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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
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keepin your sak clean
- Thread starter RescueRiley
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Not to sound contrary, but I don't think that is correct. See this link.
Are multi-tools dishwasher-proof?
The temperature in dishwashers can reach between 55 and 80 degrees, depending on the selected cycle. Cleaning salts and strong cleaning agents are used during this process. Exposing penknives and multi-tools to aggressive atmospheres and high temperatures for extended periods can cause damage.
Therefore, do not put penknives or other multi-tools in the dishwasher!
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I just visited the maintenance section of the victorinox website which states in the first paragraph that the diswasher is not the way to go
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I stand corrected. I was assuming it was in Fahrenheit because of all the Americans on this site, but I guess the quote was from Victorinox, which would make it Celsius. (same as here 
)
Doc
)Doc
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I found out long ago that saks don't like oil, stainless steel on stainless steel and aluminum, combined with tight tolerances, any grit that gets in the joints causes problems, and oil attracts even more grit. I use a brush and hot water when they get gritty, and dip a paper match in some moly paste, just a tiny amount keeps the joints nice and smooth, and it doesn't attract lint and grit nearly as bad. I carry a sak everyday, and only clean them this way every month or two.
the high lights of this thread for me, I know it wasent intentional, but my god this was a funny read.
Yep - this is true. Don't clean 'em too often otherwise you have to clean 'em often
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This is my technique. I literally drench the thing in oil as I open the various tools. If any particular tool feels gritty or has undo resistance I add more oil and open and close it many times. The oil seems to really work out the gunk. Then I open all the tools and let is sit in warm water with lots of dish detergent. I then rinse it under hot water while I open and close the various tools. I let it dry thoroughly and then add 1 drop of oil to the pivot of each tool and work the oil in by opening and closing. I then wipe of as much excess oil as possible with a paper towel. Its a little time consuming but has worked well for me.
Regarding not letting anyone handle your SAK, that can be a little difficult when your married.
Regarding not letting anyone handle your SAK, that can be a little difficult when your married.
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Regarding not letting anyone handle your SAK, that can be a little difficult when your married.
Aren't you the lucky one? Quite often it works the opposite way!
And before you get too cocky, didn't you say in the OP of the Harriman hike thread, "The wife insisted that tomorrow we do something passive".BTW, thanks for the pictures. I've downloaded them to my desktop. I assume that the area is somewhere around NYC?
Doc
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LOL. This thread is teetering on the edge of needing to be moved to Whine and Cheese.
It's about 35 miles due north of NYC. Harriman State Park.
Uupsss my bad, you are indeed right and I mistaken. I'm unsure as too where I have picked up the dishwasher thing then??
I have sent a mail to Vic asking them if it was the case in the past and then later changed.
I have how ever often put my own Farmer trough the dishwasher with no ill effect that I can see. ( And will continue to do so)
But seen as Vic recommend that you do NOT put it in the dishwasher, then you should not do it as it might void the warranty.
notos&w: Thank you for pointing it out for me :thumbup:
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I had a hunter that just got nasty with lint.
I used a version of canned air and blew it all out. But I agree with the paper match cleaner and the soapy water toothbrush action.
TF
I used a version of canned air and blew it all out. But I agree with the paper match cleaner and the soapy water toothbrush action.
TF
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Oil attracts grit and lint to the knife. To get the idea you may as well put a bunch of nails in your pocket and then drop a magnet in there. Its the same thing with oil and a knife rolling around with your car keys. If you must use oil use Tuff Glide that goes on wet and then dries. I've had my SAK for over 16 years and its been dry most of that time.
To clean: Use a dental explorer to probe and extract lint or other things from tight small areas but do so with care not to break off the delicate point lodging it in between a back spring and blade. In the field you can get by doing this with your own tee shirt and the tweezers or tooth pick and clean those in water afterwards. At home, use a rag like an old Tee shirt and with a small screwdriver poke down in forcing the rag to rub the sides using the screw driver head to force good contact down in the bottom areas and around things. Do this with the tangs of the tools and blades, rotate them, do the other sides, rotate again after moving the rag around to clean spots and clean them that way until the rag is coming out clean looking or cleaner anyway. Blow dry air in them to blast out loose particulate matter and be done with it.
