Fluted Titanium Native, Rough Action

[Spyderman91]

Good Evening Everyone,

So the holidays are upon us and I have been thinning out my collection. I purchased a Native 5 fluted titanium on Ebay for a great price. The seller described it as a safequeen, and indeed when I got it looked pristine.

The first time I opened it the knife deployed fine, but felt a little rough. So today I took some time to oil it, and worked it into the pivot. By the end of my needle application the action felt significantly improved. However, after I was done with the application the knife itself was a bit oily. So I rinsed it and thoroughly dried it with a microfiber cloth.

When I went to use the thumbhole, I was only able to open it 20% of the way before it got stuck / my thumb slid off. I can still get the knife to open but now the action is even worse than when I started. So I used soap, worked it into the pivot, rinsed and dryed again. Waited for some time and applied a smaller amount of oil into the pivot. However, the end result were the same. The action feels very rough and gets "stuck" at about 20% when using the Spydiehole. The knife can open and lock up fine, but the action does not feel right.

I wanted this to be a Christmas gift to my father this year, but if I can't get the action right I may hold off on it. Do you guys have any tricks for sticky backlocks, is this a normal occurence... I just assumed the previous owner let the knife sit too long, or should I send it off to the Golden for evaluation. Thank you guys for the help and suggestions in advance.

[Sharp Guy]

Are you sure it's the real thing? I've read there are fake Native 5 fluted titanium knives out there.

Otherwise, if it were me, I'd take it apart and have a look inside. Clean everything, re-lube, and see how it is after I put it back together. You can also send it in to Spyderco's W&R department and ask them to take a look at it.

[The Mastiff]

I'd recommend the opposite. Don't open it up. Send it in to W&R with a note explaining the issue. It should solve your questions about it.

Joe

[MMGRenovations]

Hey spyderman, I ended up doing a blade swap on couple of the ti natives and had a similar issue with one. I thought it was the lock bar when I did the blade swap but it was actually the stop pin/block. I loosened that just a bit and now the blade almost free drops when the lock is depressed all the way. Hope that helps