sak problem

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
5,944
I posted this on an a thread in another forum a e\while ago but wanted to get your guys opinions on it....the last to vic saks I've owned the fieldmaster and the farmere have bothe developed the same issue which has made me reconsider there use as a pocket knife.... it seems after a month or so of pocket carry the main blade develops a gritty sound when opening or closing...a thorough washing does not relieve it...lubricating only relieves it for a short time....the blade gets difficult to open and the grating sound gets worse.. upon repetedly opening and closing the blade I notices smal bits of metallic dust are being sheared off during the process... my only guess is that the action is being damaged by objects in my pocket which cause abbrasions whic catch and cause friction when opening the knife... although I'm not sure...anybody ver have a similar problem??? remedies??? would carrying in a sheath alleviate that problem?? thanks..
 
Ive had the same problem with camillus and cases, I abosuletly hate that problem. I dont think there is a solution once metal starts grinding on metal, like that. For me the problem only gets worse. And you say both!, I love victorinox, not only for their utility, but mostly because Ive never had that kind of problem. Nowadays I only edc a trekker, which for me works in the city or the woods. Im really bummed out to hear about this on two of your knives. Yikes! im going to be watching this thread very closely to see what better men than me have to say.
 
Any time I have experiences stuff like that, it has been debris from my pocket, but I've never had much trouble removing it.

Have you tried flushing the knife out with hot water with compressed air?

Or blasting it out with an aerosol oil spray?

PS WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do NOT use WD-40 or Brake/Carburetor aerosol cleaners, they will damage the Cellidor scales on an SAK, TRUST me I learned the hard way. :D
 
I pocket carry my SAK's all the time without any serious problems.
The only one that occasionally gets gritty is the OH Trekker. However i probably opened and closed that blade more in the past year than the blade on my 10+ year old swisschamp. Heck half the time when i'm surfing here at blade forums i'm typing or using the mouse with one hand and absent mindedly opening and closing the OH Trekker with the other!
I've had the OH Trekker for almost a year now and i think that after a while it gets "broken in", i haven't had that gritty problem in a while.
 
guys, its pocket grit getting into your knives actions. this kind of thing is going to happen to any pocket knife, especially high quality ones like vics and case's. the tighter the tolerence the worse this is noticeable. and no, washing doesnt usually fix the problem because the grit gets between the blade and handle where it can't be easily removed and causes the grinding sound. some recommend a lubricant called "white lightening" which is a wax based lubricant suspended in a fast drying carrier agent. you drop a few drops in and the carrier dries away fast leaving the waxy lub behind which is not supposed to attract and retain grit and debris like conventional oils. personally what i do is number one, i use a thick oil called "hoppes gun oil" which is extremely durable and stays in the action for a long period of time protecting it, and second i turn my pockets inside out often and shake out all the lint and grit which seems to find its way in there. there is nothing wrong with you knives. this is a common problem and can be fixed with a little tlc.,,,VWB.
 
I regularly (once a week) "dry" clean out my EDC SAK's using the toothpick. Thats cleaning them inside and outside.
In addition to the interior i half open the blades and look at and clean the area where the blade meets the spine, lint and grit gets in there too. Thats probably your problem area.

Whenever i get a "new" used sak from ebay i half open all the blades and use an old toothbrush to dry clean out the innards. Use the tooth brush on the blade meets spine area too.

If its really dirty i will wet clean it. (This is rarely necessary if you regularly clean and lightly lube your knife, mostly i do the wet clean on ebay knives)
For a wet clean I take the SAK (with the blades still half opened) and put in a sink of hot water, sort of stirring it around a bit. Also using a face cloth i hold the knife by one of the tools(scissors/saw/blade etc) and rinse out the knife innards and spine area under the running hot water. Then depending on how dirty the knife is i may add soap to the water and repeat the process. Then i thoroughly rinse it again under very hot water. Then i gently shake it dry and then lay it out to completely dry on an old towel. When its cool i further clean the innards and spine area with a facecloth.
Then i very lightly lube the area where the blade meets the spine, wiping off any excess lube.
 
Of course i do wet cleaning only on SAKs with celidor or Alox scales.
SAKs are pretty tough but i don't do this wet clean with other knives.
I especially DO NOT do a wet clean on knives with natural wood or stag/bone scales!
:eek:
 
The Last Confederate said:
PS WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do NOT use WD-40 or Brake/Carburetor aerosol cleaners, they will damage the Cellidor scales on an SAK, TRUST me I learned the hard way. :D
Click to expand...

