The7 Taking Apart and Cleaning....

MrPocketsOfSteel

MrPocketsOfSteel

Joined
Mar 13, 2012
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634
The title about covers it. I know many just can't keep their torx and screwdrivers out of their knives. I'm also that way but with other things not folders. Not now. Not yet. But things are fixing to change.

After reading with trepidation the threads speaking of *Once aligned blades gone awry after takedown* and the highly anticipated by me *The Stripping Of The Screws and Head Break Off*......this particular knife is really the last one I want to get into.

But I have no one to blame but John Morton.:-)

After handling The Super7 he sent me I thought it was missing a detent ball. I opened it very methodically and slowly and so when I went to close it....with just *Barely* - - and I do mean *Barely* just a little shake and I almost pause in saying shake because it wasn't what most call a shake. The blade flew down and almost bit me.

My standard7 isn't anything remotely close to that. The Super7 is like on glass. I don't expect my first Emerson takedown to be like Johns but if I could just get it better and not loose a screw.....then I will be pleased.

Any tips or tricks? Anything you guys can share I'd really be appreciative. I use 'Quick Release' oil and I have the appropriate tools of course. Any particular side to start on etc. etc. Anything to really be careful about?

If anyone wants to take the time to throw out how 'they' do it...I am all ears. I'll do this either tonight or tomorrow. It would be really cool to get the smaller 7 like its bigger brother but I'm not holding my breath.

Great job BTW John on that. I had to tighten that down some - Ha!- that was too fast for the kid. ;-)
 
I have been buying and using Emerson knives since 1998, there is always a Commander in my pocket to go along with the SAK Farmer.

I have never understood why so many people feel the need to completely disassemble there Emerson, then after doing so they are not able to get the blade centered, or the lock up has changed, then they want to complain about the knife itself.

You DO NOT have to completely take your Emerson apart to clean it.

The way I do it is by taking the blade out only, take the pivots out, slide the blade out and your done. I use a Q-Tip to clean the liners, then clean the blade and washers off. Once I am ready to put the blade back in I slide the female pivot back into the liner to where it is barely showing, then put the washer on, push the pivot a little more then put the blade in, after that push the pivot through the blade to where it is barely showing and then put the other washer on, I use a toothpick to get the washer all the way in and centered up with the pivot hole, after that push the female pivot the rest of the way through and put the male portion of the pivot in and tighten it up.

I have done this many times and my lock up has never changed and if the blade was centered to begin with, it will still be that way.

All it takes is a little time and patience.

I did my latest Commander a few days ago like this and tried some Frog Lube CLP for the first time, this stuff is amazing, it's like the blade is sliding on glass when you open and close it.

I hope my long winded post helps you :D
 
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Good post ^^

When I absolutely have to (read: almost never) take a part an Emerson, I do it while sitting at my desk or kitchen table over a yellow microfiber cloth. I disassemble the knife using the proper size bits and have a mug of hot water near by to help loosen things up. While disassembling I take pictures just in case. After that, I go over to the closed sink with the liners, scales, and washers and wash with soapy water. Dry thoroughly, lube everything up with tuf glide and reassemble. Hope this helps.
 
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Every Emerson I've ever owned i have broken down, cleaned (rubbing alcohol and q tips) , frog lubed, and reassembled with only one screw ever stripping on a jungle commander i tightened to much with a Philips driver to small.

Everyone has been as smooth as the best of them and centered with rock solid lockup, my 99, and 2000 commander fall freely (only a user 8 ever developed lock issues)

Some came center without much thought, others required loosening all screws slightly, waving the knife open with some force, and re tightening vertically from the bottom up (left bottom, right top etc), or a card method were a card is placed between the liner and blade to force it center as you tighten all screws.

Good thing about EKI is there hardware seems to be readily available all the time, so keeping a spare on hand may be a good cautionary step.
 
I only field stripped one Emerson and I won't do it again. I use the Strider cleaning method. Dose the knife in WD40 and shake her out. Works every time.
rolf
 
D.C.Johnson said:
Every Emerson I've ever owned i have broken down, cleaned (rubbing alcohol and q tips) , frog lubed, and reassembled .
Click to expand...

I do the same thing, I don't know why people seem to be intimated by this, but then according to my Wife I take everything I own apart & she does have a point. I like to know how everything mechanical that I own works, inside & out.

