Pocket Knife Maintenance

Just like any tool, your pocket knife needs occasional maintenance to stay in tip-top shape. This article will help you know what tools you’ll need, how to take care of your knife, and when you might need a little extra help. Let’s jump right in! 

Things to Know: 

• Knife maintenance is about keeping your knife safe and operational. It’s not about babying your knife when it doesn’t need it. A ship is safest in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for! 
• This article assumes a knife that is dull, filthy, and neglected. Your knife might not need everything shown here. 
• Feel free to break the rules below however you need to. Knives are all about self-reliance, ingenuity, and just getting it done! 
• Some companies will void your warranty if you disassemble your knife. It’s worth checking on that before you break out the drivers. 
• If you need help with your knife, there’s a good chance someone’s made a YouTube video about your knife specifically. 

Knife Maintenance Tools 

There I’ll divide these into three categories: Essentials, Nice to Haves, and Might Wants. 

Essentials:

1. Sharpener – every knife eventually goes dull. A sharpener who know how to use and makes your knives sharp enough for your needs is the most important tool in your kit. 
2. Screwdrivers – Many knives have lots of little screws, often with uncommon bits. A simple quarter-inch bit driver and a selection of small TORX bits is usually all you need. These are useful for tuning and assembly. 

Nice to Haves: 

1. Lubricant and Thread Locker – Keep your action running smooth and your screws locked down tight. Be sure to use blue thread locker, the red stuff is really hard to unscrew. The lubricant you pick is a matter of preference. 
2. Work Mat – A place to work that has the ability to hold tools, parts, and tiny screws safely and securely is very convenient! 
3. Polishing cloth – use it to clean off dirty parts, polish fingerprints off, dust out the inside of a knife, etc. 

Might Wants: 

1. Plastic Wedge – some knives fit together tightly and are a bit stubborn to take apart, and a wedge can help. Looking at you, Spyderco PM2 lanyard tube! 
2. Specialty Bits – a few knife companies (mostly Microtech) use proprietary hardware on some knives, which may require you to find the right bits to work on them.  
3. Assembly helps – complicated knife mechanisms can be made easier to work on if you have certain tools. For example, crossbar locks are much easier to assemble if you have a pivot tool. 

How to Maintain Your Knife 

Step 1: Disassemble 

Most problems with a pocket knife are found inside the handle. Taking it apart will make solving the problem much easier. Start by making a plan.  

• What specific tools and bits will you require to disassemble? Make sure you have them close by! Leaving a partially disassembled knife alone while hunting for tools is recipe for lost parts! 
• Which screws will you remove? Where will you put them while they’re not in the knife?  
  • You often don’t need to take out every single screw; only the ones involved in a moving part or an especially dirty mess. 
• In what order do parts come apart and go together? If you don’t pay close attention to this, it can adversely affect your knife’s operation. 

Once you have a plan, carefully disassemble your knife. Find a YouTube video on your specific knife if you need help. Place everything in a safe place until re-assembly. 

Step 2: Clean 

Pocket knives collect dust, lint, oils, juices, and all kinds of other gross stuff inside. Using a paper towel, microfiber polishing cloth, or whatever you’ve got, clean the knife out as best you can. 

• Don’t be afraid to scrub with soap or solvents if needed. Knives are made mostly of inert metals and can take a bit of elbow grease. 
• Take care not to bend or kink any washers. The knife won’t feel right afterward if you do. 
• Do all of your cleaning in a bowl, lest you lose tiny parts down the sink. 

At this point, some people like to sharpen their blade while it’s out of the handle, but that’s up to you. If you’d rather wait, once the knife is squeaky-clean, you’re ready to move on! 

Step 3: Rebuild and Lubricate 

Put the knife back together in reverse order of how it came apart, and make sure it’s oiled and running smooth. 

• While you put the pivot back together, put a tiny drop of oil between each part in the pivot. Once the knife is assembled you can wipe off the excess. 
• Don’t focus so closely on the pivot that you forget to put the spacers in! 
• If you get lost in the assembly process, find a video or a handy friend to help you out. 

Step 4: Tuning 

Tuning sounds complicated, but it’s just tightening and loosening your pivot screw to manage how tight your action is. It’s a simple three-step process! 

1. Tighten your pivot all the way down. The knife should be very difficult to open, if you can open it at all. 
2. Loosen the pivot just a tiny little bit, and try your action. Is it still too tight, or is it just right? 
3. Repeat step 2 until your action is right where you want it. 

Now all there’s left to do is sharpen! 

Step 4: Sharpen 

Using whatever sharpener you like best, put a nice edge back on your knife. If you need help with your specific sharpener, check out your sharpener’s company on YouTube. They often have tutorials on how to use their products. 

Once your knife is sharp, you’re done! Your knife should now be opening, closing, and cutting like new! 

Still have problems? 

If your knife doesn’t use conventional hardware, uses an especially complex mechanism, or has a weird problem you can’t fix with the above steps, it’s time to contact your knife’s maker for warranty service. Usually, they have you fill out a form online, print it out, box it and the knife up together, and ship it to the factory. There, they will fix the problem by either regrinding or replacing parts, or they will send you the fateful news that your knife cannot be repaired. However, they often can and will fix the problem. If your knife is broken due to misuse, they may charge you for repairs. 

All Done! 

With only basic tools and an hour or two of effort, you can take even the crustiest of knives from zero to hero. It’s good fun, and a great litmus test for other maintenance jobs, too! If you can take apart, clean, oil, and reassemble a knife, you’ll have no trouble changing a car’s oil, a furnace’s air filter, a sink’s garbage disposal, and so much more. You’ll be able to use your own skills and sweat to solve your own problems. Isn’t that what knives are all about?