PleAsE don't make me take my Spydercos apart!

peacefuljeffrey · Feb 25, 2005

Now that I've read a few threads about washer materials, and the imperviousness of phosphor bronze and the blah blah of nylatron and stuff... all of which I don't necessarily pretend to understand, and which probably makes not a whit of difference to someone who uses knives as lightly as I do...

Can anyone tell me, so I don't have to go busting open my knives to learn...
What kind of washers are in the:

- Spyderco Military
- Spyderco Paramilitary
- Spyderco Dodo
- Spyderco Vesuvius
- Spyderco Gunting
- Spyderco Copilot (s.s.)
- Benchmade Mini-Griptilian
- Benchmade Elishewitz Dark Star

I probably didn't need yet another thing to get obsessive about

but now that the idea of better pivot washers has been brought before me, I feel the urge to know. And if I find out that some of my knives have cheapo washers, can I replace them with a material I have a greater liking for? Say, if my Paramilitary has nylon washers and I view that as cheap, could I get and use PB washers? Where does one get such washers? Are they made knife-specific? Can they be obtained at a hardware store?

Thanks for any information about this.
All part of my ongoing "blade-ucation"!

-Jeffrey

cmd · Feb 25, 2005

My S30V Military has extremely thin nylon washers. My thoughts are that replacing them with PB washers would be a bad move because it would add a lot of extra pressure to the blade/pivot area.

Hope this helps.

Also, don't get me wrong. The move by Spyderco to PB washers really makes me happy. I just think retrofitting some Benchmade sized ones into an existing millie might not be a good idea. Who knows though, they're cheap and you can always switch them back again if it does not improve things. The Military is very easy to take apart and re-assemble.

Chris

DaveH · Feb 25, 2005

Dodo has paper thin mylar washers I think. I think the move by Spyderco to start using PB wshers is a great one. A coplit doesn't have washers, I believe,

GarageBoy · Feb 25, 2005

Mini Grip should have bronze (you can see it) and the Darkstar, IIRC is teflon/nylon

KeithAM · Feb 25, 2005

I thought I read somewhere that Spyderco will send you the replacement PB washers. Unless you have a very new Spyderco, it's going to have those paper thin synthetic ones.

I've never heard of the synthetic washers in a Spyderco actually failing. Has anyone else? Unless I hear of a common failure, I don't plan on replacing any of mine any time soon.

That said, I'm also glad that Spyderco is switching to PB.

knife saber · Feb 25, 2005

- Spyderco Military - Capton (the stuff that looks like film)
- Spyderco Paramilitary - I hear that these have phosphor bronze washers now
- Spyderco Dodo - Capton (at least in the earlier models)
- Spyderco Vesuvius - Probably Capton washers, but I couldn't say for certain
- Spyderco Gunting - Capton
- Spyderco Copilot (s.s.) - Sorry, no idea
- Benchmade Mini-Griptilian - Phosphor bronze now
- Benchmade Elishewitz Dark Star - Nylatron

peacefuljeffrey · Feb 27, 2005

knife saber said:
- Spyderco Military - Capton (the stuff that looks like film)
- Spyderco Paramilitary - I hear that these have phosphor bronze washers now
- Spyderco Dodo - Capton (at least in the earlier models)
- Spyderco Vesuvius - Probably Capton washers, but I couldn't say for certain
- Spyderco Gunting - Capton
- Spyderco Copilot (s.s.) - Sorry, no idea
- Benchmade Mini-Griptilian - Phosphor bronze now
- Benchmade Elishewitz Dark Star - Nylatron

Thank you for the thorough information.

Now, I wonder whether any of my knives (I have at least one of each of those I listed) are new enough, in the cases of the ones you said "now" have PB, to fall into that category.

But as someone rightly pointed out, unless there are rumors of widespread failings from "inferior" washers, why worry, I guess? Sometimes that's hard for me, though.

So if I say, wanted to replace washers (worn out or not), how would I go about obtaining them?

And how would I even know if I were getting a "new enough" specimen of any of these knives if I were to order them online, for instance? My guess is that I'd get whatever was in stock at the time, with no guarantee about generation, or date of manufacture. Am I right?

-Jeffrey

knife saber · Feb 27, 2005

In a thread on the Spyderco forum here, I think Mr. Glesser confirmed that the older models would be upgradeable to the new phosphor bronze washers. You'd probably have to send them in, though - either the new washers are really thin, or they'd have to refit the handles or spacer to accomodate the thicker washers.