My Wife likes to tell people how I built a highly modified Harley literally from scratch & assembled it in our family room.



I have a Super Commander that was super smooth right from the box, but a Desert Roadhouse that is fairly new was so stiff it was very very hard to open & impossible to wave until I gave it a good "tune-up". The Roadhouse was full of that gritty black grease that some new Emerson's come with (mostly the ones with black blades). After disassembly & cleaning it spotless, then lightly lubing with inox it is now just as smooth as my LG. Sebenza 21

~John
 
I pretty much take all my folders apart at some point, Emersons aren't any different from other brands other than the use of conventional Phillips screws and slotted pivot. Just wipe everything clean, leave the nylatron washers dry, and reassemble.
 
I've taken all of mine apart multiple times, and I've never changed the lockup or made the centering worse, there's no trick to it you just have to make sure you have the right size Phillips for the handle screws and don't over-tighten anything, try it it's not that bad lol
 
I actually find my Emerson knives to be the easiest to take down and re-assemble, because of its simple construction.
 
choombak said:
I actually find my Emerson knives to be the easiest to take down and re-assemble, because of its simple construction.
Click to expand...

Same here. I also feel there safer after doing this. Ive only been cut twice, both by emersons that were factory. they got stuck as i was closing them and cut my index finger both times. I think there factory grease is slightly sticky if you will.
 
brboru7 said:
I have been buying and using Emerson knives since 1998, there is always a Commander in my pocket to go along with the SAK Farmer.

I have never understood why so many people feel the need to completely disassemble there Emerson, then after doing so they are not able to get the blade centered, or the lock up has changed, then they want to complain about the knife itself.

You DO NOT have to completely take your Emerson apart to clean it.

The way I do it is by taking the blade out only, take the pivots out, slide the blade out and your done. I use a Q-Tip to clean the liners, then clean the blade and washers off. Once I am ready to put the blade back in I slide the female pivot back into the liner to where it is barely showing, then put the washer on, push the pivot a little more then put the blade in, after that push the pivot through the blade to where it is barely showing and then put the other washer on, I use a toothpick to get the washer all the way in and centered up with the pivot hole, after that push the female pivot the rest of the way through and put the male portion of the pivot in and tighten it up.

I have done this many times and my lock up has never changed and if the blade was centered to begin with, it will still be that way.

All it takes is a little time and patience.

I did my latest Commander a few days ago like this and tried some Frog Lube CLP for the first time, this stuff is amazing, it's like the blade is sliding on glass when you open and close it.

I hope my long winded post helps you :D
Click to expand...

Wow. Indeed your post did help. I remember seeing someone on YT doing that with a particular knife and I thought that was smart. I don't see really the sense in undoing screws that don't have to be undone etc. ESPECIALLY when in many cases all the sudden a perfect lockup and centering is no more.

I wasn't even going to do it. Like I said, I don't take my knives apart because I think I can make it better than the people who do it for a living. I used a toothbrush with Dawn and hot water and dried her off and lubed her up. But daggone. A JohnM. takedown of The Super7.....I can PROMISE you if every Super7 that came out of Ernie's shop was like the one sitting in front of me right now - - - word would get around - especially with the known facts of gritty pivots etc. and the sales for that piece would go through the roof.

I'll read the rest of the replies to my plea....I see Ibute responded. Heck - after reading these I may not even do it but I know if I do I more than likely *99%* sure I'll just take the blade out like you said. That just makes sense to me. Those handle and clip screws are fine....so why take them out you know? Just to mess things up? Doesn't make much sense. Thanks for responding.
 
ibute21 said:
Good post ^^

When I absolutely have to (read: almost never) take a part an Emerson, I do it while sitting at my desk or kitchen table over a yellow microfiber cloth. I disassemble the knife using the proper size bits and have a mug of hot water near by to help loosen things up. While disassembling I take pictures just in case. After that, I go over to the closed sink with the liners, scales, and washers and wash with soapy water. Dry thoroughly, lube everything up with tuf glide and reassemble. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ibute21. Indeed it does help. I definitely do stuff like this on my desk and I have my overhead flexible light and magnifying glass etc. I mess around (at times) with old "boatanchors" aka shortwave radio tube receivers. Haven't had to in almost a year....knock on wood.

