12-21-2020

Spyderco Manix LW overhaul

I have never been a fan of knives with FRN handles. To my thinking, they are a way to make knives at a lower price point than using G10. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as they don't sacrifice anthing.

As part of the quest to cut costs, some FRN knives are also riveted. This is well and good if you never have a need to take the knife apart, and in general I never do and don't. I have better things to do with my time.

However, I purchases a sprint run LW Manix 2 with Rex45 steel. I am very fond of the steel and the Manix is one of my favorite knives. I also thought it was time for me to try an FRN knife and this seemed to be my chance. The problem though is the action of the knife sticks. It opens nicely, but pulling the ball back to unlock the knife is not smooth at all (to put it nicely). I made an attempt to micropolish the surface on the blade where the ball rides. I lubricated the mechanism. None of this really fixed the problem. I am convinced that there is a burr hidden in some inaccessible location.

I could send the knife back to Spyderco, but being a limited edition sprint, I imagine their options would be limited. I doubt that they would unrivet the knife and fix it, but I could be wrong. So I figured that I would live with it. It certainly works fine. It opens nicely and is entirely solid and safe to use when open. It is just annoying every single time I close it. I have several G10 Manix 2 knives that are all absolutely perfect, so I know how this knife should feel.

Fixing it

It would be simple, if not for the darn rivets. The only option is to drill them out and replace them with screws. Actually drilling is not a very good idea as it is likely to spin the rivet and damage the FRN. The thing to do is to get a carbide burr in my dremel tool and carefully grind away the rivet head. I can focus my attention on the center of the head since once I cut down to the depth where the head meets the shaft, it will fall apart. This is relatively easy since I have a dremel and a variety of carbide burrs.

The trick is getting some scews on hand before I begin taking the knive apart. I made some comments and asked some questions in this thread on the spyderco forums and a kind soul (Atilla) gave me links to some screws.

These are described as "Pivot Barrel 1/8 diam by 5/16L with two 2-56 by 1/4 screws." I am told that I need the 5/16 long screws, but they are out of stock.

Now a quick aside. Barrel screws for a mule team. The holes have changed over time, and there are three diameters to consider. On my PMA11 the small holes are 3/16 (0.187). Big holes are 0.5 and one odd hole (I guess for the lanyard) is 0.250. So if I get barrel screws to go through the small holes (or pins) I want 3/16. The scales I bought for my mule from Spyderco are held by 3 barrel screws. The barrels are 3/16 diameter and 0.5 inches long They use 4-40 screws with a T8 head.

Back to the Manix 2 LW, here are some links:

Do a search on "spyderco manix lw screws" anda number of things turn up. One fellow modified the CBBL lock by replacing the steel ball with a ceramic one. He claims it is a 3/16 silicon nitride ball. You can buy these on Ebay for $3 each or 5 for $6.
Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Knife Info / tom@mmto.org