Shaman

[silver & black]

I love this knife. It's big, rough and an every day work horse. My question is: how do you get this thing to break in? Mine works just fine. It just doesn't seem to "loosen" up at all. It is very stiff to close. I've taken it apart and used nano oil on the wahsers.... I've played around with the pivot tightness. I can get it to drop shutty, but then it has blade play. What is the secret to getting the Shaman drop shutty without blade play???

[zuludelta]

I love this knife. It's big, rough and an every day work horse. My question is: how do you get this thing to break in? Mine works just fine. It just doesn't seem to "loosen" up at all. It is very stiff to close. I've taken it apart and used nano oil on the wahsers.... I've played around with the pivot tightness. I can get it to drop shutty, but then it has blade play. What is the secret to getting the Shaman drop shutty without blade play???

It should get to where you want it to be with time & regular use. I've had a few Shamans pass through my collection over the years & they all broke in eventually. It shouldn't take that long given the substantial mass of the Shaman's blade. I recommend just waiting for the breaking-in process to occur naturally but if you absolutely can't, you can get it "drop shutty" whilst avoiding blade play by adjusting pivot tightness but it takes patience & precision—even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a turn in the wrong direction can mean the difference between play or no play—as well as thread locker on the pivot screw to ensure that it stays that way (also, make sure you give the thread locker enough time to cure). I've successfully done this with a blacked-out Shaman where I suspected the DLC was keeping it from breaking-in in as timely a fashion as an uncoated Shaman.

[Jeb]

I am not familiar with nano oil, I'm hoping that is not some kind of heavy weight oil? I use the KPL 15wt on the pivot and washers... you can also do an injustice if you over lube this area, regardless of what oil. Just a really small amount is all that is needed, then you will have to work the lube to both sides. I usually tell guys that are unsure of how much, to just show your knife the oil lol...

Something else I am just a stickler on doing is, I take my new knife apart and wipe it all down, removing the lube that is on it.

Then to go one step further, I will hone each of the washers and both sides of each washer, to where they are nice and Shiney anluring.

Wipe them off and then install. One tiny small dot of lube, not even a drop, it's a dot of lube and that goes on the blade right before I put that last washer on. Use a tooth pick or something to apply the oil if you need to, in order to control over lubing. Do not lube both sides as you assemble...

Then assemble the knife and open and close it a few times will work the lube throughout. This works for me anyway. I know using my super fine grit hone to polish the washers is a bit of a stretch but if you just hit the washer a little then pull it up and look at that side you will see it ain't flat yet.

Just say'n

[Brock O Lee]

Check if you perhaps have a burr on the liners around the pivot (and other) holes.

I found and removed several small burrs on two of my Shamans. That fixed the blade play, and the actions are now perfect.

[Wowbagger]

I find with many / most non ball bearing pivots a trace of play is de rigueur .
I say get used to a trace of play . After all it is not a precision surgery robot end-effector ; it is just a pocket knife.

[silver & black]

Thank you everyone for the replies. This forum is such a wealth of information/knowledge. I'm going to try the washer polishing tip. Should this be done on a stone or strop?

Here is a link to the oil I use. I works great on the moving parts of all my woodworking tools. I use the 10 wt. for everything.

https://nano-oil.com/NanoLubed.html

[Jeb]

The strop is not the best choice for this. You want something ridged and flat. I use my extra fine grit 3"X8"DMT hone. But something like this, even a worn out older hone steel plate would be a better choice.

Your not going to be removing a lot of material, your just knocking the burrs and/or high places off and then shining...

The Nano from your link is more of an additive for high impact protection. This is what you add to like gear boxes and worn out crankcase.

You need to source something like a 10 or 15 weight synthetic lube. I use the original KPL which is a 15 weight. KPL also has a ultra light that would be great.
Here is a link to the one I have, the other really awesome think with the KPL is the small bottle it comes with is the long steel needle applicator that is incorporated in the bottle...

KPL™ Original Knife Oil – MultiParts Store https://share.google/ieC6aHbSMiFqAlN2Q

This was the first place that my Google pulled up but there are lots of dealers of this...

[Jeb]

I just tore my Shaman down last night and I sculpted or fluted the scales on the side I thumb my knife open. I have bigger paws and my fat thumb needs all the help it can get...

If you look close at the Shaman there is a small amount of the thumbhole that is below the edge of the scales...

I took and used a small fine halfround metal file and worked mine over. I didn't do anything on the clip side of the scales. Here is a pic of mine. You can see the scales through the thumbhole on the clip side. That is a reflection of how much I chewed off lol.

[Wartstein]

Thank you everyone for the replies. This forum is such a wealth of information/knowledge. I'm going to try the washer polishing tip. Should this be done on a stone or strop?