Just the thought (even though you said 'closed sink') of a screw in a sink..lol. I can see the pic thing. I'd draw a diagram. Thanks for your method. :-)
 
D.C.Johnson said:
Every Emerson I've ever owned i have broken down, cleaned (rubbing alcohol and q tips) , frog lubed, and reassembled with only one screw ever stripping on a jungle commander i tightened to much with a Philips driver to small.

Everyone has been as smooth as the best of them and centered with rock solid lockup, my 99, and 2000 commander fall freely (only a user 8 ever developed lock issues)

Some came center without much thought, others required loosening all screws slightly, waving the knife open with some force, and re tightening vertically from the bottom up (left bottom, right top etc), or a card method were a card is placed between the liner and blade to force it center as you tighten all screws.

Good thing about EKI is there hardware seems to be readily available all the time, so keeping a spare on hand may be a good cautionary step.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your tips. You sound like you got it down pretty good. I keep hearing about Froglube and it's never anyone saying anything bad. I know I have bottle of the stuff Ibute21 mentioned - though I have never used it before. I call or email them and ask if I can have some screws. It sounds kind of lame though. Ha - can ya' send me out sum screws...I'm fixin' to tear apart your 7. :-)
 
Lycosa said:
I only field stripped one Emerson and I won't do it again. I use the Strider cleaning method. Dose the knife in WD40 and shake her out. Works every time.
rolf
Click to expand...

Rolf- your post made me grin and get up and get something to drink. I can see just blasting it with my Huge Fricking Can of WD40 with the long red extension tube. There would be no shame in that. If I was smart...heh...I'd fold up a $20 bill with maybe a $10 gift certificate to White Castles and not say a thing about it and mail it to John along with the knife. Ha!!! I could see the look on his face "Huh?!?!". ;-)
 
jmorton10 said:
I do the same thing, I don't know why people seem to be intimated by this, but then according to my Wife I take everything I own apart & she does have a point. I like to know how everything mechanical that I own works, inside & out.

My Wife likes to tell people how I built a highly modified Harley literally from scratch & assembled it in our family room.



I have a Super Commander that was super smooth right from the box, but a Desert Roadhouse that is fairly new was so stiff it was very very hard to open & impossible to wave until I gave it a good "tune-up". The Roadhouse was full of that gritty black grease that some new Emerson's come with (mostly the ones with black blades). After disassembly & cleaning it spotless, then lightly lubing with inox it is now just as smooth as my LG. Sebenza 21

~John
Click to expand...

I don't know much about motorcyes but I know enough about mods of other things to know a lot of time and care was put into that. Sharp.
 
gooeytek said:
I pretty much take all my folders apart at some point, Emersons aren't any different from other brands other than the use of conventional Phillips screws and slotted pivot. Just wipe everything clean, leave the nylatron washers dry, and reassemble.
Click to expand...

What is the deal with nylatron washers? By that I mean I had never even heard of them till I got into Emersons. What are the supposed pros and con's? Why leave the washers dry? I think I remember reading in here someone said they just put one drop of oil? I'd do that. If it'd work.
 
CarterR said:
I've taken all of mine apart multiple times, and I've never changed the lockup or made the centering worse, there's no trick to it you just have to make sure you have the right size Phillips for the handle screws and don't over-tighten anything, try it it's not that bad lol
Click to expand...

I thought about that. *The right size Phillips* thing. I THINK I do. But I think I may just take the pivot out and slide her on out. My concern with that method would be in hoping that there is sufficient enough room for me to manipulate the washers out And Then back in.

I can tell it's filthy. Filthy and black.
 
choombak said:
I actually find my Emerson knives to be the easiest to take down and re-assemble, because of its simple construction.
Click to expand...

That is what I thought also. Till I started reading the horror stories about spinning screws and pivots and snapping off heads. I Would Be Pissed if that happened to me......especially when I have never (knock on wood) stripped a handle or clip screw before.
 
MrPocketsOfSteel said:
What is the deal with nylatron washers? By that I mean I had never even heard of them till I got into Emersons. What are the supposed pros and con's? Why leave the washers dry? I think I remember reading in here someone said they just put one drop of oil? I'd do that. If it'd work.
Click to expand...

You can leave nylatron washers dry because are self-lubricating and are impregnated with molybdenum disulfide (similar to graphite). They are flexible compared to conventional metal washers, but can withstand a high degree of compression and don't deform. In my experience, they seem to give a smoother, more hydraulic feel to the pivot action than Phosphor-Bronze washers.
 
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