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Loosening or tightening a one sided screw on Spyderco Salt 1

colubrid

colubrid

Gold Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2005
Messages
5,125
I have a loose blade on my Salt and it has one of those torx screws which has the dome shape on the other side.

The problem is when I try to tighten it the other side just spins along with it.. thus it cannot be tightened unless something is holding the other side (dome side) in place.

Are there any tools or tricks to holding the other side so I can tighten the pivot?


frn_ukpk_bolts.JPG
 
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I found this pic of the internet.. but I don't know if the Salts has the flat side as in the pic above. Which it would seen to would keep it from turning.

Any suggestions?
 
I would try to use something sticky. Maby use some glue to hold the other side in place. But you probably don't want to put glue all over your knife. ;)
 
It would take some kind of tool to hold the dome head side in steady in order to loosen or tighten the torx side.. I tried pushing the dome side against wood and numerous other things.. But it will not loosen or tighten.. just spins inside the pivot hole.

I don't understand why Spyderco would put a torx screw on just one side if you can't hold the other side to turn the screw? Makes no sense to me.


I wonder what tool Spyderco uses at the factory to hold the dome side in place in order to take apart their knives or adjust the pivot?
 
Ethan102399 said:
I would try to use something sticky. Maby use some glue to hold the other side in place. But you probably don't want to put glue all over your knife. ;)
Click to expand...

There is most likely some locktight inside the screw to hold it in place.. so I doubt adding super glue to the metal (outside) dome pivot would hold it well enough to break the locktight glue inside the pivot screw.
 
I have been dealing with this knife being loose for 3 months now and finally decided to post and ask this question.. there has to be a solution!

How does anyone tighten or loosen their one sided torx screws on spydercos?

Or is it just the salt series that have these because on all my other spydercos that I have the torx screws are both sides of the knife.

Boogles my mind as to why Spyderco would make the change from no torx heads (older Salts did not have them) to once sided ones where you still can't adjust the pivot?
 
Normally, those screws are used in conjunction with D shaped holes in the handle/liner so that the domed part simply cannot turn. It's possible that the holes in you Salt's handle were round from the git-go, since it was originally designed to use rivets. It's also possible that you rounded them out attempting to tighten the screw. Either way, I've heard that opening the blade and side-loading it will put enough pressure on the domed headed outer part to allow the screw to be loosened or tightened. However, there's also a good possibility that the screw is already as tight as it can be. As for the "why", Sal has said that it's done to make manufacturing easier, not for user adjustments. Although it's probably not what you want to hear, your best bet might be to send it back to Spyderco for repair.

EDITED TO ADD: Just for the record, those screws in the photo are from an FRN UKPK of mine. Its handle does have D shaped holes but, unlike the Salt, it was designed to use those fittings.
 
Hi Colubrid, this is one of the few problems I have had with the salt line. None of mine have a d-shaped hole, so the pivot just spins like you describe.
EDIT: I said "none of mine" but the truth is, out of the half dozen I own, I have only had to adjust two. Those two did not have a d-shaped hole in the frn and the pivot would spin when trying to adjust. I cannot speak for the others.

Read this thread. Squashfan outlined a solution that I still use today on my various salts if they need the rare adjustment.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...is-broken!-(?highlight=think+dragonfly+broken
 
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The Deacons's suggestion might be enough to so the trick. Have you tried carefully heating the pivot with a soldering iron? Just watch that you don't melt the frn.

A wide rubber band or the like pushed on the domed part of the pivot may give you enough traction to hold it. Its also sometimes helpful to give the screw a sharp, quick turn to break the loctite.

Of course the safest option is to send it in for warranty service if you're worried about messing anything up.
 
spketch said:
The Deacons's suggestion might be enough to so the trick. Have you tried carefully heating the pivot with a soldering iron? Just watch that you don't melt the frn.

A wide rubber band or the like pushed on the domed part of the pivot may give you enough traction to hold it. Its also sometimes helpful to give the screw a sharp, quick turn to break the loctite.

Of course the safest option is to send it in for warranty service if you're worried about messing anything up.
Click to expand...

Good suggestions as well as the side loading.
 
The Deacon said:
Normally, those screws are used in conjunction with D shaped holes in the handle/liner so that the domed part simply cannot turn. It's possible that the holes in you Salt's handle were round from the git-go, since it was originally designed to use rivets. It's also possible that you rounded them out attempting to tighten the screw. Either way, I've heard that opening the blade and side-loading it will put enough pressure on the domed headed outer part to allow the screw to be loosened or tightened. However, there's also a good possibility that the screw is already as tight as it can be. As for the "why", Sal has said that it's done to make manufacturing easier, not for user adjustments. Although it's probably not what you want to hear, your best bet might be to send it back to Spyderco for repair.

EDITED TO ADD: Just for the record, those screws in the photo are from an FRN UKPK of mine. Its handle does have D shaped holes but, unlike the Salt, it was designed to use those fittings.
Click to expand...

This did the Trick. Thanks Deacon! I was able to loosen the screw. Cleaned it off and tightened it and now there is no blade play whatsoever.

I placed blade sideways against a wood table. I pushed sideways and this held the opposite screw tight enough to where I got it loose . The excertion on the pivot by the blade held it until I could break the locktite.


Also these come with round holes . No step or flat side in the Salts. So most likely there will be more people with this problem.
 
..And thank you to everyone else for your suggestions.. I did not have to try the heating method but I am sure the locktite would break even easier if both the side pressure method and heat was applied to the screw.
 
Just read this thread, this is the same thing that happened to my Dragonfly Salt. Thank you guys for the suggestions.

Thanks Gringo for posting the link, I didn't took it apart but I think it's the same as your Dragonfly salt.
 
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