Here is a link to the oil I use. I works great on the moving parts of all my woodworking tools. I use the 10 wt. for everything.

https://nano-oil.com/NanoLubed.html

I rarely oil my folders anymore, but if so Victorinox multitool oil is my choice.
One needs to use just very little amounts of it, imo it works great and the bottle has a good applicator..

[8th_Note]

I use 3-in-One oil both for lubricating pivots and for coating blades. It works great and is very inexpensive

[Danke]

I only have one Shaman (the 15V one) but the lock has been typical of all my other compression lock knives. It pops open in a snap and closes with gravity. I also lube it, either with Break Free or Boeshield T-9. But I don't take it apart to do so, same for most others unless I've patina'd them.

I would be really paying attention during reassembly to make sure something isn't too tight.

[Red Leader]

Check if you perhaps have a burr on the liners around the pivot (and other) holes.

I found and removed several small burrs on two of my Shamans. That fixed the blade play, and the actions are now perfect.

This.

I only have one Shaman and it doesn't have the aforementioned issue, but I have read of other people having this problem, and it seems like people have found burrs around either the pivot hole, or around the 3 screw holes tapped for a tip down carry, around the pivot. That interferes with the washers riding correctly and from sitting flat.

[silver & black]

Check if you perhaps have a burr on the liners around the pivot (and other) holes.

I found and removed several small burrs on two of my Shamans. That fixed the blade play, and the actions are now perfect.

This.

I only have one Shaman and it doesn't have the aforementioned issue, but I have read of other people having this problem, and it seems like people have found burrs around either the pivot hole, or around the 3 screw holes tapped for a tip down carry, around the pivot. That interferes with the washers riding correctly and from sitting flat.

[silver & black]

I have another question for all of you that know far more than I about these things:
When you say let it break in naturally....... does that mean open and close 100 times a day, 300 times a day, 500 times a day???

I get the same answer for other makes of knives, also. I opened and closed this Shaman at least 100 times an evening for the last month or so. What is considered a normal break in period? At this point, I can see it being a couple of years or more before it is actually drop shutty without blade play. I have purchased other knives that are drop shutty right out of the box, including many Spydercos. is this just a "thing" with the Shaman? If so.... why?

[TkoK83Spy]

Please stop saying drop shutty

If you've done all the suggestions given to fix the action and are still having the same results, you might want to look into a new set of washers or just deal with it and use it as a knife. I've had 5 Shamans over the years and all of them had smooth action with that heavy blade, even the DLC models. So it is a bit surprising to me to read all this.

[silver & black]

Please stop saying drop shutty

If you've done all the suggestions given to fix the action and are still having the same results, you might want to look into a new set of washers or just deal with it and use it as a knife. I've had 5 Shamans over the years and all of them had smooth action with that heavy blade, even the DLC models. So it is a bit surprising to me to read all this.

Sorry to piss you off with terminology, TkoK83Spy. I'm fairly new to the world of quality knives. If that is a term that irritates you, maybe you should go to the numerous YouTube knife sites and yell at them for the use of the term. I promise not to ever use it again on this most prestigious of knife forums. Thanks for the help.

[Brock O Lee]

Please stop saying drop shutty

Yeah, I feel you on the term "drop shutty", coined by one of the popular early YT knife reviewers/"influencers".

Best reserved IMO to describe fidget tools, pocket bling, and paper-cutting bearing-pivot showcase knives, valued north of $1000.

Somehow it has now became "a standard", even for work knives on washers?

I don't get it, but maybe I'm just grumpy today.

[TkoK83Spy]

You got hung up on the least important part of the post and not an idea of a possible solution to your knifes problem.

[Jeb]

I don't remember for sure, but I think it was one of my Police4 knives I had, but the knife had this sort of same issue.

I ended up hone .5mm off both washers before I ever got the knife like I wanted it. Point here I am making though, is you may have to mic your two washers and hone a little of them off and keeping both washers even with dial calibers or digital which ever you have.

Bottom line here you can build your own masterpiece here, but in doing so, comes at a cost. You can set this up where there is no forgiving, which is fine, but when you go at things like this, you will need to Loctite the two pivot screws down once you get the stack out of the two washers, blade, liners and scales for the absolute perfect setup.

It's not that it can't be done either, it's just are you willing to do the work to tweak your knife to get there. It's that or just a hint of blade play that is way more forgiving and much easier to get there.

This is your choices, you decide and we can help you get there. We just need to know how far your willing to dive into this. I can tell you that to hone washers to a perfect fit for your stack out there, it can take lots of time and many tear downs.

[silver & black]

Thank you Jeb. Being truthful, I don't care that it doesn't just drop shut. I just watch all these different knife YouTubers telling me/us that you just have to let it break in by using it. I get that, to a point. They never say how long that process takes. So far, I'd say years from my experience. They make it sound like you just need to use it for a week or so...lol.

TkoK83Spy: I owe you an apology. I had a bad day, and one too many pours of Bourbon. I should not have responded to you that way.... and I definitely know better than to post on any site after having a few pours.