Terribly Gritty Action out of the box - Native 5 Fluted Carbon S90V

[SleeplessInSoCal]

Love the knife. Love the steel. Absolutely beautiful.

Bought it as a group gift for a good friend and colleague. Presented it to him this afternoon. Would REALLY love to avoid sending it to Colorado for weeks, if at all avoidable.

I have experience with loads of Spyderco models, and their stiffness when new. This is different. Not just stiff, but really gritty.

I have tools, and mechanical ability. Any tips, without voiding the warranty?

[jpm2]

The native 5 is one of the easiest folders to take apart and put back together.
If you don't damage anything, there's no reason the warranty should be voided.

[VooDooChild]

Have you tried any sort of lubrication yet?

[Enactive]

Have you tried any sort of lubrication yet?

I second Voodoo' s thought. I might try flushing with mineral oil. May also try compressed air to blow out the Oil.

I use liberal applications of mineral oil to flush the joints of new traditionals, which tend to have grinding and buffing residues from manufacture.

[SleeplessInSoCal]

Have you tried any sort of lubrication yet?

I second Voodoo' s thought. I might try flushing with mineral oil. May also try compressed air to blow out the Oil.

I use liberal applications of mineral oil to flush the joints of new traditionals, which tend to have grinding and buffing residues from manufacture.

Thanks guys, great advice!

[Mattysc42]

My native salt was like this when I first got it, but it smoothed out completely with time. Dunno what the problem was.

[jpm2]

Sometimes it's grit, sometimes burrs.

[SleeplessInSoCal]

Sometimes it's grit, sometimes burrs.

Sure hope not. No idea what to do about that. No idea where to look for them.

[The Mastiff]

Problem solving 101 is to look to the easiest and most obvious problem/solution first. In this case it should get a good cleaning before any other things are done. The bearing surface might have a tiny bit of grit in there. That is usually going to be the thing causing what you describe.

Oil with solvent ( some gun oils ?) added and a clean cloth or paper towel to wipe it down trying to get into all areas you can reach. Insure no rag/cloth gets pinned in that lockback so don't partially open it while cleaning. Do it until you get no grit or dirt anymore. Once it's clean and not gritty then think about lubing it. I don't want wet or waxy oils trapping grit in it so I use an aerosol spray dry teflon lube. It is fine for the lock surfaces and won't trap dirt or grit.

Good luck.

Joe

[Sharp Guy]

Should be an easy fix without taking it apart. If comes down to taking it apart, as jpm2 said, it's really easy to take apart and put back together. Just pull one scale off, remove the blade, clean & lube, and re-assemble. Most of my Natives haven't were great right out of the box. I had one LW recently that felt a little gritty. I tried to lube first but still wasn't how I wanted it. So I took it apart. Had it fixed in 10 minutes

[jpm2]

Sometimes it's grit, sometimes burrs.

Sure hope not. No idea what to do about that. No idea where to look for them.

If it feels rough in exactly the same place when opening or closing and no where else, every time, it's probably a burr.
If the rough action is random or all the way through opening or closing, it's probably grit.

[soc_monki]

My Native Chief came a little gritty/grindy. It was almost completely dry, so I added a drop or two of KPL and worked it in and it was smooth after that.

[JohnDoe99]

The high end natives are like this. Keep opening and shutting it, and it will break in. No need to tamper.

[jpm2]

You can tell if it’s associated with the lock bar or not by holding it disengaged while working the action.

[carrot]

I usually open and close under soapy water, rinse and relube. Haven't had a single lockback not clean itself up after working the action.

[soulspy]

Wash with hot, soapy water. Apply a tiny amount of any oil to pivot.

[jpm2]

My k390 delica came with a burr on the lock bar. It would grind the 1st 1/2 inch opening, and last 1/2 inch closing.
After a few days I couldn’t stand it anymore. Took it apart cleaned the burr up and it’s smooth as butter with no play in any direction.

[SleeplessInSoCal]

This was all great intel, guys.

I dropped some lube in the pivot, and 90% of the grit went away.

Obviously then, if I follow any of the above tips, (open and close in soapy water, then lube; disassemble and clean, then lube) the knife will be at 100%.

[VashHash]

I would probably flush a little more oil in it until it leaks out. Usually helps. Then work the action and wipe it clean.