Gaps between backsprings

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EDCanAdamas

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Sep 8, 2013
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Traditional knife gurus,

I have noticed that with some older traditional knives, spanning several different patterns, that there are spaces between the brass liners and the steel backsprings that are not there on brand new traditionals. Is this normal? These gaps tend to collect dirt and debris, and are about as thick as the edge of index-card paper. I have been cleaning out the debris, should I leave it in so it fills the gap?
 
Sometimes it is sloppy construction but not always. Sometimes the knives are worn out. And there are also a lot of parts knives that were made by individuals, not old knife companies.

Leaving dirt and debris fill the gaps is not going to have any benefit. It might trap moisture and lead to rust.

Some old knives don't have any gaps.
 
I have a knife or two with the gaps that you speak of. Mine are all newer knives. Maybe 2000 and later. I don't have a big problem with debris getting caught in there but I do clean out the gaps periodically with an old spark plug feeler gauge.
 
EDCanAdamas said:
Traditional knife gurus,

I have noticed that with some older traditional knives, spanning several different patterns, that there are spaces between the brass liners and the steel backsprings that are not there on brand new traditionals. Is this normal? These gaps tend to collect dirt and debris, and are about as thick as the edge of index-card paper. I have been cleaning out the debris, should I leave it in so it fills the gap?
Click to expand...

It seems normal to me. I grew up using medium grade traditional knives with Delrin handles. Vintage would be 1960's. Camillus, Imperial, and Schrade. There were sometimes gaps. Since it didn't impede the functioning of the knife, nobody gave a whistle about it. I never worried about whether flotsam filled the gaps or not. I was too busy using the knife to notice.

The level of perfection demanded by current knife-knuts would not have been met by most common knives of that time period.
 
Agree with Frank. I would say pre-2000 Case, Eye, HR, Queen, Boker, etc. it was more the standard than the anomaly. Not that you could watch TV thru them, but they just didn't spend their time trying to get water-tight backsprings. It has only been the last 10-15 years that customers have become critical enough of this cosmetic issue to modify the factories view.
 
Most of my GECs don't have perfect backsprings either. Maybe a couple don't show light. I bought them new from a reputable dealer.
 
Just about everything I own has flush backsprings and I have a variety from GEC, Case, Queen, Rough Rider, and Boker. The only exception is Remington, and I admit I was shocked when I got them. I got a Powderhorn toothpick and a banana trapper and both had gaps you could put an index card in, were horribly off center and were full of dirt and grit you could hear and feel when opening them, ...and I bought them new! Last Remingtons I'll ever buy.

I do tend to collect new, not vintage (though a few I have are from the early 1990s) so I'm unaware of changing tolerances.
 
This was an issue I never noticed until reading online, and then it became an instant attention grabber. When you see a knife that's perfect, and then one that's bad, you can't help but notice, after you have learned to check. It's galling especially when the knife with no gaps cost $35, and the one with gaps was $85. Most knives today seem to be pretty well made in this regard though.
 
Seems to me, at least from what I've seen here on the forums, that a mass produced knife, be it a Frost, Schrade family brand, Case, Buck, Rough Rider, or whatever, if it has gaps, the knife is "unacceptable". Knives from Queen, GEC, CSC, etc. with the same or worse gaps, is "acceptable" because they are (allegedly) "hand made".
It makes no sense to me that a (allegedly) hand made knife should be held to a lower standard of quality than a mass produced knife.
(bad/uneven/missing grinds on a "hand made" knife also seem to be acceptable.)
 
The only traditional brands I've seen that had perfectly flush backsprings and no gaps are customs and most of the Bose collaborations. I could get loose leaf paper in the gaps of my Tribal Spear, ebony covers, couldn't watch TV through it though. Anyway, I sent it in to Case and they took care of it. Springs that aren't flush, not a big issue, I overcame my OCD of that with production, and overcame it recently with customs. Gaps though, that's a different story with me on brand new knives, whether custom or production.

On old knives though, that's a different story. I had a spear point Remington barlow I found, original barlow from the 1930s, that had a nub of a pen blade left. I had someone remove the nub and one of the liners, to make a single blade spear point long pull barlow. It's an old knife, I could watch tv through the gaps, but that was to be understandable. The "customizer" also put some green bone covers he had on it. Again, I had to overcome my OCD, but it's one of my favorite knives, and I've got some killer customs and Bose collaborations.
 
I have a few with gaps but it doesnt bother me, for me a good snap in the blade is more important

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