Sifu with sticky lock

Charlie Mike

Charlie Mike

Sober since 1-7-14 (still a Paranoid Nutjob)
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Nov 1, 2000
Messages
28,365
Now that REKAT is RIP, I don't know what to do about it. I do know that this was a frequent occurance though. Ho have Sifu owners here fixed it?
 
Never owned a Sifu but I did own every other REKAT at one time or another..

Best thing to do is take her apart and polish the inner workings with 220 and 300 grit respectively, if you have a Dremel or buffer you can finish off with a good buffing to glass everything up. Hit any area where metal touches metal.

Grease her good and reassmble.

If you've never had her apart, be careful when removing the lock side scale as the spring may fly out. If you're worried cover the knife with a towel and remove the screw, this way the spring will be captured if it flys away.

Good luck!
 
When I unlock it, there's a little bit of a hangup on the release. Even without the blade in the handle.
 
I would look in the area where the little lock flipper engages the slide button and see if you can polish it up, also make sure the G-10 is not rough or ragged in that area.

You could also try to apply some good lubricant around the lock button to see if it helps.

I had 2 that had this problem, one I was able to clean up the action on, the other I never had any luck with, sometimes it was nearly impossible to unlock.

Hope these pointers help!
 
I really love the design and egros of this knife, but I hate the lock. If possible, I'd like to send it to a custom guy and have it converted to a liner lock. Not much work, just cut and bend the left line and add a detent.
 
Matt,

You may want to post this over in the Shop Talk forum. Working up a retrofit for these knives could be a nice little project for an enterprising knifemaker. Perhaps someone can work up some slick metal scales and a better latch switch for these knives. If anything is worthy of customizing, these are. I wouldn't go as far as replacing the entire lock.

Just imagine these knives with a professional polish, contoured colored titanium scales, and a glassy smooth metal release switch. I'll drop a $100 on my SIFU to get something like that done. :p :p :p

n2s
 
Might as well make it D/A while I'm at it. Make it liner lock and have the rolling lock release be a firing button.
 
I'll describe what my Sifus were like and if the same description fits yours then it could be the same thing. When they were brand new, it sometimes took a lot of force to disengage the lock. This was more so if the blade was opened forcefully. If that's all it is, it will wear in and become much smoother and less sticky after 100 or so openings and closings. I've had Axis locks behave the exact same way when new, but within a few days of flicking open and closing they smoothed out as well.

If you want to take it apart and polish it up, just try real hard to polish without removing much metal. If you remove a little too much the lock my not work any more, and there's no more REKAT to fix it.
 
Matt,

I have had sticky lock-release "sliders" on a few of my REKATs, including a couple Sifu, and the ONLY way to solve the problem IS to completly disassemble the knife and polish-up EVERYTHING inside (all the metal, and the G-10 scales), including the plastic "slider" it'self. Also, make sure that the little long spring is free to move, and has no kinks in it. It also helps to slightly round the bottom of the metal lever so that it has NO chance to bind on the liner that it moves across...(I'm sure that once you have your Sifu apart, that you'll notice the rub-marks; That area MUST be polished.).

If worse comes to worse, and you don't want to bother with it, maybe I have something that you'd want to trade for your Sifu...
 
Sorry Dann, I feel the need to customize. ;)
 
convert a rolling lock to a liner lock?? i wonder if bob taylor has read this one, lol, sorry, i just couldnt resist it, my fingers wouldnt stop typing.............:rolleyes:
 
ya might give pat crawford a call, i know he makes a knife w/a rolling lock licensed by REKAT (or did anyway). maybe he would fix the lock for you?????

would be worth a try, imho

greg
 
OK, I did what you have told me and now it's working smooth enough for my tastes. I didn't have any silicon carbide paper on hand so I used a well worn EZ Lap diamond rod and a bit of Penn fishing reel lube. Thanks for your help to all who replied.

PS, I still think I might customize it someday :)
 
I'm glad to read that you have fixed your sticky Sifu, Matt. It should smooth-out even more with use. Like I "said" before, the most critical part to have absolutely smooth is the area where the internal metal lever moves across the liner in an arc...That is usually where the lock-release slider will bind-up.:).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top