New Delica 4 Tight

[colu41]

I just got my 1st Delica 4 in today. (Currently my 2nd Spyderco, behind the Persistence). I'm already lining up the Manix 2 :)
Anyways, The Delicas blade seems to be overly tight compared to my Persistence. I know they're 2 different knives but, it's nearly to the point of annoying to open. Need quite a bit of pressure initially right out of the liner. Anything I can do or will this just need some breaking in?

[swigert]

a little break in, maybe a little oil and maybe a little loosening of the pivot screw

[farnorthdan]

Get to flippin' brother, break that sucker in, not uncommon at all for some to come tight from the factory. You might also try a drop or two of lube.

Almost forgot to welcome you to the forum, welcome aboard.

[colu41]

I slightly loosened the pivot screw which really didn't help at all, also made the blade extremely uncentered. And I did oil it a bit more. While also opening and closing it multiple times since I got it early today lol. I'll bring her to work tomorrow and put her to use. I'm sure it will loosen up a bit. Definitely not use to the lock back of the Delica. Either way it feels good. I love the knife. I just want the Manix 2 now!!

[colu41]

Thanks far north. Hope to learn a lot more about SC here. As I can't stop drooling over their knives. :D

[Knutty]

It depends how tight it actually is. Once you've handled a bunch of similar knives, you get a good feel for what is normal. Whenever I get a knife that really isn't right and isn't very easy for me to fix (e.g. quick pivot screw adjustment), and I know it won't break in, I send it right back and get a replacement. If the pivot is truly tight, no, that's not normal and no, it won't break in (nor should it take adding oil). You have to allow for normal and reasonable product unit-to-unit variation, but if it's a dud, it's a dud. I'm not saying whether it is one way or the other, because I don't know. I'd suggest opening/closing it a bit, and to avoid using it. If it doesn't improve, el-returno.

[mattman]

If you press the lock release in all the way, and hold it, is the blade still very tight?

Lock-backs are never going to feel as loose as a liner lock, due to the nature of the design...

[sal]

Hi Colu,

Welcome to our forum.

As Mattman mentioned, lock-backs have a stronger and consistent pressure on the self close, unlike the ball bearing detent on a linerlock.

sal

[kennethsime]

Play with it a lot. Maybe add some oil. I wouldn't bother loosening the pivot screw; Spyderco often uses loc-tite on these at the factory, and if you break the seal your pivot screw will be much more likely to loosen over time. I used to play with pivot tension a lot on my FRN knives, I don't really think it's worth it.

[The Mastiff]

As Mattman mentioned, lock-backs have a stronger and consistent pressure on the self close, unlike the ball bearing detent on a linerlock.

Agreed. If you aren't familiar with lock back knives it can make you think something is wrong. Keep it clean and very lightly oiled and forget about adjusting anything. Once you know it's supposed to work like that it will bother you a lot less. That, or if you don't like it even after a month or so of use you might just not like lock back designs.

Me? I grew up with them on the expensive knives and now it's my preferred knife design by far. That bias towards staying closed is a comfort to me. I got badly sliced up by a liner lock in my pocket that opened due to a slightly loose pivot ( get used to checking it routinely if you carry liner locks for a long time. If you find the pivot loose then lock tite it properly)

I've never had a lock back open on me unless I wanted it too.


Welcome.


Joe

[Johnnie1801]

A lot of good advice here already. When I got my Delica 4, I had a similar issue. Contrary to others here I did loosen the pivot (about half a turn) and oiled it. After a couple of weeks of use the knife was much smoother and I was able to tighten it down again with no ill effects. I guess the knife just needs to break in and find its groove but as others mentioned it is a lockback and will always be harder to open than a linerlock.

As a side note my SB Stretch didn't have any issues like this maybe because it has a longer/heavier blade (i.e. the blade weight counteracts the pressure of the lock).

[Wanimator]

My Cara Cara 2, was somewhat tight from the factory, but not super tight. After a few months of use (And some hard cutting) a long with over oiling (Not suggesting this, I accidently put a big glob of coconut oil in the pivot) it became quite smooth and is still tight in the lock up.

[colu41]

Thanks guys. I came to the quick realization that I'm just not use to the lockback system. Not sure I'm a fan but I'll get use to it. (Maybe) I went ahead and ordered a Manix 2 XL this morning. Been eyeing up either Manix for awhile now so, since I wasn't super happy with this one off the bat I had to counter that with another purchase :)

[Wanimator]

You're gonna hate the XL out of box. Just be prepared for breaking it in.

[Johnnie1801]

You're gonna hate the XL out of box. Just be prepared for breaking it in.

lol

[mattman]

You're gonna hate the XL out of box. Just be prepared for breaking it in.

What?
Both of mine were fine...

[Knutty]

^ I think he was using the hip, cute sarcasm. Not sure. I've had 5 or 6 Manix* models in hand and never had one that had anything resembling a "break-in". How it was NIB is how it was, period.

[colu41]

You're gonna hate the XL out of box. Just be prepared for breaking it in.

Well I hope not! I've watched probably a dozen Review videos on it. I know the size of it. Its quite large but, something I've wanted since my Persistence. And everybody loves it.......we'll see on Monday when it comes in!

[Wanimator]

Mine was dreadfully hard to close and it barely flicked open when I got it. A question to you guys, does yours have a bit of side to side play?

[The Mastiff]

One thing I made a habit with all folding knives is to wipe the blades tang and the rocker arm then open it and do the same with the inside between the liners, the parts of the blade and tang that was previously inaccessible and then begin lubing ( or tuff glide in my case) in reverse order ending up with a hopefully clean, non gritty action.

From the factory there is in various hiding places buffer grit sitting there waiting to get pushed into the bearing surface between the blade tang and rocker and give it that gritty sound and feel. ( Lock back used to describe this because that's what I picture in my head the easiest . )

Other knife designs including slip joint benefit from this too. In fact most companies are dirtier than Spyderco and seem to do less cleaning. We are kind of spoiled here.

This before opening/use won't solve all the gritty knife problems but from my perspective it will resolve most. I don't have any knives with gritty actions. None. That abrasive polishing compound has that grit sound just as described by many here and I have sat back not saying anything but feeling that it could have been avoided with a simple wipe down by paper towel before opening the knife.

Something like action cleaner or in worst case scenario brake cleaner will scour the steel down to the finish. It's mean stuff though and can damage some plastics. be careful with that kind of stuff.

joe