Another Slipjoint spring question

M

miden

Joined
Sep 9, 2005
Messages
835
Hi Guys,

When making a Slip joint folder out of 154CM, would a hardness of around 46 Rc for the spring be good? The blade is 58 Rc and seems to be chewing up the spring. This is my first slip joint and I am discovering there is much more to it than meets the eye, even with a tutorial by a very accomplished maker.

Thanks
 
That sounds right. If you dont radius the corners of the tang it will chew it up. Just knock the edges off and it will be much better. For what its worth i have a tutorial on here. Im by no means an expert but it may help. Best of luck.
 
Stainless steel gauls.

You can not have it at the same finish on the spring and tang.

Sand the spring to 120g where the tang rides on it and take the tang to 400 grit.

It will not gaul and ride smooth.
 
Thanks very much for the replies and info Gentlemen, this is a big help.

Mike
 
Lithium automotive grease on the tang/backspring juncture helps an awful lot.
 
Yes, lube it...either grease or oil. Especially when you are still in the build, and you try the positions a thousand times, it can be tempting to skip lubing and having dry fit test (lubing catches grit and scratches the parts). I'd rather clean everything and never have spring-tang action without oil....
Lenghtwise grit marks on the spring can help retaining some lube as well.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Lithium automotive grease on the tang/backspring juncture helps an awful lot.
Click to expand...

Bill DeShivs Bill DeShivs I found this thread after having the same problem.
I ordered Lithium grease and put it on the spring. It works well.
But the stuff I got is soft and sticky, softer then vaseline. Is that the right stuff?
Won't dust and dirt attract to and stick to the grease?
Won't a hard wax be better?
 
An old trick was to polish the blade tang and to sand the spring to 400. Then apply a small amount of Flitz to the joint and open and close it until you get hand cramps. Clean it up, give it a little lithium grease, and it should be as smooth as silk.
Some folks use the Teflon carrying knife oil.
 
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