How To I'm new at actual pocket knife repair

D

Dearslayer 44

Joined
Mar 22, 2026
Messages
3
I'm new at actual pocket knife repair, in fact, haven't actually done much yet. I bought a can of, Dust off, instant dust remover,but couldn't get very forceful air bursts, and only a small volume of air!
My question is, will a powerful hand held vacuum also clean the pivot?
 
Greetings D Dearslayer 44 and welcome to the forum. I have not cleaned pocket knives with anything other than soap and water. Never would have thought to use a vacuum. Some of us around here take our knives apart to clean them. Mine don't really get dirty enough to need it, despite being in my pocket working in a shop with dust flying. Actually my shop pockets have dust in them even after the laundry!
 
I'd also suggest using liquid dish soap and water to clean most pocketknives. Only exception would be for knives with porous natural handle materials that might be damaged by soaking or immersion in water, like wood, stag, etc. Otherwise, wash in warm, soapy water while exercising the pivot - open & close the blades repetitively and CAREFULLY - it'll be slippery. Rinse in water that's relatively hot but still tolerable for your hands. The heat will warm up the frame, which helps evaporate off any residual moisture from the internals of the knife when you're finishing up. Then lubricate the pivot with your lube of choice when everything is clean and completely dry.

Isopropyl alcohol poured through the internals of the knife will also very effectively carry away any residual moisture. But avoid using solvents like alcohol or acetone on Victorinox's cellidor plastic handles specifically, as they will be softened and warped by exposure to such solvents. I learned that the hard way.

As mentioned earlier, WD-40 can also work well. Especially in circumstances where the knife is very dirty, gummed up with old oil, or rusty. Soaking with WD-40 while exercising rusty pivots is a good way to soften up and flush out heavy rust from the internal working parts of the knife. When I've cleaned knives this way, I've then followed with the liquid dish soap and warm water as I described above.
 
Last edited:
I've liked using popsicle sticks for scrubbing inside the blade well of pocketknives. They can also be found as 'craft sticks' in the craft section of stores like Walmart. The end of the stick can easily be whittled into a fine point for reaching into tight spaces, for scrubbing rusty spots on the inside face of backsprings, etc. And the flats of the sticks are perfect for scrubbing or polishing the inside face of liners and used with some polishing paste if desired.
 
What kinds of knives are you talking about?
Old traditional pocket knives, slipjoints and lockbacks...etc ?
That can of compressed air will come in handy if you don't have an air compressor, but you'll need to loosen things up.
Skewers, tooth picks, Popsicle sticks that you can shave to shape, an old toothbrush, or a " robot toothbrush" as I like to call them from the hardware store, and most of all some liquid.
Penetrating oil like WD-40, or some warm soapy water, dish soap works great and everybody has it.

A vacuum with a very fine improvised crevice too probably would suck a lot of stuff up / out once loosened ( never thought to try it ) but blowing it out into a shop rag is easiest.

Cotton swabs can catch on things and leave fingers inside, but a piece of blue Scott towel folded over a shaped Popsicle stick works great without leaving fibers stuck to exposed handle scale pins...etc inside.
If we're talking about pinned together traditional pocket knives, obviously with the modern stuff you just use a good driver to take everything apart and don't lose anything.
After it's all dry, oil is important.
I mostly use food grade mineral oil, but a little WD-40 is fine.
 
I just use really warm water and a bit of dish soap then rinse it really good with really warm water to ensure it evaporates quickly and then I use a good oil that prevent's rust,I have used Corrosion X's Reel X in the past and it works good at keeping rust away.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top