How To Can I loosen up a slipjoint knife after it has been completed?

[ErikMB]

I bought several French Laguiole slipjoint knives from Ebay. They are pretty nice but the blade and corkscrew are very tight. It is almost impossible to open the corkscrew and the blade is also pretty hard to open. Both snap shut too forcibly, as well. I am typing without using one of my fingers right now because it is bleeding and wrapped in a paper towel.

Worth noting is that the pin for the corkscrew is covered by the scale so I can't just just tap it loose by peening on it without supporting the other side (which worked for me on another knife with the same problem).

Is it possible to loosen up these blades and corkscrews without marking up the knives? Thanks for your advice!

 

[Hackenslash]

I’m not knowledgeable enough to really offer advice, but seeing that you’ve had no responses so far, I wanted to offer some comment.

First and foremost; your knife vendor. I avoid eBay as a knife supplier unless I know the vendor I’m buying from. From that cesspool of clones you’re as likely to have bought a “laguiole style knife” as a genuine Laguiole knife.

Secondly, my Traditional knife game is weak, but I believe that pinned knives, like your Laguiole, aren’t very adjustable. Don’t try to loosen the pivot in any way.

Your best bet would be to try to lubricate the pivot (simple mineral oil will work and is actually preferable if you plan to use the knife for food prep). Once you know it’s not running dry, try to work the action constantly. Fire up a movie on Netflix and work the pivot to see if it breaks in. My wife has learned to live with my Fidget-Knife-Fetish!

Finally, consider posting this in our Traditional Knives sub-forum. There’s a lot of friendly, knowledgeable folks there who can help you way more than I can.

Good luck and welcome to Blade Forums!

 

[davek14]

Is it a too strong spring, or is it a tight pivot (with possible gunk, corrosion, etc.). Sounds like the spring. Let us know.

 

[willard0341]

I wrap a paper towel around the blade and work back and forth adding copious amounts of your favorite oil (rem oil). Wont help with the spring tension but it is good general chi'
If the pivot pin is peened tight the oil and constant opening and closing may help. A shallow nail nick with a radiused ledge and stout spring can be frustrating.

 

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With the blade/tool fully open use a well fitting file the same width as the pivot to slowly grind the pivot of the blade/tool to ease its resistance to open.
Where you are removing metal from is at the point the pivot first engages the spring. In doing this it has less spring tension and is easier to open. Works well but beware you don't need to remove much and you will need to extensively flush and re lube several times when done.
This works on half stops and ordinary opening knives. With half stops it's easier as you have a square 90 deg edge to file but works fine on ordinary too but is slightly more time consuming.
Hopefully these pics explain better than my woeful attempts at explaining




I've even done this on a new gec two blade jack that was annoyingly hard to open. Took 5 mins total.
Ps: all the above assumes you have not got an excessively peened pivot that is tight and is binding the blade. If so I tend to attempt to space the pivot apart slightly using careful leverage.

 

[ErikMB]

Wow! You guys are fantastic! Thanks so much for the advice! And the pictures!

I'm pretty sure it is the spring. There's no gunk in there and the blade and corkscrew snap into position very hard. There's a lot of potential energy that turns kinetic, if that makes sense.

 

[The Zieg]

I have only one Laguiole knife, but I have done a mountain of reading about them. The first thing to know is that there is no genuine Laguiole knife. The Laguiole is a pattern, a style, traditional to the region and named after the town of Laguiole. If I make one here in Colorado, it is a Laguiole. If my friend in Lahore makes one, it is a Laguiole. If my friend in Thiers makes one, it is a Laguiole. Think of it like an M1911. I can get a Colt, Ruger, Canik, RIA, and so forth. They're all 1911s now and many of them are good, solid workhorses if not outstanding. My RIA is a fine example, proudly made in Cebu City, Philippines.

My Laguiole, made in France by Le Sabot, is a lower end model and had the same problem as yours. Time and use will solve your problem, but in the meantime you can try this solution that helped me. Open the blade to the midpoint, of the backspring's strongest tension and leave it there overnight. Check it in the morning. Carry it all day and use it when you need it. Repeat for a few weeks. This makes NO sense given what we know about springs, but I'll be damned if it didn't loosen up that backspring.

As for the corkscrew, you can do the same, but don't fiddle with it too much as it won't get as much use unless you are a wine drinking alcoholic. It will do well to stay tight and out of the way.

How bout some pics of your knives?

 

[ErikMB]

That's not a bad idea. I'll try it. Thanks.

I have a few Au Sabot knives, too. They're pretty well made but not especially fancy.

Here's the Maki. I like it despite the spine.

 

[Modoc ED]

Both snap shut too forcibly

Stop letting them snap shut. Some of these knives have blade stops - some do not. If they do not have a blade stop, you will start getting a divot in the blade edge. Until you make sure they have a blade stop, walk them shut gently and slowly. Further, it never hurts to slow walk a knife blade closed blade stop or no blade stop.

 

[ErikMB]

Don't worry, I don't snap the blade. I actually added a little blade stop by adding a tiny little shim inside the gutter (not on the blade).