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Native 5 G10 smoothness issue.

SunOfAtom

SunOfAtom

Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Messages
193
One of my first Spyderco knives was a Persistence, which I immediately fell in love with due to the solid feel and smooth action. Shortly thereafter I picked up a Delica 4, which I liked for the back lock and better steel. Hoping to find a knife that would blend my favorite parts of these two knives (G10, stainless liners, great steel, back lock), I came across the Native 5 G10. Perfect! I picked one up expecting to have found my ideal EDC knife, but the problem is that it just is not smooth like my other knives. When I say not smooth, I mean that the lock bar seems to cause too much resistance against the blade while opening or closing. If I hold the lock button all the way in, the blade swings smooth and free. I know a back lock will have more drag than something like a liner or frame lock, but my Delica is far smoother than the Native, even though they are both back locks.

I took the knife apart to give it a good cleaning and oiling, but that did not make any difference. I then took it apart to smooth out all of the pivot and contact areas (by hand using sandpaper, then chromium oxide paste) but this also did not make a noticeable difference. Eventually I gave up and it just went into my storage cabinet to collect dust.

Tonight I decided to pull it out to see if I could determine what the issue is, since I really want to like this knife. I took it apart, wiped down all the surfaces with a dry towel (no alcohol or other solvents), then reassembled but did not oil it. Opening and closing it felt the same until about the 10th time, when the blade and lock bar started galling:

n5_issue_1.jpg


n5_issue_2.jpg


n5_issue_3.jpg


n5_issue_4.jpg


n5_issue_5.jpg



I could be mistaken, but shouldn't these two metals be hard enough to move across one another without almost immediately galling? Could I have affected the metals in some way by smoothing the surfaces? I would not think so, given that it was done by hand and not subjected to any drastic heat. Thoughts?

Dave
 
i wonder .. even if you do not smooth it out .. the wear and tear to do it too or if not even smooth it out after some time.
 
That's how a backlock works. There is always going to be a tightness when opening and closing the blade. It will never "swing freely" on its own. Even an axis lock or compression lock won't do that unless you hold the lock open manually. Back locks just happen to be tighter than others.
 
My new Delica was also a bit rough in the beginning and also seemed to develop a 'hot spot' where the tang and the lock bar slide over each other. Now after a couple of weeks and many openings it is getting noticeably smoother. I think lock backs just have a break in period and slowly they do become smoother. I also find that lubricating lock backs isn't always the answer for a smoother action, they seem to gunk up so quickly with lint etc. These days I just keep it clean and dry and it seems better than oiling it which only attracts grit.

Just carry it and enjoy it, it will get smoother. Excellent macro photography by the way!
 
Thanks for the input. I have five Spyderco back lock knives, and four of them behave exactly like I expect a back lock knife to operate. This one is different than the others in that it has never been smooth to open. I have had this knife for eight months, and no amount of opening/closing/cleaning/refining has improved it at all. The newly discovered issue that the blade and lock bar will begin galling if I don't keep it well oiled has me thinking that there is something not right with this knife. I had not seen anyone have an issue like this with this or any other back lock Spyderco, which is why I thought I would ask.
 
Hopefully Sal will drop by here and perhaps give ya a better insight into this.

Will heat treatment and hardness level affect the 2 piece of steel rubbing against each other
 
I didn't realise that you have had the knife so long SunOfAtom. It's a bit disconcerting to see the wear on the tang, I would have thought that what with the blade steel being so hard it would be the lock bar doing the wearing. Which raises a question I have always wondered about: what steel is the lock bar made from on our Spydies, and is it also hardened to a certain level? hmm...
 
It does appear that metal is getting pulled off the lock bar and building up on the blade. I used some fine sandpaper to clean up both contact points, and while the blade quickly returned to smooth, the lock bar is left with small grooves and holes where metal seems to have been removed. I reassembled and was quickly able to reproduce the exact same behavior.

It does seem like the metal in the lock bar is too soft, but that is just a guess. At this point I think I'll send it in to Spyderco to see if they can figure something out. Even if I have to cover the cost of repairs, I would just be happy to have this knife working as it should.
 
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