Question on the Chinook

recondoc1

recondoc1

Joined
Apr 27, 2001
Messages
595
I just received my second Chinook in a trade. It is plain edge #903 and overall I am extremely pleased with it. I traded off my last one and can't remember exactly how the action was on it. (It's been too long.)
My question is: Do they normally have some grittiness in the opening stroke? Mine starts smoothly but, at around the 90degree mark, starts to pick up a gritty feeling. As the blade finishes it's opening stroke, the grittiness increases. I've now polished the back of the blade where it rides against the lock bar but it didn't help. This one is used and I notice that when I took it apart, there were only two washers. They were stacked on top of each other and on only one side of the blade. Is that how they are supposed to be? Also, the grittiness stays even when I keep the lockbar completely depressed while opening it.
What can be done to smooth it up?
Doc
 
How in the world did you take your Chinook apart???...(Mine is pinned/rivetted together.). Also, my Chinook has NO grittiness in any of the blade opening or closing travel. The 2 washers on one side really doesn't seem right, and I would THINK that there should be ONE for each side of the blade at the pivot area. I'm curious...Does the blade center correctly when closed with the 2 washers on one side?
 
G-man,
Thanks for the reply. As for "taking it apart" I should clarify. I removed the allen screw and took out the pivot pin. From there, I simply slid the blade forward and out. It does appear that the pins have been whacked to tighten them up at some time in the past though.
When I put the pivot assembley back together, I did put one washer on each side of the blade. After that, it still grinds through the later part of the opening arc.
Upon further inspection, there is a defined arc showing along the the pivot line on the left side of the blade. It seems that the left side is making metal to metal contact with the front of the frame when it goes through the opening stoke. I have no idea of how to remedy this so I'll probably send it back to Spydie.
Do you have any experience with Spyderco's repairs department? How is their turn around time? I'm planning on keeping this one as a hard user and want it at peak performance before I start hurting it.;)
Doc
 
Wow, Doc, you are more adventuresome than I was with that Chinook! When I picked it up in a trade with afee back in May this year, it seemed real tight on the action, and tuning the tension on the pivot screw never seemed to really help it. When I searched under the spyderco forum, I noticed a few other guys had similar experiences and attributed it to the much stronger lockback. I just shot it up with some tough glide, let it dry real good, but the strong lock seemed to hold it so that a "spydie drop" opening was intermitant for me, I needed to thumb it open. The guy that had it before me had mentioned some blade play, but I couldn't find any. I never noticed the two washers on the same side, but I'll bet whoever did it, did it in hopes of centering the blade to avoid any rub. I'll hold onto the carnie if you want it back. Do a search under username "afee" for anymore history on the knife.

Hank
 
Hank,
Go forth with the Carnie and use the heck out of it. There ain't a snowball's chance in hell that I'm giving up this Chinook.:D The blade grit problem is actually minor in the big scheme of things. I've been looking for one of these particularly because they are built like the M1A1 Abrahms of folders. A little grit in the action isn't going to make me want to swap back. That's for certain.
I still consider out swap a mutually beneficial trade so don't worry about it my friend.
Best regards.
Doc
 
Sounds good to me, Bud! Hey, if the edge on that one was real shiny, I probably took it all the way up to the 600 grit stone and then used a polishing tape, but I don't remember exactly on that one. I know I did it with a Wayne Goddard Lightweight just to see what the Apex would do, and you're right, it puts a great edge on them. If you're gonna use it as a skinner, you might want to take it back a little rougher to the 220 stone. That'll give it the "micro-serrations" some guys talk about to help with slicing duties. Take care, Doc!

Hank:cool:
 
Thanks for the info Hank. Great Trade.

I just got off the phone with Mike Hayes from Spyderco's Repair and Warranty shop. Great guy. He listened to my delima and without hesitation offered to fix it up ASAP. Now that's customer service. I'm not even the original purchaser of the knife and they still honor all the warranty and repair stuff. To me, that shows a company that has full faith and confidence in their product. If they have that kind of confidence, so will I. You can bet that my next folder purchase will be a Spyderco.:D
Thanks Sal and all of the Spyderco gang for being a company that defines Corporate Integrity to such a high degree.
Doc
 
Doc,

I can assure you, that by sending your Chinook to Spyderco for "repair", that you will get it back even better than new!
(...And I can totally understand your not wanting to trade it back for a REKAT folder...Even a nice one like the CF Carnivore.).:).
 
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