How do you get your Spyderco or Byrd knives to open so smoothly?

[mrphotoman]

I see all those youtube videos of people opening up their Spyderco and Byrd knives so fast and slick but I just can not get mine to do that. I tried to loosen the set screw and spray some oil in there but it does not seem to open as nice as what I am seeing online.

How do you guys get them to open so nice and smooth and quick?

As soon as I get my delica back from spyderco I would like to get mine to open like that. It opens nice and smooth but there is some resistance because everything is so tight. I play with my hawkbill all the time trying to loosen it up but it still has some resistance and you can feel right before it opens all the way a slight grinding.

[Buck Knives I Like]

Adjust the pivot to the desired tension if it is a screw construction, then apply lock tight on the pivot.. I also use some drops of clear lube to prevent any staining. A lot of it has to do with technique and use of the knife at least with me, for example when I say " use " of the knife, with some of mine after using them and opening them over and over, My hand started to get familiar with the blade, and it even loosened up some tension. Those two factors combined made a big difference for me, The thing is I know exactly what you are talking about, it was appealing to me as well.

For example I thought that something was wrong with one of my spyderco blades based on the force it took to push out the blade, it wasn't even a flick.. I mean a push. Even with this ( push ) knife, constant use of the knife got it to the point of the very fast deployment you seek.

In my opinion, time will probably be your answer.

[GoodEyeSniper]

keep in mind a backlock model will always have more tension throughout the whole opening motion than a liner lock, frame lock, and several other designs.

[Kev83]

Just practice opening and closing a lot with different techniques. As stated before adjust the pivot to where you like it and put some lube around the pivot. Breaking it in can take quite a while but the speed and force applied to open the blade all depends on your deployment style. I prefer opening with a quick thumb flick or using my pointer or middle finger depending on the knife.

[jackknifeh]

You should be able to tell when your knife(s) are broken in. With the proper pivot screw adjustment they should open very easy and smooth. The way I like to adjust my pivot is open the knife and loosen the screw until there is a tiny bit of blade play. Then tighten it slowly in little tiny increments until the blade play is gone. I HATE HORIZONTAL BLADE PLAY. Then I see how easy the blade moves. Sometimes the blade moves freely enough to just fall. I don't like this. I like the blade to have a little resistance so it doesn't swing freely looking for a finger. :eek: So, I tighten it a little more until the blade barely moves when you release the lock. Even when it's this tight I can flick the knife open with my thumb. I use a "trick" if you want to call it that. I hold the knife putting the end of my thumb in the hole. The top of my thumbnail is now going to push the blade open. To begin with however I apply force in the hole toward the pivot screw. At this angle the blade won't open at all. Then I alter the angle until the blade flicks open. The force being applied at the wrong angle builds and then when the applied force is at an angle for the blade to open, it SNAPS open. I hope I'm explaining this so it can be understood. I explained it as if it was in slow motion. But I can do this so the bystander isn't aware of what I'm really doing. To him/her it looks like one fluid motion. I watched the videos for a long time wondering how they did it so easily. I don't know if anyone does it just like I do but my way works fine, especially when the pivot is a little snug the way I like it. I seldom flick the blade open though. I've never done it when in public (yet). It may cause NKP to be even more shocked. Some are surprised to see my 3 3/8" blade on the GB already, but if I flicked it open with a loud snap they may think it's an automatic knife (with spring, switchblade).

I've also seen people use their index or middle finger to flick the blade open. I can't do this. It feels just like it did at first when I tried using my thumb. Incidentally, I have almost cut my thumb many times doing this. If I don't do it correctly my thumb falls out of the hole and can glide along the edge slicing my thumb to the bone. Haven't even broken skin yet but that's luck. Anyway, I can't get the angle of force to be applied in the right direction when using my fingers so I gave up. I prefer the thumb just opening the blade. If I want to flick it open I can do it with my thumb and that's ok with me. One thing that turns me off is when someone flicks their knife open thinking it makes them "cool". Flicking the knife open is kind of cool but it sometimes makes the "performer" in the right situation look kind of foolish. Of course that is just my feeling and I haven't the wisdom to know the reasons people do what they do.

