Can you make a knife easier to open without disassembling it?

[desmobob]

I have a neat little unbranded sailor's knife/marlinspike from England. It's all stainless construction and seems quite sturdy. The problem is, I can BARELY open the knife or can opener, and feel like I'm going to fold back my fingernail when I do. It's very uncomfortable to do, and I doubt I could open it at all with cold, wet hands. I've tried several lubricants, including high moly content grease to no avail.

Is there a way to ease the opening effort without totally disassembling the knife? If not, I guess it would be a good first slip joint disassembly project for me to learn on...

[doglegg]

Knife pick is always an option.

[Bill DeShivs]

Grinding down the backspring is an option.

[herbva]

I have a neat little unbranded sailor's knife/marlinspike from England. It's all stainless construction and seems quite sturdy. The problem is, I can BARELY open the knife or can opener, and feel like I'm going to fold back my fingernail when I do. It's very uncomfortable to do, and I doubt I could open it at all with cold, wet hands. I've tried several lubricants, including high moly content grease to no avail.

Is there a way to ease the opening effort without totally disassembling the knife? If not, I guess it would be a good first slip joint disassembly project for me to learn on...

Many of the sailor's or rigging knives made for the British navy and other European countries were made, by contract specifications, to be very tight. I have a few of these and they were all very, very tight to begin with. I have completely disassembled and restored several and they were a bit complicated and tricky to reassemble. So I would not recommend them for your first restoration project. I suggest that you try 2 tricks first before you take it apart. First, put a few drops of Quick Release in the pivot area and open and close the blade a bunch to see if that helps. Second, you can slip in a tiny jeweler's file and shave off a bit of the corner of the tang where it first contacts the spring when you are opening the blade. This should make it easier to get it started when you are opening. Does yours have the letters "ABL" anywhere on the knife?

[Doc B]

Some have reported that opening the knife, to the point of maximum spring flexure and leaving it in that position for a few days, may help a little. I haven't tried it.

[DM11]

I have a neat little unbranded sailor's knife/marlinspike from England. It's all stainless construction and seems quite sturdy. The problem is, I can BARELY open the knife or can opener, and feel like I'm going to fold back my fingernail when I do. It's very uncomfortable to do, and I doubt I could open it at all with cold, wet hands. I've tried several lubricants, including high moly content grease to no avail.

Is there a way to ease the opening effort without totally disassembling the knife? If not, I guess it would be a good first slip joint disassembly project for me to learn on...

Many of the sailor's or rigging knives made for the British navy and other European countries were made, by contract specifications, to be very tight. I have a few of these and they were all very, very tight to begin with. I have completely disassembled and restored several and they were a bit complicated and tricky to reassemble. So I would not recommend them for your first restoration project. I suggest that you try 2 tricks first before you take it apart. First, put a few drops of Quick Release in the pivot area and open and close the blade a bunch to see if that helps. Second, you can slip in a tiny jeweler's file and shave off a bit of the corner of the tang where it first contacts the spring when you are opening the blade. This should make it easier to get it started when you are opening. Does yours have the letters "ABL" anywhere on the knife?

I've done this on several knives and it does help. Go slow a little at a time so you dont remove to much metal. Test the pull often.

[rea1eye]

Also make sure the joint points are ultra clean and free of debris. If the joint
is naturally tight even a small amount of material will make it ultra hard to open.

You could also very lightly tap a wood wedge in the joint. This has worked
for me. The degree of relief is very slight, but when you have a nail breaker you gotta
try every trick.

Bob

[desmobob]

Does yours have the letters "ABL" anywhere on the knife?

Not anywhere I can notice...

The knife says:

THE GENUINE
BRITISH ARMY KNIFE
LOCKSPIKE
...and to the right of that:

STAINLESS STEEL
MADE IN SHEFFIELD ENGLAND

It has directional arrows for moving the bail to lock and unlock the marlinspike.

The can opener blade says:

SHEFFIELD ENGLAND
STAINLESS
OIL THE JOINTS

The main sheepsfoot blade says:

SHEFFIELD ENGLAND
STAINLESS

I'll try doing some filing on the blades. Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

Bob

[Dinadan]

Is there a way to ease the opening effort without totally disassembling the knife? If not, I guess it would be a good first slip joint disassembly project for me to learn on...

Sometimes the problem is that the blade is just too tight in the frame. I have cured that problem by saturating the joint with metal polish and opening and closing the knife several hundred times: then cleaning and oiling.

