in clean fresh water after marine or chemical exposure. You can oil the blade and the pivot area from time to time with any good, light oil such as WD-40. If the knife becomes encrusted with dirt or sand, it can be completely disassembled and cleaned out thoroughly.
 
i'm sure they got tired of replacing parts/knives as a result of users breaking stuff from disassembly.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
spyderco is the only company that comes to mind that prohibits disassembly.
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I've never understood this either. Has Sal or anyone elaborated as to the reasoning behind this?

Edited - wow - I've got to stop responding to stale pages - I guess if you've done something to damage it, I can see why they wouldn't warranty it, but otherwise, it seems kind of silly to restrict users from disassembling.
 
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EZ Bake said:
I've never understood this either. Has Sal or anyone elaborated as to the reasoning behind this?

Edited - wow - I've got to stop responding to stale pages - I guess if you've done something to damage it, I can see why they wouldn't warranty it, but otherwise, it seems kind of silly to restrict users from disassembling.
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Here it is straight from TazKristi http://spyderco.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44631

1st - Disassembling a Spyderco voids the warranty. Period. There was a question about this being a "myth". It is not a myth. It does not matter if you don't break anything when you do it. If we can tell that a knife has been disassembled (whether it's a FrankenSpyder or not) the warranty is technically void. We manufacture knives with all screw construction not because we want you to take them apart. We do so, so our Crew can take them apart for maintenance and repair. I'm sure there might be some other questions, but bottom line, if you take your knife apart, the warranty is void.

Every item that is sent in to W&R is evaluated individually and on a case by case basis. Every situation is different. We will always handle W&R issues in a fair and proper way. But it's important to understand the warranty as we state it, not as it's interpreted by others. There are a lot of great, knowledgeable, helpful people on our Forum. However, they cannot make a judgment on a Warranty issue. Only we can and we can only do that by having the knife in question in our hands.
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also from Michael Janich later in that thread:

Finally, as anyone who has EVER dealt with our warranty repair folks before knows, we exercise a lot of judgment in our consideration of returned knives and always try to give the customer the benefit of the doubt. If you return a knife in good faith and take the time to clearly explain the issues you had with it, you will be treated fairly and we will stand behind our products. Conversely, if you KNOW the warranty policy, pursposely choose to violate that policy by disassembling your knife, and then reassemble it improperly before returning it, the situation is markedly different.

The policy has not changed, nor has our enforcement of it. Please stop the wild speculation as to what we will and won't do. Maintain your knives responsibly and behave professionally and you will, as always, be treated fairly.
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Beats me. I've never felt the need to disassemble any of my folders.
They weren't broke, so I didn't try to fix them.
 
They sent out new blades to some members to replace themselves so I would say no.
Edit: Weird that it didnt put the quote that I DID quote. Anyway it was yours. Benchmade is the one that sent out the blades to some members.
 
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knarfeng said:
Beats me. I've never felt the need to disassemble any of my folders.
They weren't broke, so I didn't try to fix them.
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There are more reasons than that to take a knife apart :). Rinsing out a folder will get a majority of the gunk out, but with most of my folders, there's a noticeable difference between that and taking it apart to clean and re-lube everything. Plus, I like more viscous lubes, which can't be applied without taking a knife apart.
 
I can't see how you can properly clean and lube a folder without disassembling it. I know it can be done, but not properly in my opinion.

I've taken apart, cleaned, and lubed lots of Kershaws and Benchmade knives (and my Strider SNG) that once back together, were much smoother with higher quality lube and a clean (grit-free) bushing surface.
 
I love taking apart my knives. I have a bit of trouble puting them back together if they have a back lock or an axis lock, but liner and frame locks if they are a well made knife are a breeze. Never had an issue, so I never needed to contact customer service and ask for help.
 
I take apart all of my knives. I put them back together properly, though, so it wouldn't make a difference. I don't understand why some companies feel the need to void warranties if people take apart their knives. I guess that's why I prefer Kershaw...

I think Gerber will also allow you to disassemble their knives; their customer service is surprisingly good.
 
knarfeng said:
Beats me. I've never felt the need to disassemble any of my folders.
They weren't broke, so I didn't try to fix them.
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And then we have wonderful people like me, who feel the need to disassemble everything they own regardless of how well it's working.
 
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