Blade angle - is this normal?

orca8589

orca8589

Joined
Jan 27, 2007
Messages
6,518
I posted this in the Boker forum, with no responses. Moving it here.

I've had the Boker Carver's Congress on my short list for several years, and finally had a chance to grab one off of the exchange here for a good price. (I've bought several knives over the last few months that have allowed me to get back into whittling & carving again.)

Overall, the quality is excellent, except for one - maybe two - things: the spring tension on the spay blade is pretty soft, to the point that it sometimes will not fully open the blade unless I pull it all the way open. However, the bigger issue, at least to my mind, is the acute angle of the spay blade when fully open. I've got finger guards and gloves, but this blade angle along with the soft spring is giving me second thoughts; I'm worried about it possibly closing on me.

I've seen knives before with blades that are angled downward from the centerline of the knife handle, but this spay blade angle seems extreme to me. Oddly enough, when the spay is open, and the sheepfoot is open on the other end, the angle of the sheepfoot doesn't bother me as much.




~Chris
 
If it has weak or next to no W&T I don't think it can be good for carving or whittling really. Starts being like a friction folder.... The blade droop ( I think the term is 'cant' but I might be wrong) is often a feature of Congress or Whittler multi blades, the mechanical reasons I'm not sure of. It might have to do with crinking and nesting or it could be a build fault. It may be intentional to angle the blades for carving anyway. With a Jack knife or a single-spring 2 blade Pen type, any cant is a sign of inferior design/construction to my mind. My CASE Pen has the pen blade drooping miserably (although it may be a characteristic of Serp patterns) The White Owl and Conductor from GEC have very straight line blades opening out smartly and in line with the spring.Same with their single-spring 57 Half Whitt and that is Serp.
 
You might try asking the Boker folk. Not the fastest-moving forum, but probably a high density of Boker owners.
 
Wow, if that is the finished look, I would not consider that acceptable .
 
Your knife is original but a poor fit can happen with a parts knife even when it's the manufacturer who swapped out parts. Here's a gunstock with sowbelly blades that I bought from the owner of Queen. I returned for refund.

supratentorial said:
A few quick photos...

For these two photos, I kept the handle in the same place and moved the spey blade to show the amount of vertical play. The straight edge gives some perspective.




Here's a look at the springs in both positions


Click to expand...
 
That is unacceptable whether it's normal for boker or not. I have noticed in most bokers I have handled that they do like to angle the blades down a bit on a few patterns, but not nearly to that degree.
 
mrknife said:
is the pivot stuck? something doesnt seem right there
Click to expand...

No, pivot is fine. I've seen these 'drooping' blades from other manufacturers, but this one is the worst. Combined with the soft spring, that spay is unusable, IMHO.

I can file a little off the rear top corner of the blade, which might change the blade angle - but void the warranty. I think I might just send it back.

I'm open to any suggestions for a fix to this.

~Chris
 
a Picture of the blade foldet out 90° would be helpful, to see the spot, where the back spring hold the blade open. Or, just send it in for inspection..
 
this might sound a bit stupid and forgive me for being a simpleton -but are you sure there isn't anything stuck in there that shouldn't be ?
yep its obvious I know -but if not send it back. Its not right.
 
Marketing said:
a Picture of the blade foldet out 90° would be helpful, to see the spot, where the back spring hold the blade open. Or, just send it in for inspection..
Click to expand...

I sent a PM for the shipping address to send it to

meako said:
this might sound a bit stupid and forgive me for being a simpleton -but are you sure there isn't anything stuck in there that shouldn't be ? yep its obvious I know -but if not send it back. Its not right.
Click to expand...

I checked it over completely, and everything is clear. I'll post up the 90° pic Marketing requested, and see what that shows.

~Chris
 
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