Just got my first spyderco, but...

H

hector81

Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
479
Just got my first spyderco knife, the orange millie and it is an amazing knife.
It's also my first S30V blade, I am very impressed.
but opening and closing is not so smooth. actually it is kinda gritty, but the knife is brand new. I read many threads about lubing the pivot but I need to know what kind of oil should I use that would be available for me here in Brazil.
Is the "hot water -> wd40 -> compressed air -> mineral oil" treatment recommended by spyderco?
were can I find mineral oil?
and another thing, the pivot screw was loose (i could turn it with my leatherman bit without attaching it to the bit driver, just holding the bit in my hand), after tightening, the knife wouldn't open, so I had to leave the screw as it was, very loose. is that a problem?
all help is welcome.
 
Cleaning may help. No issues are usually caused by cleaning. Not a fan of mineral oil, though; you can use any thin oil, so use a drop or two of what you have.

Seems to be an issue of late with smooth operation - not sure if this is an actual problem or a matter of expectations. The newer Military knives do seem a bit rougher in blade movement than the earlier production versions I've owned, but it isn't a problem for me.

You might try removing the blade - tape the edge first - by removing the pivot. Then clean and polish the washers and blade where the washers contact the blade. Use 1000 grit or higher crocus clothe (wet/dry metal sand paper). Some people report improvement doing this - I felt it was simply too much effort to polish the noted surfaces, but I did try it and felt there was some amount of difference.

As to the pivot screw, it should be locked in place with some form of thread-locking compound - use a medium strength thread locker, Loctite as well as many other brands color the medium strength thread lockers blue in color.

Remove the pivot screw, apply some thread locker, then insert scew and tighten to the disired blade opening tension.Check side-to-side wobble and adjust accordingly.

Merely using hand strength to turn a pivot screw is the norm if the screw isn't set in place with threadlocker. It ain't a car's wheel nut ;). The screw tension in knives should be in inch-pounds, not foot pounds.
 
then work it, open and close for a while then go out and cut some wood and then lube it again with wd-40. Won't take long at all.

RickJ
 
Aren't all new millies like that? I think it just needs to be broken in. Use it daily for a week and it shouldn't be so gritty any more. Loctite the pivot if it's a bit loose
 
The Military and the Para Military take a lot of breaking in! It took almost a year on my PM!
 
Thanks for the replies guys, I kept opening and closing the knife today and the action is a little smoother, but still far from perfect. I think I gonna try just the WD40 for now and see if it works, I can do that without taking the knife apart right? and will the wd40 harm the knife? I'll apply just a little on each side of the blade and open and close it a few times.
and if that doesn't work I'll do what orthogonal suggested.
 
hey, used wd40 and the knife is very smooth now, thanks for your help guys.
about the loose screw, Im still looking for the loctite. very hard to find here in brazil, I looked in more than 10 hardware stores with no luck. but I've been told that some auto parts shops has it, we'll see!
thanks again.
 
A light lube like used for fishing reels or gun oil will do fine. Mineral oil is sometimes used as a laxative, so you may find it in a pharmacy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top