EDC Folding Knife Expectations

[inchrisin]

Hey Y`all,
I'm a novice to folding knives and I've carried one for about 3 years in my pocket. It was a Kershaw of some sort. It was a line lock and I'm fine with a $40 or $50 3" blade. I liked it the most of any knife I've owned. Why? It flipped open easily and locked without effort. One hand, one motion, quick, easy, reliable. In trying to replace it, I picked up a different Kershaw, an Ontario Rat II and an Ontario Shikra. My issue with the knives are that they are stiff. The Shikra and the Rat II don't budge until I just about use 2 hands on it. The other Kershaw seems lazy. Almost like it has too much oil in the internals.

So, I have a question: Is there a break-in period on knives like a baseball glove, or is there anything I can do to help smooth out the opening of my knives?

 

[MindfulMan]

Your could try a flush & lube with these Benchmade products. I've found that they work well.

Link: https://www.bladehq.com/item--Benchmade-Blue-Lube-Cleanser--50810

But overall, unless you get a knife with a ball bearing / ceramic bearing pivot, you're already behind the game.

My .02.

 

[WhitleyStu]

Well, it is time to tinker with the pivot. The pivot bolt is either an Allen or Torx head. Loosen it no more than an 1/8th of a turn and try the blade for movement. You'll find a happy setting soon. A drop or two of WD-40 will on either side of the blade close to the pivot will also be of help. Once the WD-40 does its job you can "fine tune" your knife's pivot again...

 

[inchrisin]

Nice. So the tolerances on new knives are pretty tight, I assume?

 

[jerrob]

The Ontario Rat 2 is my daily, beat the he'll outta it, edc knife.
I lube it with Singer sewing machine oil and use it, it'll get better.
If we're gonna use $40-50 knives for edc, and I do too, there'll have to be some lowered expectations on out of the box quality.
Alternative 1, double or even triple your budget and get a higher end knife.........Benchmade, Spyderco, Zero Tolerance ect.

 

[Thor]

Folding blades are working knives fixed blades are fighting knives. A little Kroil will make the working knives fold right.

 

[jbombelli]

I own a few folders, and have been carrying knives for over 40 years now, so here's my two cents:

First, yes - there is often a break-in period. Second, as others have suggested, loosening the pivot a little often helps, as does a little oil. My Kershaw Bare Knuckle needed both, and now it's pretty smooth. Third, there are always exceptions, but generally speaking less expensive knives just won't be as smooth as more costly knives. Case in point, no matter what I do my Bare Knuckle will just never be as smooth as my ZTs or Benchmades.

All that said I prefer my fixed blades, and own far more of them than I do folders.

 

[Ark]

Much like a firearm, if you apply enough reps eventually it will polish itself smooth. Factory stiff is good, it will wear in to smoother function and last longer before developing blade wobble. I thought the Kershaws usually had a flipper and little preload spring that made them very easy to open?

Old knives get gummed up with pocket lint and crud from whatever you cut with them. Eventually they need disassembled and cleaned. A strategically placed drop of oil can also help.

 

[jbombelli]

Much like a firearm, if you apply enough reps eventually it will polish itself smooth. Factory stiff is good, it will wear in to smoother function and last longer before developing blade wobble. I thought the Kershaws usually had a flipper and little preload spring that made them very easy to open?

Old knives get gummed up with pocket lint and crud from whatever you cut with them. Eventually they need disassembled and cleaned. A strategically placed drop of oil can also help.

Some of them have their Speedsafe assisted opening, some don't. I prefer knives that don't. I had a couple, and after a lot of use the torsion bars broke. Too bad for me those knives were discontinued so I couldn't get new torsion bars. I got credit for the returns and got a different knife out of it though, so there's that, but it's something to keep in the back of your mind when it comes to those assisted opening folders.