Spyderco Nirvana Internals "Guts"!

UAB89 · Jul 15, 2016

Hello all do I got curious today and decided to take apart my nirvana here is what's on the inside

1.So a couple this I noticed is the pivot is a D-shaped pivot barrel with torx screws which screw into both ends and the dshaped part of the barrel inserts from the lock side

2could not tell of the lock face has been carbidized however it is an interesting blade tang geometry..

3 it does have the small thin ball bearing washers.. The interesting thing is the washers are between the bearings and the cutout on the blade tang not against the titanium like one might expect..? Only reason I can think they did this was to make for a smoother action? I tried inserting with washers against titanium and without washers and action was rough both ways.. Needless to say use caution when cranking down the pivot..

Enjoy the pics

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ncmiked · Jul 15, 2016

Any insight on the stop pin?

ShepardCC · Jul 16, 2016

I'm really surprised they put that on bearings. I think that's the first non flipper spyderco to ride on bearings

UAB89 · Jul 16, 2016

ncmiked said:
Any insight on the stop pin?

Not sure it kinda looks like to me it might possible be press fit in but I don't have a clue on that one! On the bright side at least if you have an issue with it you don't have to ship it to China to have warranty work done!

ShepardCC said:
I'm really surprised they put that on bearings. I think that's the first non flipper spyderco to ride on bearings

You might be right here! I would have been fine with washers but not gonna complain about bearings.. However still wander why they put in their small race washers between the bearings and s90v blade..?

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Bugs57 · Jul 16, 2016

UAB89 said:
Not sure it kinda looks like to me it might possible be press fit in but I don't have a clue on that one! On the bright side at least if you have an issue with it you don't have to ship it to China to have warranty work done!

You might be right here! I would have been fine with washers but not gonna complain about bearings.. However still wander why they put in their small race washers between the bearings and s90v blade..?

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Probably so the bearings would not wear a race groove in the titanium?

UAB89 · Jul 16, 2016

Bugs57 said:
Probably so the bearings would not wear a race groove in the titanium?

That's what I'm confused about it's not between the bearings and titanium ifs on the other side between the bearings and blade tang! Their is nothing between hearing and titanium

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ncmiked · Jul 16, 2016

Maybe to protect the bearings from the S90?

austonh · Jul 17, 2016

Thanks so much for taking the knife apart and sharing your findings!

vilePossum · Jul 17, 2016

Hmmm, I know I will get flak for this, but this setup with the washer already proved to be a ko citerium on my mantra 2. Strangely on the mantra the washers are between the titanium and the bearings.
Just not satisfied with the bearing action on spydercos. And no washers between the titanium and the bearings just begs grooves.

UAB89 · Jul 17, 2016

austonh said:
Thanks so much for taking the knife apart and sharing your findings!

No problem Auston! Oh I really enjoy your YouTube channel epic

vilePossum said:
Hmmm, I know I will get flak for this, but this setup with the washer already proved to be a ko citerium on my mantra 2. Strangely on the mantra the washers are between the titanium and the bearings.
Just not satisfied with the bearing action on spydercos. And no washers between the titanium and the bearings just begs grooves.

Yeah after taking apart and cleaning I have been surprised at how smooth this knife has gotten! I would say it has broken in very nicely!

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nickites · Jul 17, 2016

I've never seen a lockbar with such a thin contact area. There sure isn't much material there to allow some wear.

Is the lock stick reported my some a result of this strange lockbar geometry? I remember reading a knife maker say that there is a way to make the interface so it function perfectly and that most makers just hack it together and hope for the best (or chose form over function). I want this knife, but I'm not interested in the lockstick. After seeing the lock face, I'm concerned it's a design issue, not a fluke.

AF · Jul 18, 2016

Cool knife, thanks for the pics. I admit that the use of bearings makes me a bit nervous generally. It adds complexity and the design seems unproven at this point. On the other hand, if there were a problem in the future Spyderco would take care of it. I experienced bumpiness when opening with the Mantra.

ShepardCC · Jul 18, 2016

Really? The washers were between the bearings and the blade??
Usually they are between the titanium and the bearings. The bearings are usually in contact with the blade

Speaking of bearings, I upgraded my bearings in my Southard to ceramic bearings and its now even smoother! Its awesome. Its a small difference but I was able to notice it. Maybe you might want to try it with the nirvana.

UAB89 · Jul 18, 2016

ShepardCC said:
Really? The washers were between the bearings and the blade??
Usually they are between the titanium and the bearings. The bearings are usually in contact with the blade

Speaking of bearings, I upgraded my bearings in my Southard to ceramic bearings and its now even smoother! Its awesome. Its a small difference but I was able to notice it. Maybe you might want to try it with the nirvana.

Yes I was surprised also that they were not against the titanium and bearings..? The only reason I can think is because they didn't have a milled pocket for the bearings on the titanium side and also to offset any roughness from milling out the hole for the bearings in the s90v blade?? But of course that's just speculation

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UAB89 · Jul 18, 2016

AF said:
Cool knife, thanks for the pics. I admit that the use of bearings makes me a bit nervous generally. It adds complexity and the design seems unproven at this point. On the other hand, if there were a problem in the future Spyderco would take care of it. I experienced bumpiness when opening with the Mantra.

The bumpiness could be from either cranking the pivot down to tight usually loosing it up slightly will result in a smoother opening and closing

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ShepardCC · Jul 18, 2016

I didn't think about that but yea, thats one solid piece of titanium and there would have to be some serious cnc trickery to mill inside that small space.

AF · Jul 18, 2016

UAB89 said:
The bumpiness could be from either cranking the pivot down to tight usually loosing it up slightly will result in a smoother opening and closing

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I believe that was the cause but someone posted a photo of Mantra washers with indentations. The damage was done.

mastersword · Jul 18, 2016

For the D-shaped pivot barrel. Did you just push it through the lock side of the handle? I tried with mine and it seemed like it was really stuck in there. Wasn't sure I was doing it right

Bryan J · Jul 18, 2016

mastersword said:
For the D-shaped pivot barrel. Did you just push it through the lock side of the handle? I tried with mine and it seemed like it was really stuck in there. Wasn't sure I was doing it right

Disengage the lock and ensure the blade is loose, like half closed. You should be able to pop the pivot out easily. You may have to wiggle the blade a bit.

UAB89 · Jul 18, 2016

mastersword said:
For the D-shaped pivot barrel. Did you just push it through the lock side of the handle? I tried with mine and it seemed like it was really stuck in there. Wasn't sure I was doing it right

What Brian j said! I'm sure you were able to get it out by now but if not you can also leave the lockside screw in and use your torx but to push through the pivot and put the other side! And their are some pretty tight tolerances

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