Knife break in period?

EdgeKit

EdgeKit

Joined
Jan 24, 2010
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104
I was watching a clip where a guy was flicking a Spyderco Delica open with his wrist. I have the same knife, and I bet he couldn't do that with mine. He probably used his a lot which made the pivot smoother or something. Is there a break-in period for a knife?
 
I
was watching a clip where a guy was flicking a Spyderco Delica open with his wrist
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Most folders can be flicked open. How you hold the folder and technique is the most important. Even a buck 110 can be flicked opened. Most people try to flick a folder holding the pivot between your thumb and forefinger and the blade facing outside- this is the difficult way. If you reverse the folder with the butt end between your thumb and forefinger and the pivot side in the V area (proximal area of the thumb and begining of forefinger) the blade facing outward. Then just flick your wrist. The blade on your Delica will fly out. Make sure you're holding the handle tight.
I hope I explained this right.
 
Break-in period for a knife?

Not pointed at the OP, but seriously WTH?
That's like only storing 20Mb on a new 1Tb hard drive as to not overwork it.
Or only driving 30mph for the first 1000 miles in a new car.
ATM, I cannot think of any tools that require a break-in period. My knives included.
Craziness
 
2brothers said:
Break-in period for a knife?

Not pointed at the OP, but seriously WTH?
That's like only storing 20Mb on a new 1Tb hard drive as to not overwork it.
Or only driving 30mph for the first 1000 miles in a new car.
ATM, I cannot think of any tools that require a break-in period. My knives included.
Craziness
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I think you're not hearing what he's saying. He's talking more about a 'wear-in' period for folders where mating surfaces smooth out, so that they glide over each other more easily.

I can think of one example where the edge of a knife might have some sort of break in period: the Salt knives from Spyderco. I'm told that H1 work hardens so that as the edge is used and sharpened the friction actually hardens the edge.

Don't know if it's true, but that's the reason I've seen used to explain why H1 can't be flat ground easily.
 
chipm said:
I was watching a clip where a guy was flicking a Spyderco Delica open with his wrist. I have the same knife, and I bet he couldn't do that with mine. He probably used his a lot which made the pivot smoother or something. Is there a break-in period for a knife?
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My Endura is the same way. I think some people sacrifice blade wobble so they can flick.
 
I'm not so sure "break-in period" is the correct term, but I do believe there is a period of time where machined parts lose their sharp edges and start to interact with their neighbor a little better. Also, if you've ever taken a new knife apart and washed it thoroughly before lubing and re-assembling you'll notice there are filings and other small bits and pieces that come off that were left behind from the manufacturing process. In almost every case the knife operates better after the wash and re-assembly.

Also, from experience, my new SnG was butter smooth after opening and closing it around 1000 times (yes I counted - I'm an engineer it's what I do).
My new ZT 0500 operates a lot smoother now that I have taken it apart, cleaned it and reassembled it.

Remember to check the tightness of all torx screws and other hardware after you've used a knife for a while. I find in most cases they need to be tightened. YMMV.
 
Umnunzaans are much smooother after a thousand openings...the parts wear

in.Theyre made that way.

I dont mean flicking I mean o/c,o/c,o/c...............
 
Some knives have very tight tolerances. At this level, new washers will basically act like small pieces of sandpaper and will keep the knife from opening super quick. Once they smooth out after opening a bunch they are golden
 
My Endura 3 had a hell of a break-in-period. It took about a full week of opening/closing and oilings to smooth out the rough pivot, but now it's as smooth as anything.

My Cyclone also definitely 'broke in' after a while - the liner lock now makes a sound like a chime when it engages (instead of a weak little 'tick' or 'snap' noise that the other knives I've had made).

So yeah, I definitely find that folders go through a 'break in period'
 
The guy may just be using more force -I'd have to see the video.

It is not hard to whip open a knife. With practice, you can do it with a stiff Buck 110. It is not the smartest thing to do though, since it becomes abusive over time.
 
The Government said:
The guy may just be using more force -I'd have to see the video.

It is not hard to whip open a knife. With practice, you can do it with a stiff Buck 110. It is not the smartest thing to do though, since it becomes abusive over time.
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I 100% agree, as sooner or later you will start to peen the stop pin and/or tang. The only knives that I am aware of which are designed for such use are Emerson knives, which employ a rotating sleeve on the stop pin to distribute wear and avoid peening.
 
hold your index finger along the clip and have the knife be perpendicular to the direction of your forearm with the blade side facing away from you. Flick from left to right, making sure to snap your wrist. When the knife is open, it will form a capital "T" with your arm. You can open any lock back with minimal motion doing this.

I hope I explained this clearly. The idea is to get the base of the handle away from your palm and flick just holding it with index, middle and thumb.

It works like a charm when you get it.
 
Yeah, I'd say maybe 2-4 weeks it takes for my Spydercos to get smooth at my daily usage.

I can flick open all my Spydercos like that. It's all about wrist movement, not arm (dunno how he or you are doing it). To gauge how tight my pivot is, I tighten it down enough that there's slightly less play than my pinned ones, but the blade opens smooth.
 
A.P.F. said:
I 100% agree, as sooner or later you will start to peen the stop pin and/or tang. The only knives that I am aware of which are designed for such use are Emerson knives, which employ a rotating sleeve on the stop pin to distribute wear and avoid peening.
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Yeah Emersons are meant to be waved and forcefully opened to ensure a good lockup. And you're gunna need that warranty service sooner or later that much I can tell you.
 
I dunno... Wrist flicking delica.. Was this guy Superman?
Lock backs by design is fairly hard to do that with due to the pressure of the torsion bar.
 
New or used, I always take apart a knife when I first get it to clean it and add some lube. You'd be surprised how dirty and gunky a new knife can be.
 
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first thing I usually do is clean/lube the knife myself.

In the case of flippers after opening and closing the thing a couple hundred times I like to then clean/lube once more followed by some blue locktite.

as for stiff lockbacks leave the knife half opened in a drawer for a couple days to loosen up the spring this works great for tri-ad locks.
 
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