Thread: Liner or liner-less folders - repeat disassembly for cleaning

A question here for those with experience with folding knives please:

If a knife is going to be taken apart repeatedly for cleaning over its lifespan, do you think - of have you found - a wear issue in the recesses for the blade pivot and standoffs from repeated disassembly / re-assembly cycles if these are embedded in a synthetic liner-less format rather than retained in steel liners ?

not sure about liners but if your have a CRKT M21-14sf dont try and take it apart.... the saftey on it makes it a serious pain to put back together. have found the more simple the locking mechanism the easier to reassmeble

For knives that can be taken apart for maintenance, and that this will be performed from time to time to remove residue from butchering tasks. Just wondering how the tolerances hold up in reinforced plastics over steel. Obviously it will depend to some extent on the care taken in making sure that the metal parts are eased gently back into their recesses concentrically in the plastic sides each time on reassembly so as to minimise any deformation. I was just wondered if from personal experience members had found that liner-less designs didn't lend themselves to repeat maintenance and if knives quickly developed slop - the blade pivot being an obvious problem if this occurred.

Just get a fixed blade, or a Svord peasant.

Not sure I'd bother Tim. Just a good wash should be enough.

DONT be tempted to put in dish washer...yes they come out lovely and clean,the plastic handles of butchers knives are whiter than white...but it somehow stuffs around with the temper and they are foreverafter a right bitch to sharpen.

even my mercators come up clean with a bit of warm soapy water and a tooth brush...

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

DONT be tempted to put in dish washer...yes they come out lovely and clean,the plastic handles of butchers knives are whiter than white...but it somehow stuffs around with the temper and they are foreverafter a right bitch to sharpen.

even my mercators come up clean with a bit of warm soapy water and a tooth brush...

Actually it won’t get hot enough to change the temper, however you are hot washing the fine edge of your knife in hot acid, this will dissolve the edge and cause any micro fractures, which you won’t see with the naked eye, will become little pits, you can try to restore the edge but you do need to remove a fair bit of material (sharpening wise, not angle grinder wise).

What’s the knife? You’ve obviously got a particular model in mind

No, not really. I'm just aware that a number of folder designs are also available in lightweight liner-less formats, and curious as to whether this particular aspect was compromised as a result. Barely a consideration in titanium I suppose?