Which Spyderco Models Disassemble/Reassemble Nicely?

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bvo85

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Apr 27, 2017
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I read through Sal's post on Taking Knives Apart and I completely understand where he's coming from. What I'm asking now is for a knife that I own and plan to keep, not one I will try to return.

I started out collecting knives with Spydercos back in the 90s. Loved them, and while I don't carry them anymore, I still like having them in my collection. Nowadays, I really love Chris Reeve Knives because I love being able to take a knife apart, giving it a nice cleaning, and reassembling it. CRK seems to have mastered that, having the pivot and body screws be identical, and tolerances to allow for reassembly in a perfect manner.

Is there any models of modern Spydercos that I can take apart and reassemble? This isn't something I do very often, even on my CRKs, but under no circumstances will I carry an EDC knife that requires me to send it back to the factory for cleaning/lubing. Far too much hassle and cost (USPS Priority Mail flat rate small box is over $7 now).

I love my old Spydercos but will never carry them anymore for that reason (they are pinned lockbacks from the 90s). If there's a modern Spyderco that I can take apart myself, I'd love to buy one or two to add into my rotation.
 
I've only had 2 apart an Endura and a Manix 2 and the Manix was way easier to put back together. If you can get past the loctite
 
I'm no expert but I imagine a frame lock or liner lock would be easiest, I've heard the Spyderco back locks can be formidable. Loctite is also something to consider, most Spydies have them I think.

Personally I learned to disassemble on other brands, the one time I did a spydie I was super green and flubbed it. But with experience now, and considering my current carries, I would recommend a titanium framelock. The Slysz models are great EDCs, and maybe a Southard as well (often need to be disassembled and cleaned for optimal action), they're all-Ti or in the Southard's case half Ti so it's sort of similar to your stainless models, and the construction is pretty simple.
 
bvo85 said:
I read through Sal's post on Taking Knives Apart and I completely understand where he's coming from. What I'm asking now is for a knife that I own and plan to keep, not one I will try to return.

I started out collecting knives with Spydercos back in the 90s. Loved them, and while I don't carry them anymore, I still like having them in my collection. Nowadays, I really love Chris Reeve Knives because I love being able to take a knife apart, giving it a nice cleaning, and reassembling it. CRK seems to have mastered that, having the pivot and body screws be identical, and tolerances to allow for reassembly in a perfect manner.

Is there any models of modern Spydercos that I can take apart and reassemble? This isn't something I do very often, even on my CRKs, but under no circumstances will I carry an EDC knife that requires me to send it back to the factory for cleaning/lubing. Far too much hassle and cost (USPS Priority Mail flat rate small box is over $7 now).

I love my old Spydercos but will never carry them anymore for that reason (they are pinned lockbacks from the 90s). If there's a modern Spyderco that I can take apart myself, I'd love to buy one or two to add into my rotation.
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As long as you don’t stip the screws Marcin Slysz’s models such as the Techno, slysz bowie and Spydiechef should be fairly straight forward to dis and reassemble. Just be aware that up until quite recently Spyderco was using red loctite on their knives making it very easy to strip the drive recess in a screw.

They have the Techno 2 coming out this year so that will definitely not have red loctite. Most of their framelocks should be fairly straigt forward to take down and reassemble.

I just want to add that you can clean and lubricate your knives easily without taking them apart. Usually there is no need to take a knife apart to oil it and clean the pivot.

Just use one of the zippo lighter fluid squirt bottles and spray into the pivot area with the contained lighter fluid. This will flush out all the grime and clear out any gunk that has built up. It will also strip off any old lubricant. Give a few minutes and the lighter fluid will evaporate and you will be left with a clean pivot.

Now apply a couple drops of lube into the pivot. I recommend using a needle style applicator such as the one that comes with Nano Oil. Use very little lube as less is more when it comes to oiling and too much lube attracts dust and gunk.
 
