Question about adjustments on Millie???

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WillieD

Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Messages
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I got a Military a little while back and it needs some adjustment. It has that slow gritty feeling when opening. I hit it with a shot of Militec and didn't help. I saw the earlier posts about this, but am still not clear which screws to turn and how much to turn them to fix this. I sure don't want to mess anything up either, which is why I am starting up this thread again. Any help??? Thanks, Terry :confused:
 
Terry,

I wouldn't try to disassemble the Millie - from what I've heard it can be quite tough to get it back together without messing up the action even more.

What you *can* do is this: Put the Military into hot tap water and add some dish washing soap. Open/close several times when submersed and let rest in the water for an hour or so. Rinse thoroughly with hot water and use canned air/blow drier to remove water (or put it in the sun for a few hours). Apply your favourite grease again (I recommend White Lightning Wax).

If that did not help at all and it doesn't get any better after a few hundred open/close cycles, send it back. :-/

-Connor
 
Both of the Militarys I've owned have had the same gritty feel when opening and closing. It's just the way the Military is. I'm not sure, but I think it has to do with the texture of the G-10 on the inside of the scales. I've had other linerless folders with scales that were textured on the inside, and they had the same gritty feel. The gritty feeling doesn't go away, unless you loosen the pivot A LOT. The problem is that when you lossen the pivot a lot, you get blade play and the ball detent no longer keeps the knife closed properly.

Better to live with the grit. The Military is not the smoothest opener on the market. It's strong points lie elsewhere.
 
I'm putting my money on the G-10 handles that give you that gritty feeling.

Mine isn't too bad.
 
If the Military is like other Spyderco liner locks, it has a pivot washer, so the G-10 should not affect it. Maybe it's missing a washer. If you do the washing treatment do it with the pivot loose, then retighten to the action you want.
 
If none of those work, try sending it in to the Spyderco Customer Service people. I have never had any reason to complain about their excellent service, which is more than I can say about any other company. :) :)
 
Well, I rinsed it out really well without loosening anything up and hit it with Militec after drying it off and it is a lot smoother, but is still a little slow. Guess that's how it will always be. Although I can flick it open if I start the blade open with my thumb and really wing it out there. I don't like to do that often, but I could not do it at all before I washed it out. Thanks, Terry
 
My Military is exactly the same. Yes, they do have very very thin pivot washers, but still the G10 pivot area barely rubs the blade tang when opening and closing. These washers are extremely thin and the G10, by nature is textured (not smooth and slick). The end result is that I just have learned to accept this about the Military. It would, of course be smoother if it had liners, but then the key element of very light weight would be lost.

Every Military I have seen is somewhat gritty when opening and closing. The nature of the beast.
 
That's a shame if the military can expected to be gritty. Good to know though, for the price of this blade, I'd want it as smooth as other company's products.

My starmate has similar construction and is not gritty at all, but the inside of the handle scale is smooth. You should be able to fix your military with thicker washers or polishing the g-10 around the pivot.
 
brownshoe said:
That's a shame if the military can expected to be gritty. Good to know though, for the price of this blade, I'd want it as smooth as other company's products.

My starmate has similar construction and is not gritty at all, but the inside of the handle scale is smooth. You should be able to fix your military with thicker washers or polishing the g-10 around the pivot.
Click to expand...

Good point, but having it glass smooth is not so important, to me anyway. I guess liners would help, but then the weight would no longer be 4 oz, so I would not have bought it in the first place. My personal needs were for a strong, sharp folder, with good steel, foolproof lock, and very light weight at a reasonably low cost.

As is, I end up carrying my Military more than all my other folders (Sebenza, Protech, Severtech, Microtech, Tops, Benchmade, other Sypdercos, Maxx, etc etc etc). For a relatively inexpensive knife (only $100) it really has everything I want for EDC: large comfy handle, 4" V30 blade, incredibly sharp, strong lock (never heard of one failing) and only 4 oz. Plus, if I damage or loose it, it is cheap enough to just go buy another.

Don't get me wrong: Smoother would be better, but it does not effect the performance of the knife. If Sal were to say that they should be smooth opening, then I would say there is something wrong with the gritty ones.
 
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