Did you ever have to file your kick down on your traditional?

W.M.B. said:



You can get the idea a bit better if you visualize it.
In my not very precise demonstration, it works out to be more like 1/2. I took 2/16 off the kick, and it dropped the spring about 1/16
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Which knife did you adjust the kick on?
 
csisland said:
The knife I have and had the kick filed down on is the Northwoods Fremont Jack. I was told that the kick doesn't affect the position of the back spring or liners.
So if this was untrue, they wouldn't have filed the kick because it would have caused the spring to dip down a little, right?
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There's no absolute truth or untruth in this, and there's no guarantee either way. With knives of good design and manufacture, many won't have any issue with the spring dropping, because the spring will rest firmly against the tang and flush to the liners when the blade is closed, and not just resting against the kick alone. But the design and manufacture of the knife can affect it either way; if it's not so good, the pivot geometry and tolerances might create a problem that wouldn't otherwise happen on a better knife.

Bottom line, if one is wanting to file the kick down, be prepared to own the results, be they good or bad.


David
 
csisland said:
Which knife did you adjust the kick on?
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I was referring to the demonstration pictured, but I have done it to a few of mine. Most recently, I reworked an old hawkbill, and in that project, I drastically reshaped the blade. To keep the tip within the liners, I had to grind the kick so much that I had to regrind the hollow between the kick and the tang corner to make it close well, and still have a kick for future adjustment. The back spring is pretty well flush when closed, but proud a bit while open, since I shaped the handle and liners while it was closed. In order to make the spring flush in both positions, I would have had to grind from the other side of the tang, and then shape the handle/liners. I could not think of a way to grind the other side of the tang cleanly with the tools I have, so I settled for it the way it is.
 
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If the spring did drop, it dropped a hair. It seems to be perfect on one side and than on the side with the kick a hair off, the spring that is.. I'm not even sure if it was like this before I sent it in. Who knows... The spring is probably fine and I'm making a big deal out of nothing.
 
Unless you take a lot off, or measure with great precision, it is not going to be noticeable. And even if it did drop, so little that you are not really sure that it did, it does not affect the knife. I
 
As far as what is used at the factory, most likely they use one of the belt grinders. We use a Kari Grinder at the shop, which is a 1x30 grinder with a flat vertical platen. Takes a second or two and you're good to go. At home a file is the most common tool for the job, if you've got a kick that requires a quite a bit of filing, it'd be best to clamp the blade in a vise as close to the bolster as possible. Wrap a rag or thin piece of leather (like a chamois), which is more grippy, over the clamped part of the blade to protect it.

As for the spring dropping between the scales, you're not going to see a noticeable drop unless you take quite a bit off the kick, or unless you've got a tang/spring configuration where the slight difference in resting angle will have a great effect on the spring position. You just have to realize that this is something that's unavoidable over time and is part of how knives are designed. In use, as the tool they were designed for, a dropped spring is totally unnoticeable and is preferable to being stabbed by an exposed point or having to grind a blade back down (and drastically shorten the blade) in order to get the point to drop below the scales.

The two "corners" of the tang are the critical areas when trying to get the springs flush. They're dressed to a gauge (normally) that has pre-determined marks so that you know how much to take off to reach that critical equilibrium. When a knife is assembled, the kick is normally adjusted when necessary before The backspring is ground down. This way once the knife back is ground (normally with the blades closed), there won't be any problems with spring height. Of course a slight adjustment is normally required once the blades are edged, but it's usually to little to make a noticeable difference. The reason a spring drops when you grind the kick is because you're altering one end of the fulcrum. When the kick is ground, the blade, which pivots on the blade pin, drops. This causes the back of the tang to rise, like a seesaw. Since the spring actually rests on these two points, it follows the tang into the knife. It has nothing to do with how well a knife is designed, some patterns are more pronounced than others due to their geometry, but it'll happen to them all to some extent.

Eric
 
Here's a quick little illustration of what I was referring to above:

25qaddx.jpg
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Eric
 
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You guys should write technical journals. No wait...then the explanations would not be as clear.

Good stuff.

I know that when you pay good money for a new knife you want perfection, but that ain't happening in this day and age without paying a lot.

Got a new truck once and was babying the thing. A friend told me to throw a chain in the bed and drive around for a week so I would have a truck I would use.
 
Reading through this topic, got me wondering if anyone ever had to remove metal from the kick of a swiss army knife?
 
File the kick? Yep. Often. Especially if the blade point is a hair too high. Also makes the Stockman more comfortable to hold when using. Dremel works great with one of the grinding stones.
 
None of you seem to worry much about the spring on the opposite side of the kick. Guess it's the nature of the beast. As long as you don't go crazy and take it slow and very little, shouldn't be a problem. Do any of you see any slight difference in the underside spring after the kick was worked on?
 
I have checked all the knives I have ground down the kick on, the backspring position was not noticeably affected on any. I should make a disclaimer, I will only modify my cheaper knives myself, anything I was afraid of ruining I would send back to the maker.
 
Well, I did it - I filed down the kick on my Case Sowbelly. It is very nice now. The sheepsfoot now sits just high enough for the nail nick to still be accessible. I did have to file down the brass liner a little on the back as it was then a little proud of the springs.

 
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I do it on every stockman pattern that comes my way. I prefer the sheepfoot blade spine to ne parallel with the spine of the main blade, and so far I haven't found one that didn't need it.
 
[/URL[URL=http://s8.photobucket.com/user/kleingra/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20140928_143410_zps6b863e23.jpg.html]
Before and after shots of my Medium Stockman. Used the file on my Leatherman tool and went super slow. I was really nervous about trying, but I'm glad I did it. Before the sheepsfoot was so proud it was uncomfortable to use any other blades. I think this will make the knife much more useable and enjoyable. As you can see I lowered it quite a bit. No noticeable effect on the backspring.
 
yep, i did...adjusted the small blades on my jumbo stockman to ride as deep as the big blade (before it was uncomfortable in hand)
bHbG9Qs.jpg
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yes, otherwise the spey blade would have been uncomfortable to open. did it with a dremel and sand paper and polished it out
 
pertinux said:
Yup!

I lowered the sheepsfoot blade on my #66 Calf Roper by slowly and keerfully sanding its kick.
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IMG_2189.jpg

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~ P.
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Kleingra said:
Pertinux, I love that picture with the licorice. Beautiful knife and really great photo idea. The scales match the candy almost perfectly.
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Yes. Nice concept and well executed -- a classic.

I lowered the sheepsfoot blade on just one knife, a #66 also.

_MG_2841.jpg~original
 
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