How do I get rid of lock stick?

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Spydersense
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How do I get rid of lock stick?

#1

Post by Spydersense »

What's the cure aside from sending it back to the mother ship? Should I try to polish the contact points with a dremel? Knife in question is a Mantra 2.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#2

Post by Cujobob »

No, do not polish. You can use sharpie or pencil 'lead' (graphite) on the blade tang.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#3

Post by Liquid Cobra »

Try to wipe it clean of any grease that may have come into contact with the lock face.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#4

Post by Blerv »

One of my titanium liner locks I just opened it and closed it like 100 times. Seems to be getting better.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#5

Post by Spydersense »

Tried cleaning it, tried pencil, opened and closed about 150 times, and no improvement yet. I'll keep flipping it over the next day or so and see what happens.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#6

Post by Studey »

How long have you had it? In my experience, this more of a 'sorts itself out over weeks' issue as opposed to days.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#7

Post by Evil D »

I know this can be irritating to some people, but consider that a sticky lock is also a more secure lock. I'd much rather have one that takes a bit of force to break free, than one that can slide off the lock face.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#8

Post by Spydersense »

Studey wrote:How long have you had it? In my experience, this more of a 'sorts itself out over weeks' issue as opposed to days.
Yeah, not long and was thinking this might be the case.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#9

Post by Spydersense »

Evil D wrote:I know this can be irritating to some people, but consider that a sticky lock is also a more secure lock. I'd much rather have one that takes a bit of force to break free, than one that can slide off the lock face.
Good point.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#10

Post by attila »

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but I just received a new Mantra 2, and the lockstick is rediculously strong. It's bad enough that the knife is unpleasant to operate.
Spydersense wrote: What's the cure aside from sending it back to the mother ship? Should I try to polish the contact points with a dremel? Knife in question is a Mantra 2.
Did you end up sorting out your lockstick issue? If so, how did you do it?

Thanks!
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#11

Post by Albatross »

Like others have said, open and close the knife a ton. The recent Para 3 I recieved, had a lot of lock stick. It's not the same as a frame lock, but the concept is similar. It took 3 weeks of opening and closing a LOT. Much more than 150. Probably closer to 500 or more.

Adjust the tension of the scale screws and pivot, I've eliminated lock stick by tightening or loosening screws. It's worth trying.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#12

Post by knivesandbooks »

Sticky lock better than a slippy lock. I've had quite a few high end knives with a bit of stick. It'll go away or become less annoying over time.

I once had an Emerson that stuck so bad that I had to use pliers to disengage the lock.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#13

Post by Doc Dan »

Clean the lock face and blade tang with alcohol to remove any oil. Use a #2 pencil on th blade tang and lock face.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#14

Post by aaronkb »

attila wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2019 10:27 am
Sorry for the thread necromancy, but I just received a new Mantra 2, and the lockstick is rediculously strong. It's bad enough that the knife is unpleasant to operate.
Spydersense wrote: What's the cure aside from sending it back to the mother ship? Should I try to polish the contact points with a dremel? Knife in question is a Mantra 2.
Did you end up sorting out your lockstick issue? If so, how did you do it?

Thanks!
I just got a mantra 2 on sale and it has no lock-stick whatsoever. It’s not inherent to the model, so maybe send it back and try again if it’s really bad
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#15

Post by MichaelScott »

My GB2 was sticky. Use, cleaning and #2 pencil graphite soon resolved it.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#16

Post by dj moonbat »

It's like new boots. You just have to break it in.

EDIT: I think it's a potentially big mistake to work on either of the mating surfaces with abrasives. Part of the break-in is the abrasion of those surfaces, but part of it is fatiguing the titanium of the lockbar. Don't get those processes out of sync.
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Re: How do I get rid of lock stick?

#17

Post by Danvp »

I have lockstick on my favorite, the Spydiechef. Tried pencil, didn’t work very well. Already opened and closed it for half a year more than 25 times a day. Doesn’t break in. Sure the lock is secure, however I would like the lock to be a bit easier to open. My reference is the titanium framelock of the large sebenza. Very smooth and yet also secure. Hope they fixed this with the new CQI.
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