Blade play on a Buck 501 Squire

R

RKH

Joined
Oct 29, 2005
Messages
799
I read your post on Blade forum on the 501 and I ordered a 501. Love the knife. Bought my first around 1978. You are righr buck needs to add a clip and a thumb stud to this knife. My new 501 has a little sideplay. Blade play is not excesive but it bothers me. Any way to fix it with out sending it in. Thanks.

RKH
 
Yes but I doubt it will be permanent unless you send it in to them. Most of those are only going to exhibit a minimum of lateral play, which you actually need to allow the spring to work effectively and keep the point from peeking up out of hiding between the liners when closed. It sounds like yours may have a bit more than is within tolerance so its probably best to make it a warranty call. Now, if its an older 440C model my friend, make sure you cover the fact that you do not just want a new knife mailed to you but that you insist this one be fixed up to your liking. I don't know Buck's policy here but its not an apples to apples trade off to settle for one of the new ones compared to those older Micarta handled two or three pin 440C blade models, not by a long shot IMO.

For what its worth I bought a new one not long ago to compare to my older models and although its nice enough, and certainly within acceptable tolerances there are subtle differences between them besides things like more lateral movement in the pivot compared to the old ones and perhaps being stiffer to open. I find that that I like the used ones I've snagged from ebay with the red Micarata scales also referred to as Buckarta handles. Those have been hit or miss though. I mean now and then you get one sharpened down more than you like or could tell from the pics or its needing a major cleaning. Only once have I bought one that was not worth what I paid. Most of them turn out to be very nice little folders.


STR
 
Thanks Steve. Play is not bad so I might use it for a while and send it in. Have a good day.

RKH
 
What normally happens on those type pins where the heads are not really peened per say like you see on Spyderco FRN and other folders of that nature where the head is bigger than the rest of the pin is that they just redevelop the play after you adjust it on those made as your Buck or one of the all stainles Spydercos. Most of those like your Buck find a sweet spot once you work with them and use them a bit and they break in and usually they stay there. Its harder to pry one of those types of folders apart than most would think since the tolerances are high and the pins fit very well so its not really needed to peen the heads and I don't recommend that although some have tried it. It usually backfires and they get carried away making it very hard to open the blade since they overpeen but the good news is you have to really get carried away with one to deform the head to make that tightness permanent. Most work out and get easier to open and close pretty quickly since they usually seem to tend to drift back to that same sweet spot eventually unless like I say, the person that did it got really carried away with the hammer.

If its like the others I've owned and seen what is there now in the way of blade play should be all that is ever there. The only exceptions are if they are really used a lot for prying and leverage type uses of the blade in harder uses than it is made to handle, otherwise I think it should be pretty much stable for you.

STR
 
The old 501's are really sweet. On the one I have (purchased from Steve), if I hold the open knife horizontal and depress the lock, the blade acts just like a pendulum - it swings down and then up, almost locking itself. :D
 
Hi Delrin Fred. I forgot about that but you are absolutley right. I had a 501 in the seventies and it would do that. STR, If I remember my old 501 was with out any play when I bought new and it developed some blade play but never kept the 501 from being a great little carry/use knife. I think you are right the one I just bought about the play in the pivot area. I think the play is about the same. These knives just feel so good in the hand. STR, can you put a thumb stud and a clip on this one like the one you showed on Blade Forums? Thanks.

RKH
 
I'm sure I can yes sir. I agree the 501 by Buck is without a doubt one of my top three favorite folding models of all time. I believe Buck could really hit one out of the park by coming out with that exact same knife with the updates I've been adding to it but they don't listen to me. Hell, I post there and they don't even answer my questions. :thumbdn:

STR
 
STR, Thanks. I will play/use the knife a while and then send it to you. I am real fan of that knife and think the clip and thumb stud would be a excellent improvement on the 501. I will PM you when I send the 501 to you.

RKH
 
Sounds good my friend. Thanks

STR
 
STR,
Is it feasible to drill out the pivot pin and insert a torx screw to get rid of the lateral play in the blade?

Van
 
Chances are Van that even if you did you'd have to adjust it such that it still had a bit of play in it. If you tightened it up to take all the play out the spring could not do what it is supposed to in the way of keeping the good snap in the blade to keep the point down once its closed and in the pocket.

I've run into this on some models I used to rebuild and then quit because of this. The Native by Spyderco is problematic this way and you have to really sturggle sometimes to find that sweet spot for just the right tension to make the blade safe in the closed position, yet set up such that it still has minimal lateral movement. What sucks about this is that eventually from use the loctite if you use it, just stops working and the tension you set is not there anymore so you end up having to mess with it again later to reset it. I ran into a few that were just not very satisfying and it finally made me just stop working on that model for rebuilds.

Some of the pinned models can be hard to switch over to a pivot that is adjustable but its most always ones with the spring set up where its more of a weaker snap to begin with. You can't tell how strong the spring is or guess the snap it will create by the diameter of it either. Its got a lot to do with the position of it, the bend it has if any, and the length. It can be a bigger around diameter and still not have the snap of a smaller one in diameter that is shorter. The Native spring is quite long and although its technically a beefy spring it doens't have the snap of the Lava which is much smaller.

The 501 being a gents folder is not equipped with the biggest spring and its also situated such that it only has so much snap, so its probably not going to be able to completely muscle the blade point down without help if the pivot was too tight. Thats my best guess anyway. I hope that all makes sense.
 
STR,
I think I understand what you're saying. Sure did seem like a good idea at the time. Like you said, too bad Buck doesn't make one with thumb stud and maybe all screw construction. Thanks for taking the time to explain!

Van
 
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