Stiff, gritty pivot on Military. Nearly "unflickable"

V

VR4

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Jan 29, 2010
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My lefty Military has an extremely stiff and gritty pivot to the point where it's almost unflickable. The detent feels fine but when the blade is opening and at about a 90 degree angle, I can feel some gritty resistance. Loosening the pivot just results in blade play and I haven't tried taking it apart as I understand that voids the warranty. When I try to flick it open, the blade just stops at about 135 degrees. The only way I can flick it open is with some significant wrist action. Anyone else had or heard of these issues with their Millie or have a suggestion on how to fix it?
 
Other than stop flicking (it's going to make you go blind), you might try polishing the path of the detent ball if you feel like voiding your warranty.
 
Is this how it is out of the box or is this how it starting behaving after use?

Edit:
If it's the former you may want to contact spyderco to see if it falls under warranty.

If it's the latter try loosening the pivot then running soapy water through the knife while 'cycling the action'. Once you've done this relube as necessary. I recommend you try this before contacting spyderco.

Listen to rycen. :-)
 
Last edited:
First thing to do is to wash it out with hot soapy water and see if that helps.
 
I've had the blade for about a year or so and it's been like this for as long as I've had it. I figured thats how they all were until I saw a couple of my buddies Spydies. Should I take it apart to wash it out or what?

I don't have the box or the receipt (this millie is an edc user) so I'm not sure if Spyderco would even look at it for warranty.
 
Disassembly only voids your warranty if they catch you. But the first step is to follow Mr. Rycen's wise counsel.
 
I would try a clean and lube and if that doesn't work contact Spyderco.
 
Submerge it in the hot soapy water and work it open and closed, rinse and repeat until its clean
 
If it has been like that since the beginning, it sounds like it just needs some breaking in. I flush the innards with hot water, blow out the water, apply some lube and then spend all the free time I can manage sitting in front of the TV trying to wear a path in the tang for the detent. If you're worried about excess wear on the lock you can open it to just before the lock engages and then close it from there. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of these opening/closing cycles will make your baby super smooth.
 
Take the bronze washers out of the knife and polish the sides that touch the blade with a Spyderco Sharpmaker extra fine triangular prism. Put a washer on your fingertip and run the stone across it. Rotate the washer to even up the shine. You wil get a close to mirror finish. You don't have to shine the whole surface, just the high spots. When your washer is about 50% shiny, put it (and the other shiny one back in the knife). The washers are probably sintered and will hold a little oil, but I use mine dry.
 
Do you have any kind of lube? If you do put some on the end of a toothpick and apply some to the detent ball in the liner.
 
I have a 'sudden' smoothout when applying wd 40 to one of my knife (Enlan EL08). You hve washed it clean, now try this;). Good luck!
 
So I did a little more 'thorough' cleaning and it's a little better but still feels 'gritty.'

I typically lube my knives with lithium grease... why WD40? I've always been told not to use it as a lubricant
 
Wd-40 is a water displacer, and a very, very light lube. It cleans because of the chemicals it's made from. I have a Military that I've used for the last 5 years, and I've never lubed it.
 
A clean metal to washer surface and metal to metal (detent ball and blade tang) might get 'sticky', especially after a hot water & soap bath. WD 40 will displace the residue (soap & water) and add a thin layer of lubricant. I guess that's how I got the sudden smoothing out.
 
For each step, work the knife open and closed. First, wash it well with hot soapy water and a tooth brush. Rinse well with hot water. Dry with paper towel in nooks and cranies as best you can. Blow dry with compressed gas. Clean out good with WD-40. Blow dry again. Use your favorite lube, TuffGlide, Triflow or MilTec. I'd only use grease on Sebenzas. This works for a variety of knives. One caveat, dried in grapefruit juice is the worst. This takes two hot soapy water washings.
 
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