Bladeplay, how much do you tolerate and how to remove it?

Yes, phonebooks are only for knives now :-). Lockbacks will have bladeplay in the vertical direction, but a well made one will not. It's acceptable though and doesn't bother me. My 110 has a little bit of play, nothing serious. Let us know how it goes!
 
Sonnydaze said:
Booo hisss. My Para2 with 20CP is PURRFECT. Your blade play is the first I've heard about in PM2's. Shoulda sent it to Sal.
Sonny
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i had a digi camo and one like your. both had play.
have you checked by grabing the tip?
 
As far a removing lock rock - I've had it taken out by simply tightening the pivot before but most of the time it will require bending the lock bar. I have had luck loosening all the screws, including the handle screws , along with the pivot, then applying some torq on the handles with opposing front to back force on the scales, holding it then retightening the screws. I have also disassembled and reassembled and it went away. The problem with this is you could void the warranty depending on the MFG. This can also resolve uncentered blades sometimes too . . .
 
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short said:

How much bladeplay do you tolerate.
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I don't tolerate any bladeplay. :thumbdn: :mad: :thumbdn:



That's why I almost always use fixed blade knives these days, :thumbup:

...any folder worth trusting costs lots more then a quality fixed blade. :eek:




Big Mike
 
mantzao said:
i had a digi camo and one like your. both had play.
have you checked by grabing the tip?
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Para 2 is one of my all time favorite knives but about half of the ones that have passed through my hands have had slight side to side. Can't stand it, but it's the ONLY knife I'll tolerate any in.
 
Phonebook didn't do the job. No scratches nor anything else on bolster but it simply didn't adjust anything for me. I stopped after the bookcover started ripping from concentrated hammer blows.
It's still the same somewhat wobbly knife :( ... But I am now more than confident, this knife is quite a lot stronger than it looks.

Still looking for good ideas how to reduce bladeplay without damaging or abusing a folder?
 
Reeek said:
As far a removing lock rock - I've had it taken out by simply tightening the pivot before but most of the time it will require bending the lock bar. I have had luck loosening all the screws, including the handle screws , along with the pivot, then applying some torq on the handles with opposing front to back force on the scales, holding it then retightening the screws. I have also disassembled and reassembled and it went away. The problem with this is you could void the warranty depending on the MFG. This can also resolve uncentered blades sometimes too . . .
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This I agree with. I don't know for certain but I think this is probably the same thing (putting more bend into the liner) a knife company would do if the knife is sent in for warranty work, and I'm addressing the Lock/Rock issue.

As far as bladeplay goes, it is NOT tolerated at my house, and I have a zero tolerance policy for it.
 
Sonnydaze said:
Yessir, I have. ZERO blade play by the tip; near as I can tell.
Sonny
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All three PM2s that I have had had blade play. and two were sprints. I love that knife so much I deal with it. But my brown/black skyline has zero : )
 
I absolutely despise it! One of the many reasons why I only buy customs and so far I've never had a custom with any amount of blade play in any direction.

I like that your question is open OP, I think it's very interesting to hear other peoples opinions and experiences on this topic.
 
I have a Buck 112 that had side-to-side blade play, it has a pivot pin just like the 501 I believe. Basically what needs to be done is, one end of the pivot pin has to be raised above the level of the bolster so that the end of the pin can be peened down, this will tighten the pivot.

Here's what I did--

First you need a flat metal surface to act as an anvil. Naturally an anvil would be perfect but a piece of plate steel should work as well. Hold the knife so that one end of the pivot pin is pressing down against your "anvil". Using a ball peen hammer, tap on the bolster on the opposite side (the bolster that is facing up). Tap around the pin, you don't want to hit the pin with the hammer (not yet). By tapping the bolster around the pin this will force the bolster down and raise the end of the pin. When you notice the end of the pin sticking up above the level of the bolster, lay the knife on your "anvil" just as before, only this time you want to hammer the pin not the bolster, this will peen the end of the pin down and should result in a tighter pivot.

Before doing this I would suggest covering the handle slab with a strip of masking tape. You could also tape the bolsters but wether or not the tape actually protects the bolsters depends on how hard you have to hit the bolster to raise the pin. In any event, you're likely going to have to buff out any marks on the bolster.

If you don't like the method I described, and if sending it back to the manufacture is not feasible, try to find a cutlery shop in your area that can fix it. Other options might be a jewelry or watch repair shop.
 
It all depends on the knife. If it's something like my Enlan, it's a $12 knife, so it's to be expected. But something like a made in Japan or USA Spyderco, I'd take issue with nearly anyway.
 
I have a Buck custom 501 with no blade play and I would not accept what should be a better knife with any blade play.

I have and will send knives back to Buck or any manufacture with blade play right out of the box.

How ever I have found several Buck knives that had blade play that all I had to do was clean the grease out of the pivot area. It looks like there may be some of their assemblers that use more of the grease/lapping compound than others and I think that prevents the pivot area from seating completely when it is pressed together. I had read this and did not believe it until I tried it for myself.

I use Benchmade Blue Lube to rinse the compound out. I put a few drops in to soften the compound and then work it open and closed. You will see the oil turn dirty/gritty and I wipe that off, as you continue take a paper towel (it’s thin and absorbs well) and slide it into the pivot area from all sides to absorb the gritty oil. When the oil you are soaking up is clean you have all the grit out and you should find opening and closing the blade several times will allow it to seat tighter. Although this did not work on every knife I have tried, it did work on most. It’s worth a try and the oil can’t hurt anything.

The 501 is great knife and a perfect carry size, good luck
 
Zero bladeplay is the only acceptable ammount. If my spyderco militaries can do it at their price point so can everyone else
 
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