Smoothing out a knife

Sharpnessis

Sharpnessis

Joined
Aug 11, 2012
Messages
810
So I got my dad a spyderco sage 1 for father's day. I thought I would carry it for awhile and just flip it open and closed to break it in a little.
Well it's still not smooth. So I took it apart and polished all the mating surfaces.
2013-04-29_20-09-36_243.jpg

(here's a good before and after)
The washers, lock bar, liner lock, blade tang, liner. Still, it is not as smooth as I was hoping.
Any suggestions?
 
All I've tried so far is wd40. That usually works pretty well. I'll see if I can find some of that stuff richard. Thanks
 
Nano oil is also pretty awesome. Sometimes you do more harm than good with polishing if you don't lube it back up afterwards.
 
I hope didn't harm anything. I thought the worst thing that could happen is pinching the washers. I ordered some quick release, though.
 
I'm sure it's fine, I didn't mean you would actually damage the washers, just that you're removing all the lube from the system when you polish everything then you need to make sure to lube it up again afterwards :)
 
i was amazed at how smooth these knives were that i was sent to get sharpened. they were so smooth even though the tolerance was tight on the pivot pin. that sold me on the quick release.
 
the next time we talk, remind me to tell you about the knives the guy sent me that turned me on to the quick release.
 
If you do a little searching on BF, you'll find lots of threads about lubrication. WD-40 isn't meant for lubrication - the "WD" stands for water displacement. WD-40 tends to evaporate quickly. Sounds like you are on the right track with quick release. Nano oil is my lube of choice - and there are lots of other good ones out there.

As far as polishing the washers/liners goes, I would urge caution. While this seems like a good idea many times, if you remove a little too much through polishing, it can affect the tolerances when you reassemble. I'm not saying not to do it - this can improve performance substantially - just be gentle so you don't bend the washers and don't remove much metal. :)

TedP
 
phillipsted said:
As far as polishing the washers/liners goes, I would urge caution. While this seems like a good idea many times, if you remove a little too much through polishing, it can affect the tolerances when you reassemble. I'm not saying not to do it - this can improve performance substantially - just be gentle so you don't bend the washers and don't remove much metal. :)
Click to expand...

Good point! If you watch the youtube videos of CRK shop tour, it shows a guy at the end checking the fit of a Sebenza. If the blade has any play or isn't centered, he'll polish the washers just a bit and keep checking until its dang near perfect.
 
Wd-40 is fine for knife lubrication, residue is mineral oil.

I've used 10w 30 as knife lube, worked great!

I've mirror polished tang/washers/liners before, tension on the pivot becomes a very light touch to go from loose to nearly locked up, by all means lube it up, but spend time getting the tightness perfect.
 
I've gone through a few folders with sticky pivots.
Oils works.
Taking it apart and cleaning works.
But if it got sticky once, it'll get sticky again.
The best way I've found that'll make release last much longer is to loosen the pivot screw just a tad, and loctite it.
What you lose in blade play, you'll get in longer lasting slick release.
Something to consider.
 
It's still not perfect. If I loosen the pivot screw the liner lock pushes the blade waaay off to center. I guess I got it the best it can be.
 
I figured it out! Under 30x magnification the detent ball on the liner lock wasn't perfectly round! With some careful sanding and polishing it is now much better.

I am happy to now call this knife SMOOTH!
 
Good catch, next time I've got a stubborn knife I'll take a look at the detent. Thanks for the update :)
 
how did you sand such a small ball bearing? i have a good supply of tiny ball bearings. if you had a micrometer or access to one so you could have measured it, i could have sent you one when i shipped out your knives yesterday.
 
I contacted spyderco and they told me it wasn't a moving part. It is just a fixed nub that the blade rides on. I put a piece of 600 grit sandpaper on the edge of a piece of granite and slowly went to work. After careful inspection it is much more round than it came from the factory. A little polish on the slotted wheel, then a dremel with xfine compound got it really slick!
 
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