Can't open my St Nicks Para 3

[Rutger]

Just got to pick up my knife at the post office. It takes a while to get to the EU and past customs. The knife looks great but i don't know how this one got to leave the factory. It's nicely centered and all, but i can't open it...
Even if i pull with all my force on the blade it won't budge. The pivot screw must be extremely tightened. I know that some knives come with a little stiff action that will loosen up. But this is ridiculous and should not be happening.

Now i do have torx bits to work on knives. So i tried to loosen it with moderate force. But it is really stiff and i don't want to apply more force risking to strip my bits or the pivot screws. Either the loctite is very strong or the screw is just cross threaded in there. All i can think off now to try is apply some heat to see if it can come loose without too much force. I'd hate having to return ship it to the US with all the extra costs, time and it having to pass customs again on the return (just had to pay ~$50 fees+VAT).

Kinda pissed off with this.

[SF Native]

That is a bummer. I have heard a few stories of similar stuff, but they seem really rare.
Don’t know how it would get like that.
The silica pack break open and get wedged in there?
Maybe the heat will work.

[awa54]

Any chance it's the detent ball at fault, did you try depressing the lock and opening at the same time? ...or could be that thread locker is actually in between the blade and pivot, though most thread locking compound isn't really glue as such and at most should make the pivot have stiff action, not totally lock it up.

[Rutger]

I tried with pressing the lock bar to the side. It must be the pivot somehow.

[ZrowsN1s]

My advice is send it back. But if that's not doable....
If you're problem is too much locktite, which I'm not so sure it is considering they don't use the 'permanent' or "red" threadlocker anymore. a little boiling water should loosen it. Try dunking the pivot in boiling water for 30 seconds and try loosening it again.

[steelcity16]

I ended up with 3 of these St Nick's Para 3s through trades and they were all a little tighter than previous Para 3s. I was easily able to adjust them using a good torx bit and a t-handle bit holder that really allows you to apply leverage while pushing the bit into the screw to avoid stripping. PB Swiss makes the best bit holder and best bits I have found. They are amazing quality. I'm a big hand tool guy and I honestly put their quality a notch above Snap-On, Wiha, Wera, Felo, and all the usual suspects. Pricey and not available many places (I get mine from ebay and amazon) but totally worth it for things like this.

https://shop.pbtools.us/SwissGrip-Stubb ... egoryId=-1



https://shop.pbtools.us/PB-C6-400-1-4-B ... s_c190.htm

[FK]

I filled out the order form,,, then cancelled with their $18 shipping charge.

Regards,
FK
Member since Feb 17, 2001

[Username827]

I also had a hard time with my St Nick's Para 3, it was startling stuff as well. I could open it, but it was not as smooth as thought a Para 3 would be based on trying one at store.
So I figured that a drop or two of oil would help the situation. That only seemed to flush some gunk out of the pivot. So, after not seeing any improvement, I decided to take apart the knife. Upon inspection, I found that some of the dlc was worn off where the washers sat...
Long story short. I cleaned up the knife, put it back together and that seemed to solve my problem.
On a different note, the loctite was white, and the knife came apart very easily.

[Slumblor]

I just got mine in the mail today too, it was also incredibly tight. I wondered however if it was St Nick's that tightened it down before sending it out due to the fact it had to go through customs. Maybe they were trying to help us out. I loosened off the pivot and adjusted it and now its great.

[Evil D]

I just got mine in the mail today too, it was also incredibly tight. I wondered however if it was St Nick's that tightened it down before sending it out due to the fact it had to go through customs. Maybe they were trying to help us out. I loosened off the pivot and adjusted it and now its great.

This is my guess but a little heads up would have been in order.

[awa54]

another possibility as far as causes for binding... as Evil D (IIRC) pointed out on the CQI Military, there is a possibility of the floating stop pin having too tight a fit in the G10 scale or the steel liner, which (at least in the Millie) causes the scales to be non-parallel and the pivot to have uneven pressure so that the blade is either bound, or has a lot of side to side play, depending on how it's adjusted.

[steelcity16]

I filled out the order form,,, then cancelled with their $18 shipping charge.

Regards,
FK
Member since Feb 17, 2001

Are you talking about ordering through PB Swiss directly via the link in my post? They have free shipping over $100. Problem solved! In all honesty, if you want to invest a little money in some hand tools, their SwissGrip screwdrivers are the best. I'd suggest to anyone grab one of those T-handles, one or two each of the torx bits commonly used in knives (sizes 6 through 10 it seems, maybe a 15 as well), one or two each of the the phillips bits in 0, 1, and 2, and then i'd grab a #2 and #1 Phillips Swiss Grip screwdriver for everyday tasks. Should be around $100 give or take i'd imagine. Their hex keys and hex bits are great too if you assemble a lot of furniture! :P Hex power bits and hex sockets make furniture assembly so much less painless. And the Milwaukee M12 ratchets are awesome as well if you have some hex sockets. Makes life much easier.

