Polishing manix xl internals?

T

tjiscooler

Joined
Mar 17, 2008
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530
I got my s90v manix xl the other day and I like it a lot but the action is not only tight but kind of jumpy or gritty feeling.

I was thinking of taking it apart and polishing the washers, where it touches the liners, pivot, blade face, and the rear round portion of the blade the ball rides on. I'm NOT planning on touching the portion the ball locks onto.

What you guys think? I know it'll loosen up with time but I don't think it will "smooth" much through wear. I know about the warranty void.
 
First, be advised people seem to get the Manix 2 back together incorrectly and/or break the little rod on the cage with frequency when they reassemble these knives. :o

I have owned a lot of Manix 2s and some were the way you describe, but as far as I can tell it is exactly the one part you're not talking about polishing that was causing the feeling: the tang lobe that the ball rotates on.

Most of mine smoothed out nicely with use. I'd try that. The CBBL is a great fidget lock - and building the muscle memory with a zillion reps won't hurt you, either. :)
 
Ahhh you mean the upper steel spacer/ guide? I didn't think of that. I haven't looked inside and that is a good point. Although that might compromise the lockup by making the ball want to "shoot" out.

Also I was thinking of the cage itself that the ball is seated in. You can't really polish plastic to the same effect as steel. I think a hardened steel cage would be awesome. Then you can polish and lube everything. And the little rod wouldn't break as often. It's a somewhat busy design and I think it warrants being taken down and properly cleaned and whatnot occasionally. Especially if you dropped it at the beach. "Cycling it clean" would take forever and scratch the hell out of the internals.

I fully realize how nit picky and silly it is but I like tinkering and getting everything at peak performance is part of the fun. Granted not all users are the same way So I totally understand why taking it apart voids the warranty, no complaints there.

I did just do the old dawn soap and hot running water thing to clean out the factory gunk and it made a small but noticeable difference. I'm just going to use it a million times a day dry for a week or so. then clean it again and add a drop or two of nano oil.
 
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I just want to point out one fact. This post is directly above another that has been going for a few days... broken polymer cage. Hmmm, that a coincidence?

Spyderco wont send you new parts like a cage. They will lecture you about not taking them apart, then charge you money to repair plus lost time during the process.

Do it if you want, you seem to know the risks and do this type of thing often.

(Shhh, I like to take knives apart too. Over 15 knives disassembled and no problems yet. It's not hard but I know accidents will happen.)
 
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