Polishing washers?

Lord_Balkan

Lord_Balkan

Joined
Aug 25, 2016
Messages
600
Hey, I have a BM Megumi that is a bit stiff, I want to try polishing the washers to get it a bit smoother. Does anyone have any tips on how to do this?

Thanks!
 
Metal polish on a rag on something flat (like a plate of class or marble). Polish with even pressure, I do figure 8's and circles in both directions. Make sure you stop and rotate the washer ~90 degrees every few seconds to get an even polish.
 
I've put Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish on a piece of thin cardboard like from a beer or cereal box which is then set on a flat surface. I've found that cutting a couple circles the size of the washer to put on top of the washer helps hold it and put even pressure.

With PB washers it's pretty amazing how dirty it makes the polish. I rotate the washer often and go to a different section of cardboard and polish once it gets dirty. It doesn't ever seem to get rid of all the scratches but it definitely gets a nice bright polish over most of the washer.

I also tried on my diamond loaded leather strop once and it worked but really made the leather dirty and loaded it up and wasn't worth it so now I always stick to cardboard I can toss in the recycling bin when done.
 
I've found that polishing washers is a short lived fix. like any mechanical object where metal on metal contact exists it's best to let the parts wear together. Altering the surface can help in some ways but once the parts start moving again it will burnish itself smooth. Like breaking in a new motor or gun it takes time to run smoothly. My $.02
 
I polish my washers (blade side only) on the tip of my finger with a Spyderco extra fine triangular prism (Sharpmaker). You don't need to shine the whole surface, just the high spots. When the washer is about 50% shiny, it's ready to use.
 
As Jason B said-
Polishing blade washers will do very little, if anything. As soon as the parts rub together, your "polish" is gone.
 
polishing helps. ive pulled em apart after hundreds of opening and closings and they are still polished and much slicker than they were before i polished them. that said lubing and opening it numerous times has a similar effect...
 
I think certain makers like CRK warns against polishing as it can alter tolerances.
 
anything with high tolerances like CRK, you may want to avoid doing this.

regardless of that dont use any low grit for polishing. you will just wear too much of the PB away.

i use a leather strop with compound on it.

another idea is to use 3 strips of balsa wood (you can use these as your knife blade strop's too, so keep them handy) and apply compound to each one, use 3 different compounds, start with something like 1 micron, .5 micron .1 micron (or whatever). then swirl each side of the PB washer. start out with the more course grit and goto the highest grit you have. again dont use any grit thats going to be TOO course and dont apply alot of pressure or swirl it for TOO long, as you could then make the washer too thin. you just want a mirror polish on it, you will likely see small scratches on it, that is fine, dont swirl or apply any more pressure, this is normal.

balsa wood and compound is pretty cheap and widely available. you could use whatever, just dont mix compound on the same strop, because then you will have both low and high grits on the same strop and that is going to be bad.
 
Last edited:
You can try replacing them with Teflon washers, if you don't mind using the material. I did it to a few Spyderco I have, and they become a lot smoother immediately.
However, If the Nak lock of Megumi requires a very tight tolerance compared to a frame lock or back lock, this may not work.


Miso
 
Mo2 said:
anything with high tolerances like CRK, you may want to avoid doing this.
Click to expand...

Yeah I seem to have a problem with the new "perforated " washers that CRK uses. Can't really make them smoother by polishing .. And also the holes and extra surface area make for a weird opening and closing. I really like the plain ones for smoother operation.


The perforated washers add friction and do not have a reduction in friction compared to the original washers. Wish there was a solution.
 
colubrid said:
Yeah I seem to have a problem with the new "perforated " washers that CRK uses. Can't really make them smoother by polishing .. And also the holes and extra surface area make for a weird opening and closing. I really like the plain ones for smoother operation.


The perforated washers add friction and do not have a reduction in friction compared to the original washers. Wish there was a solution.
Click to expand...

are you using any CRK or finishline grease? or just dry?
 
I've polished the washers on a couple of knives by using a polish on printer paper on a piece of glass.
Before putting the knife back together, I polished the washer contact area of the blade with jewelers rouge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top