Lapedog said:
As long as you don’t stip the screws Marcin Slysz’s models such as the Techno, slysz bowie and Spydiechef should be fairly straight forward to dis and reassemble. Just be aware that up until quite recently Spyderco was using red loctite on their knives making it very easy to strip the drive recess in a screw.
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That's interesting. Would a heatgun be recommended then to loosen up the loctite?

What is the purpose for the red loctite? Is it to prevent people from taking the knife apart? I thought the blue loctite is supposed to be for applications that aren't permanent?

Lapedog said:
They have the Techno 2 coming out this year so that will definitely not have red loctite. Most of their framelocks should be fairly straigt forward to take down and reassemble.
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Is there anyway to know in advance which models have red loctite and which do not?

Lapedog said:
I just want to add that you can clean and lubricate your knives easily without taking them apart. Usually there is no need to take a knife apart to oil it and clean the pivot.
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That's a great idea! I guess I've been carrying CRKs for so long, where taking them apart is easy, fun, and low-risk that I never considered alternatives for cleaning/lubricating that didn't involve taking the knife apart!
 
koenigsegg said:
I've only had 2 apart an Endura and a Manix 2 and the Manix was way easier to put back together. If you can get past the loctite
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The lockbar spring on the Spyderco lockback models is legendarily difficult to get reassembled.

Getting my Delica back together was a freakin’ nightmare. Everything seemed fine until I had to put that spring bar back in.
 
bvo85 said:
That's interesting. Would a heatgun be recommended then to loosen up the loctite?

What is the purpose for the red loctite? Is it to prevent people from taking the knife apart? I thought the blue loctite is supposed to be for applications that aren't permanent?



Is there anyway to know in advance which models have red loctite and which do not?



That's a great idea! I guess I've been carrying CRKs for so long, where taking them apart is easy, fun, and low-risk that I never considered alternatives for cleaning/lubricating that didn't involve taking the knife apart!
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I believe it was some time last year they stopped using red loctite. So the only way to be sure there is no red loctite is if the knife was made this year. A heat gun can help to loosen that red loctite but I would be worried about using it on a knife with teflon washers or some polymer handles. You can always try turning a screw with a little force and if it doesn’t turn you know there is likely red loctite. Aside from a heat gun I have also had some luck breaking loctite by leaving the knife in the freezer over night. When I take it out the loctite is so brittle it just breaks.

CRKs kind of spoil us. Few knives are so well built that they can be taken apart and put back together over and over and go back together 100% perfectly. With a CRK it is a fine option but most knives I recommend using the zippo lighter fluid trick. Many knives can be taken apart once, twice or even three times but because they aren’t CrK tolerance built you may start to see problems like blade centring.
 
The Mantra series, advocate- pretty much any framelock with a metal backspacer, any of the Salt series, almost anything with a compression lock. Hell, the Delica/Endura 4 can be worked on, it's just a tad frustrating the first time around.

Only knives I don't really feel confident disassembling are the CBBL locks.
 
I've had a few models apart, (Sage 1, GB1, Stretch, Stretch 2, Ambitious and I think a couple of others) and they've all gone back together just fine. FRN Back locks are a wee bit more difficult, but still pretty easy as long as the spring bar and lock bar go in last. At least that's been my experience. Good luck!
 
SaintZe said:
The Mantra series, advocate- pretty much any framelock with a metal backspacer, any of the Salt series, almost anything with a compression lock. Hell, the Delica/Endura 4 can be worked on, it's just a tad frustrating the first time around.

Only knives I don't really feel confident disassembling are the CBBL locks.
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Don't the models in the Salt series have backlocks?
 
lieferung said:
Don't the models in the Salt series have backlocks?
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Most of them do. They have some newer ones like the Carribean are liner locks. In their latest catalog they listed the Spydiechef on the Salt series page.

I still think the lockbacks are a freaking nightmare.
 
A soldering iron with a fine wood-burning tip is a pretty good way to defeat red loctite without peripheral damage or too much messing around.
 
I've had my Gayle Bradley 2 apart easily enough. Hardest part is keeping track of the smallest parts.
 