One funny thing I saw when I was young. A guy came to work bragging about his new knife. He wanted to show us how easy it was to flick it open. I don't remember how he tried to do it but the action required his whole arm and the result was he lost grip of his knife. It was open though as it flew, landed on the floor and skidded into the wall. :)

[shaolinbill]

Excellent reply, Jackknifeh, I have been practicing the flicks - and could only get good using my thumb - AND, thankfully after a few hundred practice thumb flicks only suffered one small cut - ONLY ONE. But why flick? To impress? To save a thousandth of a second? Take the millisecond longer to open with the thumb WITHOUT the flick - open the knife as designed by the experts - and be safe. Thank you for saving me from myself.

[BAL]

If I get a new knife and it is stiff to open, I put a little lubricant in it and work it
open and close over and over while I am watching TV. It will loosen up after a while.

[shaolinbill]

Thinking about it - I think I nicked my index finger closing the knife and not flicking it open.

[FCM415]

Main thing I have found is to give it time to break in. You can speed up the process my tweaking the pivot and lubing it. I have also rinsed new knives with soapy water that came with residue/gritty which helped smooth it out (Calys mainly).

[kennethsime]

I never did understand using your index or middle finger to open a knife. Every time I try it just seems awkward, maybe I don't understand it fully but my index finger doesn't really move left and right more than an inch or two.

[Blerv]

It's quite possible they are just flicking it harder. If you watch most folks online they also snap their wrist a bit from left-to-right.

For me a lose pivot is more annoying than beneficial. Often you get blade-play for ninja reflexes .

[Donut]

I find that it is often that people are just better than I am at applying the right pressure to get it open.

[BAL]

You can use your middle finger which is stronger because most people have exercised
it often when driving to and from work or wherever. (seriously) You can then flick a little
with your wrist to get some enegy moving.

....or just open it slowly with the thumb using the provided spyder hole.

[BAL]

I get tough with mine.

I'll say looky here buddy, ya gonna open smoothly or we gonna
hav prollems, capasci. Don't go makin me hav ta get rough wiff ya.

That is usually all it takes. ....Unless you have a TUFF. Then I call
for back up.... and that's all I got to say about that.

[Mr Blonde]

I never did understand using your index or middle finger to open a knife. Every time I try it just seems awkward, maybe I don't understand it fully but my index finger doesn't really move left and right more than an inch or two.

I use this technique to open and use right-handed linerlocks with my left-hand. Liner and compression locks tend to fly open real easy as there is little force holding them close. It's a great technique for this type of folding knife, if you're a lefty.

[Knivesinedc]

spray some PAM on the pivot. really slicks it up.

[jackknifeh]

spray some PAM on the pivot. really slicks it up.

I honestly don't know if you are joking or not. :) One thing I do know. Your eggs will never get stuck inside the pivot. :D

[jackknifeh]

spray some PAM on the pivot. really slicks it up.

If you are serious I'm going to cry over all the money I've spent on hi-tech lubricants. :mad:

[Buck Knives I Like]

If you are serious I'm going to cry over all the money I've spent on hi-tech lubricants. :mad:

Rofl.

[jsveiga]

My Stretch ZDP-189 came with the FRN scales protruding in beyond the steel liners, so the FRN scales would "bite" the blade and brake the movement.

Undoing the pivot screw wouldn't help, as undoing it far enough for the FRN scales to let the blade go would cause quite a lot of lateral play in the blade. Lubricant didn't help either; it was not friction in the pivot nor in the phosphorous-bronze washers; it was the FRN scales "biting" the blade close to the pivot.

Maybe when people say they are "breaking" the knife with constant usage, they are wearing off this FRN "excess".

The blade was even getting scratched by the FRN "interference", which annoyed me quite a bit - so I sanded the excess with a fine sandpaper (image below), so the scales would be flush with the steel liners (at least around the pivot). I don't know if this "braking" was by design, of if I got an odd one.

It is silk smooth now, and the friction can be perfectly adjusted by the pivot screw. I left it adjusted so light that it is possible to flick the Stretch open with a quick "whiplash" shake, without touching the blade (you can see people doing it in youtube), whereas originally it was hard to even open it one-handed using the opening hole.

(disclaimer) You do not want "sand" from the sandpaper to get between the blade and the washers/liners, so if you are comfortable with dis/assembling the knife and it is out-of-warranty, I'd sand the scales off the knife. If not, be very careful not to make things worse by scratching the polished phosphorous-bronze washers and steel liners!

br,
Joao S Veiga
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