Spyderco Tenacious Issue

C

Casualvitality

Joined
May 17, 2011
Messages
8
I've been applying my Spyderco Tenacious as a fairly hard work knife, and have started to realize that not only the blade centering is off, but it makes a grinding sound when opening. The action is not smooth, and to get the smooth action I crave, by loosening the pivot, the blade is right up against the liner. Now I know this is a 30 dollar knife, and that spyderco's tend to have a slight centering issue. But this grinding noise is quite concerning. Any advice on how to fix this?
 
take it apart and clean the knife? you have grit in the pivot area... After you clean it, put some oil in the pivot area. Vegetable oil works fine.
 
What Brother Ultimate said. Except that I would use 3-in-1 oil, WD-40 or one of the high tech lubes. But thats just me. It does sound like grit in the pivot might be your issue.
 
Also, if you adjust the pivot tension properly your blade should be centered. This goes for any knife.
 
+1 on what others above me have said.

Mine was doing the same thing when I got mine. I took it apart and the washers had grit all over them on both sides. I took a q-tip and some mineral oil and cleaned them off, then put a bit of oil around the pivot on the blade. Then I put it all back together and adjusted the pivot screw and its now it opens lightening fast and smooth.
 
I took my Persistence apart and the washer had a piece that looked to be sheered off when it was assembled (as if the washer wasn't centered when the knife was assembled the first time). I removed that sliver of copper (or phos bronze - I don't know what they used in the Persistence), and it smoothed up quite a bit. I use Lucas Assembly Lube on all my knives - its super sticky, so it stays in place when you wash them and it doesn't allow a lot of dirt inside, but its still slick enough to make the knife smooth up quite a bit.

Just got a Tenacious in as a gift for my dad and its smooth enough, but the blade-centering is off on mine a bit - I went to adjust the pivot and for some reason, none of my Hex-keys fit it (metric or SAE), so I'm not sure how to adjust this one - anyone know the proper size hex-wrench for the pivot on the Tenacious (I've got good wrenches that have never been off on anything else I use them for, so I don't think that's the issue)?
 
I'd avoid water-displacement products like WD-40 for oiling your pivot. I used a similar product on my Persistence, and while it helped initially, it dried and left that same gritty feeling--perhaps an effect also attributed to/amplified by the very thin washers. Try a better lubricant and you'll see some better results.

Good luck! :)
 
Last edited:
The hole in the pivot certainly appears to be hex head(and I believe it is), but Spyderco says to use a torx bit. T8 IIRC.
 
Nope. Those are teeny Torx heads....you can see it a little better on the pivot.
 
Simplest way to solve that is to keep using your tenacious. Otherwise u could take the knife apart and polish the washers till they turn shiny. Then you lube the washers and the pivot and your tenacious should be much smoother.
 
timberweasel said:
I'd avoid water-displacement products like WD-40 for oiling your pivot. I used a similar product on my Persistence, and while it helped initially, it dried and left that same gritty feeling--perhaps an effect also attributed to/amplified by the very thin washers. Try a better lubricant and you'll see some better results.

Good luck! :)
Click to expand...

I have never regarded WD-40 as a lubricant. It's too light.

It has its uses but lubricating isn't one of them.
 
Hate to re open a thread this old, but older Tenacious have allen heads that were easily stripped, and through Spyderco's CQI they now have torx head screws.
 
Ultimate said:
take it apart and clean the knife? you have grit in the pivot area... After you clean it, put some oil in the pivot area. Vegetable oil works fine.
Click to expand...

No way. I found vegetable oil to dry a bit and get gummy and sticky. All you need is a little pin drop of 3 in 1. A drop from the bottle is too much so I apply it with the tip of another knife.
 
I have a Spyderco Tenacious myself, particularly the Lightweight version. Unfortunately, my knife suffers the same problem as yours does. Maintenance on this knife is certainly a piece of work, with soft 8Cr13MoV steel and the liner lock construction. My blade faces the same off-center problem and no matter how much I choke that pivot screw up, it only trades ease-of-deployment for being unbearably tight. I keep it oiled with Kershaw's own knife oil, but it still creaks like an antique door anyway, just without that feel of grinding resistance. This knife is fairly cheap and compared to other knives like the Paramilitary 3, it is easy to see just why it is such a budget knife. Nevertheless, I do still enjoy using my Tenacious despite her quirks. Off-center as she may be, it's not too big of a deal- I just hope it never touches the liners.
 
I don't usually bother to make the "zombie thread" call but, since it was a 1st post, @Jazzman: Do you realize that this thread was started in 2011 and the last post b4 yours was in 2014?

Still, glad you're making good use of your Tenacious. Mine just sits in a knife bag w/its cousins the Persistence and Resilience ;)
 
sgt1372 said:
I don't usually bother to make the "zombie thread" call but, since it was a 1st post, @Jazzman: Do you realize that this thread was started in 2011 and the last post b4 yours was in 2014?

Still, glad you're making good use of your Tenacious. Mine just sits in a knife bag w/its cousins the Persistence and Resilience ;)
Click to expand...
I just figured somebody may come across my words and find them useful. I'm new to this forum lol
 
JazzmanJosh said:
I have a Spyderco Tenacious myself, particularly the Lightweight version. Unfortunately, my knife suffers the same problem as yours does. Maintenance on this knife is certainly a piece of work, with soft 8Cr13MoV steel and the liner lock construction. My blade faces the same off-center problem and no matter how much I choke that pivot screw up, it only trades ease-of-deployment for being unbearably tight. I keep it oiled with Kershaw's own knife oil, but it still creaks like an antique door anyway, just without that feel of grinding resistance. This knife is fairly cheap and compared to other knives like the Paramilitary 3, it is easy to see just why it is such a budget knife. Nevertheless, I do still enjoy using my Tenacious despite her quirks. Off-center as she may be, it's not too big of a deal- I just hope it never touches the liners.
Click to expand...

Adjust the pivot tightness to your desired setting.

Try loosening the body scale screws a bit, then shifting the scales in the direction that brings the blade back to center. As your holding it, tighten the screws back up.

It should center the blade back up.

As far as the steel hardness, it’s pretty standard and blends a nice balance of edge retention and sharpening ability for a budget EDC.

Welcome to BladeForums!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top