My New SNG!!!!

Midget

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Jun 1, 2002
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2,806
The UPS man dropped of my brand new Gen6 SNG on friday. since then, i've been so psyched to use this thing.



But i have some questions.


First off, this thing is stiff!! the action is very stiff and the detent locks down HARD on the blade when it's closed. i can understand the detent part, cause you don't want this thing coming opened unintentionally.

but what do you do about the action? upon inspection, i notice that the ENTIRE blade is bead blasted, including the area around the pivot. i feel like the beadblast finish is going to create a lot of drag and also wear down the ball detent in a jiffy. i'm thinking about field stripping it and polishing all the contact areas. good or bad idea?




but otherwise, this thing is pretty badass. you should hear this thing when it locks open. it snaps with a loud, hollow, "CLUNK!!"
 
I'm thinking the Strider FAQ says it takes between 300 and 1000 opening/closing cycles to wear your knife in correctly. What it's doing is wearing away that bead blasted area on your tang. Never thought about polishing the tang but I field strip mine, use a tuff cloth on everthing, militec it and put it back together. Works wonders. Then again I also sit and open/close it while I'm watching tv to break em in too.

later,

oily
 
Yeah just play around with it and it will loosen up some. If you are confident in your skill you could speed it up by taking it apart and polishing contact areas. Basically that is what happens during break in anyway.

I wouldn't worry about wearing the ball detent. Look closely and you will see it is actually the detent that wears a track in the blade.
 
Congrats on your new knife. Yeah there is the Strider break in period. I think that you are supposed to get a 6 pack of your favorite beer (Strider suggests Guinness) and then about 400-600 openings, and she should be as smooth as butter. You could strip it down, but it isn't as fun that way. Please don't let this knife sit in your safe, or wherever you keep you collectables. I think it has a bug in it somewhere that notifies the guys at the shop when you are neglecting to use it. They may hit the remote self destruct button. :p :D
 
scratch that, i can't get disassemble it cause i don't have a spanner.

yes, yes, i read the striderFAQ and it says i can get it apart w/o a spanner if i use an allen wrench and soldering iron. i tried but just couldn't get it apart.

all well. i'll just wear in the knife the way god intended.
 
That is what I am talkin about brother. Use the hell out of it. This knife is going to become a part of you. I am a lefty, and became ambidextrous just so I could use one. I don't even notice it now. LOL
 
Agree with the rest. Mine broke in just beautifully over a short span of time. It became smooth and remain solidly locked up when open. Clip remained real strong. No fear of losing the knife in the brush.
 
Yeah, Mick said the clip is that way for that very reason. He would rather we bitch about how hard it is to get it out of our pockets than bitching that we lost it. I think that is a fair trade off.
 
so does it bother anyone that the framelock does not line up w/ the tang of the blade? that is, the corner of the lock is what touches, as opposed to having the entire lock face engaged.

i read in the strider faq that it's to prevent crap/dirt from comprimising the lock engagement. i guess that makes sense.

but after years of having linerlocks and one framelock (camillus EDC) wear out on me, i am wary about my sng. thoughts on this?



also, i haven't gotten over the fact that i'm carrying around a 400.00 knife in my pocket. take this from a guy who's usually packing the BS881 or a spyderco or a crkt. having an sng is a very strange feeling for me.
 
Doesn't bother me a bit. The lock works as intended. As far as the guilt, or worry about using an expensive knife? Get ovet it. :D
 
If you do manage to get it apart, don't polish anything, as others said, the ball detent and blade will wear each other in in a few hundred cycles and the knife will end up being pretty smooth. If after this, it's still too stiff, you will either have to loosen the pivot slightly or reduce the lockbar tension slightly.

As for wearing out the lockbar, I wouldn't worry about that, it's heat hardened and should outlast you. :) I recall that allowing crud to exit the lock area is not the only reason the locks engage that way, it's done this way for a reason, it's not a flaw.

The ball detent will become slightly flattened after a short while, but it will still work just fine.

Try putting a dab of a good synthetic grease on the tip of the ball detent, and some oil in the pivot area. This should help a little.

Don't worry, in a few weeks the knife should be much smoother and it will serve you well.
 
Congrats on the knife man. Where did you get it from? I got to check out the MeuSOC, SnG and then the smaller one at a gunshow this weekend. After looking at them all, I was really desparate, but the guy couldn't take trades. I'll have to save my pennies. Striders are AWESOME!

Any thoughts from other Strider owners...If you just had one, would it be the SnG or the SmF?

Thanks
Luke
 
SNG is an awesome knife. Give it hell and it will ask for more.

Lube it with some Militec, cycle it, and it will smooth right up.
 
Midget,
Congrads on the SnG. They realy do take some time to wear in. Just keep cycling it and don't worry about the Strider thumb (that's just the knife toughening up you thumb :p ). Just give it some militec, and start flicking. Also if you want a spanner, get in contact with Peter Atwood, he makes a Prybaby with a spanner on it.
 
I haven't seen any problems with the corner-type lockup you're talking about. I've heard many makers say that that is the preferred geometry.
 
Yeah Strider knives definately had their $hit together when they designed the 6th Gen SNG's. Not that the other ones weren't awesome, just these seemed to iron the bugs of old out. I have cut some sick stuff with mine, and it still looks pretty much new. Just get some MD Labs XF-7 to lube and coat it with, and you are set. And to think, somewhere else in the discussion area, some are comparing this knife to a Manix. Whew!, whatever makes you happy. :rolleyes: Use your new friend in good heath. You deserve a knife like this. It will take care of you, as long as you take care of it.
 
Heh heh. You should've rather bought a Manix man. ;)

Got my gen 6 recently as well and just kept cycling it. On the way to work every morning (30 min trip) I opened and closed it. On the way back from work (another 30 min) I opened and closed it. While sitting at the tv at night I opened and closed it. The sound woke my wife up one night and I was knee deep in trouble :o - so stopped doing that!

After a few hundred times she is smooth as a baby's bum :D

Enjoy man.

Greg
 
and thanks everyone for the tips and congrats.

this baby is getting a little smoother every day and being used more and more.
 
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