Front/Back play on blade solutions?

L

Leo3an

Joined
Dec 21, 2017
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What do you normally do with a linerlock with a front/back play on the blade? Keep it as is? Fix it? Toss it?

I think front/back blade play is from uneven lockface to stop pin level... but im not sure. Just curious what ya’ll do with it commonly.

Thanks
 
It's not just caused by one thing, it can be a combination of things. The entire tang to lock bar mating area can be out of skew a little and then either have a bit of slip, flex, or rock. Also the lock bar can run out of tension thus not letting it travel across to continue wearing into the tang, causing the vertical lock rock. Does it change the knife from a functionality perspective? no, not really. Even at 100% lockup if a frame lock like a sebenza was hitting the opposite side it would do nothing but be an annoyance, you could even argue it would be more secure, even tho that tiny bit of vertical play would annoy the hell out of 99.9% of knife enthusiasts. Unless the vertical play is also causing lock-slip making the knife prone to closing on your fingers with negative pressure, it's just a mechanical annoyance.
 
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Mick_1KRR said:
It's not just caused by one thing, it can be a combination of things. The entire tang to lock bar face can be out of skew a little and then either have a bit of slip, flex, or rock. Also the lock bar can run out of tension thus not letting it travel across to continue wearing into the tang, causing the vertical lock rock. Does it change the knife from a functionality perspective? no, not really. Even at 100% lockup if a frame lock like a sebenza was hitting the opposite side it would do nothing but be an annoyance, you could even argue it would be more secure, even tho that tiny bit of vertical play would annoy the hell out of 99.9% of knife enthusiasts. Unless the vertical play is also causing lock-slip making the knife prone to closing on your fingers with negative pressure, it's just a mechanical annoyance.
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Yes. It is driving me bonkers haha. There is a very small blade play. Horizontal play seems to be easily fixed since there can only be a few problems.. but front/back play seems like a tougher thing to fix.

Was wondering what people do about it.
 
Yeah it can be pretty frustrating sometimes. The only options are usually as follows.

- If the warranty covers defects and it's due to a lock bar defect (mating angle/lock bar tension) send it in for repair.
- Peening the lock bar right near the contact area, this will make the mating part jut out slightly giving some earlier lockup (not recommended unless you're experienced with doing this)
- Increasing tension on the lock bar by bending it carefully (also not recommended unless you know what you're doing)

But like i said earlier, each fix is for a different symptom, so you'd have to pick what suits your issue after examining your lock-up carefully and determining what the issue actually is.
 
There are many tricks to fix or improve this. But there are a few different causes along with those repairs.

If you are willing to cover shipping cost. I will repair the knife for you, for free of course. I will make a post here with photos and a little info showing how I repaired it and what the problem was.

Just send me a visitor message email. I will have fixed the week it comes in.
 
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BellaBlades said:
There are many tricks to fix or improve this. But there are a few different causes along with those repairs.

If you are willing to cover shipping cost. I will repair the knife for you, for free of course. I will make a post here with photos and a little info showing how I repaired it and what the problem was.

Just send me a visitor message email. I will have fixed the week it comes in.
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Thank you BellaBlades. That is a very generous offer. But for me half the fun is messing and tinkering with my knives. It brings me joy to find little things that bug me, peck at it until I figure it out, and fix it or ruin it. The result doesnt matter so much..

But i wanted to say thanks because your offer is genuinely very altruistic. Thank you.
 
Leo3an said:
What do you normally do with a linerlock with a front/back play on the blade? Keep it as is? Fix it? Toss it?

I think front/back blade play is from uneven lockface to stop pin level... but im not sure. Just curious what ya’ll do with it commonly.

Thanks
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What knife is it?
 
craytab said:
What knife is it?
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Itsa GANZO!!!

Haha joke. Its my Ontario RAT 1 in D2 and SOG trident (arc lock). Any side to side was easy to fix by changing out washers & pivots. But not sure what to do with front/back play.
 
Leo3an said:
Itsa GANZO!!!

Haha joke. Its my Ontario RAT 1 in D2 and SOG trident (arc lock). Any side to side was easy to fix by changing out washers & pivots. But not sure what to do with front/back play.
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The rat I would send back to Ontario. They should take care of it. The SOG they may not as a certain amount of play is considered normal in their SAT folders. The SOG is not an arc lock btw. It is a piston lock with an arc actuator. Much different than the arc lock.
 
Leo3an said:
Yes. It is driving me bonkers haha. There is a very small blade play. Horizontal play seems to be easily fixed since there can only be a few problems.. but front/back play seems like a tougher thing to fix.

Was wondering what people do about it.
Click to expand...

This usually works for me, not always obviously.

Take the knife apart and bend the lockbar abit As if you were bending it towards the presentation side scale. The idea is to make it so the spring that is the lockbar is pushing with more tension towards the opposite scale.

I have fixed lockrock as well as lock slip with this. It will almost certainly cause your knife to lock up “later” (higher % lockup) but to me it is worth it.
 
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