- Joined
- Aug 25, 2016
- Messages
- 200
I just spent more money than my first car cost (in 1975) to buy a Hinderer XM-18; Fatty, Spanto, blue G-10, 'battle blue' anodized titanium. It's a nice knife, though it is fairly heavy with the 'fatty' blade.
Like pretty much every Hinderer knife, the pivot screw needed some adjustment. It was WAY too tight. Opening the blade was a two hand job. Literally. I could open the knife 1/4th way with the flipper lever, but getting the blade the blade open the rest of the way required that I use my left hand to PULL the blade out.
I sure would like to have a few choice words with the imbecile who 'assembled and tuned' my expensive new pocket knife. He needs to be told NOT to use a pneumatic impact wrench to tighten the pivot screw. Idiot.
A quick look at the pivot screw, and the body of the pivot, shows that while the pivot screw takes a standard slot tipped screwdriver. the body of the pivot uses a 'security' screwdriver. Specifically, it takes a #12 'forked' screwdriver bit.
If you want adjust the tension on the pivot, you need this bit or screwdriver.
You can either buy one, or make one. You can buy 'security bits' from many places on the Internet. A local big box home improvement center near me sells several different sets of them too. I have a set of them I bought many years ago. It has various sizes of 6 different kinds of security bits. It has 4 sizes of the forked bits. The largest size in my set is a #10 forked bit. I used the #10 bit, though it is a bit small. The #12 bit is the correct size for the pivot.
If you don't want to wait for one to arrive by mail, you can make one. If you have an old slot tip screwdriver that fits the screw in the pivot, you can use it to make a fork tip screwdriver. Or, go to Harbor Freight, and buy the cheapest set of screwdrivers they sell that includes a screwdriver the right size. Keep that one, and throw the rest away in the trash can by the front door. They are junk.
You will need a Dremel tool, and some cut-off disks. Mark the center of the blade with a Sharpie, for the area of the tip you want to remove. If you have a bench vise, it will make doing this WAY easier. Use the Dremel tool and cut off disk(s) to cut away the steel in the center of the tip. Go slow, and try the forked tip on the screwdriver on your Hinderer knife. You don't want to cut too much metal away.
As these things go, this is the easiest type of the 'security tips' to fabricate. Now you can adjust the tension on your Hinderer knife. If you move the screw very much, it is a good idea to remove the screw all of the way from the body of the pivot, and apply a small amount of the BLUE #642 medium strength Permatex LockTite thread locker to the small screw. Do NOT use red or green LockTite. You will regret it if you do.
Like pretty much every Hinderer knife, the pivot screw needed some adjustment. It was WAY too tight. Opening the blade was a two hand job. Literally. I could open the knife 1/4th way with the flipper lever, but getting the blade the blade open the rest of the way required that I use my left hand to PULL the blade out.
I sure would like to have a few choice words with the imbecile who 'assembled and tuned' my expensive new pocket knife. He needs to be told NOT to use a pneumatic impact wrench to tighten the pivot screw. Idiot.
A quick look at the pivot screw, and the body of the pivot, shows that while the pivot screw takes a standard slot tipped screwdriver. the body of the pivot uses a 'security' screwdriver. Specifically, it takes a #12 'forked' screwdriver bit.
If you want adjust the tension on the pivot, you need this bit or screwdriver.
You can either buy one, or make one. You can buy 'security bits' from many places on the Internet. A local big box home improvement center near me sells several different sets of them too. I have a set of them I bought many years ago. It has various sizes of 6 different kinds of security bits. It has 4 sizes of the forked bits. The largest size in my set is a #10 forked bit. I used the #10 bit, though it is a bit small. The #12 bit is the correct size for the pivot.
If you don't want to wait for one to arrive by mail, you can make one. If you have an old slot tip screwdriver that fits the screw in the pivot, you can use it to make a fork tip screwdriver. Or, go to Harbor Freight, and buy the cheapest set of screwdrivers they sell that includes a screwdriver the right size. Keep that one, and throw the rest away in the trash can by the front door. They are junk.
You will need a Dremel tool, and some cut-off disks. Mark the center of the blade with a Sharpie, for the area of the tip you want to remove. If you have a bench vise, it will make doing this WAY easier. Use the Dremel tool and cut off disk(s) to cut away the steel in the center of the tip. Go slow, and try the forked tip on the screwdriver on your Hinderer knife. You don't want to cut too much metal away.
As these things go, this is the easiest type of the 'security tips' to fabricate. Now you can adjust the tension on your Hinderer knife. If you move the screw very much, it is a good idea to remove the screw all of the way from the body of the pivot, and apply a small amount of the BLUE #642 medium strength Permatex LockTite thread locker to the small screw. Do NOT use red or green LockTite. You will regret it if you do.
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