Do yourselves a favor; get an ultrafine bench stone for washer polishing.

[Harkwit]

Obviously do so with care and consideration for your warranty, but --

If you haven't picked up Spyderco's ultrafine bench stone, do so. Every knife I get from Spyderco, I'll polish up the washers on this after disassembly. You don't have to rub them on the stone for very long, and since they're rarely perfectly flat you won't hit the entire face of them, but you will hit enough for the points of contact on the blade to matter.

My cruwear yojimbo, for example, went from a pretty stiff action to one that's supremely hydraulic and drop-shut. Both cases the pivot was tuned for no blade play, even with the comp lock depressed.

It has become a staple in my knife ownership and more people should get on board.

[Fly Fishing Rick]

I also had good success with my UF Sharpmaker stones.

[Foehammer]

I wonder if you could do this on Edge pro super fine stones? Probably as it’s the same idea really. I’ll give it a try I guess.

[RustyIron]

I wonder if you could do this on Edge pro super fine stones? Probably as it’s the same idea really. I’ll give it a try I guess.

Yes, you can. Generally, I like to have a variety of stones for different purposes, and reserve my knife sharpening stones only for sharpening knives. However, a few little bronze washers aren't going to hurt your Edge Pro stones.

Keep your eye open at garage sales and swap meets. You can never have too many stones.

[Foehammer]

I wonder if you could do this on Edge pro super fine stones? Probably as it’s the same idea really. I’ll give it a try I guess.

Yes, you can. Generally, I like to have a variety of stones for different purposes, and reserve my knife sharpening stones only for sharpening knives. However, a few little bronze washers aren't going to hurt your Edge Pro stones.

Keep your eye open at garage sales and swap meets. You can never have too many stones.

Truer words were never spoken.

[Evil D]

I wonder if you could do this on Edge pro super fine stones? Probably as it’s the same idea really. I’ll give it a try I guess.

I use a 16k Shapton from my Edge Pro setup. Sharpmaker rods work also but just give you a much smaller surface to work with. I also polish the blade tang on a lot of my knives.

[nerdlock]

I use Flitz on washers and have achieved similar results.

[Bloke]

For all practical intents and purposes you'd have to think, folding knife pivots are a "clutch" and in order to achieve a truly smooth and frictionless action it's imperative to remove all and any high spots in washers, liners, tangs etc.

Polished washers won't necessarily improve the action and can in fact work against you. Like slip gauges, two dead flat and polished surfaces will actually stick to each other.

Rather than polishing washers, liners and tangs you'll likely get optimum results by ensuring all are dead flat and ultimately parallel to each other with scratch patterns that works as lube channels that trap your choice of lubricant.

[Ranger_Ike]

For all practical intents and purposes you'd have to think, folding knife pivots are a "clutch" and in order to achieve a truly smooth and frictionless action it's imperative to remove all and any high spots in washers, liners, tangs etc.

Polished washers won't necessarily improve the action and can in fact work against you. Like slip gauges, two dead flat and polished surfaces will actually stick to each other.

Rather than polishing washers, liners and tangs you'll likely get optimum results by ensuring all are dead flat and ultimately parallel to each other with scratch patterns that works as lube channels that trap your choice of lubricant.

Hidden in there is the lock stick fix

[Bemo]

Brilliant post Bloke and thanks Ranger Ike for highlighting that.

[araneae]

A 4 way emory board will work as well and they are under $2. I have polished several sets and it always helps smooth things out a bit with pivot action.

[vivi]

I used to polish the washers and the pivots of the blades and the corresponding liner area on all my folders. Stopped doing it years ago and honestly I feel like my folders get to that level with natural wear over time. ymmv.

[Bloke]

I used to polish the washers and the pivots of the blades and the corresponding liner area on all my folders. Stopped doing it years ago and honestly I feel like my folders get to that level with natural wear over time. ymmv.

Hey Viveo,

I'm hearing you, and ultimately the 180 deg swing of a blade on any folder will wear itself smooth over time irrespective if you remove high spots in washers, liners ... You'll likely end up with wedged washers. Just lube and open and close the knife 8,000 times while you watch TV. LOL! Break the knife in. LOL!

Does anyone break their vehicles clutch in, or do they perhaps just wear it out?

Fact is; if you don't address the original underlaying issues and disassemble the knife and reassemble it (again) you have to contend with the "natural wear" all over again.

I simply subscribe to disassemble the knife once, address all underlaying issues once, and never re work anything again.

[standy99]

I used to polish the washers and the pivots of the blades and the corresponding liner area on all my folders. Stopped doing it years ago and honestly I feel like my folders get to that level with natural wear over time. ymmv.

Hey Viveo,

I'm hearing you, and ultimately the 180 deg swing of a blade on any folder will wear itself smooth over time irrespective if you remove high spots in washers, liners ... You'll likely end up with wedged washers. Just lube and open and close the knife 8,000 times while you watch TV. LOL! Break the knife in. LOL!

Does anyone break their vehicles clutch in, or do they perhaps just wear it out?

Fact is; if you don't address the original underlaying issues and disassemble the knife and reassemble it (again) you have to contend with the "natural wear" all over again.

I simply subscribe to disassemble the knife once, address all underlaying issues once, and never re work anything again.

I just don’t take them apart…period. Bit of DIAWA oil


and open, use and close.

[Bloke]

I just don’t take them apart…period. Bit of DIAWA oil


and open, use and close.

Hey Andy, I'll give you a call in the morrow. LOL!

[hereiamu1]

Has anyone used lapping compound to lap the washer to the blade etc? I am pretty sure it isn't worth the time and effort but I might try it someday lol

[SpyderGrill]

Grab an old cardboard box, put a drop of Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish on it and rub the washers in a circular motion.

[ZrowsN1s]

I've polished one set of washers for a few seconds on my ultra fine sharpmaker rods. Helped a little. I prefer to let things wear naturally unless it's super rough.

[Bill1170]

I would polish my washers if I had a problem with them, but I find that their performance is adequate without it. Cleaning and lubrication makes a real difference, and doesn’t require disassembly. I avoid ball bearing knife pivots as they add cost and multiple opportunities for failure, as compared with simple washers plus oil.

[bearfacedkiller]

I just use it. My pivots are so full of dirt, grit, lint and everything else that this would be futile.

At this point my maintenance routine involves clipping it to a cargo pocket and sending it through the washing machine. I then let it dry by sitting open on a sunny window sill followed by a drop of mineral oil. I repeat again when it gets super gritty.

I have the UF stones and they are nice but I like coarser edges and rarely use it for anything. Sometimes I’ll break it out for a kitchen knife just for the novelty. There must be far cheaper ways to polish a washer than an expensive specialty stone.