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Any tips for eliminating delica bladeplay?

Surfingringo

Surfingringo

Joined
May 25, 2013
Messages
3,700
Got a superblue delica recently and though I really love the steel, the knife has quite a bit of side to side play. I tightened the pivot down to the point where it's difficult to close with one hand and the play is still there. Doesn't impede performance, just annoying. I was hoping there was some kind of magic forum voodoo trick to fix it! ;). Anyone?
 
Forgot to mention. I already fully disassembled the knife and cleaned and oiled everything and polished the washers. Play is he same as before.
 
Wondering the same about my Centofante 3, unfortunately it's got a pinned pivot though.
 
I think that is just the way they are. I've owned a dozen or so over the years and they are all like that to some extent.
 
When it's closed, bend the handle side to side and watch the blade move from one liner to another. My endura is so easy to flex by hand that when I walk the blade must be bouncing of the liners. NO GRIPES! Those two knifes, super thin liner/frn, just flex some. Didn't you have a Salt? I would think it would have had some give to it also.
 
Honed_Edge said:
When it's closed, bend the handle side to side and watch the blade move from one liner to another. My endura is so easy to flex by hand that when I walk the blade must be bouncing of the liners. NO GRIPES! Those two knifes, super thin liner/frn, just flex some. Didn't you have a Salt? I would think it would have had some give to it also.
Click to expand...

All my salts have smoother action with less side to side play. There may be something to be said for their washerless, linerless design. I think I'm just going to stick to the salt line. Hard to beat! :)
 
Is this something that progressed, or was it this way from the get-go? Also, is the blade centered? If I'm having centering or bladeplay issues I usually just loosen all the handle screws and rub the two loosened halves until it's perfectly aligned, then slowly rotate to all the screws and gently tighter them (sort of like when putting on a spare tire). And while I slowly progress with this process I will temporarily tighten up the pivot screw. It did the trick for me on a couple of knives. Perhaps the liners got bent and aren't perfectly parallel? I don't know, just planting seeds. Honestly, the most effective way to fix it would be to buy another Delica and keep the other as a beater. :p
 
All their FRN lockbacks I've had (Ladybug, Dragonfly, a few Delicas, couple of Enduras, Stretch, and a Salt 1) have had a little bit of movement in all directions. I just attributed that to the FRN handles and inset liners flexing a bit more than something with a more rigid handle material. Regardless, they have all been excellent knives, and I've never had lockup problems or anything else that compromised the utility of the knife. The Delica has been a long favorite, beating out other well-regarded Spydies (PM2, Native5, Sages, etc.) for pocket time... although it might have finally met its match with the Caly3...
 
Flarp reminded me. Another trick I recommend is to strip it and put the scales on a flat surface on some high-grit sandpaper and sand it down very, very little at a time.
I noticed with some FRN models (particularly the ZDP ones for some reason) the liners are inset a little too much, which leads to rubbing and grittiness if you tighten it down enough to minimize any play.
Once you take off the right amount it should allow for tightening quite a bit without any rub, etc.

Also Flarp. Agreed on the Caly. I just got a 3.5 in VG10 and am pretty blown away. The weight, slenderness, perfect clip, etc are unreal. Another one will be in my future. And despite preferring screwed construction, they pinned Caly's are always perectly centered and good to go in my Experience. Now, if only they could re-release a Sprint run of Super Blue 3.5's again!
 
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