How To Fix Gritty Action

J

johnnywizzo

Joined
Mar 1, 2018
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421
Any tips on smoothing up the action on a gritty slip joint? Other than the obvious knife oil and using it? I tried some lighter fluid and that seemed to clean some gunk out, but it still feels rough when opening and closing the main blade (it's an older knife). Thanks!
 
mmhm a great enemy of any folding knife is sand or earth, I've come round to liking Opinels most for gardening tasks as they have no spring or liners to foul up, whereas a multi-blade can really suffer from grit.

In your situation, I'd suggest a hot soap and water bath using a toothbrush on the joints, drying with comp. air or hairdryer, use soft paper in the liners then add oil to the joint(s) It will make a big difference, based on my experience at least.
 
I had some luck opening the blade and spraying something like spray-on (not brush-on or squirt on) PB Blaster and WD-40 against the tang from the blade well and working the blade from open to half closed, giving the tang a few more shots of PB Blaster. Put the nozzle or tube as close to the joint as possible. The "high pressure" helps flush out the gunk. It may also help actually get lube on the pivot pin?

Lube the joints with oil as normal after you're done of course.
 
What I do is thoroughly oil the blade well, the back spring (when the blade is half open), and the joint, clean out any gunk with a pipe-cleaner, then thoroughly flood the joint with oil, work the blade backwards and forward, then with the blade open at about 60 degrees, I blow canned air through the joint, from the same side as the blade-well. I put a tissue behind the joint to catch the oil and muck, and give the joint about three squirts of air. I clean everything again with a pipe cleaner, then repeat, flooding the joint with oil, working the blade, and blowing it out again, with the blade open at a slightly different angle. I keep repeating until the oil is just blowing out clear, and there's no more muck on the back-spring, and around the joint/tang :thumbsup:
 
Pinemoon said:
Great advice, Jack.
To help the OP a bit, what are you specifically referring to by "oil?"
Some use mineral, 3-in-1, gun oil.... even Slick50.
Thanks in advance :)
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Thanks, it works for me. Most of the knives I've had from Sheffield makers have benefited from being flushed out. I use 3 in 1, Balistol, or Boker's superfine mineral oil, it depends on the knife, and what I'm going to use it for, but 3 in 1 works just fine :thumbsup:
 
Jack Black said:
Thanks, it works for me. Most of the knives I've had from Sheffield makers have benefited from being flushed out. I use 3 in 1, Balistol, or Boker's superfine mineral oil, it depends on the knife, and what I'm going to use it for, but 3 in 1 works just fine :thumbsup:
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Thanks.
Yes, I've had good results with 3-in-1 as well. It's been around a long time for a reason ;)
 
Will Power said:
mmhm a great enemy of any folding knife is sand or earth, I've come round to liking Opinels most for gardening tasks as they have no spring or liners to foul up, whereas a multi-blade can really suffer from grit.

In your situation, I'd suggest a hot soap and water bath using a toothbrush on the joints, drying with comp. air or hairdryer, use soft paper in the liners then add oil to the joint(s) It will make a big difference, based on my experience at least.
Click to expand...

This is what I do with the addition of holding it under very warm running water and opening and closing it many times from every angle inside the blade well and out as the soap and oil comes out it starts to feel a little worse but once you oil it it works much better.
 
I've been using Blue Lube by Benchmade. Is 3 in 1 oil just as good? I know that it's a lot less expensive and easier to obtain. I've been repeatedly oiling and opening the knife for a few days now, and it is improving, but still not smooth. I suppose some knives just never will be smooth.
 
I've got a very gritty knife recently, which stayed gritty even after several bath and oiling cycles.
So, I decided to follow the suggestions of KnivesShipsFree.

I blasted WD40 and then alcohol to remove oil and grease, which may interfere and slow down the break-in process.
This apparently made the knife extremely gritty.
I opened and closed it about twenty times with a lot of effort at the beginning.
Then, the friction suddenly diminished, and the action became quite smooth.

I repeated this a couple more times.
After completely drying the knife, I oiled the pivot.
Now the knife is silky smooth.
 
I had this issue with a gorgeous brand new GEC #15 Boy's Knife a few years back. I have NEVER sent a knife back to a seller or manufacturer, but I thought I was going to have to with this 15. Action was stiff, gritty, almost impossible to open and close. Oil didn't help, WD-40 didn't help.

What worked for me was wrapping the blade with masking tape so I didn't cut myself (I used the blue stuff that doesn't stick bad), immersing the knife in HOT water with Dawn dishwashing liquid, and with my hands in that hot water, working the blade open and closed while still immersed, over and over. I felt something in the joint go "crunch" and then magically, it was fine.

Dried it off, WD-40 again to get rid of the water, a little mineral oil, and smooth as silk now. Great walk and talk. Starting from almost needing pliers to open it.

My guess is some remnant of grit from manufacturing was down in the joint and it finally broke into little pieces that could be washed away.
 
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I recently got a knife that was very gritty feeling, very stiff, and very tight to the point I could barely open it.
No amount of oiling and working the blade would fix it.

I had an idea and figured it was worth a shot so I tried it and it worked extremely well.

I took a toothpick and loaded the pivot/tang are with mothers mag polish then repetedly worked the knife back and forth with the blade taped up and held in a vice ,adding more mothers mag polish as needed.
I could barely open the knife before, but after a couple minutes of this It is now buttery smooth.

I thoroughly flushed it with denatured alcohol dried it and gave it a drop of mineral oil afterwards of course, but this worked so much better than I expected it to.

This is just an idea I had that worked on a particular knife, I do not know how it would work on knives made of other materials.
 
Depending on your handle material I've had good luck with a can of brake parts cleaner, an air compressor and then hitting up the joint with oil.
 
It is true that some knives will always have a gritty action and it’s best to exhaust all other options before assuming that.
I’ve had several that got worse with time despite all kinds of attempts to clean the pivot. I took them apart and discovered that there were burrs inside the pivot and/or on the tang, this led to grinding away at the pivot pin and back spring, filling the area with metal shavings. Other times I’ve found a bent pin, causing the blade to unevenly pivot on the pin and the outer edge of the hole cut into the pin, once again producing metal shavings.

I’ve obviously had some bad luck with knives, but I wouldn’t assume this is the case until I’ve tried everything else. Sometimes the issue will simply work itself out in time.
 
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