Swiss army knfe won't open???

B

B.B.M

Joined
Dec 3, 2009
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200
My dad uses his swiss army knife a lot in the kitchen peeling apples tomatoes..etc it became hard to open and now i cannot open it without using a multi-tool:eek: any ideas on how to fix it? i have tried oiling it and washing it out with hot water and soap but it didnt' help none:confused:
 
I've had this happen one time with my wife's alox soldier. I used a lot of wd40 to let it soak for hours wrapped in a cloth, than many openings and closings under soapy water. Then some more wd40 spray... It eventually broke free and became smooth again.
 
My old SAK wasn't stuck, but it was pretty gooey and a little rusty. I don't remember the exact order, but I soaked it in warm water with dish washing liquid, cleaned it with a rag/towel, put it in the dishwasher (don't remember the temperature, but no more than 60 centigrade, probably 50), let it dry, sprayed it with wd-40 and compressed air, dried it and then wiped it clean and lubed it with tuf-glide.
 
The pivot is likely rusted a bit, from the acidic fruit juices.

Years ago, I managed to forget about one of my Vic SAKs left in a toolbox in the back of my covered pickup (in hot/muggy/wet central Texas). It stayed there for at least a couple years, maybe longer. It was showing quite a lot of rust when I finally 'discovered' it again, and also wouldn't open. I drenched the whole knife in WD-40, then also soaked a few layers of paper towels wrapped around it with WD-40, and sealed it all in a zip-loc bag for several days. That loosened it up enough to force it open (with pliers, as I recall), after which I exercised all the blades/tools, while further soaking with WD-40. Once I'd flushed out all of the red rust, I gave the knife a bath in hot water with dish detergent (Ivory Liquid). It's still a little bit stiff on opening & closing, and shows some residual pitting, but it's a functional knife now. :)
 
I have had the same SAK for about 30 years now, it was getting very hard to open. I cleaned it with soap and water then drenched it in Ballistol, it is as good as new!
 
If it is dried goo from cutting up stuff and not rust, I've had success using an ultrasonic cleaner. We had a pair of kitchen shears that were riveted at the pivot. When I put them in the ultrasonic cleaner, I watched the goo literally flow out of the pivot. They worked great after that. Haven't had to use it on a gunked up knife yet.

I usually add a little dish washing detergent to the water for the ultrasonic cleaner.

Ric
 
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