Adjusting a Blade

Interesting definitions, the tobacco plug bit made me laugh as tobacco isn't very hard to cut, nor the first thing thar comes to mind when I see a sheepsfoot. I always thought coping blades were lkke coping saws, thin so you could cut inside curves.

I forgot where I saw it but you can hammer next to the kick on a tang or use a center punch close to the part that contacts the spring while closed to make the blade sit higher. Expanding the kick due to peening it. Good for when the blade barely makes contact.

Connor
 
ConBon said:
Interesting definitions, the tobacco plug bit made me laugh as tobacco isn't very hard to cut, nor the first thing thar comes to mind when I see a sheepsfoot. I always thought coping blades were lkke coping saws, thin so you could cut inside curves.

I forgot where I saw it but you can hammer next to the kick on a tang or use a center punch close to the part that contacts the spring while closed to make the blade sit higher. Expanding the kick due to peening it. Good for when the blade barely makes contact.

Connor
Click to expand...

Peening the kick will work best on knives with annealed tangs. GEC anneals the tangs.

A lot of the old ads emphasize carpentry for both the sheepfoot and coping blades.

...If I recall correctly Queen made some cattle knives with a huge coping blade instead of a sheepfoot. I owned one of those knives... but can't find a photo.... oh yeah... it was a "railsplitter" (a cattle knife derivative sometimes called a "surveyor")

s-l300.jpg
 
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Quite a cool knife supratentorial. Is there a hump in the middle or am I seeing things?
 
Good eye. A "surveyor" is also sometimes called a "swell-center canoe". The pattern is defined by the handle shape. There's a swell center by the well but not by the springs (unlike a balloon which has a swell center on both sides).
 
MadMaximus it's really quite simple:

Preferably you'll want a vise to make things easier. Open the knife and wrap a piece of leather (an old leather belt is ideal) or something similar around the blade to protect it from being damaged by the vise (the leather also helps the vise to grip the blade since the blade is wedge shaped), put the leather wrapped blade in the vise with the kick pointing up, make sure you don't have the leather too close to the kick or you won't have room to file. Now grab a not too course file and make a couple of passes over the kick, making sure that you don't hit the bolsters. Pull the knife out of the vise and check it, repeat as necessary. Once you see how much you're taking off with each pass you won't have to check as often, but just know that a new pointy kick will initially grind down fairly quickly, and depending on the knife you may need to take very little off to make a difference. If you don't have a vise, you can

Another option, if you have a vertical grinder with a flat platen and small belt (like 1 1/2 inches or so), is to simply grind a bit of the kick off on that. It's much easier, but again go very slowly, you can always take more steel off but you can't put it back on of you go too far. Hold the knife steady, with the handle in one hand and the blade in the other so the knife doesn't jump on you. If you have a grinding wheel with a semi fine grit, you can use that too, just be steady and light, and wipe the blade off before you close it in case any grit sticks to it.



Eric
 
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ea42 said:
MadMaximus it's really quite simple:

Preferably you'll want a vise to make things easier. Open the knife and wrap a piece of leather (an old leather belt is ideal) or something similar around the blade to protect it from being damaged by the vise (the leather also helps the vise to grip the blade since the blade is wedge shaped), put the leather wrapped blade in the vise with the kick pointing up, make sure you don't have the leather too close to the kick or you won't have room to file. Now grab a not too course file and make a couple of passes over the kick, making sure that you don't hit the bolsters. Pull the knife out of the vise and check it, repeat as necessary. Once you see how much you're taking off with each pass you won't have to check as often, but just know that a new pointy kick will initially grind down fairly quickly, and depending on the knife you may need to take very little off to make a difference. If you don't have a vise, you can

Another option, if you have a vertical grinder with a flat platen and small belt (like 1 1/2 inches or so), is to simply grind a bit of the kick off on that. It's much easier, but again go very slowly, you can always take more steel off but you can't put it back on of you go too far. Hold the knife steady, with the handle in one hand and the blade in the other so the knife doesn't jump on you. If you have a grinding wheel with a semi fine grit, you can use that too, just be steady and light, and wipe the blade off before you close it in case any grit sticks to it.



