Adjusting blade center on the Vantage made easy

D

Drover

Joined
Dec 12, 2010
Messages
135
In past posts I've seen guys saying they had to completely loosen all the screws on a Vantage and slip the sides one way or another to adjust blade center. Today I went into my local BiMart to pic up another Vantage Select and found all the ones they had were very off center. I had just bought a T6 Torx driver and had it with me so I pulled it out and told the guys behind the counter, "watch this" and proceeded to take about 2 seconds and adjusted the blade immediately to center by simply adjusting the end screw right or left. Their eyes all bugged out and said they thought they were made that way and the liner lock was just pushing the blade over and that was normal. I told them no, that most need adjusted. I proceeded to do the same to my other 2 Vantages that were off a bit and they did exactly the same thing, one turn and the blade swung right over to center. Sweet! I have a couple of the Wally World Selects that come with the 420HC steal and the Dymondwood sides and love the way they look but have found that the Dymondwood is not super tough stuff, seems like it can chip and scuff easy so I bought a Select with the nylon handles and really prefer them just because they're so much tougher. I like a good looking knife but also wanted one I didn't have to "pamper" and really use hard. My others I'll keep as collectors!
 
The more you tighten the blade, the less well the flipper action works... Our criteria is best flipper action at the expense of centering instead of centering at the expense of flipper action...
 
Right, I figured that out and amazing enough, center was also the best flipper action!
 
I expect varying tolerances from a $20-$30 knife. My small paperstone Vantage was centered, but action and lock were really sticky.
After a few days of fondling, it's now smooth and still centered.
-But I wouldn't sacrifice smooth action for a more-centered blade unless the closed blade was actually coming into contact with the inside scale.
 
Drover, I assume you are talking about the screw farthest away from the pivot. Yes?

I have been looking at these in different steels, and the off center blades seems to be a fairly regular complaint. But if it's that easy to fix, that certainly is a game changer for me!

So.... are you talking about the screws on the butt of the knife?

Robert
 
NO, it's the front pivot screw that centers the blade with just a slight tweak.
 
If it deploys fast,doesn't touch the liner,and is completely centered with no blade play in the open position does it really matter if it's slighly off center in the closed position?If so I'm wondering why?
 
Drover said:
NO, it's the front pivot screw that centers the blade with just a slight tweak.
Click to expand...

Well, that certainly makes more sense. I have heard of folks using the pivot screw to play around with to center, but when you referenced the "end screw" instead of the pivot it threw me off.

Thanks for the reply.

Robert
 
I won't fuss with a blade if it is not centered in the closed position. Most especially not on a liner lock. Too much chance of messing up the contact angle of the lock bar and the blade where they lock together. The contact angle is critical to a good secure locking action. Every once in a while you hear about somebody whose Vantage does not lock properly. I can't help wondering if they re-centered the knife and screwed up the lock angle in so doing.

As long as the blade does not rub the sides, it isn't an issue to me. If it did rub the sides, I'd send it to Buck and let them fuss with it.
 
Drover said:
In past posts I've seen guys saying they had to completely loosen all the screws on a Vantage and slip the sides one way or another to adjust blade center. Today I went into my local BiMart to pic up another Vantage Select and found all the ones they had were very off center. I had just bought a T6 Torx driver and had it with me so I pulled it out and told the guys behind the counter, "watch this" and proceeded to take about 2 seconds and adjusted the blade immediately to center by simply adjusting the end screw right or left. Their eyes all bugged out and said they thought they were made that way and the liner lock was just pushing the blade over and that was normal. I told them no, that most need adjusted. I proceeded to do the same to my other 2 Vantages that were off a bit and they did exactly the same thing, one turn and the blade swung right over to center. Sweet! I have a couple of the Wally World Selects that come with the 420HC steal and the Dymondwood sides and love the way they look but have found that the Dymondwood is not super tough stuff, seems like it can chip and scuff easy so I bought a Select with the nylon handles and really prefer them just because they're so much tougher. I like a good looking knife but also wanted one I didn't have to "pamper" and really use hard. My others I'll keep as collectors!
Click to expand...

Excellent post, Drover -- thanks.

My four Vantages arrived pretty much spot on, and like you, I found them easy to adjust at the pivot screw.

That little T6 bit driver is good to have!
 
flash900 said:
Excellent post, Drover -- thanks.

My four Vantages arrived pretty much spot on, and like you, I found them easy to adjust at the pivot screw.

That little T6 bit driver is good to have!
Click to expand...

If they were "spot on" what needed adjustment?
 
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