Teflon washers really teflon?

V

Vince000

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I see teflon washers being offered by some makers (e.g. Hinderer) but they look like normal white nylon washers (i.e. plastic). Are they misnamed or do they really have teflon? And why would anybody want to use plastic washers in the first place if bronze washers are better in virtually every regard?
 
I'm sure there is a washer in existence that is better than bronze in virtually every regard.
 
Teflon washers are white, and a type of plastic.
They are probably used because of the physical properties, lubricity without oiling, hardness, and wear (including wear of adjoining metal parts) make them a better option.
They are also inexpensive to replace.
 
Here's an experience with pivot washers I had-

My Cold Steel Ti-Lite 4 came with white washers (I'll assume teflon). Assuming that bronze phosphor washers would be better, I swapped out the washers. But it was not an improvement, in fact, the knife opened a lot smoother and easier with the original white washers, even with lubricant added to the BP washers. So I put the white washers back in. I can't explain why the knife functioned better with the teflon washers, it just did. The Ti-Lite 6 comes with bronze phosphor washers, and they work great. Go figure.

I've been building knives with bronze phosphor washers for several years. But what the above experience taught me is, they might not always be "better".

A pic of my supply of bronze phosphor washers. I keep a wide assortment of sizes on hand.

Oi5jtPB.jpg
 
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I'm partial to Maytag washers since they typically don't break down over time.


To be honest, I don't get too caught up in what the washer materials are. As long as the knife runs smoothly, that's all I care about. PB washers do look nicer and like more of a higher end material, but if you didn't let me peek inside the knife I probably couldn't tell the difference.
 
In my experience, teflon washers (or teflon stacked with PB) are smoother than phosphor bronze. Phosphor bronze can also get stuck to the metal liners and really slow down the action, which I haven't seen teflon do. They are supposedly more resistant to tearing under heavy forces, though. I haven't found it to be enough of an issue to warrant switching out washers on any of my knives.
 
Tsujigiri said:
In my experience, teflon washers (or teflon stacked with PB) are smoother than phosphor bronze. Phosphor bronze can also get stuck to the metal liners and really slow down the action, which I haven't seen teflon do. They are supposedly more resistant to tearing under heavy forces, though. I haven't found it to be enough of an issue to warrant switching out washers on any of my knives.
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I've never had this happen, if anything the pb washers polish and the action gets super smooth. Which knives have you had the pb washer stick to the liner?
 
shinyedges said:
I've never had this happen, if anything the pb washers polish and the action gets super smooth. Which knives have you had the pb washer stick to the liner?
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I disassembled a friend's Hogue RSK because he said it wouldn't flip freely anymore and found that I had to pry the washers off the liners. I'm not sure what he did to get that to happen, but I know he uses that knife every day and is less careful with it than most knife collectors. I've never had it happen on one of my knives since I keep them pretty clean, but I do believe that it would be less likely for steel to seize to teflon than to phosphor bronze.
 
Tsujigiri said:
I disassembled a friend's Hogue RSK because he said it wouldn't flip freely anymore and found that I had to pry the washers off the liners. I'm not sure what he did to get that to happen, but I know he uses that knife every day and is less careful with it than most knife collectors. I've never had it happen on one of my knives since I keep them pretty clean, but I do believe that it would be less likely for steel to seize to teflon than to phosphor bronze.
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Interesting. I don't think even if they stuck to the liner it would be an issue unless whatever substance caused the sticking was very thick and sticky. Inkosi washers are fixed and don't move and are smoother than michael jordans head.
 
shinyedges said:
Interesting. I don't think even if they stuck to the liner it would be an issue unless whatever substance caused the sticking was very thick and sticky. Inkosi washers are fixed and don't move and are smoother than michael jordans head.
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Yeah, he didn't have an explanation as to how that could have happened, but the internals were also really clogged up with lint lol. I think the combination of perforations that can hold lubricant and the use of thicker grease helps to keep things smooth on CRKs, too, they're really well thought out.
 
With titanium and steel knife frames you wouldn't have an issue with galvanic corrosion when you use bronze washers, but are there are any aluminum framed knives using bronze washers?
 
The Grendels said:
With titanium and steel knife frames you wouldn't have an issue with galvanic corrosion when you use bronze washers, but are there are any aluminum framed knives using bronze washers?
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Cold Steel Code 4 has pb washers against aluminum handles, and teflon washers against the blade. On two of my Code 4’s, I replaced the 4 with one larger set of pb and haven’t had an issue (yet).
 
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karnaknives said:
Hmm. I'm not challenging you, but I can't think of any folders with aluminum frames off the top of my head.
Can you give any examples?
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After a quick look at my records, the aluminum handle knives with bronze phosphor washers that I own are the Benchmade Osborne and Cold Steel Code 4 (the CS Code 4 uses both a Teflon and a bronze washer at the same time for reasons), but there might be enough of a liner layer in there to prevent contact., so the bigger issue is probably the stainless steel blade/liners contacting the aluminum handle. (edited to add this point)

jux t said:
Cold Steel Code 4 has pb washers against aluminum handles, and nylon washers against the blade. On two of my Code 4’s, I replaced the 4 with one larger set of pb and haven’t had an issue (yet).
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I don't know how much of an issue it is or over what kind of time scale it would become an issue.
 
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