Causes of severely off-center slipjoint blades?

O

onebagnomad

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Sep 8, 2009
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I've got a 2008 Case Trapper that I bought new. One of the blades was slightly off-center when I got it. Since then, it has become increasingly off-center to the point that it is now rubbing on the liner and getting scratched up. What could cause a blade to become off-center over time? The knife has not been abused, pinched in a vice, or anything like that. I'm a little at a loss.
 
If you've been carrying the knife in a back pocket, and sitting on it, that would do it. I say this, because that's exactly what's happened to my Case Backpocket.
 
Is the blade loose (have wobble) when opened and/or closed? Is the blade straight or bent?
 
I don't mean to steel this thread but I have the same problem as the op, my knife is a case jack the main blade was centered but after a few mounths of on an off carry an even less use, the blade is now slighty rubbing the liner. Their is no wobble after the blade is open, an it's not bent.
 
The blade has no play in it and appears straight. I think moonwilson may be on to something; I did carry it a few times in the ol' back pocket. I never imagined that my flyweight self could put enough weight on it to pinch it out of alignment.
 
Multiblade folders have their blades offset, or "crinked" so that they will both fold into the liners without interference.
 
onebagnomad said:
I don't understand why the blades would face any interference. Can you elaborate on this?
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No such interference, in this case.

This 'crinked' thing doesn't apply to your knife (trapper), since yours has just two blades, side-by-side, each with it's own backspring. What he's likely referring to is, on a knife such as a stockman (3 blades, with only 2 backsprings), one of the two opposing blades sharing the same backspring would have to be 'crinked' (bent) inwards towards the center, so as to avoid colliding with the opposing blade sharing the same backspring. On a stockman, this 'crinked' blade is usually the sheepsfoot, crinked inwards to allow the spey (at the other end of the same spring) to close.

I can't say for sure what is causing the off-center drift of your blade, can only speculate. The only thing that comes to mind, is perhaps there's some axial slop in the pivot that's gotten a little looser over time, or the pivot hole through the blade wasn't drilled perfectly straight (perpendicular). But that's just speculating. If it were me, I'd give Case a call. They have a pretty decent reputation for finding a way to make it right, whatever the cause.
 
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onebagnomad said:
The blade has no play in it and appears straight. I think moonwilson may be on to something; I did carry it a few times in the ol' back pocket. I never imagined that my flyweight self could put enough weight on it to pinch it out of alignment.
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My not so flyweight self found this to be true. I am about 280, and I had this same problem with a CASE trapper I had years ago that I put in my back pocket when at work.

Being a typical no-assed kind of guy, the knife wasn't even felt in my work jeans, so it slipped in and out with no problems sitting right at the bottom of the pocket. Through the layers of denim and with no sharp edges, I barely felt that knife even when sitting down.

But after a couple of days, I thought I had bent the blades some way as they quit lining up. I didn't lend this knife to anyone, so I knew it was something I did.

Sure was. Bent the case, not the blades. The blades were safely protected inside the case of the knife. However, I found that the brass liners and overall case were slightly bent after I put a metal straight edge to it. Actually, it just torqued one side; the back, spring side of the knife was fine.

The blade rubbed the rest of the time I had that knife as I could never figure out how to straighten the liners without breaking off the scales or making it worse. As soon as I quit carrying it in my back pocket, the problem never got worse.

Robert
 
midnight flyer said:
Sure was. Bent the case, not the blades. The blades were safely protected inside the case of the knife. However, I found that the brass liners and overall case were slightly bent after I put a metal straight edge to it. Actually, it just torqued one side; the back, spring side of the knife was fine.

The blade rubbed the rest of the time I had that knife as I could never figure out how to straighten the liners without breaking off the scales or making it worse. As soon as I quit carrying it in my back pocket, the problem never got worse.

Robert
Click to expand...

This makes a lot of sense to me. The brass liners, being thin and soft (relatively), probably would be most likely to bend/warp/move. Movement of the liners might wallow out the hole (in the liner) for the pivot pin, too.
 
Thanks for explaining it for me. I overlooked "trapper." Sorry
 
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