I've never found WD40 to damage cellidor.

Brake/Carburetor cleaner is another story, however. Simple things like household rubbing alcohol will also dissolve cellidor. Cellidor is an interesting retro plastic, and would probably never be used today in such applications were it not for tradition.
 
Ok maybe its just me but are you all missing the point where Rescue Riley is talking about seeing metalic specs starting to appear. This is the real problem, and for me once that starts to happen it goes from bad to worse.
 
I *borrowed* for an extended period of time, my girlfriends little brush (I think it is a mascara brush for the eyes) and it works great for cleaning all of my knives.
 
shipwreck said:
Ok maybe its just me but are you all missing the point where Rescue Riley is talking about seeing metalic specs starting to appear. This is the real problem, and for me once that starts to happen it goes from bad to worse.
Click to expand...
Well obviously there is dirt/lint/ etc gumming up the works and causing friction and wearing metal.
Suggestions of cleaning methods to try to remove the unwanted materials is hardly "missing the point".
Short of totally dismantling the knife cleaning is the only way of fixing the problem.

Edit-I found a Spyderco in a pawn shop a few years back that had an incredibly stiff gritty action. I cleaned it as best i could which helped but it was still a little gritty.
Finally i just lubed it and repeatedly opened and closed it (but not engaging the lock) a few hundred (maybe a thousand) times. That fixed it.
And since then i just give it a regular cleaning and light lubing with no repeat of its old problems.
 
Hey guys
Do you think this is part of the normal break in process most cars , guns, machine's require a certain amount of use/ time for parts to settle in (break in)?reguardless I would clean and oil as other's have recommended.
 
Riley, I'm still of the opinion that you have a lubrication problem. Good luck with it. Don't give up on SAKs!
 
RescueRiley said:
I posted this on an a thread in another forum a e\while ago but wanted to get your guys opinions on it....the last to vic saks I've owned the fieldmaster and the farmere have bothe developed the same issue which has made me reconsider there use as a pocket knife.... it seems after a month or so of pocket carry the main blade develops a gritty sound when opening or closing...a thorough washing does not relieve it...lubricating only relieves it for a short time....the blade gets difficult to open and the grating sound gets worse.. upon repetedly opening and closing the blade I notices smal bits of metallic dust are being sheared off during the process... my only guess is that the action is being damaged by objects in my pocket which cause abbrasions whic catch and cause friction when opening the knife... although I'm not sure...anybody ver have a similar problem??? remedies??? would carrying in a sheath alleviate that problem?? thanks..
Click to expand...

Like one poster said, clean it out really good under warm running water using lots of dishwashing detergent and an old toothbrush. dry well, and let it sit overnight. Don't over lube the knife. Lube will atract dirt.

I had a Vic pioneer that was a little gritty, and I just kept using it. Cleaned it out once a week. It stopped doing it.

But if you think its that bad, send it back to Victorinox, and let them send you another knife. Victoriox has unbelievable customer service and will address the problem. They don't have a customer base for 35 million knives a year for making bad products.
 
with my SAK the action would get gritty, so picked up the habit of blasting the joint with a bit of air (from my lips or a can of air from an electronics store) into the joint whenever i get a gritty sound or feeling. seems to help.

i had an issue with getting grit under the locking ring of my opinel, but couldn't get it out, so i just put up with the gritty action and it stopped after a while. the locking ring started out fairly tight, but now it is only mildly tight, at just about the right resistance level.

so i suggest cleaning (maybe skip the lube? i have heard this suggestion from a few posters here before), blowing out the joints, cleaning out the body of the knife (where the blades sit) and making an attempt to keep the grit out of your pockets.
 
I've been carrying my black Camper for over a year, and only had some gritty mechanism after I had some debris in my pocket. After some really hot water with soap rinsing, the gritty sound/operation was gone.
I ussually carry my Camper around my neck with a piece of paracord.

CZ
 
Thanks for all the good advice, I apologize if I came across snide, or something. Lots of good advice. And to be honest now Im releaved, what would I do without my trekker?, holy cow, some real panic for a while there. So far though it has always operated great, without any problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top