Well didn't happen but they recently released something even better- LW Manix 2 in Rex45.
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Manix 2 LW screw conversion
- Thread starter uxo2
- Start date
Well didn't happen but they recently released something even better- LW Manix 2 in Rex45.
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2015
- Messages
- 10
I have one and I'm super tempted to do this! With tool steel blades I like the option to disassemble and check the innards.
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2015
- Messages
- 10
I have one and I'm super tempted to do this! With tool steel blades I like the option to disassemble and check the innards.
uxo2
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2013
- Messages
- 5,560
The screw conversion was done by me
so I could have access to the insides
for the following reasons.
First, Trimming some coils off of the spring
to make the action smoother along with swapping out the steel bearing with a Ceramic one.
Second... Open it up when it needs deep cleaning.
Third.... B bdmicarta
M4 LW is not offered.
Thanks for the write up uxo2. Yours, along with some others that I read, motivated me to try this screw conversion. This vid was also helpful
.
I used a Dremel with a grinding stone to grind the rivet heads off. As I got closer to the metal washer, I used Bosch Cobalt bits and my electric drill (at a slow speed) along with a pin vise drill to remove the last bits of the rivet head.
Once the head was out, I removed the washer and then used a punch to remove the barrel and other end of the rivet.
I used the blue painters tape to help protect the scales. It came in handy since you'll most likely slip off of the rivet when using the dremel. I tried this mod on my S110V Manix 2 lightweight last week and didn't tape it up in this fashion, and it got marred up a a bit.
I used my electric drill to make the hole openings 1/8" in size. To widen the hole with the steel insert and the figure 8 things, I kept the knife intact while I drilled/widened the hole. I held off on removing the other 2 rivets before doing things, to help hold the knife together. The Cobalt drill bit widened the hole with ease.
I then used my dremel and a cut-off wheel along with a file, to shorten my new pivot barrels and screws to size. I used a punch to push in the new pivot barrels and I reused the knife's original metal washers.
I used a Dremel with a grinding stone to grind the rivet heads off. As I got closer to the metal washer, I used Bosch Cobalt bits and my electric drill (at a slow speed) along with a pin vise drill to remove the last bits of the rivet head.
Once the head was out, I removed the washer and then used a punch to remove the barrel and other end of the rivet.
I used the blue painters tape to help protect the scales. It came in handy since you'll most likely slip off of the rivet when using the dremel. I tried this mod on my S110V Manix 2 lightweight last week and didn't tape it up in this fashion, and it got marred up a a bit.
I used my electric drill to make the hole openings 1/8" in size. To widen the hole with the steel insert and the figure 8 things, I kept the knife intact while I drilled/widened the hole. I held off on removing the other 2 rivets before doing things, to help hold the knife together. The Cobalt drill bit widened the hole with ease.
I then used my dremel and a cut-off wheel along with a file, to shorten my new pivot barrels and screws to size. I used a punch to push in the new pivot barrels and I reused the knife's original metal washers.
uxo2
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2013
- Messages
- 5,560
In D Delux video he mentions
about the factory rivet spinning and heating up.
I got impatient and used a cheaper bit
and paid the price.
yes I let loose a tear... The blade ended up G10 that had a trashed 154C in it.
not a major loss.
you can see the rivet that spun and caused failure.
be patient... have the right tools.
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2013
- Messages
- 8,236
S90v?
As much as I dearly love the M2LW, I really wish Spyderco would use threaded fasteners in these, especially in non-stainless blade versions. It is a great design otherwise, but not being able to strip for maintenance is a bummer.
As much as I dearly love the M2LW, I really wish Spyderco would use threaded fasteners in these, especially in non-stainless blade versions. It is a great design otherwise, but not being able to strip for maintenance is a bummer.
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Sorry for your loss uxo2
Yeah, patience and prep work really pays off. The first Manix 2 (S110V) I converted, I didn't tape off the area around the screws, and the Dremel did some gouging as it'd occasionally slip off the rivet. I think it also melted the FRN a bit and caused the middle washer to drop down a couple of millimeters.
The painters tape seemed to prevent any gouging from occurring when I converted my 2 Mystic Manix. Some slight gouging did occur from my pliers when I was trying to pry up the remaining piece of the rivet above the washer, but I had remove the tape at that point.
No clue why Spyderco doesn't just use Screws instead of Rivets. It would have saved me quite a few hours and some frustration. I definitely said "F$@K Spyderco" several times whenever I dinged up the scales during the convert process.
All in all, I don't have any regrets, and I prefer the way that the Titanium ball cage feels over the stock plastic one.
Yeah, patience and prep work really pays off. The first Manix 2 (S110V) I converted, I didn't tape off the area around the screws, and the Dremel did some gouging as it'd occasionally slip off the rivet. I think it also melted the FRN a bit and caused the middle washer to drop down a couple of millimeters.
The painters tape seemed to prevent any gouging from occurring when I converted my 2 Mystic Manix. Some slight gouging did occur from my pliers when I was trying to pry up the remaining piece of the rivet above the washer, but I had remove the tape at that point.
No clue why Spyderco doesn't just use Screws instead of Rivets. It would have saved me quite a few hours and some frustration. I definitely said "F$@K Spyderco" several times whenever I dinged up the scales during the convert process.
All in all, I don't have any regrets, and I prefer the way that the Titanium ball cage feels over the stock plastic one.
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razorburn
Gold Member
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2007
- Messages
- 2,438
Nice to see someone is using their head by using a center punch.I actually used a hardened steel punch smaller than the rivet diameter and a bench block, and simply drove the rivet and all out in one stroke.
