Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

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StuntZombie
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Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#1

Post by StuntZombie »

My Wharncliffe Salt 2 was getting a little hard to open over the past couple of days, and adjusting the pivot wasn't helping at all. I've been using it at work almost exclusively the past few months, so I figured it was time to give it a thorough cleaning.

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Immediately, I was surprised to see that much rust around the lockbar pivot. It actually looks like it may be coming from the lockbar itself, likely from metal residue left behind by whatever equipment they used to grind and drill the lockbar. It's a bit hard to see, but there is a bit of rust inside that pivot hole.

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When I removed the blade from the pivot, I was surprised by how much wear there was. Admittedly, I keep the Salt 2 minimally lubed, but I wasn't expecting to see that much wear. As you can see, it is immediately visible, and easily felt. The surface was relatively clean, so I don't know if it's just from the opening and closing of the blade, or if there had been some foreign matter in that area that caused the grinding. I figured if anything, the pivot would be harder or more wear resistant than the H1 blade.

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The blade has seen a lot of use. The serrations are getting pretty rounded from sharpening, but they're still as sharp as ever, if not sharper. I've had to cut a lot of landscaping cloth at work the past couple of weeks, and it always surprises me how smoothly I can cut through the cloth. Most of the times it's just one scallop doing all the work. The tip needs to be redone (again!) but it's still plenty pointy to be useful.

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I got tired of seeing the black paint chipping off the clip, so I just stripped it the rest of the way off and quickly torched it. The anodizing has actually held up rather well, with only minimal scratches appearing. I think if the anodizing on my Vrango had held up that well, I'd still have it.

Even with the wear on the pivot, the knife is still very solid. There's a little bit of horizontal play in the blade, but we're also talking about a knife with no liners and no washers, so the tolerances aren't super tight. There's also the tiniest bit of vertical blade play that I can feel, but not see. I'm kind of surprised, since I've heard that the locking surfaces on H1 knives can deform when used hard. I've been pretty rough on this knife, but I can't really say it's had much of an effect on it mechanically.

I've actually been tempted a couple times to replace the Salt 2 with something else, but it's hard to do when it works so well, and looks like it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Chris

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Sonorum
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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#2

Post by Sonorum »

Very interesting to see what it looks like when a knife really has been used! My old PM2 really looks bad after a few years at work.

Maybe oiling the pivot is one of those things that really can be necessary? Sort of brings up the disassembly discussion again.
/ David
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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#3

Post by Bill1170 »

Steel on steel is inherently high friction. Oiling the pivot will help a lot, and can be done without disassembly. Capillary action is your friend.
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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#4

Post by StuntZombie »

Bill1170 wrote:
Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:00 am
Steel on steel is inherently high friction. Oiling the pivot will help a lot, and can be done without disassembly. Capillary action is your friend.
I actually tried that, and it didn't seem to help all that much. I'm not sure why, as it usually works on other knives. Once I got this one back together it was just a smooth and easy to open as the first day I got it.

I think I might just have to invest in a better lubricant. Right now I'm using a rather thick reel lube, since it tends to not wash off as readily as some oils.
Chris

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Sonorum
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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#5

Post by Sonorum »

StuntZombie wrote:
Sat Aug 01, 2020 1:07 pm
Bill1170 wrote:
Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:00 am
Steel on steel is inherently high friction. Oiling the pivot will help a lot, and can be done without disassembly. Capillary action is your friend.
I actually tried that, and it didn't seem to help all that much. I'm not sure why, as it usually works on other knives. Once I got this one back together it was just a smooth and easy to open as the first day I got it.

I think I might just have to invest in a better lubricant. Right now I'm using a rather thick reel lube, since it tends to not wash off as readily as some oils.
I use quite thick nano oil on those kinds of parts, not something light. I don't know how it compares to real lube but it doesn't have to be super light there. Flippers a more sensitive to that then back locks.
/ David
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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#6

Post by GarageBoy »

How old is the knife?
StuntZombie
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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#7

Post by StuntZombie »

GarageBoy wrote:
Sat Aug 01, 2020 2:51 pm
How old is the knife?
I think it's going on two years old now. I got it right when they were released.
Chris

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Evil D
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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#8

Post by Evil D »

I had similar crud in my Dragonfly Salt after a week in the ocean. It was mostly around the pivot and pivot washer, nothing at all on the blade and pitting or staining.
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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#9

Post by mb1 »

So are Salts not H1 throughout? I know there’s been the occasional spotting on blades assumed to be belt contamination from other steels ground into the surface.

Is this case just a ferrous hardware/dissimilar metals issue?
- Mark

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StuntZombie
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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#10

Post by StuntZombie »

It might be an issue with dissimilar metals. I always thought the lock at was also made from H1, but maybe that isn’t the case after all.
Chris

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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#11

Post by James Y »

The steel hardware (screws, etc.) on the H1 Salts are not H1, but another stainless steel that is given a clear proprietary coating. I don’t know about the lock bar, though I doubt that’s H1 (but it could be). The pocket clips are titanium.

In the most recent releases, the non-blade components are black-coated.

Jim
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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#12

Post by StuntZombie »

I figured the hardware wasn't H1, but I was never quite sure about the lockbar. It would make sense that it isn't though.

I forgot that they had started coating all the hardware on the newer models. I kinda wish they would leave the titanium clips uncoated, and just give them a tumbled finish.

I'm really hoping that there's a LC200N version of this model released at some point.
Chris

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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#13

Post by Cambertree »

Nice review, thanks. I have the Wharny Delica in HAP40 and it’s a great work knife.

From memory, Sal has said before that the lockbar is also H1. The hardware will likely be some other austenitic stainless steel.
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Re: Wharncliffe Salt 2 wear

#14

Post by StuntZombie »

Cambertree wrote:
Fri Aug 07, 2020 9:00 pm
Nice review, thanks. I have the Wharny Delica in HAP40 and it’s a great work knife.

From memory, Sal has said before that the lockbar is also H1. The hardware will likely be some other austenitic stainless steel.
Ah, I stand corrected then! I had one of the S30V versions from Cutlery Shoppe, but ended up selling it. I'm still not sure why.
I am tempted to switch my VG-10 blade and lockbar into the Salt handle, to get a bit better edge retention. I've never had much trouble with VG-10 around salt water, and it's usually just the internals that I have rust issues with.
Chris

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