Taking apart knives - part 2

[Fred Sanford]

Is there a part 1 since this thread is part 2? I'm at a loss here. Searched and couldn't find anything. Been away from the forum for a bit.

Here’s a link to part 1:
viewtopic.php?t=78032

Thank you very much my friend.

[log man]

Just as I have done with any 1911, these excellent knives are disassembled and dialed in before ever carrying a new Spyderco knife. First the spine edge which often has a course grind finish, so it gets smoothed and comfortable, as does the handle edges 360º, normally on a 3M EXL wheel. The clip is blasted to remove the black coating which scratches immediately and polished. The lock is examined and the spring bar tip where it contacts the lock bar is polished as is the spot on the lock bar it contacts to assure a smooth operation. The spring may be relaxed a slight amount to my liking as well. After this initial dialing in I reassemble and carefully center the blade in the closed position. It is then sharpened on my Wicked Edge until the bevel angles are the same on both sides and the dips and variations from being sharpened on a belt, is smoothed out and uniform. Then I smile and slip my new acquisition in my pocket and clip, perhaps draw, open and close, and re-pocket a few times to check it. Next morning it will slice my strawberries for my breakfast, Bravo! I do this to every brand I buy as well, and it simply assures me of the confidence I wish to have for each of them, as I now know them inside and out.

LOG

[Spyderman91]

I have never taken a part any of my knives through all my years as a undercover knife enthusiast.

Now however, I am afraid I have to because the stop pin in my paramilitary 2 is rusting and it is now affecting the blade.
Makes me sad because the knife itself is only 3 months old and I thought it was more impervious than it actually is.
I've carried it almost everyday with regular rotations in between, didn't bushcraft with it and it mostly did household chores.
I cleaned it regularly, and would dry it down thoroughly with a microfiber cloth.

Since I am already breaking down the knife already... I figure might as well install some carbon fiber scales as well. I'll documents my progress with
pics in another upcoming thread. Have to wait on the refund for my Knifecenter Exclusive and then the swap job will commence.

[steelcity16]

Just as I have done with any 1911, these excellent knives are disassembled and dialed in before ever carrying a new Spyderco knife. First the spine edge which often has a course grind finish, so it gets smoothed and comfortable, as does the handle edges 360º, normally on a 3M EXL wheel. The clip is blasted to remove the black coating which scratches immediately and polished. The lock is examined and the spring bar tip where it contacts the lock bar is polished as is the spot on the lock bar it contacts to assure a smooth operation. The spring may be relaxed a slight amount to my liking as well. After this initial dialing in I reassemble and carefully center the blade in the closed position. It is then sharpened on my Wicked Edge until the bevel angles are the same on both sides and the dips and variations from being sharpened on a belt, is smoothed out and uniform. Then I smile and slip my new acquisition in my pocket and clip, perhaps draw, open and close, and re-pocket a few times to check it. Next morning it will slice my strawberries for my breakfast, Bravo! I do this to every brand I buy as well, and it simply assures me of the confidence I wish to have for each of them, as I now know them inside and out.

LOG

Yeah, I agree with the 1911 analogy. I would love to be able to field strip my knives easily for cleaning, customization, maintenance, lube, tuning, whatever. The two things that hinder this are typically the loctite on the screws and the flared lanyard tubes. I wish they would do away with those two things to allow easy tear down and rebuild. It would also be great to be able to purchase replacement screws for stripped or lost screws, and un-flared lanyard tubes to replace the flared ones on the knives I already own. I have a replacement lanyard tube I bought on eBay in my PM2 and I have no issues with it being un-flared. You can't tell the difference until you take it apart, which is a MUCH easier task now. I just would prefer to not have to spend $20 per lanyard tube for replacement ones.

[jackh]

I can't believe people return knives they take apart. If I do anything other than take a knife out of the box, open and close it a few times, and rub my thumb over the edge to test it, it's mine. Anything else is incredibly disrespectful to every party involved in getting the product to me.

I've had knives that ended up being too small for me that looked big enough on paper. Those I trade or sell myself, I'd feel bad returning a knife for something like that even.

It's unfortunate there are those who feel differently.

I like your post, especially the part I highlighted. In my experience any Spyderco knife that lasts 30 days of normal use and is still working fine will last many years. The way I feel is if there is a defect in the knife it will fail very soon. I came up with this thinking because sometimes I will make new scales or otherwise mod the knife voiding the warranty. Over the years I've had a very few problems with very few Spyderco's and they have done nothing short of doing whatever necessary to fix the issue. Therefore have a great desire to be 100% honest with them and not try to return a knife (no matter where I bought it) that has a problem that either I caused or occurred after I knowingly voided the warranty.

Rest assured my desire to be 100% honest with Spyderco does not make me a nice guy. If a knife (or any product) company screws me over I would have no problem in being less than honest with them. I mention this as a testimony to Spyderco that their dedication to customers isn't going unrewarded. Also, the same message to other companies.

[Tom S]

When I buy a knife I first inspect if there are any issues. If so then it goes back to the retail seller in the original packaging. If I decide that I want to keep the knife then it is up to me to determine if I want to take apart and also if I want to modify. For example I have several Delicas in different steels. Some of them either do have, or will have, aftermarket scales which obviously means I'm committed to the knife. For me it's pretty cut and dry.... if the knife is defective I send it back. If not then I assume 100% responsibility of ownership including following the manufacturers requirements. Follow the rules and we will all be ok

[MichaelScott]

It’s that “responsibility of ownership” thing that seems to be missing with some folks. We all have a choice.

