Stiff Spyderco Military?

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ben317

Joined
May 10, 2011
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So I have a Spyderco Military and I must say, of all my knives, I seem to pick up the military a lot less often. Mostly because I can't easily flick it open like my other knives. When I try to flip it up with my thumb it sorta just stops half way. The only way I can do it is if I use my wrist and thumb at the same time. It just isn't very satisfying. Since that was my first spyderco it sorta turned me off of the brand. Then I happened to pick up a Tenacious and found I could flick that one open easily with my thumb and the sound it made when it locked up was just really satisfying. So today I revisted the Spydero Military and I wonder if the problem is that this knife is just too stiff or something? I watched a few youtube videos and saw some people on youtube flicking it open rather easily. How do I fix this problem? Loosening the torque screw doesn't help... it just causes the knife to be uncentered. Or maybe the Military is just tougher to open one handed...
 
I found my two Spyderco's had to be "broken in". My Cat was stiff at first, but it has a smooth action now. So was my Manix.
 
gundude73 said:
try oiling it, it also may need to be broken in. my military is fairly smooth.
Click to expand...

How would I go about doing that? Doesn't taking the knife apart void the warranty? And I don't see how I can get down to the pivot pin to oil it without taking it apart.
 
just open the blade about halfway and drop some oil in the pivot. as long as the oil is sort of viscous it will get in the pivot area and do its job.
 
my para military opens up super fast and effortlessly.. you could be flicking wrong to.. the military should be lightning fast!! it my be your technique...... LOL ( just sounds funny your "technique")
 
You could be experiencing some friction with the blade detent.
There is this weird condition that some knives randomly develop where the ball in the lock-bar will bind, a lot, as though it's actually a piece of sand digging into the blade, and no amount of dis-assembling, adjustment, cleaning or lubrication will fix it. It just seems to start one day, persist for a few weeks, and then go away. I can't explain it, and it seems like it happens with every other knife. Sometimes I will just put the knife away out of frustration and pick it up a month later to find the problem gone.

If it's really bad and none of the regular fixes (adjustment, cleaning, and lubrication) work, the only thing left that I can think of is to polish the tang and detent. Although, that has yet to work for me, but in theory it should be a sure fire fix.
 
I've always "flicked with the wrist" with every knife, only use hole or post to get it started.

Your prob may just be due to the size of the Military's handle. When I have it in my hand comfortably, my thumb runs out of "travel" before knife is fully open if I try to do it with thumb only, and I don't have small hands. But I still prefer the ole wrist snap - makes a louder and scarier click. :)

- OS
 
My Military is the same way. Been stiff from the get go, and no amount of oil or break-in seems to help. :(

I too have seen guys on youtube flicking these things open with such ease. I can only get mine open by using a MUCH harder flick than what I have seen in others.

When I want that knife opened quickly, I've resorted to pinching the the hole between thumb and index finger with the knife upside down, and flinging the handle down. This rotates the handle right into the hand for a normal grip. .....if that makes any sense.:confused:
 
ben317 said:
How would I go about doing that? Doesn't taking the knife apart void the warranty? And I don't see how I can get down to the pivot pin to oil it without taking it apart.
Click to expand...

just drop some oil on the knife tang (near te pivot) and wiggle the blade up-down a bit.
You have to play with it a lot, then it'll be smooth.
Lucky you didn't buy a lockback, it'll be a lot stiffer.
 
Mine was like that, what worked for me was disassembling the knife, and hitting the washers and detent ball with some 2000 grit sandpaper. That smoothed things out nicely.
 
That really shouldn't be necessary.

My Military was a little stiff at first. I oiled it and then before I could worry about it I had to use it. About a month later it was smooth as silk.

Break it in. It'll be nice :)

The pivot can be tweaked as well, but the sweet spot of smooth motion without blade play is hard to find.
 
My Military was a bit stiff at first, but a drop of oil on the detent ball and pivot and working the action helped a lot. Now it's really smooth.
 
I would get a cheap knife if I wanted to flick, or a automatic.
 
I got a serious beat down in the Spyderco forum for complaining about stiffnes, gritty pivot and off centered blade on a Military some months back.

I don't think they assemble them with the smae care they did a few years back. My first one arrived perfect, fired hard when doing a regular thum flick or an underhanded flick with my middle finger.

I got the stinker and sent it back for replacement. I got a better one but it was still gritty when opening and the more I opened it, the more the blade became off-centered toward the scale opposite the Spyderhole I used to open it.

I loosened up the scales several times and removed the pivot to blow it out. Used naptha, (lighter fluid), air, and filled with Militec 1. I finally got rid of the gritty feeling but had to open it up and use the blade centering technique a few times and find a sweet spot to center the blade.

Mission finally accomplished. Now it's just fine but you shouldn't have to put up with that for $125 - $130 folder imo. :grumpy:
 
My M4 Millie was stiff to the point that I could hear a gritty noise when I opened/closed it. I took it apart, cleaned the oil that Spyderco put in it and put on some CRK
florinated grease and polished the washers with 2000 grit. Still wasn't and better. Sent it back to Spyderco..they couldn't do anything with it.
Just using it and Lots of opening/closing finally made it smooth. I can thumb flick it but I don't always.
 
I agree with that. I've got one Military I bought back in 93, when they first came out, Clip screws are stripped out, so no clip. Its been stiff since new, and has never loosened up after all these years. Lock bar almost goes to the opposite liner now, its been used so many times. Blade is the old CPM440V, and its worn well, rarely ever needing sharpening.

But I do not flick my blades, if I had the lock bar on this one would have worn out years ago. I just ordered two new Militarys today, a black right hander, and a satin finish leftie, as I have always liked to carry a blade on each side.
 
I have a plain edged, DLC coated black G10 military i got for christmas this year. I disassembled it, cleaned it and lubed it, then loctited it all back together. I lubed the pivot pin, the blade tang, the ball detent and the washers, then put it back together and got the pivot screw so that it was right on the edge of no wobble/not too tight. It's centered, flicks open easily and is a joy to use. It steals all my pocket time!
 
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