Extra Stiff Backspring

Thomason

Thomason

Joined
Nov 28, 2002
Messages
9,375
Are there any tricks you guys know to lighten up a stiff backspring? I have one that takes the term nail-breaker to a new level. I gotta do something because it is almost useless to me the way it is now.
 
What kind of knife is it? Can you easily take it apart?
 
waynorth - It's a swell center moose that Vintage Knives had made marked with their name. I'm really not sure who made it other than maker was in the US. I really like the knife except for the issue with one of the blades. I am looking for an option other than trying to take it apart. There are no half stops. Some say leaving it partially open with the back spring under tension helps and some say it does not. Right now I am using some oil and working the blade action and it feels like I am making some progress. It is like this one but without the prototype marking of course. Nice knife.
 
Thomason, I was thinking of picking up one of those,Strong spring,huh?What do you think about the knife overall?
 
Ah, I got one of those from Billy at Vintageknives too! He's quite proud of his new Miss. brand! Nice knife; and I too chewed up my nail on mine! That's a hard one to alter without taking it apart, and a hard one to take apart. Believe it or not, working it WITHOUT oil is a way of wearing down the tang a bit, but you might wear some parts you don't want to wear. So oil it, then use a Q-tip to reach in and wipe the tang and then work it. The idea is to put some miles on the surface that rubs the spring, as you probably know.
 
I think those knives are made by Queen. I haven't ever talked to Billy, I guess I need to, I only live two hours away! I would like to get one myself.
 
VCM3 - Overall I do like the knife. 1095 and ebony, very well done. I just have to work through the spring issue and loosen that sucker up.

waynorth - I'll give the dry working a shot, sounds reasonable. Thanks, sir.

Bartleby - Give that kid a cookie and have one for yourself:)

sgbeskin - I'll bet you are correct about Queen/Schatt-Morgan being the maker. Vintage Knives is one of my favorite outfits and Billy seems like a really good guy.
 
Billy's very accomodating. If it's still unused, send it back and ask him for a different one. Otherwise, put it in your pocket and use it for everything and play with it while watching TV for 3 weeks and it'll be broken in. That's what I do with the occasional S&M that's a nailbreaker.
 
Thomason said:
Are there any tricks you guys know to lighten up a stiff backspring? I have one that takes the term nail-breaker to a new level. I gotta do something because it is almost useless to me the way it is now.
Click to expand...


Thomason-
Buzzbait had a great thread on how to break slips in effectively. I'll try to find it.
 
Thanks Dijos, I appreciate that. I searched some but did not come up with much. I'm making a little progress I think but it's slow going.


Edited - Well I searched for threads by buzzbait and found one about his method for stiff slip joints. It was in response to a question asked by some goofy doofus named Thomason back in January of "04:rolleyes:
 
I don't have any remedies, but the subject brings Case 6308 Whittlers to mind. I've owned several, and none were easy to open, some were just harder to open than others:rolleyes: I had a 4 dot '76 and it was next to impossible to open the master blade.
 
Hey, can you paste in a link? I don't know how to search for a date yet; thanks Thomason
 
Gentlemen, thank you both!
I think the thing to remember is, you are wearing down the steel to lessen the spring pressure. So to save time, and wear on the pivot pin, i like the idea of removing as much lubricant from the tang/spring surfaces as possible, without de-lubing anthing else.
 
I don't think you're wearing down the tang when "breaking in a slipjoint". The spring tension will not change with the tang being a hundreds of inch smaller. What you are really working is the spring and springs lose some initial tension and then settle in for the long haul. They still lose tension over time through use.

I wouldn't wash any knife or spray it down with WD40. Oils can bring dust and dirt into the cracks and can stain the ends of light colored bone (particularly white bone.) This has happened to me more than once. You can blow out dust. A little mineral oil as a lubricant is safe for all handle materials. Wipe off all extra.
 
Hmm, I think you have something there brownshoe, but I also think speeding up the "break in" of the knife by repeatedly rubbing the tang and spring together with little or no lubricant will rub off high spots, and fit or bed the pieces together, which should ease the effort of opening the blade. If it's all about wearing the spring in to slightly weaken it, then leaving the knife open where the spring is "sprung" the most should be the answer. Interestingly, I left a couple of 45ACP clips fully loaded for 10-11 years! (I know, firearm abuse!). But I couldn't detect any spring weakness when I found them finally, and tested them out. Worked perfectly and took a lot of pressure to reload them.
The effectiveness of any of this will depend on how well the blade and spring are made, and matched in temper.
 
From what little is remembered of high school, we were taught that the reason why a wire, when flexed repeated, will be springy, then flexible and then break is that somehow the atoms (or is it molecules) go from a planar distribution that is flexible and stronge to a more random, (possibly crystalline?) structure which then breaks. The other example of the phenomena was the spring on the screen door that slams first, closes OK later and then needs to be replaced.
 
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