Blade on folder wont re-center?

TexasNativeDRJH

TexasNativeDRJH

Joined
Dec 4, 2005
Messages
1,468
Hey guys, I just took apart and properly reassembled my zytel tilite to clean it, and now the blade will not re-center itself in the handle despite rearranging the washers in every configuration possible. It uses flimsy plastic (teflon maybe?) washers that I assume must have gotten warped in the process. Are there any metal alternatives out there? I would love to have some phosphorous bronze washers for it but I dont know the proper way to measure washers. Do you measure the inside diameter? Aaah, I might just throw it away. Any suggestions guys????
 
You have to know the inside diameter so it will properly fit on the pivot but you also have to know the thickness. If .010 and you stick a .5 in there you will not get it to work correctly.

Sometimes the teflon or nylon washers get tweaked from the pivot pin putting a gouge in it on the way in. If so you may have a lip that formed on the washer that is enough to cause the blade to not center.

Also, if it does have a small lip or a damaged area you may or may not be able to get it to go back to shape by sticking it in hot water. Not boiling. Just tap water hot.

Soak it for a few and see if it goes back to its original shape. If not Cold Steel can probably replace it.

Also you may want to make sure you stuck the pivot pin back in correctly. Some knives are made so the screw side has to go back in the way it was originally. If it has a screw on both sides that probably isn't the case but I thought I'd throw that out there.

STR
 
Tried the water thing but its still off center. The only thing I can think of is that when I had the blade off I polished the pivot area to make it open easier by the thumbstud. I used a felt wheel on a dremel at 20,000 rpm with some Flitz polish. Could that have warped the surface? If its no longer flat that could be why it is off center, but I did keep it moving and not staying in one place long.
 
I dont' think that would hurt it but it depends on the thinness of the liner.

Could you have lost a washer? Some knives are tuned with more than one on one side at times. I've seen several Spydercos that had two or even three washers on one side and just one on the other.

STR
 
When this happens to me, I can generally fix it by flexing the knife (when open) with the pivot screw loose. Then I check centering.

I slowly tighten the pivot screw while doing the flexing routine until the "right" tightness is attained.

Usually works.
 
Many times it is simply that you didn't put the washer on correctly. It may be sitting up on the pivot on one side or the other instead of sitting over and seated around it like it is supposed to be.

STR
 
Have you called Cold Steel? They might have some suggestions. My CS Night Force uses these washers, but my Ti-Lite VI has metal washers. Maybe there has been a design change. CS might be able to send you metal washers if that's what you want, but the Teflon(?) washers give a smoother opening if it's valid to campare the Night Force to the Ti-Lite.
 
I have found on several knives I have taken apart that when putting them back together they would do this.. This may or may not help .. but to solve mine from doing this.. I re-assemble the knife with the blade in the open position with the liner against the tang.( Like as if it were locked open) Then after I get the screws just barley snug... I close the knife and snap it open really good.. This seems to line everything back up.. then with it still locked open .. Tighten the screws down .. Hope this helps.. it has worked on mine several times.. Sorry if I didn't explain it very well..
 
Make sure (I'm assuming this is your average screw fastened linerlock here) that all the screws are torqued down evenly, sometimes if you just tighten some down too much or too little the handle warps a little, causing the blade to be off center.
 
Does it lock open straight (ish)? If so don't sweat it as long as it isn't hitting the liner or handle. Use it until there isn't any blade left and buy another new one, that's my motto.
 
Well, if I remember correctly the ti-lite has a full lenght spacer? Usually a full lenght spacer will make everything line up correctly, but not always so. You may not have gotten all the screws tightened down evenly, this can cause a blade to become off center. But it also could be that the washers are warped, worn, or you may have overtightened the pivot screw (this can crush the washers, if the are teflon, or nylatron).

Now since it does not use backspacers, but a full length spacer, it should not make that much of a difference (maybe slightly), so you may want to go ahead and disassemble it again and just make sure when you put it back together that the screws are tightened evenly. Then if that makes no difference I would measure the thickness of the washers with a machinists gauge and go to knifekits.com and buy the appropriate size washers.
 
I'm betting you don't have a washer seated around the pivot pin like it supposed to be on one side of the blade, probably the screw head side. It is hard to convey what I mean but if the washer moved by lifting up and sitting on the pivot shaft instead of over it when putting the knife back together it is keeping the body from going all the way together now. This scenario will cause exactly what you have described as well as lateral blade movement when it happens.

STR
 
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