Jasmine Maintenance

CRKDMike

CRKDMike

Gold Member
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Mar 24, 2012
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Well I just received my first Ray Laconico Small Jasmine and it is as awesome as everyone says it is.

I am just wondering if there are any recommendations for maintenance. More specifically, regular cleaning and/or lubrication.

Any proprietary procedures for the disassembly? Or just unscrew everything carefully and then screw it back together :)

The main reason I am asking is because where I live there is a good chance that if I drop this knife it will land in either snow or sand/dirt, and I would like to be able to clean the knife if this was to happen.
 
I have heard that blasting the pivot with wd-40 is best to clean the bearings...
 
Hey pmek5, judging by the number of responses to my question, I think it's safe to say that it is not a good question after all LOL.......but thanks for the back up :)

Oh well, I'll just treat it as any other knife with bearings and disassemble carefully, clean pivot assembly with Benchmades Blue pivot cleaner, grease lightly with CRK's fluorinated grease, and call it a day.
 
I don't have a Jasmine but found a little bit of play was creeping into my slim edc so decided to unscrew the frame screws and one of the pivot screws. At this point everything loosened off considerably (as you'd expect!) but the two sides were still held together. I imagine a little gentle persuasion would have coaxed everything apart but as it was I opted to clean what I could reach, oil and reassemble. It was easy to tighten to my liking, the blade stayed centered (another advantage of the bearing set up:)) and tension has been constant for several months since. No need for loctite.

I imagine both frame sides have a countersunk circle which houses one ring of the bearing and the blade runs on the other ring. Hence why it is difficult to pull them apart as, going on Rays's high standards I imagine the tolerances are pretty tight in there too:)

I haven't touched a screw since then, instead cleaning where I can with 2 in 1 oil and letting some run into the bearing. All is smoooth:)

I'm sure your WD40 method will have the same result and if you opt for the full spa treatment you've suggested in your second post let me know how goes:)

Two things to bear in mind; to the best of my knowledge the bearings are standard industry ones and are designed to be subjecting to thousands of times more work than they'll see in a lifetime in a knife. Second, if your blade is D2 and stonewashed like mine, keep a little eye for rust spots. Although D2 is pretty resistant stonewashing will decrease that resistance due to the texture. I've had a few spots appear, no biggie, I simply wiped off with an oiled cloth. So it's worth being a little generous so the area of the blade around the pivot is oiled.

Sam
 
I just recently got my small Jasmine, and can tell that the bearings (I believe GTC, but not sure) and pivot area is non-lubricated or dry. Don't need any lube with this bearing system I'm sure. If you were to drop your knife in the dirt or sand; then disassembly may be required to wash & dry properly the pivot area & bearings. Even WD-40 will tend to attract dust & lint. Also, a can of compressed air to blow out the pivot area ever now & then might be all that's needed too to keep pivot area clean. Just my 2¢.
 
Yes, I believe so. (Stainless Steel). I could never find where Ray has specifically said what bearing system he uses, but have read several posts saying they are GTC. Not sure if that confirms it. What ever Ray uses, he does a amazing job with the flipping action & detent of this knife.
 
I just saw this and but I have to run in a hurry. I'll be back to read it and answer any questions later this evening when I have more time.
 
CRKDMike said:
Well I just received my first Ray Laconico Small Jasmine and it is as awesome as everyone says it is.

I am just wondering if there are any recommendations for maintenance. More specifically, regular cleaning and/or lubrication.

Any proprietary procedures for the disassembly? Or just unscrew everything carefully and then screw it back together :)

The main reason I am asking is because where I live there is a good chance that if I drop this knife it will land in either snow or sand/dirt, and I would like to be able to clean the knife if this was to happen.
Click to expand...

You don't need to do anything unless there's a problem. If you take the knife apart just make sure you put it back in the same order. The bearings should be facing the same way as you find them (open side of the cage facing the blade). If there's any rust in there, it will easily wipe away with WD40. Just make sure you wipe it dry with cloth or even a q-tip. If you want to oil it, only put a small drop of oil around the pivot area and make sure you don't get any on the lockbar/face. Hope this helps. Thanks!
 
pmek5 said:
Yes, I believe so. (Stainless Steel). I could never find where Ray has specifically said what bearing system he uses, but have read several posts saying they are GTC. Not sure if that confirms it. What ever Ray uses, he does a amazing job with the flipping action & detent of this knife.
Click to expand...

The bearings I use are from Alpha Knife Supply. They look exactly the same as the ones called "GTC bearings" that Jantz sells. In fact you can't tell them apart side by side. I believe most of them are stainless but I recently found out that some of them are using 52100 ball bearings in SS cages. Either way they work great. If there's any rust in there it should not affect the action and it can be easily wiped out with WD40. Also my blades are mostly D2 so a little bit of care should be taken anyway. If a little corrosion does occur, I don't neccesarily see it as a problem other than cosmetic.
 
So would you lube the bearings at all? If they are 52100 it might be good to have a little there for rust prevention?
 
Don M said:
So would you lube the bearings at all? If they are 52100 it might be good to have a little there for rust prevention?
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I do oil the bearings and pivot when the knife is first put together. The oil will wear out eventually and rust will occur if the balls are 52100. It doesn't seem to affect the action much if at all. This is all new to me. I found this out about a week ago. I was refinishing an old very well used knife. The action on it was perfect and the only problem was the D2 blade had some patina so I took it apart to refinish it. When I took the knife apart I was surprised to see rust in the pockets where the bearings sit. I think the rust was from the balls and not the blade since the rest of the blade was rust free. It was surpprisingly easy to clean up. I just sprayed the blade and bearings with wd40 and wiped it off and it was gone. Kind of strange how easily it came off but I was happy that it was.
 
I have wondered how these bearings wear in over time, and how they do over time compared to washers. For sure they make the action quick and smooth. Did you see a bearing groove on the blade or liner?

When did you start using the bearings? My CF Jasmine from July or August 2011 has what look like Teflon washers, while my Honduran Rosewood Jasmine from March 2013 has the bearings.
 
Thanks for your thoughts Ray, I can see me adding your knife to my mountain bike service schedule;)
 
Don M said:
I have wondered how these bearings wear in over time, and how they do over time compared to washers. For sure they make the action quick and smooth. Did you see a bearing groove on the blade or liner?

When did you start using the bearings? My CF Jasmine from July or August 2011 has what look like Teflon washers, while my Honduran Rosewood Jasmine from March 2013 has the bearings.
Click to expand...

Don, I think bearings will last a lot longer than washers. Even the 52100 bearings I've seen had no negative effect when they were a little rusty. I think as long as the knife gets used and the bearings are constantly in motion they would not freeze up. It's only if you let them rust and sit for a long period of time when you might have a problem but still would be easily fixed.

They do create a groove where they track on the Ti but it doesn't seem to get deeper than a couple thousandths of an inch. I've been using bearings since I got my mill which will be 2 years this July. I have not used washers since then. Bearings cost a lot more than washers and require a little machining that washers don't. I think it's totally worth it.
 
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