PM2 extreme lock stick

[Ramonade]

This is about lock stick, so let's stick to it!
(Sorry, I'm new to foreign word plays and I practice them way too much here)

[BornIn1500]

How in the world can flicking open a knife be considered "abuse"? There are tons of knives, even some Spyderco knives, that have a flipper tab as the only method of opening it... which is identical to the force of flicking open a knife using the hole. And then you have companies like Kershaw that even put an assist spring on their flippers, which opens the knife even faster. These knives are made to be opened quickly. There's no way it's abuse.

[TkoK83Spy]

Haha, Gernot...the way I said that "flicking crap" more so meant the topic/conversation of flicking, which you know I personally dont care to hear or read about. That's all bud!

[Accutron]

Somebody needs to have a talk with Mike Janich. There are infinite examples of him abusing Spydercos by flicking them over the past 2+ decades. I bet those OSHA fines are really piling up!

[ABX2011]

Saying the knife can't handle flicking is absurd. If you put your whole arm into it then ok, that's excessive.

[Wartstein]

Haha, Gernot...the way I said that "flicking crap" more so meant the topic/conversation of flicking, which you know I personally dont care to hear or read about. That's all bud!

Oh man.... then I actually got you totally wrong, thanks for clarifying!

I was a bit confused, because you are perhaps the number one proponent here for judging various knife related stuff (steels, ergos...) only after having real, extensive experience with it.

And so while it is totally understandable that you just don't like flicking and talking about it, it would also have been totally against your usual (great) approach to suddenly have such a strong, negative opinion on something you - for a change - do not have (a lot) of personal experience with...(and I fully agree that no one who does not flick their knives open actually would be missing anything by any means. Not necessary at all, except perhaps in an sd situarion, but I know nothing about knives and sd)

[bearfacedkiller]

Flicking a knife with lock stick makes it stick worse because the lock engages a little further. Sure you could open it gently but in my experience making a very forceful cut will also allow the lock to engage a little further and increase the stick. This problem has nothing to do with flicking, it’s an issue with the lock/tang interface.

I have not had good luck with sticking locks getting better. If it’s subtle I deal with it and if not I get rid of it. The OP needs to decide if he wants to accept it or return it. Unfortunately that decision is difficult with sprints and exclusives. If it’s as bad as it sounds it needs to be returned in my opinion.

Also, I don’t really care what people do with their knives. You can flick it, throw it at trees, leave it in your safe for eons, take glam shots of it for Instagram cred or keep it in an altar (display case) to admire. I don’t understand why people care so much how others use and enjoy their knives.

[anycal]

As an owner of few PM2s, I had my share of lock stick. Couple where it did not go away on its own.

The simpler solution was to rotate the stop pin - pull it out and actually rotate it 180deg left to right. The more extreme one was to do a liner swap. In both cases, that finally resolved the issues.

[JRinFL]

I had the same big audible click when unlocking my CQI PM2 (the S45vn one). I had to really push hard to unlock the comp.lock.
I just unscrewed the stop pin a bit on both sides, rotated it a bit and tried until the lock stick was reduced. It reduced it by like 90%, and the rest has gone away since then.

This is solid advice. If it were mine, I would do this rather than send it in, but for some sending it in is the better choice.

The tolerances are really tight and you'd be surprised how little the difference is between sticking and not.

[FK]

I have approx 20-30 PM2 and Para 3 Spydercos. Only one had slight lock stick,,, all of the others are excellent. I like the CRK suggestion which is to lubricate the lock bar interface to reduce the galling interface. A small amount of grease and the lock stick wears in smoothly to be very slight.

Flicking the blade open, two observations:
1. Gently opening slowly with thumb or middle finger.
2. Power Snapping open with force to impress the armchair YouTube fans.

Regards,
FK

[DSH007]

If it's as bad as you say, then send it in. There is a difference between having a little lock stick, and being unable to release the lock tab.

If it were me, I would disassemble and reassemble first, and if the problem persists, then send it to Spyderco. If you're uncomfortable with disassembly/reassembly then send it in and get them to switch out the lockbar/liner. Having a knife that is a problem to unlock is not typical and is not something Spyderco intended.

+1. I absolutely agree with Airslee here..

Discussions about flicking ( ) aside, it doesn't sound to me like the OP's knife is quite right.. I wouldn't "wait and see" or "hope it works itself out" on a knife I had that much trouble unlocking.. probably best to send it in to get checked out..

[Ramonade]

I had to put lots of force before rotating the stop pin, depending on where I pressed on the lock tab with my index, it wouldn't even work. I had to use my thumb like the OP said.

However, I'm certainly lucky that this manipulation worked, severe lock stick is often caused by more than a residual burr or an uneven stop pin. In that case, it should go in the hands of Spyderco.

[curlyhairedboy]

Sometimes a drop of lube on the stop pin opposite the lock face will clear things up.

[WRB]

I've always had good luck drawing on the lock interface with a pencil a few times. Clears it right up. Some say it doesn't work for them, but it has worked for me.

[Revival]

I've always had good luck drawing on the lock interface with a pencil a few times. Clears it right up. Some say it doesn't work for them, but it has worked for me.

This has worked for me too on a Para 3.

[Ramonade]

I've always had good luck drawing on the lock interface with a pencil a few times. Clears it right up. Some say it doesn't work for them, but it has worked for me.

Yes, when it's caused by a small burr on the tang of the blade or on the lock bar it helps reduce friction yes, and this burr falls anyway after some time !

Did it at first with mine, no such luck. (Wasn't (only?) a burr thing, I believe that the stop pin isn't perfecty round on mine.