None of the Spyderco's are as easy to disassemble and re-assemble as a Chris Reeve Knife. Of the Spyderco's I find the compression locks the easiest (aside from the lanyard tube), Natives seem to be pretty straight forward. For me the Delica's are the toughest
 
bvo85 said:
I read through Sal's post on Taking Knives Apart and I completely understand where he's coming from. What I'm asking now is for a knife that I own and plan to keep, not one I will try to return.

I started out collecting knives with Spydercos back in the 90s. Loved them, and while I don't carry them anymore, I still like having them in my collection. Nowadays, I really love Chris Reeve Knives because I love being able to take a knife apart, giving it a nice cleaning, and reassembling it. CRK seems to have mastered that, having the pivot and body screws be identical, and tolerances to allow for reassembly in a perfect manner.

Is there any models of modern Spydercos that I can take apart and reassemble? This isn't something I do very often, even on my CRKs, but under no circumstances will I carry an EDC knife that requires me to send it back to the factory for cleaning/lubing. Far too much hassle and cost (USPS Priority Mail flat rate small box is over $7 now).

I love my old Spydercos but will never carry them anymore for that reason (they are pinned lockbacks from the 90s). If there's a modern Spyderco that I can take apart myself, I'd love to buy one or two to add into my rotation.
Click to expand...

You could also try cleaning the pivot without diassembling the knife completely. You can just take the pivot out and then slide the blade and washers out. Clean the blade, washers and pivot and put a little oil on the blade where the washers contact. Then you just build a “sandwitch” of the washers and blade and slide it back into the handle.

The oil will cause the washers to stick to the sides of the blade but even still they will likely get shifted out of alignment as you slip the blade back into the handle. I just reach through the sides of the handle through the pivot hole with a pin and push the the washers until they are all lined up and then you can push the pivot through the hole and screw it down once the washers and blade hole are lined up.

Follow the method in this video. This knife has bearings and support washers so it is a harder example of this method. With a knife hsing phosphor bronze it will be even more straightforward.
 
As a broad stroke, I have not found Spydercos overly friendly to disassembly/reassembly.

The Southard is a bit challenging to get the pivot alligned just right, but has otherwise been the easiest.

My PM2 got jammed up somehow. I had to take it apart to get it running again. Since then I’ve not been able to adjust it for free dropping without a bit of side to side play. I live with it. It’s still a great knife.

I got a Schempp Bowie that was a lemmon out of the box. I should have returned it, but there were extenuating circumstances. I’ve had it apart a few times to get it “good enough.” The assembly requires a bit of patience (lots of screws, lots of layers), but I wouldn’t call it hard. I really wouldn’t see a need to EVER have this knife apart if it was running correctly from the start. (That sounds kind of Captain Obvious, but hopefully I’m making sense.). The Shempp Bowie is a pretry awesome EDC, btw. <<ETA FWIW my son got a Shempp Bowie at the same time that was perfect.>>

My Delica 4 was a bit rough out of the box. Tuning it to my satisfaction was a fun benchtop exercise, but it can be a stinker to reassemble.

My PITS arrived a little off center. I’m kinda anal with that so I took it apart (retrospectively for no good reason). Again, I wouldn’t call it easy compared to other knives, But it’s not really hard if you’re paying attention to what you’re doing.

I hope nothing above sounds like I’m bashing Spyderco. Sal & Co. make great knives and I will continue lusting for more (Smock, where are you?!?!). I’ve got lots of pics on this forum to prove it—hahaha.

I’ve kinda progressed to the point where I won’t disassemble Spyderco’s anymore. If it’s not to my satisfaction out of the box, it’ll get returned. If I have problems during ownership, postage to Golden is pretty cheap. For the most part, there is very little I’m going to do that will improve the knife, and there’s always the risk I’ll dork something up.

Just my ¢2.
 
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The Military is a breeze, but just take your time. Bought one on eBay recently that the seller had clearly rushed and screwed up pretty bad. I got it back in better shape than he did but man did he leave it a mess.
 
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