Even if it is stainless you should not leave tools wet. When you have a dark moist environment things tend to grow that you don't necessarily want growing on your food prep tools. Stainless can still rust on the surface and getting it wet routinely will lead to a very gritty action.
As an example of what happens over time to the pivot I show you a knife that has seen a lot of years getting use that has been cleaned only off and on with water during its life. Eventually it led to weakening the pivot pin so that it finally broke. I see this a whole lot. Granted your SAKs will fair better than this old carbon blade knife with nickel silver bolsters but it was more than just the pivot weakening that was the problem with this. Long before the pivot gave out the owner reported that the blades became very stiff and hard to manipulate even tearing fingernails. His wife could not even open the blades any more and he had to struggle to get them out and then one day in a cut it snapped apart.
Keep em dry for better life and less gritty stiff action. :thumbup:
STR
To clean: Use a dental explorer to probe and extract lint or other things from tight small areas but do so with care not to break off the delicate point lodging it in between a back spring and blade. In the field you can get by doing this with your own tee shirt and the tweezers or tooth pick and clean those in water afterwards. At home, use a rag like an old Tee shirt and with a small screwdriver poke down in forcing the rag to rub the sides using the screw driver head to force good contact down in the bottom areas and around things. Do this with the tangs of the tools and blades, rotate them, do the other sides, rotate again after moving the rag around to clean spots and clean them that way until the rag is coming out clean looking or cleaner anyway. Blow dry air in them to blast out loose particulate matter and be done with it.
Even if it is stainless you should not leave tools wet. When you have a dark moist environment things tend to grow that you don't necessarily want growing on your food prep tools. Stainless can still rust on the surface and getting it wet routinely will lead to a very gritty action.
As an example of what happens over time to the pivot I show you a knife that has seen a lot of years getting use that has been cleaned only off and on with water during its life. Eventually it led to weakening the pivot pin so that it finally broke. I see this a whole lot. Granted your SAKs will fair better than this old carbon blade knife with nickel silver bolsters but it was more than just the pivot weakening that was the problem with this. Long before the pivot gave out the owner reported that the blades became very stiff and hard to manipulate even tearing fingernails. His wife could not even open the blades any more and he had to struggle to get them out and then one day in a cut it snapped apart.
Keep em dry for better life and less gritty stiff action. :thumbup:
STR
Last edited:
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Took me a few to find it but I tracked it down. Here is an old pic I documented of a frequent kitchen/food prep folder that is stainless. It came from the factory pinned together so it could not be taken apart and cleaned.
This is why the action was such on this thing that it was nearly fingernails on a black board each time you opened it. And its VG10 stainless from a Spyderco Stretch. Seen here you can see that even stainless can develop bad action from water, combined with a pinned construction. This knife was rebuilt by me to a take apart construction. What you are seeing is the new barrels not the original pins.
Generally speaking no matter how well you think you are cleaning a pinned knife there are areas inside you simply can't get to unless it can be accessed. By the way all this wiped off relatively easisly. Some of it stayed but most was easy to remove surface rust. The point is though, that all this started with water.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=72026&d=1179145977
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=72027&d=1179145990
STR
This is why the action was such on this thing that it was nearly fingernails on a black board each time you opened it. And its VG10 stainless from a Spyderco Stretch. Seen here you can see that even stainless can develop bad action from water, combined with a pinned construction. This knife was rebuilt by me to a take apart construction. What you are seeing is the new barrels not the original pins.
Generally speaking no matter how well you think you are cleaning a pinned knife there are areas inside you simply can't get to unless it can be accessed. By the way all this wiped off relatively easisly. Some of it stayed but most was easy to remove surface rust. The point is though, that all this started with water.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=72026&d=1179145977
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=72027&d=1179145990
STR