Do you disassemble your knife to lubricate it?

[kennethsime]

Awhile ago, I picked up a plain-jane S30V Para 3 at a good price thanks to a package deal from BBS. I also bought some aftermarket Micarta scales for it from Allen Putnam, and was pretty stoked to put it together. Unfortunately, I stripped the pivot screw while trying to defeat a ridiculous amount of loctite, and was unable to re-assemble it.

Spyderco took pity on me, and sent me a few new screws, but it turned out I had managed to damage the pivot itself. I ordered some replacement parts on eBay, and finally got the knife back together, but the pivot wouldn't tighten all the way. I lived with that for about a year, but recently picked up some titanium replacement hardware from Pacific Sons on Etsy. The knife is finally back together, better than ever, and I'm pretty happy with it.

I had the unique opportunity, while the knife was disassembled, to lubricate the gap between the knife blade and the pivot. Generally, I don't take knives apart, and just "work in" the lube with the knife still together, which probably mostly lubricates the gap where the bronze washers sit, between the blade and the liner.

I've found that for the first time, I can tighten both pivot screws pretty much all the way and the blade still flies open pretty good, and drops shut real good. Pretty stoked on that! I don't think it's worth taking apart all my knives to accomplish this, but I do think I'll take the opportunity anytime I have a knife apart.

So, do you ever go out of your way to disassemble to achieve ultimate lubricity? Or do you just "work it in" ?

[Danke]

Nope. Current lube is Boeshield T-9. Apply to pivot area and then hit with the air hose to blow through.

[Josh1973]

I don't disassemble any folder unless It has a problem I may be able to fix.

[Ric]

Disassemble is always a pain so I avoid as much as possible. Even clip screws are better to be untouched.

At the break I do not oil it.
After it's broken in it gets a bit of oil.
Sone tiny bits with the long needle.

[TkoK83Spy]

I take apart just about every knife I get, especially a model that's new to me. I like to see what's going on, on the insides. A lot of times I end up swapping scales around anyways, if I have more than one variation of a particular model, just to customize it a bit. I find that to be a fun part of the hobby.

Scared to tinker or make your own adjustments is weird to me...it's a knife, it's not like your trying to build a house or something difficult and complex. I read these posts about people flicking a knife thousands of times to "break it in" when all it takes is an 1/8" turn of the pivot screw to loosen it up a bit sometimes...BLOWS MY MIND!! Literally a 10 second fix.

I took that Military apart before...bet you didn't even notice

[vivi]

If the pivot just seems a little dry and sluggish, no.

If the pivot feels rough and gritty, yes. Easier to take it a part than try to flush out the grit in my experience.

[mikey177]

I don't even lubricate my knives, as I prefer a deliberate opening and closing motion versus flickability and drop-shuttiness.

It's never given me problems in over 20 years of carrying.

I do however disassemble knives when there is a need for cleaning, or to remove the lanyard tube on some Taichung models.

[ZrowsN1s]

If the pivot just seems a little dry and sluggish, no.

If the pivot feels rough and gritty, yes. Easier to take it a part than try to flush out the grit in my experience.

Same

[soc_monki]

Yes, because any time I've tried to lube and not disassemble it ends up a lot of places it shouldn't, like the lock faces, where it causes lock stick and I have to take it apart to completely clean it up. So might as well take it apart in the first place.

[mark greenman]

Disassembly makes sense for polishing the knifes action / internals. Thats done with 1000-3000 grit sandpaper and flitz polish, similar in concept to a trigger job on a pistol. And this is a one time thing. Notably, the action will be much smoother with a full polish even after lubrication has worn off.

For lubrication, I think disassembly is overkill/ a pain in the ***.

I use Hornady One Shot now for lube, which is a dry lube in a pressurized spray can. The pressure forces the lubrication pretty deep into the pivot/ action / washers, and since its a dry lube, there is little concern with overlubrication leading to attracting dirt.

[Larry_Mott]

Disassembling stuff got old to me at around 12 years old. By that time i had destroyed alarm clocks, toys, telephones and transistor radios :)
Seriously - to me disassembling a knife "for maintenance" makes about as much sense as to disassemble my motorcycle engine for servicing. Knives are not guns and don't need to be taken apart. Except when necessary (broken springs, scales swaps etc.

[bearfacedkiller]

Only as a last resort. Usually you can clean and lube it without taking it apart.

I value the ability to take a knife apart but the knife community’s obsession with it doesn’t make sense to me. I also don’t understand the obsession with specialty lubes. These are pocket knives, not high performance engines.

I rinse it out under running water in the kitchen sink while opening and closing it, shake it dry, set it on the window sill in the sun to dry some more and then add a drop or two of mineral oil. No need to overthink this.

[Zive]

First thing I do with any Spyderco model is a complete disassembly. Everything gets inspected, cleaned, liners get a light coating of Frog Lube, washers, pivots, and lockbar pivots get nano oil, all screws get loctite. I’ve never lost a part, never stripped or had a screw back out in use, and get the action right where I want it without waiting days or weeks for break in.

This allows me to get the lubricant where it will be effective without making a mess with excess oil that paradoxically can attract dirt and degrade the action.

I enjoy the process and am systematic with keeping track of parts. I wouldn’t recommend that everyone does it, but it’s part of the hobby I enjoy.

[anycal]

Do I take it apart every time I lube it. No. Do I take all my knives apart. Absolutely.

As an avid 'youtube' appliances 'technician' and car 'mechanic', and having several hobbies which require tinkering, tuning, modifying, etc, there isn't much in my life which doesn't get at least partially disassembled. Knives being the simplest of such things.

I like knowing its design, and how it works. Also, being able to target the lube where it needs to be is beneficial. Less to attract dust and dirt. And with natural G10 scales, too much lube will seep between the scale and liner, and looks bad.

[Evil D]

I disassemble everything, and I use bearing grease in my pivots.

[JRinFL]

I generally only disassemble if there is a problem needing correction or if I am swapping scales. Otherwise, I just drop in the oil and work the blade back and forth a few times. At my age, I have learned to leave well enough alone.

[The Mastiff]

Nope. I've never felt the need to. The only way I would is if I got something inside sticky and gritty that I couldn't get out any other way.

My daily carry is usually a lockback. I can normally clean and relube it with a minute or two using a paper towel to clean the inside. A pipecleaner or q tip if needed. The blade bearing surface gets a spray with an aerosol dry teflon lube afterward. That is all it needs . Keeping it clean is all it really takes and going without lube for a while really doesn't hurt but in my case the dry teflon doesn't collect or hold dirt . I have Seki lockbacks going as far back as 1992 and they are still going strong and can last another lifetime by the looks of things.

[VashHash]

I don't take them apart to oil them. Agree with vivi, if it's gritty I'll take it apart and then clean and lube. Usually do that after a trip to the beach. When I got my Kris many years ago I flushed the pivot with wd40 and hit it with compressed air. Usually do that with any traditional I buy since you can't take them apart. For lube it's either slipp 2000, tufglide, hoppes synthetic, or mineral oil. Just depends where I'm at when the knife needs lube. Most non stainless get the tufglide.

[The Meat man]

I don't disassemble just to lubricate. Usually, I'll carry a knife as-is from factory until it becomes dirty, gritty, etc. Then I'll do a full disassembly, clean, usually lightly polish the washers and mating surfaces, and re-lube.

[wrdwrght]

No, not to lubricate. I have disassembled some for other reasons.