Eric
Click to expand...

Awesome! This really helps, I'll be giving it a try on my next day off. Thanks Eric!
 
Dont forget to cover the blade Mad Max! And cover the bolsters if possible, I use electrical tape over it. If I hit it with the file it stops me and keeps me.from marring up the liners and bolsters. It's very easy to make a pretty knife scarred if you don't cover!

Supratentorial, very interesting, I'll be on the lookout for one of those to see how it feels in hand, as I dont feel qualified to say yay or neigh on it being comfortable at a glance.

Connor
 
Thanks for this great thread and the helpful advices!:thumbup:
I just tried out today and it worked really good...:)
 
stezann said:
It sounds weird to me, you don't want the tang soft since it will wear very quickly as it is chewed by the spring down the road.
Click to expand...

See quote below about the factory tour:

One such step is annealing (softening by heating to red hot) the tangs of the blades so that they don't break off with use but also to allow for minute crinking in the assembly process to make sure that all blades are centered and not rubbing liners or other blades.
Click to expand...

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...In-Praise-of-Worthy-Men-(and-Women-of-course)
 
Thank you Jake, if having the chance to speak with them i'd ask a clarification, since i have hard time believing they are drawing red hot the heat treated blades, possibly just a misunderstanding about what they actually said?
Interesting virtual factory tour, thank you for the link!!!
 
Some of my Traditionals have blade-play in the open position.
As I have no mechanic press (like in the GEC production video I saw on youtube),
I always use a bench to push the bolster together and make the blade tight
(I try to give just as much pressure, so the blade doesn't become chewy).
Normally the blade-play almost disappears, BUT the rivet which connects the blade with the bolster,
always comes out a little bit (usually on one side more than on the other).
Anybody made similar experiences, or what can I do to avoid this?
Should I just file the rivet down, or try to flatten it with a hammer?

Here is a picture how the bolster rivet looks now



Thanks,
mat
 
nifebrite said:
Some of my Traditionals have blade-play in the open position.
As I have no mechanic press (like in the GEC production video I saw on youtube),
I always use a bench to push the bolster together and make the blade tight
(I try to give just as much pressure, so the blade doesn't become chewy).
Normally the blade-play almost disappears, BUT the rivet which connects the blade with the bolster,
always comes out a little bit (usually on one side more than on the other).
Anybody made similar experiences, or what can I do to avoid this?
Should I just file the rivet down, or try to flatten it with a hammer?

Here is a picture how the bolster rivet looks now



Thanks,
mat
Click to expand...

this has happened while doing the same thing, i use a jewelers file and gradually take it down almost until touching. i also have access to a buffing wheel at work so i finish it off there. as far as the blade riding high, almost all of my gec knives ride high so i have filed the kick down on all of them with no issues.
 
You need lightly hammering the pivot to lock out the slack you recovered by pressing the bolster together, then sanding smooth/flush again. If you sand directly, without re-peening, the blade will develope play again, and the pivot head will lay sunken under the bolster's hole rim.
 
stezann said:
You need lightly hammering the pivot to lock out the slack you recovered by pressing the bolster together, then sanding smooth/flush again. If you sand directly, without re-peening, the blade will develope play again, and the pivot head will lay sunken under the bolster's hole rim.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:
 
nifebrite said:
Thank You! I will try that light hammering, before sanding it smooth..
Click to expand...

Basically, what you're doing is flattening the end of the pin so that it locks the bolster in place :thumbup:
 
Jack Black said:
Basically, what you're doing is flattening the end of the pin so that it locks the bolster in place :thumbup:
Click to expand...
I got it, thanks for the explanation Jack!
After re-peening, the bolster pin is just a little visible now, but no hard edge disturbing anymore.
So, even though I like sanding, I guess I will leave it like it is now...
mat
 
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