What if using loctite on a pivot doesn't work?

J

Joe Dirt

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I was at the "other" knife related forum and I read a question there about having trouble because loctite was not working on a pivot. It got me thinking. A long time ago I had the same problem with some cheap knife that I can't even remember. Maybe it was a Gerber. I ended up tossing the knife after I found a better one (a Spyderco).

Regardless, I guess it just made me wonder what you do when loctite is not working? Is there a reason it wouldn't work? Can types of steel or alloy make it not work? What about say a coating or something that is on either the pivot or the screw that goes in it?
 
Try some Sportsmans Goop or one of the other Goop products. They may have different names on the tube but its all the same. Sportsmans, Outdoors, Plumbers, Household, they'll all work. Many knife makers including myself use that instead of loctite. I use it as a great contact cement also. It is holding the scales on the Titanium Calypso Jr. pictured in my signiture line.

Just put some Goop on the threads of your pivot screw and screw it in right away, then unscrew it right after you screw it down and reapply to the threads only this time hold up on screwing it down and keep it out there for about 2 minutes before screwing it down. It sets up by evaporation. You give both what you put on the inside and on the screw a chance to get plenty of air and start setting up that way.

STR
 
Oh yeah. They sell Goop at some Wal-Marts, some Lowes stores, Hobby Lobby if you have them Atwoods if you have one of those stores, or Ace Hardware and you can just type it in on the net and find it that way also.

What I usually do is go to the glue section where they sell epoxy and other glues and check them over. You'll see all the various names they give the stuff. Carpenters Goop, Automotive, Plumbers, Household, Outdoors, or whatever other name they come up with to market it. I usually look at all of them and buy the one marked the cheapest because they are all the same regardless of the name. You can check the chemistry on the labels and there isn't a difference from one to the other. Also, I usually get the smallest tubes too because the big ones will eventually set up on you before you use it all anyway.

STR
 
That's a whole lot of information. Thanks STR. I don't need it now but at least I'll know for the future.
 
There are a range of loctite products with different degrees of permanance and stickiness. I have a bottle of regular and another of stud lock which is designed for holding cylinder head studs in engine blocks. In other words, disassembly is not planned so it holds better and longer. Might be worth going to a trade auto or engineering supplier. Downside is that the bottle will last longer than you do if you're not running an engineering shop.
 
macdo said:
There are a range of loctite products with different degrees of permanance and stickiness. I have a bottle of regular and another of stud lock which is designed for holding cylinder head studs in engine blocks. In other words, disassembly is not planned so it holds better and longer. Might be worth going to a trade auto or engineering supplier. Downside is that the bottle will last longer than you do if you're not running an engineering shop.
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WHOA!!!! Before going to the industrial grade LocTite, just a try a regular strength commercial bottle that is stronger. LocTite comes, what, 3? different standard strengths, and if the strongest doesn't work, then there is another problem at work because it's good!
 
The threads need to be cleaned of all dirt and oil for it to work properly.
Bill
 
there's green (low strength) blue (medium, best for knife pivots) and red(high strength, VERY strong, took me a good 15 minutes with a blow dryer and a large T10 driver to get the pivot backed out. If it isn't working properly then it's most likely oil or other contaminants in the pivot. I like to clean it out with a qtip swab soaked in alcohol or some other degreaser, then apply a drop to the screw threads.
 
Drill a small hole through the screw and run a short enough length of weed whacker line through. The plastic line will compress against the threads and hold the adjustment. No need to reapply after every strip cleaning. Dirt and oil won't completely compromise the effectiveness of this as it would loctite.
 
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