Delica Lockbar Grinding issues

[AndrewC]

Ive had a delica with a really bad grinding between the lockbar and tang , and everytime i polish it smooth it goes back to grinding after a day. The lockbar has visible wear and has even been ground down a little, and the blade tang shows roughness.The knife was used and didn't have a warranty anyways, and so while I'm content with it still being functional, I was wondering if anyone had tips for resolving/reducing the problem.

[xceptnl]

Ive had a delica with a really bad grinding between the lockbar and tang , and everytime i polish it smooth it goes back to grinding after a day. The lockbar has visible wear and has even been ground down a little, and the blade tang shows roughness.The knife was used and didn't have a warranty anyways, and so while I'm content with it still being functional, I was wondering if anyone had tips for resolving/reducing the problem.

Can you get us some pictures of the contact faces?

[JNewell]

I've had a few that were initially a little gritty, but a few drops of CLP and/or blasts of compressed air completely and permanently solved the problem. This sounds like it might be a warranty issue - maybe a call to Spyderco would be a good next step.

[The Deacon]

Given that the knife was purchased used, is there any chance it's the victim of a blade swap? If so, the lockbar and blade may be mismatched. Also sounds like you've had it apart. If so, are you sure the spring is installed correctly. If not, it may be putting excessive pressure on the lockbar. If neither of those, then thoroughly cleaning the parts, and lubrication with something that does not leave a residue to collect dust/grit would be your best bet.

[AndrewC]

Everything should be installed right, here are some pictures. I'm in a hurry right now but I can try and get some slightly better ones later, especially of the tang.

[AndrewC]

Took some better pictures of the tang and lockbar

[Evil D]

Yikes! Well, the problem is that whoever ground on that lock bar (no idea why anyone would do that in the first place) left it very course, and then through repeated opening the tang has be gouged up by the surface of the lock bar.

Personally I'd do one of two things:

1. Send it back to Spyderco and see if they can fix it (which you'll be charged for).

2. Take it apart and keep the handle pieces for parts and throw the blade and lock bar away.

[noseoil]

Looks like there was some abrasive used in the wrong place during either assembly or manufacture. The galling of the metal is unusual and looks wrong. You might try a small amount of fine grit valve grinding compound to smooth things out where it is rubbing, but be warned, it will wear down the metal-to-metal contact surfaces. If you do this, make sure you take it apart & thoroughly clean things up. It can do more harm than good when used improperly.

[AndrewC]

I can smooth things up on the lockbar a bit, and then the knife operates smoothly, but only temporarily. After a certain amount of openings/closings the problem comes back and then gets worse. For the time being I guess I'm just going to use it as is. I emailed spyderco to see if I could obtain a new lockbar but they dont sell them and I don't really want to wait the few weeks turnaround time

[The Deacon]

If smoothing the lockbar only solves the problem temporarily, then it's probably the roughness on the blade tang that's causing the problem. That would make sense, given that blades are generally going to be harder than lockbars and, if true, would make replacing the lockbar a very temporary fix, at best. Given that the knife is at least second hand, and that you've tinkered with already, your only real option is to polish the mating surfaces of both the lockbar and blade tang, remove all traces of both steel dust and polishing grit and clean all the other bits and pieces as well, lube, and reassemble. If that doesn't work, it's time to write purchasing it off as a bad deal, consider it a learning experience, and buy a brand new Delica.

[The Mastiff]

I've never seen that on the mating surfaces of any Spyderco Lockback. Especially Japan sourced ones. Mine get more and more mirror like as they get older even without lube. As long as they are clean of stuff that scratches. One reason I use dry lube.

There is something very wrong there. If you are sure there isn't grit trapped in by grease or oil than next guess is the blade mating surface having been reground incorrectly somewhere and causing the damage to the softer, lower rc spring which is selected and matched for steel type, hardness and heat treat depending on the characteristics of the blade steel. Engineering figures this stuff out during development. This is one of several reasons the spring goes with the blade in a blade swap frankenspyder job.

If you did it you can send it in, explain what you did and pay a small amount to get it fixed. If not, and you think it's covered by warranty send it in and they will tell you what you need to do or know.

Good luck

Joe

[dirk de wit]

Did you buy the knife from the UK?
Looks like a slipjoint conversion terribly gone wrong !
The top/back of the lockbar looks pretty strange too!

