Old Wenger Champ Hard to Open/Close

[jcnaz]

I had recently been adding some Wengers to my stable of SAKs,when I purchased this older "Champ" from an on-line estate sale.
When the knife arrived it was VERY hard to open and close and was full of a residue that smelled like saddle soap.I gave it the requisite hot soapy water bath,dried it and sprayed lubricant liberally throughout the knife. It is not a bad looking knife, but it still has the following problems:
There is no snap to the blades,they have to be pushed all the way to their fully open position AND all the way closed. They are not sloppy and loose,but still feel as if they are dragging as they are moved.This is true for ALL of the layer tools and the awl. the corkscrew works as it should.
The scissors will not spring open. I think this is related to the first issue.
There is a stain on the stainless! A couple of the blades have a light splotchy discoloration that has the appearance of dried milk. No amount of scrubbing with hot soapy water will touch it.

I buy all of my SAKs to use, so the appearance issues are not a big deal to me. I am hoping that someone has some ideas about freeing the action up a bit on this good old knife.

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Thanks!
-JC

 

[Carloxicus]

Try giving your knife a bath with WD-40. Then let it soak in the WD-40 overnight or even longer than that. Open and close all tools repeatedly. Wash off the WD-40. Grab a rag and some stainless steel polish and rub off all the stains and blemishes on the knife. Wash the knife again and scrub it well with dish washing soap. Dry the knife thoroughly.

Repeat as needed.

Finish up by oiling the knife at the hinges with mutli-tool oil (not WD-40). Polish the blades a bit more to bring back the shine.

 

[meako]

I have something much the same. No matter how much i cleaned it oiled it dried it cleaned it again etc etc the snap is not there -I'm thinking it never was!