Small Slysz Bowie Issue

[paladin]

Just took receipt of a Slysz Bowie...and BELIEVE THE HYPE!!!

This knife is world-class value and quality.

The flat cross section makes for great purchase and reduces twisting in my palm...love it! :)

One small issue...after cycling the knife open/close a few dozen times it grew gritty.

What was originally a glass smooth deployment became a certifiable thumbuster and a noisy one to boot!

I rinsed it with warm water and some liquid handsoap. All better-- for another 50 or so cycles. Now the grit is BACK! :mad:

Questions:

1. Has anyone else suffered through this issue with this otherwise EXTRAORDINARY knife?

2. If yes, does it eventually sort itself out?.... or am I stuck in Wash/Rinse/Repeat purgatory? :confused:

[Liquid Cobra]

If it were me, I'd disassemble it and take care of the issue myself. But I don't live in the states and sending things into Spyderco from Canada is time consuming and kinda risky with the border.

If you live in the states you should probably send it to Spyderco warranty and repair.

[3rdGenRigger]

Either send it back, or you could try loosening the pivot a little so that the water can wash the pivot out a little easier. If you're worried about stripping a pivot screw you might not want to try this. If you do, rinse the pivot under hot water for a bit first to soften the locktite before cracking the picot screw loose.

[awa54]

I just picked up a "safety" Ti Pingo and it had buffing compound in all the screw sockets and throughout the pivot.

fortunately I work in a jewelry shop, so the easy solution was to dunk it in the ultrasonic cleaner for a few minutes, then use the pressure steamer to blast out grit and moisture, I wound up repeating this three times before it was perfectly clean.

If you have a friendly local jeweler, I'd ask them if they could do that for you, It'll save you disassembling the knife and ought to fix the problem with no down-side except for needing to re-lube the pivot afterward.

[Cujobob]

Check the detent, every time a Spyderco has been gritty, that's been the cause. I just lube it until it stays smooth.

[abbazaba]

Man I love that knife. Closest thing to perfection I've found out of the box. Ironically one of the few I've never disassembled... Sorry to hear

[farnorthdan]

As others have suggested, I would loosen the pivot, soak in hot soapy water for a few then give a hot water rinse. Blow out the water with compressed air real good, Drop or two of lube in pivot area, tighten pivot back up and give her a whirl. The Slysz Bowie is such a great knife, definitely one of the nicest Knifes I own, and love carrying it, congratulations on your new purchase. :) :spyder:

[Flipping Addict]

I have a sage 1 that is that way and nothing I do fixes it. It is the detent ball. I believe the ball is not seated deep enough in the blade so it puts extraordinary pressure on the blade tang. Gritty as **** and stops the blade cold. I just oil it and grind thru it knowing it will eventually wear. Of course I flip mine thousands of times a month, so...


If it bothers you enough send it in. I am dealing with mine myself but that super expensive knife you have, I would send it in. That is going to be one of my purchases some day for special occasion and would be my most expensive knife to boot.

[ABX2011]

I have a sage 1 that is that way and nothing I do fixes it. It is the detent ball. I believe the ball is not seated deep enough in the blade so it puts extraordinary pressure on the blade tang. Gritty as **** and stops the blade cold. I just oil it and grind thru it knowing it will eventually wear. Of course I flip mine thousands of times a month, so...

Have you ever worn out a knife's lock from your frequent flicking? Just curious.

[Filoso-]

Mine came a little stiff too. I loosened a bit the pivot screw and lubed the area. Now the blade drops when I push the lock.

[Flipping Addict]

I have a sage 1 that is that way and nothing I do fixes it. It is the detent ball. I believe the ball is not seated deep enough in the blade so it puts extraordinary pressure on the blade tang. Gritty as **** and stops the blade cold. I just oil it and grind thru it knowing it will eventually wear. Of course I flip mine thousands of times a month, so...

Have you ever worn out a knife's lock from your frequent flicking? Just curious.

Not yet. But if happens I will just order another the same day. But I figure if I haven't worn one out yet, a person not neurotic like me has nothing to ever worry about.

[SpyderNut]

Hey Paladin,

Congrats on your new Bowie. I agree--it is one heck of a nice knife! I don't carry mine nearly as often as I should, but hey. :o

It is odd that you've experienced the gritty action after the thorough cleaning. As the others mentioned, the grittiness may be caused by the detent. To test this theory, simply hold the locking tab away from the blade as you rotate the blade open/closed. I'd recommend using two hands for this. If the grittiness ceases, then it's the detent ball. If it persists, then it's probably being caused by grit in the pivot. If the issue continues past another thorough washing, I would personally send it to Warranty and Repair and have them address it. (This is just my 0.02, though, as I prefer not to void warranties by disassembling my knives).

[Xplorer]

I've only experienced this once (with my Firefly) and I got lucky that a drop of oil was all that was needed to clean it up. One of the things I love most about my Slysz Bowie is the incredibly smooth action. Whether the issue is the detent or debris in the pivot area, if you can't solve the problem entirely with hot water, compressed air, and a little lube, I would send it in to warranty :spyder: . It's too nice and too expensive to void the warranty or to deal with it being less than perfect IMO.

Best of luck to you!! :)
Chad

[awa54]

I have a sage 1 that is that way and nothing I do fixes it. It is the detent ball. I believe the ball is not seated deep enough in the blade so it puts extraordinary pressure on the blade tang. Gritty as **** and stops the blade cold. I just oil it and grind thru it knowing it will eventually wear. Of course I flip mine thousands of times a month, so...


If it bothers you enough send it in. I am dealing with mine myself but that super expensive knife you have, I would send it in. That is going to be one of my purchases some day for special occasion and would be my most expensive knife to boot.

Once grit in the pivot has scuffed up the detent ball and or the track it follows on the blade you only have one real remedy, which disassembly and polishing the abraded parts. If you clean out the knife completely before cycling it open and closed too many times it shouldn't come to that. Just adding lubricant may flush out some of the grit, but is likely to attract even more, IMO a serious cleaning is the best remedy by far. Remember also that the recess the detent locks in to is a perfect hiding place for grit and isn't easily accessed to scrub out, that's where an ultrasonic cleaner really excells!

[hoimin]

SpyderNut's advice about isolating the issue is a good starting point.

If you're not up for disassembly, or warranty waits, I've had pretty good luck with flossing the pivot between and around the washers to draw out any leftover cruft from manufacturing/assembly.

[WorkingEdge]

Same with my Southard few yrs back. Lube to detent ball fixed issue. Thinking abut getting one of these as well!