So I've seen posts about the Mantra and the Southard having this issue. But I haven't seen anyone talk about the Magnitude. I just recently purchased a Spyderco Magnitude, and while disassembling it and cleaning it, I noticed the washers/bearing races are so thin that they're dished out. And even though the knife still functions and feels pretty smooth. I can't help but feel like it would be a lot better if the washers were a little more substantial and weren't dished out like that. So can anyone help me out on a possible replacement for them? Or even just some sort of fix?
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Spyderco Magnitude Bearing Race
- Thread starter JTR1889
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2016
- Messages
- 3,903
I’m not aware of any drop-in replacements, but would love to hear about any that exist.
As a Southard devotee, this is what I can tell you (not sure how much is applicable to the Magnitude):
My OE washers are dished, but after 4 years and tons of use, it still flips great.
The plastic/nylon bearing retainers (not sure if the same on the Magnatude) have swollen on two separate occasions, destroying the knife’s action. Both times I fixed it by relieving the OD of the retainers with gentle sanding so they would spin freely in their pockets. (Not sure why they swell. Something in a lube perhaps?)
There is a member here (I’ll tag him if I remember who) that sourced replacement bearings from USA Knifemaker, but he told me he’s running them on the OE washers.
A few years back someone was selling a bearing/washer “upgrade kit,” but the washers needed fitting. The guy has long since gone dark.
Hopefully others will chime in with better info than mine. Even though my Southards are running great, I agree with you that the setup doesn’t inspire confidence. I’m always looking for backup solutions. It’s probably my favorite knife ever.
As a Southard devotee, this is what I can tell you (not sure how much is applicable to the Magnitude):
My OE washers are dished, but after 4 years and tons of use, it still flips great.
The plastic/nylon bearing retainers (not sure if the same on the Magnatude) have swollen on two separate occasions, destroying the knife’s action. Both times I fixed it by relieving the OD of the retainers with gentle sanding so they would spin freely in their pockets. (Not sure why they swell. Something in a lube perhaps?)
There is a member here (I’ll tag him if I remember who) that sourced replacement bearings from USA Knifemaker, but he told me he’s running them on the OE washers.
A few years back someone was selling a bearing/washer “upgrade kit,” but the washers needed fitting. The guy has long since gone dark.
Hopefully others will chime in with better info than mine. Even though my Southards are running great, I agree with you that the setup doesn’t inspire confidence. I’m always looking for backup solutions. It’s probably my favorite knife ever.
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Ya, I mean it functions perfectly fine and certainly feels very smooth still. I guess I'm just worried about the longevity of it and would really like to just fix the issue. And I'd have to take it apart again to be sure, but I think the bearing cages in the Magnitude are a plastic/nylon material too. It would be nice if I could take some measurements and maybe get some skiff bearings for it. But before I do that I'd read like to fix the washer issue.
I guess you're right about that. It really only bugs me because I know about it. It's not anything I'm super worried about since it does work fine. I just thought I'd try to see if there was a fix for it. It is true though that if I had never taken it apart that it would never be an issue.You're knife functions fine, there is no problem. If you hadn't taken it apart you'd be blissful...