This is not normal wear but abuse :eek:
kind regards,
dirk

[Evil D]

Anyone else notice the finish of the tang apart from the obvious pitting areas? It has the horizontal lines like you see along the spine of a Delica....isn't the tang normally polished smooth? Anyone think there's a chance that this blade didn't receive that polish from the factory? If not then the lock bar would be sliding across that grain and could probably cause that kind of rough action. Unfortunately even if this is true you may not be able to get warranty coverage since it's been taken apart and modified. You'd have to talk with Spyderco about that and cross your fingers.

[jackknifeh]

Are you sure the grinding is coming from the lockbar/tang contact point? Have you tried pushing the lock button and then moving the blade? Just to see if the sound goes away with pressure applied differently. Also, the pressure of the lockbar on the tang also puts pressure on the pivot pin inside the tang hole. Also, maybe there is a pesky burr on one or both of the liners. Did you re-lube the pivot after each fix attempt? If so, maybe the oil made it do better but the next day the problem was back. Just throwing ideas up in the air.

Suggestion: Take the knife apart and using very fine grit sandpaper (600 grit or finer) lightly rub every spot on the blade tang, lockbar, liners and maybe even the outside of the pivot pin. Don't sand enough to remove enough steel to change the size of the parts enough to matter. You would only be trying to remove a burr or whatever that is so small you can't see it with the naked eye. To remove a burr that small it would probably take one, maybe two swipes across a spot with the sandpaper. Actually, I'd probably start with 1200 grit to ensure you don't remove too much steel. Also, lay washers on the sandpaper and LIGHTLY sand each side. Put the washer on the sand paper, put your finger on the washer ane rub it for 1.5 seconds in a circle. Flip the washer and repeat. Try to fix the problem by hitting all places where friction is. Also, the rough places on the outside of the tang where th lockbar makes contact may be smooth at the top of the scratches. If the scratched areas on the tang and lockbar are smooth on the top of each scratch the sound may not be coming from there.

I may be way off about this since I haven't seen the knife. But it reminds me of when I kept taking my Chaparral CF apart trying to get the gritty sound and feeling to go away. I'd take it apart, do something to fix it and put it back together. It would work good for a day or two (or a week) then the grittyness came back. Based on what I was told I believe the problem on that model was burrs on the liners in different places on different knives. If this is true it might have been a probelm during manufacture. Try smoothing every spot where friction is and smooth everything you can get to with VERY fine grit sandpaper or maybe some of the Spyderco small files or SM rods. This may or may not help. Just thinking onto the keyboard. :)


Jack

[AndrewC]

Are you sure the grinding is coming from the lockbar/tang contact point? Have you tried pushing the lock button and then moving the blade? Just to see if the sound goes away with pressure applied differently. Also, the pressure of the lockbar on the tang also puts pressure on the pivot pin inside the tang hole. Also, maybe there is a pesky burr on one or both of the liners. Did you re-lube the pivot after each fix attempt? If so, maybe the oil made it do better but the next day the problem was back. Just throwing ideas up in the air.

Yes, when holding the lock bar down the blade glides smoothly. By taking both the tang and blade off and actuating them by hand, the problem could be felt. At this point I guess this blade gets to be a backup or replacement.

[AndrewC]

Just noticed this problem slightly occurring on a second delica. Both have a zip tie mod and I'm wondering if the opening is too aggressive or something?

[araneae]

I don't think a zip tie would cause this. If it is happening on a second knife you own, I would guess that it it something that you are doing that is causing it. The odds of you having the same problem on one second-hand knife and another different knife and no one ever reporting this issue before (to my knowledge) just seem astronomical.

After you start disassembling and modifying knives, it is even harder to say that it was a manufacturing or material issue. I would say next time you are concerned send it in to Spyderco first and let them examine it.

[AndrewC]

I don't think a zip tie would cause this. If it is happening on a second knife you own, I would guess that it it something that you are doing that is causing it. The odds of you having the same problem on one second-hand knife and another different knife and no one ever reporting this issue before (to my knowledge) just seem astronomical.

After you start disassembling and modifying knives, it is even harder to say that it was a manufacturing or material issue. I would say next time you are concerned send it in to Spyderco first and let them examine it.

I agree with this. As far as i can tell its a false alarm for the second one though. hit it with a bit of air and all good. problem still persisting with the original, I've decided to leave it as is