Free Up Penknife

Nov 04, 2024 Last reply: 1 year ago 18 Replies
T

Hi Guys



A few years ago I was bought a swiss army knife - a pretty chunky affair with numerous blades and gadgets.



Anyhow, it has been stuck in a coat pocket and carried around religiously but never really used. I came to examine it yesterday and found that almost all blades/gadgets are near impossible to extract, although it looks like new.



So far I have tried:



opening and closing the attachments multiple times cleaning out the thin recesses which house the blades spraying WD40 onto the hinge points and opening and closing blades washing with fairy liquid to remove most of WD40 so the knife can be carried in a pocket



So far the operation of the various gizmos has eased only slightly.



Is there a better lubricant or method that would improve the action of the various blades/tools?



Thanks



Phil


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C

WD40 is a kerosene based cleaner, not a lubricant. Try soaking it overnight in light oil such a 3 in one or motorbike fork oil.

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D

I believe the recommended lubricant is Vaseline.

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T

Just found the swiss army knife web site which specifically discourages the use of WD40 - DOH.

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T

Thanks crn will give that a go

Phil

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A

I think I've used silicone grease successfully for this.

(As others have mentioned, WD40 isn't really a lubricant.)

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S

I would prefer a dry silicone spray for this purpose - once everything is freed up. Grease & oil tend to end up... wherever you don't want grease & oil to be.

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J

What about a lubricant containing PTFE as used in lock lubricants?

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N

Remove the plastic facia and seriously heat up might shift things

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D

How is the knife made? What creates the pressure on the stack of attachments? Maybe it can be loosened?

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A

Good point. IIRC I applied it sparingly and wiped the blades after "working it in".

You mean like "WD-40 Dry PTFE Lubricant"? That's a spray so might get everywhere too, although since it ends up dry, it might be easier to remove the excess. Can you get non-spray PTFE lubricants?

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W

The best, cheap, non-specialised penetrant is diesel, however it is oily & it stinks.

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J

This is what I used on my locks:

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P

"How to disassemble a Swiss Army Knife"

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It mentions a warranty.

Paul

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T

I have had good results dropping Swiss Army (and other) knives in an ultrasonic bath. The cheap "does your glasses" ones are sufficient. It will eventually strip all lubrication from the innards, along with dirt, corrosion, and fine gray dust from worn metal.

Beware: resting anything directly on the bottom of the bath may give a worn spot where whatever contacts the wall of the bath.

Thomas Prufer

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A

I've gone off cleaning glasses in ultrasonic cleaners, eventually the lens coatings start to flake off, I just dangle the lenses in the water, rather than sitting the glasses in the bath ...

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T

The stronger ultrasonic baths are even worse: reportedly, dropping a zinc carburetor body in a hot citric acid bath will first get the carb clean, then very clean, and then dissolve it...

Thomas Prufer

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