Spyderco Nirvana Issues

Cjwknives

Cjwknives

Joined
Apr 27, 2016
Messages
863
I recently got this Spyderco nirvana. I love the look,feel, and carry of this knife. S90V is amazing blade steel and it being a integral is cool. I really want to keep this knife but it has really bad lock stick. I tried searching the web for a solution. I did put graphite on it and it did make it some what better. But so do I have to do this now all the time or will it go away? If anyone has dealt with this can you please give me some advice. I love Spyderco, this is actually my 36th knife of theirs that I have owned and have only had issues with two others that were fixed by Spyderco hassle free. I want to keep it but is this something I need to send to Spyderco to have them fix? Or is this something I can fix myself?
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Does the Nirvana have a steel lock bar interface or is it just titanium that hits the blade tang? If it is titanium then do you know if it's carbidized? If it is just titanium and not carbidized then it will go away in short order when the titanium lock wears into a more suitable position.
 
No steel lock bar and its titanium hitting the blade tang and from what I have read it's not carbonized. It looks like a lot of other people have had the same issue. The only advice is graphite and I have been doing that but it does not help that much.


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Best advice I heard was graphite and flick the snot out of it. Most people said theirs broke in
 
Send it in to spyderco and let them fix it, they have amazing customer service. Just accurately describe when and how your lock stick symptoms occur and I'm sure they will solve the issue.


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palonej said:
Best advice I heard was graphite and flick the snot out of it. Most people said theirs broke in
Click to expand...

Ok I am gonna keep doing that and in 2 weeks if that doesn't help I will send it to Spyderco. I wonder why they didn't put in a steel lock bar insert or carbonize these to begin with. Other then that I really like the knife.


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Don't worry. It is a easy fix.
I have fixed two of them in just a few hours. You fingers will be sore, but my technique works. It is best to find a good movie on TV before you start too. Open & Close the ever living crap out of it. Seriously, clean any lube that may be on the lock off with dish soap.

Basically you have it locked open, and use just your thumb to work the lock bar. Focus on the lock bar.

Do this a bunch. If it sounds horrible while you are doing it, it is working. Do this a lot! Then clean it again, and repeat until it is silk smooth. When I started, mine took both hands to close. Also once it locks, push the lock bar hard then unlock, push bar hard several times. It will wear down the surface area in no time. Making it work excellent.
 
If you put graphite on the blade tang it will slow down the wearing process which will eventually wear the lockbar until it stops sticking. For now just think of the stick as a little side effect of the knife being well made with tight tolerances. It's way better than the tolerances being bad and getting lock rock. Atleast this problem should solve its self.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice. Yea this thing feels like a fixed blade when opened. It's a awesome knife.
I am just watching football and opening and closing this thing over and over it does seem to be getting a little better. Will update when it's completely lock stick free.


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Mine was quite sticky when I got it but some graphite and a bunch of open/close cycles has it with no stick whatsoever. Rock solid lockup too.

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Work it.


Send it in.

Or

Carbidize the lock face.

I believe Charlie Mike can do it.
 
I have a nice size blister on my thumb but the lock stick is almost gone. I wonder why Spyderco didn't Carbidize the lock face on these or do a steel insert. Seems like a lot of other people have dealt with the same issue with the Nirvana.
I know first hand experience how good the warranties are with Spyderco so I was not worried. But I am sure their were other people that didn't feel the same way.


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Steel insert is fairly challenging on an integral. The two ways I can think of doing it are the kind of clunky way lionsteel did it on the SR1 where it is screwed to the outside which to my mind requires a thick frame contrary to the design choices of the nirvana, or doing it like the microtech anax which has a lockbar which is screwed into the frame which can therefore have the insert on the inside which has its own set of issues. Not entirely sure why it wasnt carbidized except that such a process may increase the reject rate of the rather expensive frame component due to risk of lock slip (varies by geometry of lock). What it seems to come down to is the choice of a thinner frame and more costly machining.

Generally speaking cleaning the lockface of oil properly and a small amount of break in is more than enough to fix lock stick.

I hope to get a nirvana somewhere along the line. Its a little bit above my $250 carry comfort zone.
 
Spyderco never carbidizes. They have carburized the Southard, Techno, Slysz Bowie, etc. I suspect the Nirvana is also carburized.
 
Thanks for the input Sheepborg(awesome username BTW) makes sense. Yea this knife has me allready looking to buy a custom Peter Rassenti I like the knife so much in hand.
Yea I thought I was saying that wrong. Carburized then is what I meant. And how can you find out if the Nirvana is carburized? I have only heard they were not nothing factual.


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Last edited:
Just to clarify, carbidizing is the deposition of carbides which makers like grimsmo do which is not really a production level option as I mentioned previously, while carburized is a case hardening heat treatment which is done on other production knives such as CRK. I'm not sure if the latter is possible on an integral simply due to space constraints.

To answer your question though, Kristi has stated on the spyderco forum regarding the nirvana:
"We have no plans at this time for a steel interface. We also do not carburize or carbidize."
So thats that.

I do think it is a compelling knife regardless, but even rare classics can be had for less and I've been picking up those lately. One day!
And thanks, long time username of mine :)
 
sheepborg said:
Just to clarify, carbidizing is the deposition of carbides which makers like grimsmo do which is not really a production level option as I mentioned previously, while carburized is a case hardening heat treatment which is done on other production knives such as CRK. I'm not sure if the latter is possible on an integral simply due to space constraints.

To answer your question though, Kristi has stated on the spyderco forum regarding the nirvana:
"We have no plans at this time for a steel interface. We also do not carburize or carbidize."
So thats that.

I do think it is a compelling knife regardless, but even rare classics can be had for less and I've been picking up those lately. One day!
And thanks, long time username of mine :)
Click to expand...

Great info sheepborg! Thanks for sharing :D
 
For what ti's worth I had a Sage 2 (another Spyderco Ti framelock) with some lock stick that went away on its own wit regular use. I think yours will break in.
 
I must have some luck - there are days I certainly don't think so - but I've never had a problem with a Spyderco knife. My Nirvana was fine out of the box, and has only gotten better; I spent a couple minutes the other day practicing, and I can flip it open with my thumb, no wrist action. Closing it one handed is not an issue at all.

And my right thumb / wrist is all effed up from strongman. I pinned it one day underneath a 975lb tire on a gravel driveway; had a crap starting position, and lost my grip. Couldn't get my hand out, and I train alone. It took me a while to lift the tire up one-handed far enough to reposition my right hand. I bounced the tire more than once off that thumb. I've had x-rays, MRIs, and 5 years of physical therapy on the thumb region, and no help. There are days when I can't turn a doorknob (or polish my doorknob, for that matter), or carry a bowl of dogfood with this hand. Yet it is able to flip open the Nirvana no problem.

For me, that's great.
 
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