Bearing mod for knife without bearings?

[rawkhopper]

Hello, everyone.
I was curious if anyone has ever modded a knife that just has bushings to have bearings. I would have never thought about doing until seeing some fairly inexpensive knives that have bearings. I have a CRKT drifter that I really like the shape of and size but it just doesn’t have the tightness I like in the blade. The blade wobbles a bit if you manhandle it. If I tighten it down then the blade doesn’t open smooth. Looking at the knife it doesn’t currently have enough room for bearings but I was wondering could spacers be added to make up the difference in thickness? Would it change the fit of the liner lock? I saw some bearings that were 1mm so that seems like it would add maybe .5mm in distance for the liner lock. In my head it seems possible but was curious if anyone had ever done such a thing.

Thanks for any input!

 

[SharpBits]

You would have to mill a pocket in the either the blade or the scales to fit proper bearings. Not worth it unless you are a bored machinist. Instead, try looking for phosphor bronze bushings to replace whatever junk CRKT put in originally to meet a price point. Look for knife making suppliers online and they should have a variety of washers available.

 

[rawkhopper]

Thanks for your reply!