Sorry...this isn't a tool forum...back to our regularly scheduled my pivot is too tight discussion! :rolleyes:

I know the OP's issue is different, but I feel like I am the only one who automatically adjusts the pivots on all my knives with a torx bit. I always am so confused when people talk about the blade being too tight or too loose. :confused:

[TkoK83Spy]

That's a shame. Mine was also a little tighter than I'd like...I don't have the patience for the break in period so I immediately tinker. My pivot screw easily came loose, gave it a 1/4 turn and it loosened right up with no blade play at lock up. I'm shocked to hear the OP's problem here. That's a major bummer.

[Rutger]

Update here. I got my pivot screws loose and the knife can finally open now!

But it was a real bummer yesterday after waiting all that time for the knife to arrive. I was like "lets spidey flick this baby open" only to find it to be frozen solid. It was also in the evening so i gave up working on it after some tries. I'd rather work with daylight to better see what i am doing. I've adjusted Spyderco knives before but they never were this tight and hard to break the loctite. Today I first tried with a hairdryer, but it would not help at all. Same for hot water. I finally took my soldering iron and slowly heat up the screw which then would heat up the whole pivot. Had to heat up the screw to a point where it was too hot for the touch to break it free. Thank god everything gets loose with heat. Just like when i have some rusted bolts on my old car.

So much different was my Maxamet Para 3. That one had perfect action out of the box and zero lock stick. My REX 45 Para 3 that i got last week was a little stiff, but the pivot was easily adjusted. That REX 45 Para 3 does have some serious lock stick though that did not improve. I might have to take that one apart. The St Nicks also has some lock stick, i will have to see if that improves.

With others also having more than normal tight knives i think this is some serious quality control issue. Not everyone has the skills and tools to work on their knife.

I ended up with 3 of these St Nick's Para 3s through trades and they were all a little tighter than previous Para 3s. I was easily able to adjust them using a good torx bit and a t-handle bit holder that really allows you to apply leverage while pushing the bit into the screw to avoid stripping. PB Swiss makes the best bit holder and best bits I have found. They are amazing quality. I'm a big hand tool guy and I honestly put their quality a notch above Snap-On, Wiha, Wera, Felo, and all the usual suspects. Pricey and not available many places (I get mine from ebay and amazon) but totally worth it for things like this.

https://shop.pbtools.us/SwissGrip-Stubb ... egoryId=-1



https://shop.pbtools.us/PB-C6-400-1-4-B ... s_c190.htm

Nice tools.
My bits aren't the best brand/quality around and could use an upgrade. But i never had issues with them before. I use my bits with a screwdriver style holder so the torque i can put on it isn't as high as with one of those cross holders. I did a search on the PB Swiss brand and they are readily available over here (though i never heard of them before). Being in Europe they are even a bit cheaper too. Think i'll get me some of their bits and that handle. Maybe with better bits i'd be more comfortable to apply more force.

I just got mine in the mail today too, it was also incredibly tight. I wondered however if it was St Nick's that tightened it down before sending it out due to the fact it had to go through customs. Maybe they were trying to help us out. I loosened off the pivot and adjusted it and now its great.

This is my guess but a little heads up would have been in order.

You really think St Nick's would adjust all them knives before sending them out? Seems unlikely to me. Plus if they did i would expect the loctite to be broken and the screws to come loose easy.

[Sjucaveman]

They might just on international orders.

[Evil D]

They might just on international orders.

This.

I would call them and ask. They may even go so far as to thread lock the pivot themselves, but like I said I'd like to at least know this ahead of time. It's really hard for me to believe Spyderco did this, this is the first I've ever seen of a pivot so tight that the blade wouldn't open.

[Slumblor]

They might just on international orders.

This.

I would call them and ask. They may even go so far as to thread lock the pivot themselves, but like I said I'd like to at least know this ahead of time. It's really hard for me to believe Spyderco did this, this is the first I've ever seen of a pivot so tight that the blade wouldn't open.

I asked st nicks and they confirmed they did this to help with customs

[Xander3Zero]

If St N did apply thread locker to the pivot to help with customs, they've essentially already voided your Spyderco factory warranty so... tinker away without fear lol.

[SSD_777]

If St N did apply thread locker to the pivot to help with customs, they've essentially already voided your Spyderco factory warranty so... tinker away without fear lol.

Why would removing the pivot screws to apply thread locker void the warranty?

[SF Native]

If St N did apply thread locker to the pivot to help with customs, they've essentially already voided your Spyderco factory warranty so... tinker away without fear lol.

That has not been their policy for a while now. Loosen it up and enjoy.