How to maintain or repair your assisted open Kershaw knife.

After you own an assisted open knife you will eventually want to see how it works inside.  This is a great idea.  It will help you understand the operation of the assisted open feature and give you the chance to lube the inside to keep your knife snapping open for many years.

Kershaw knives and some other makers of assisted open knives offer Limited Lifetime Warranties on their knives.  This is important to the user because no matter how well made your knife is, it can develop problems.  

Pocket knives are famous for holding lint. (Imagine that!)  A knife in a pocket gathers pocket lint and can eventually cause a tight joint even in standard opening pocket knives. 

Slowing of the assisted open feature is frankly pretty rare with Kershaw Knives.  The torsion bar inside the handle is pretty well sealed from lint, or dirt which can affect the opening of the blade. Slow or lazy snap can and does occure but can be dealt with pretty easy without the hassle of sending the knife to the Kershaw Warranty Department. 

Lets get inside your knife.

For the purpose of this set of instructions we will be dealing with the Kersahw Leek 1660.  All Leeks can be taken apart and worked on as described.  Most of the Kerhsaw assisted open knives have the same basic design and you can easily adapt these instructions to the specific knife you have.

The Leek is held together with Torx Head screws.  You will need a number 9 Torx head tool for the Pivot Pin screw.  The handle screws are a number 7 Torx.  These are widely available mounted as a screwdriver or allen wrench tool.  Kershaw sells a very handy tool with with multiple heads stored in the handle.

First, open the blade and leave it slightly short of being locked open.  This will release all pressure on the blade from the torsion bar.

Now you can remove the pivot pin screw.  This screw will have a bit of thread glue on it so it may turn a little hard to start.  Keep this screw in a tray or some place it will not roll away.  You will need to keep close track of the handle screws too.  It is very unlikely you will have anything around the house to sub with if you lose any of them.  Waiting for Kershaw to send you new screws can be frustrating.  How do I know this?  Could be I have been there... done that. 

Next remove the three smaller screws in the handle. 

Now you should be able to seperate the scales.  Gentley rock the scales until they come apart.  The top scale will have the recess in which the torsion bar rests.  It is covered with a metal plate that just lifts off.  Note the direction the torsion bar is set in the handle before your remove it.  One end of the torsion bar fits into the plastic spacer.  The other end fits into the hole on the blade tang.

With the torsion bar removed you can see if the recess is lubricated.  Kershaw uses a clear, light lube and most any light grease will work.  Just a small amount in the recess will be needed.  I use STOS Multi-Purpose Lubricant.  It performs like no other lube I have tried and is perfect for this application.  You need not run out and get this lube since there are many light weight lubricants which will work just fine.  Warning: Be sure the lube you use is very light as a heavy grease, especially in cold weather, can impede the operation of the speed open system. 

Place the torsion bar back into the recess and align the plastic spacer over the screw holes.  Replace the 3 small screws into the handle.  DO NOT TIGHTEN THEM AT ALL.  WIth the screws still loose rotate the blade until the torsion bar fits into the hole in the tang.  You will be able to feel when it has some tention which will indicate the end of the torsion bar is in the hole.  This may seem like a difficult proceedure when you first look at it.  It is not.  The torsion bar literally seems to find its way into the hole in the blade tang.  Just take your time and it will fit into the hole. 

Now you can incert the pivot screw.  You will need to use some kind of thread lock.  Loc-Tite can make it so you will never get the pivot screw out again.  There are brands of thread glue which are not permanate.  Be sure to use one of those.  Some folks like to use just a touch of fingernail polish.  It will hold the screw in and can be removed when you want to get back inside your knife.  Using thread lock on the handle screws is also a good idea. 

None of the screws should be very tight.  The pivot screw should only be turned down until there is no wobble in the joint.  If the blade will not snap smartly open just loosen the pivot screw a bit more.  You may also need to loose the screws in the handle too.  This is the reason the thread locking compound is so important.  Opening and closeing the blade will cause the pivot screw to back off over time.  The thread lock will prevent this from happening.

If your knife is still not snapping open as it should you may need to replace the torsion bar.  Usually leaving the knife closed and stored for long periods of time is the only reason the torsion bar may be bad.  The metal in the torsion bar, like any metal, can aquire memory and not provide enough torque to snap the blade open. 

If you do need to have the torsion bar replaced you can send your knife into Kershaw and they will perform this service for you.  You can also just call them and they will send you a new one to install yourself. 

Getting inside your Kershaw knife will also show you the difference between them and the cheap China knockoffs now on the market.  Note when you have the leek open that Kershaw uses brass washers on the Pivot pin.  The torsion bar is high quality steel.  The handles are stainless steel.

I had a customer bring in the China made knockoff and ask why he should spend the extra money on a Kershaw.  I took them both apart in front of him.  He saw the plasic washers in the China knife.  The black metal torsion bar.  The thick scales that add about 40% bulk to the knife.  The I put both back together.  I even lubed his knife for him.  He then snapped them both.  The slower thud of the China made knife was very noticable in sharp contrast to the smart snap and crisp click sound on lock up. 

The China knife went in the garbage and he walked out with his new Leek.  Another believer in the old saying," Buy Quality and you only cry once".