Check the tang. If the tang has a really acute corner, as in the knife to the left in this photo, you can follow Herb's suggestion. Take a tiny file and round the corner just a bit.

[kootenay joe]

Herbva: " you can slip in a tiny jeweler's file and shave off a bit of the corner of the tang where it first contacts the spring when you are opening the blade. " Could you post a picture with an arrow pointing to the area of the tang to be filed ?
"where the tang first contacts the spring" is not accessible, so i must be looking at the wrong spot.
I really want to understand this.
thanks, kj

[Dinadan]

"where the tang first contacts the spring" is not accessible, so i must be looking at the wrong spot.
I really want to understand this.
thanks, kj

The arrow points to the crucial area if you are opening the knife!

[kootenay joe]

Thanks i was looking at the spine side. So do it with blade fully open and file end of tang down in the well.
kj

[herbva]

Herbva: " you can slip in a tiny jeweler's file and shave off a bit of the corner of the tang where it first contacts the spring when you are opening the blade. " Could you post a picture with an arrow pointing to the area of the tang to be filed ?
"where the tang first contacts the spring" is not accessible, so i must be looking at the wrong spot.
I really want to understand this.
thanks, kj

Greetings Roland. I hope that all is well in West Kootenay. I see now that I should have been clearer about the corner of the tang I was referring to. I have taken the liberty of attaching a picture below of the picture that Mel provided above and I have added a "+" next to the corner of the tang I was referring to. When the blade is fully open, this corner will be on top with full access for a small jeweler's file. One only needs to take a tiny bit off to slightly round this corner, which will be pushing into the spring when you start trying to open the knife. As David mentioned, go slow and test often. Of course, it is important to then remove the metal filings first before doing anything else. I use compressed air to remove the filings. I do not use sandpaper for this because the grit will fall off and into the works of the knife. Also as Bob (realeye) mentioned, it is important to have the joints completely "ultra" clean. I do this as a first step on any knife I work on. Everyone has their preferred method of cleaning the accumulated crud out of a knife. Mine is WD-40. With the knife resting on its back with blades open, on a pile of old newspaper, I flood the blade well with WD-40, let it sit for a while, then clean it out with a blunt end probe wrapped in paper towel. Make sure you push it around vigorously and into all the corners. (The WD-40 will dissolve hardened grease, dirt and other evil contaminants that have accumulated inside the knife.) Repeat this procedure until the paper towel comes out clean. Frequently the snap will be restored or improved and the blades will operate much more smoothly after this simple operation. Sorry for the long-winded explanation. Best regards. Herb

[kootenay joe]

Herb,
thank you, but now i am a bit confused. In the picture posted by Mel, the blades are open and the corner to file is down in the blade 'well'.
The picture you posted shows blade closed and the place to file is where the tang touches the spring. Looking at knives i have here, this corner (edge) of the tang lies flush and tight to the end of the spring. There is no way for a tiny file to get between the tang and spring to be able to round off edge of tang.
Sorry i am not 'getting' this.
I do understand that if the edge of the tang is slightly rounded it can roll under the spring more easily thus making blade a bit easier to open.
Oops, maybe i do get it. With blade open, the edge of tang that is accessible in the well, is the same edge that abuts against the spring when the blade is closed. Is this correct ?
kj

[herbva]

Herb,
thank you, but now i am a bit confused. In the picture posted by Mel, the blades are open and the corner to file is down in the blade 'well'.
The picture you posted shows blade closed and the place to file is where the tang touches the spring. Looking at knives i have here, this corner (edge) of the tang lies flush and tight to the end of the spring. There is no way for a tiny file to get between the tang and spring to be able to round off edge of tang.
Sorry i am not 'getting' this.
I do understand that if the edge of the tang is slightly rounded it can roll under the spring more easily thus making blade a bit easier to open.
Oops, maybe i do get it. With blade open, the edge of tang that is accessible in the well, is the same edge that abuts against the spring when the blade is closed. Is this correct ?
kj

Roland, yes, that is correct. The corner of the tang I pointed out will be on top when the blades are open. As I stated above, "When the blade is fully open, this corner will be on top with full access for a small jeweler's file." I have only had to do this procedure a few times, and I think it has always been on larger, stubborn knives. Usually the cleaning I mentioned above, and a few drops of Quick Release oil had freed up the blade or blades sufficiently.

[kootenay joe]

Herb thank you for sticking with me until i 'got it'. And thanks to David too. I am not a natural mechanic but really enjoy learning 'how to' on most things.
kj