Stuck blades on a SAK

Joben

Joben

Joined
May 22, 2009
Messages
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I just bought a small mixed lot of used Victorinox SAK's.

A few of them are pretty dirty. All kinds of gunk in the crevices.
What do you guys recommend for cleaning non-disassemblable folders?

More importantly, one of them is incredibly stiff, I can only open the main blade, and that almost breaks my finger nails. I aplied a liberal amout of light machine oil to the pivots but it didn't help. Any recommendations for that?
 
Let it soak in the oil for a few days. It took a long time to freeze it up. It will take some time to undo.
 
I just cleaned up one of my friends SAKs. It had gotten gunked up with some dried fruit juice (from cutting fruit). I used an ultra sonic bath with a mixture of hot water, lemon juice, and dawn dish wash detergent. Let it run for a couple of hours. One of the blades was still "sticky", but it one of the liners had gotten bent and interfered with the movement of the back spring.

The ultrasonic cleaner even got the scissors and pliers to work better.

I've heard of people running folders through the washing machine. Hint: Wives generally frown on this practice.

good luck.


Ric
 
Aright, i got em soaking in rubbing alcohol for a bit. (Which quickly turned brown)

When it's dry I'll soak the jammed up one in oil and see how it is in a day or two.
 
I've also been told, but have not yet tried, a method using aerosol degreaser from an automotive store. Look for the kind with "trichloroethylene' as the contents (brake degreaser). Spray the knife down- in and out. Do it somewhere with good ventilation. It's supposed to remove all grease, oil, gunk- even lubricating oil. Basically, it flushes everything out and then it's dried in under a minute. Make sure to reapply any protective or lubricating oil afterward.

If you do go that route, let me know how it works. I'm going to pick some up next time I go to Autozone.
 
Degreasers may damage the plastic scales, or the glue that holds them on. WD 40 is safe.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Degreasers may damage the plastic scales, or the glue that holds them on. WD 40 is safe.
Click to expand...

Oooo good point- they might act as solvents and swell the polymer or worse. I should have clarified- for metal or solvent resistant plastics only. Although..you'd think a Swiss Army knife would have chemically resistant plastic. I'll have to try it on my own if I can find it. For the good of the forum of course.
 
I had just this problem a couple years ago. I 'found' a Victorinox SAK that I'd completely forgotten about, in a tool box in the (covered) bed of my pickup. Had been in there a few years, in the Texas heat/humidity. Some of the blades/implements were stuck shut (rust).

I put the knife into a plastic container, on a bed of folded paper towels, and really soaked it thoroughly in WD-40. Wrapped up the knife in the saturated paper towels, and put it into a zip-loc bag for 3 - 4 days. The WD-40 did a pretty good job in breaking up the rust & other gunk in the knife. When I took the knife out, I sprayed it down again with the WD-40 to flush out the dirty stuff, exercising the blades while doing so.

After I was satisfied I'd done all that I could with the WD-40, I wiped off the excess and then gave the knife a thorough bath in hot, soapy water. Rinsed in hot water, dried everything off, then used just a tiny bit more WD-40 in the joints. Knife was pitted, but clean & functional after that.
 
Nothing beats Kroil for penetrating. Been around for ages, expensive, and worth every penny. A can will last a lifetime.

So effective benchrest shooters use it to this day, and it's impossible to find a more fanatical group of individuals.
 
About your near frozen shut Victorinox SAK, if it still is stiff even with multiple cleanings and oil of all kinds, then its probably a corroded liner. The liners are an aluminum alloy and can be damaged especially by sand or other gritty material. The only fix is to disassemble it and REPLACE the bad liners.

Some other helpful cleaning hints; use dental floss soaked in mineral oil and floss out the joints around a pivot point. Never boil a SAK with the scales on. It will definitely damage the scales. Use computer air spray to clean out the inside before you oil. SAK scales can be removed and reinstalled if you are careful, otherwise you need glue to hold them on.
 
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