So Did you use drill press to drill the rivets.
I center punched each rivet on the clip side, and hand drilled it slowly with gentle pressure and a sharp bit until the rivet lost its tightness and started lightly spinning. I then used a carbide burr to get really close to the washer.
Once the remainder of the rivet head was thin enough, I punched it lightly to sheer a thin ring of the rivet.
For the tiny liners and lock housing, I used a drill press with progressively larger drill bits starting at #35 and ending with a 1/8”. The threaded barrel replacing the rivet for the lock housing is a tight fit to retain it indefinitely.
I didn’t open up the scale rivet holes to 1/8” like most people do. I wanted a snug press-fit, with just one of the holes needing a tiny bit of opening with a #31 (0.120”) bit.
My only problem now is an irritating amount of lock stick. My hypothesis is that a slightly larger lock ball would fix it. I’ll have to look around for the few bearing balls I have. Perhaps swapping the lock housing or ball from my other converted Manix could help change the lockup geometry enough to alleviate the problem.
Here it is just before buttoning it up:
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uxo2
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2013
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- 5,560
it is done... Just some notes for future DIY type apartment dwellers or people of limited tools.
\
You can do it all with a Dremil and assorted common tools.
Hack saw, File.
After seeing D Delux video
I asked him question about the tools he used and he responded
Mini vice... I got one from Amazon for under $25 bucks.
Dremel 9904 Tungsten Carbide Cutter
These bits made short work of removing the rivet head and opening up the hardened backspacer for the insert.
They will flinging crazy amount of fine chips everywhere.
Anyways..
1 1/2 coils removed and a 3/16ths Ceramic ball installed
Ti Ball cage
Mystic Green with a S90V DLC
\
You can do it all with a Dremil and assorted common tools.
Hack saw, File.
After seeing D Delux video
I asked him question about the tools he used and he responded
Mini vice... I got one from Amazon for under $25 bucks.
Dremel 9904 Tungsten Carbide Cutter
These bits made short work of removing the rivet head and opening up the hardened backspacer for the insert.
They will flinging crazy amount of fine chips everywhere.
Anyways..
1 1/2 coils removed and a 3/16ths Ceramic ball installed
Ti Ball cage
Mystic Green with a S90V DLC
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I’ve been wondering, does anyone else have lock-stick in a knife that had none before the conversion?
I got some ceramic balls, they measure the same size as the stainless steel ball, and I still have lock-stick. I experimented with a hard plastic ball in for a while with wonderful action, no sign of weakness, and no appreciable wear after hundreds of open-close cycles. Alas, I want a guaranteed durable material, so I put in the ceramic ball that finally arrived today.
Does anyone mind showing their ball cages when fully locked open? I’m curious to see how far forward most ball cages end up going and if anyone with “early“ lockup is also having lock stick.
Thanks!
I got some ceramic balls, they measure the same size as the stainless steel ball, and I still have lock-stick. I experimented with a hard plastic ball in for a while with wonderful action, no sign of weakness, and no appreciable wear after hundreds of open-close cycles. Alas, I want a guaranteed durable material, so I put in the ceramic ball that finally arrived today.
Does anyone mind showing their ball cages when fully locked open? I’m curious to see how far forward most ball cages end up going and if anyone with “early“ lockup is also having lock stick.
Thanks!
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Actually, disregard the above.
I had the notion to introduce some slop in the tolerances of my drilled holes to hopefully get rid of the lock-stick. I knew that everything was super tight fitting and that the only variable I could hope to introduce without drilling/sanding/grinding was ball size. Since buying balls just a few thousandths bigger or smaller isn't an option, I had to figure something else out.
Therefore, I chucked up an extra pivot barrel in my drill and sanded off 1-2 thousandths of an inch, so that instead of a press fit in the lock housing, the barrel falls through. With everything assembled, it doesn’t fall through, but is easy to press through.
During the process, I did multiple test fits and had slightly less lock-stick after each time I tried it. The result is no lock-stick and lots of satisfaction. I just hope that this isn’t a fluke and stays the way it is.
The moral of the story is that a tiny bit of slop can can sometimes be a good thing (at least in my instance).
I hope this helps someone someday, and I’ll try to stop cluttering this thread now.
I had the notion to introduce some slop in the tolerances of my drilled holes to hopefully get rid of the lock-stick. I knew that everything was super tight fitting and that the only variable I could hope to introduce without drilling/sanding/grinding was ball size. Since buying balls just a few thousandths bigger or smaller isn't an option, I had to figure something else out.
Therefore, I chucked up an extra pivot barrel in my drill and sanded off 1-2 thousandths of an inch, so that instead of a press fit in the lock housing, the barrel falls through. With everything assembled, it doesn’t fall through, but is easy to press through.
During the process, I did multiple test fits and had slightly less lock-stick after each time I tried it. The result is no lock-stick and lots of satisfaction. I just hope that this isn’t a fluke and stays the way it is.
The moral of the story is that a tiny bit of slop can can sometimes be a good thing (at least in my instance).
I hope this helps someone someday, and I’ll try to stop cluttering this thread now.
Chronovore
Gold Member
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- Aug 29, 2019
- Messages
- 12,047
I love all the work that's been done here. Thanks so much for sharing it in detail.
I'd never seen the inside of one of these. I already hated the riveted construction in theory. Now I'm wondering if fluids or anything else could accumulate in those internal cavities...
I'd never seen the inside of one of these. I already hated the riveted construction in theory. Now I'm wondering if fluids or anything else could accumulate in those internal cavities...
