Somewhat Older SwissTool with tight implements

[turnsouth]

I got a used SwissTool in today that is in really good condition. It's a 2002-04 model, and although very dirty it looks hardly used. There is one issue though, the implements on the Phillips side are very tight, nail breaking tight, like a the drivers on a new Juice. I've given it a good scrubbing, and have tried to work oil into the pivots, but it still seems tight.

Am I just looking at perhaps some corrosion in the rivet/pivot area, and the oil just has to soak in.? Or have these come this way in the past, and maybe just need to be "broken in"?

Thanks,
Paul

[Mike]

Hmmm, everything should be smooth. Have you worked the pivots under hot running water? Might be some grit in there that needs to be dealt with.

Mike

[turnsouth]

Hmmm, everything should be smooth. Have you worked the pivots under hot running water? Might be some grit in there that needs to be dealt with.

Mike

Yea, I did that when I was washing it. Looking under the magnifying glass, it looks like there might be some build up or something wedged between the serrated blade and the awl.

I figure that if an overnight soak in oil doesn't free it up, I'll take it into work tomorrow and take some solvent and compressed air to it. Maybe try some boiling water too, that should dissolve anything organic.

[Mike]

Hmmm, everything should be smooth. Have you worked the pivots under hot running water? Might be some grit in there that needs to be dealt with.

Mike

Yea, I did that when I was washing it. Looking under the magnifying glass, it looks like there might be some build up or something wedged between the serrated blade and the awl.

I figure that if an overnight soak in oil doesn't free it up, I'll take it into work tomorrow and take some solvent and compressed air to it. Maybe try some boiling water too, that should dissolve anything organic.

Sounds like a good plan to me. Let us know how it turns out.

Mike

[turnsouth]

Well, I gave it a good wash with solvent and blew it all out with 160psi air, made a slight difference but not much. So then I decided to give it a good soaking in rust penetrant (containing Methyl isobutyl carbinol, Butoxyethanol, Light naphtha, and Heavy naphtha), after about 30 minutes I could feel a difference so I kept soaking and rinsing it every hour, while working all the implements every now and then.

It's much better now, I can open them without breaking any nails. The build-up / corrosion must have been in the pivot area where each tool meets the rivet, not between the tools. I found this out because each tool freed up individually as I worked them, and when one tool became free it did not have any effect on the next one.

I imagine that the tool spent a great deal of it's life without any of the implements being opened, and having no maintenance performed at all.

[Dunc]

Thats good news .

[AimlessWanderer]

Glad you got it sorted mate 

[Singh]

You can also soak the tool in orderless mineral spirits. That will eat away the gunk of you let it it overnight.  Soak, scrub, soak, and repeat. Then apply some mineral oil and you're done.

[Mike]

Well, I gave it a good wash with solvent and blew it all out with 160psi air, made a slight difference but not much. So then I decided to give it a good soaking in rust penetrant (containing Methyl isobutyl carbinol, Butoxyethanol, Light naphtha, and Heavy naphtha), after about 30 minutes I could feel a difference so I kept soaking and rinsing it every hour, while working all the implements every now and then.

It's much better now, I can open them without breaking any nails. The build-up / corrosion must have been in the pivot area where each tool meets the rivet, not between the tools. I found this out because each tool freed up individually as I worked them, and when one tool became free it did not have any effect on the next one.

I imagine that the tool spent a great deal of it's life without any of the implements being opened, and having no maintenance performed at all.

Excellent! Sounds like you have a usable tool now. Also, it will probably continue to get better because you are now using it.

Mike

[turnsouth]

You can also soak the tool in orderless mineral spirits. That will eat away the gunk of you let it it overnight.  Soak, scrub, soak, and repeat. Then apply some mineral oil and you're done.

I've been keeping it coated in Rem Oil which is mostly mineral oil with a little naphtha added to it to act as a cleaner/degreaser. Each day it seems to get better, so I may pick up a pint of mineral oil and give it a bath for a few days

[Singh]

You can also soak the tool in orderless mineral spirits. That will eat away the gunk of you let it it overnight.  Soak, scrub, soak, and repeat. Then apply some mineral oil and you're done.

I've been keeping it coated in Rem Oil which is mostly mineral oil with a little naphtha added to it to act as a cleaner/degreaser. Each day it seems to get better, so I may pick up a pint of mineral oil and give it a bath for a few days

Soak it in mineral SPIRITS to clean it. Soak it for 24 hours, then scrub it. Then soak it some more and scrub it every few hours until it's clean. You can also use a rubber squeeze bulb to shoot mineral spirits in the nooks and crannies.  Then oil it with mineral OIL.

Spirit bath, then oil.

[turnsouth]

You can also soak the tool in orderless mineral spirits. That will eat away the gunk of you let it it overnight.  Soak, scrub, soak, and repeat. Then apply some mineral oil and you're done.

I've been keeping it coated in Rem Oil which is mostly mineral oil with a little naphtha added to it to act as a cleaner/degreaser. Each day it seems to get better, so I may pick up a pint of mineral oil and give it a bath for a few days

Soak it in mineral SPIRITS to clean it. Soak it for 24 hours, then scrub it. Then soak it some more and scrub it every few hours until it's clean. You can also use a rubber squeeze bulb to shoot mineral spirits in the nooks and crannies.  Then oil it with mineral OIL.

Spirit bath, then oil.

My mistake, misread. Actually the solvent that I used on it a few days ago was made up of distillates that are far stronger than standard mineral spirits, the kind you don't want to breath or touch. Not something that you would ever want to use on any type of plastic either, but great for cleaning metal. And like I said earlier, there wasn't much improvement after using it. I'm thinking what it needs is continued application of anticorrosives.

But I do have an endless supply of mineral spirits at work, so I may give it a try anyway.

[MultiMat]

I have recently got a Aussie Army issue Swisstool that is a bit tight as well , normally I would soak , scrub , soak , scrub & then lube. I do not want to damage the BO finish though  .
I might give the Mineral Spirits a go 

[turnsouth]

Well I have the tools coming out quite smoothly now, but...

I bought this for a really good price from a NTSA auction, and other than the tight implements, It was in excellent shape. The only signs of it being used were a few marks on the file that cleaned up nicely, and some small chips on the chisel. That is until I tried the Phillips driver yesterday, I went to turn a screw and it slid right out of it. So I got the magnifying glass out and could see that the driver had been worn away enough so that it couldn't grab anything.

Smurf.

[Dtrain]

I am glad that the sticking has been resolved...Sorry about the Phillips..Maybe you can take a needle file and straighten it out..When it comes to sticking due to corrsion/gunk I had good luck cleaning up an Older Wave that another Driver found in a Parking Lot one night and asked me if I could clean/sharpen it up for him..Not a Knife oriented guy,but was happy with his find so I used Blaster and let it soak then a good sharpening/cleaning and kicked him an old gerber sheath so he could carry it. I am suprised where he said he had found it that it had not been run over by another Truck. My Theory when he asked me how it got there was considering the condition it was something another Driver had pitched on his floor or maybe in a door pocket and neglected it then it fell out while exiting or entering the Truck..All I know was last time I saw the Driver in question a few months back there on his belt was the Wave and he was pleased with it..

Dtrain