[ZrowsN1s]

I recently took apart 2 compression lock spydercos. I've taken apart plenty of Emersons, but I don't usually take my spydercos apart. In this case I noticed a spot of rust in between the backspacer and liner on one of them, and wanted to give the other a deep clean, so I got out my Wiha Torx set.

I took great care to keep track of everythings proper orientation so it all went back exactly the way it came out. I can see how someone could easily make an assembly error here.

The second challenge was dialing in the action. One had a floating stop pin the other had a screw stop pin. It was definitely easier to do the action on the one with the floating stop pin. After playing around with them for a bit I was able to get very good action out of both of them. I found that (gently!) tightening down the pivot and stop pin to 'finger tight' and then loosening in small increments until the proper action was achieved worked well. Proper action for me is when the compression lock is depressed and the blade falls free, and side to side play is at absolute minimal.

The difference between too tight, just right, and too lose is very very small. There's a bit of a learning curve and I would not recommend this to anyone who isn't confident in their mechanical abilities. If I had any advice to give it would be to buy a decent set of Torx wrenches, and don't over tighten.

[MichaelScott]

Could you tell me the Torx sizes needed to maintain Spydercos?

[Sjucaveman]

T6-10 aye what I use. Then just use the size that fits the particular screw best.

[Sjucaveman]

Could you tell me the Torx sizes needed to maintain Spydercos?

https://www.bladehq.com/item--Wiha-Tool ... Set--49041

I use those exact ones.

[AlexRus]

Could you tell me the Torx sizes needed to maintain Spydercos?

T6 for clip screws
T10 for PM2 pivot screws
T15 for Military pivot screws
T6 for Military scale screws (old Military version)
T8-T9 for PM2 scale screws and CQI Military scale screws (sometimes T8 fits better, sometimes T9 fits better, it varies on my PM2)
Wiha or Wera is a good choice.

[ZrowsN1s]

Could you tell me the Torx sizes needed to maintain Spydercos?

T6 for clip screws
T10 for PM2 pivot screws
T15 for Military pivot screws
T6 for Military scale screws (old Military version)
T8-T9 for PM2 scale screws and CQI Military scale screws (sometimes T8 fits better, sometimes T9 fits better, it varies on my PM2)
Wiha or Wera is a good choice.

^This

6, 8, and 10 seem to get the most use. Clip screws are always T6, Pivots generally 10, handle screws 8, though not always.

I use this set. Though they sell fancier ones. I like wiha because they fit well and I get less slippage and stripped screws than with other brands I've used.
https://www.amazon.com/Wiha-36392-L-Wre ... a+torx+set

With some knives it helps to have 2 sets of torx wrenches. One to loosen or tighten and one to keep the screw on the other side of the handle from spinning.

[MichaelScott]

Thanks! I put that in my wish list.

[Slash]

Should use better screws(stronger and/or larger) that don't break/strip so easily.
That said if there's a large group of pimper noobs out there that don't understand how or what they're doing...don't do it.
Pimp at you own risk.

I've never attempted to do any or have any spydies "pimped". But, I've been around long enough to understand the correct way to use a screwdriver; and if a screw I removed doesn't go back in it's most likely cause it was over tightened or cross threaded by the person that assembled knife at the factory. Thus, should honor warranty and give poor guy a screw.
Just my 2 cents or rather SPYDERCO'S for the screw...

[Slash]

I blame youtube for causing OCD. It's not like a gun people that if that feed ramp isn't polished to a mirror shine that your round won't camber. It's a knife, it will open and cut, I promise.
I know hearing grit in your action is annoying. Try a good lube and give it some time to work itself out. Don't just go and jump the gun and try to solve problem yourself without proper knowledge of task at hand, watch more youtube vids first and let the OCD really set in.

[Slash]

Could you tell me the Torx sizes needed to maintain Spydercos?

T6 for clip screws
T10 for PM2 pivot screws
T15 for Military pivot screws
T6 for Military scale screws (old Military version)
T8-T9 for PM2 scale screws and CQI Military scale screws (sometimes T8 fits better, sometimes T9 fits better, it varies on my PM2)
Wiha or Wera is a good choice.

^This

6, 8, and 10 seem to get the most use. Clip screws are always T6, Pivots generally 10, handle screws 8, though not always.

I use this set. Though they sell fancier ones. I like wiha because they fit well and I get less slippage and stripped screws than with other brands I've used.
https://www.amazon.com/Wiha-36392-L-Wre ... a+torx+set

With some knives it helps to have 2 sets of torx wrenches. One to loosen or tighten and one to keep the screw on the other side of the handle from spinning.

Bro, you just ratted yourself out to the man.

[sal]

Hi Slash,

No "ratting" necessary. We're pretty transparent here.

In my "totem" (avatar), truth is the big circle.

sal

[Kirko]

I buy Spyderco knives to use not to take apart, wow ! I have total confidence in Spyderco, no doubts. I guess I'm a fanatic "a person with uncritical enthusiasm for a cause or in my case Spyderco.

[z4vdBt]

what is a good wrench to order ( any WIHA model numbers? ) to remove my PM2 pocket clip and tighten it a bit as it's kind of loose in pocket?