Help with Blade Hitting Backspring

J

jth250

Joined
Jun 27, 2011
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I have a Northwoods straight Jack made by queen I think. Every time i close the main blade it makes a flat spot on the blade from the blade hitting the backspring. Does anyone know of anything i can do to fix this problem? Thanks in advance for your help.
 
If its not a huge dent you might be able to sharpen the blade down so it won't hit, either all at once or just deal with it for now and sharpen as you go. But I would send it back to Queen and get a different one if it was my knife.
 
I put a piece of a paper match stick in the slot so the kick landed on the match stick.
If you close the blade so it doesn't snap it will save the nicks but the match stick works.


Regards

Robin
 
A picture with the blade open would satisfy the curious to the condition of the 'kick'. The part thats off.

A 'tiny' piece of folded up aluminum foil jamed down in the blade well just under the kick peak will work like Robins paper match..

300Bucks
 
you're saying the kick gets mashed into the spring? look at the kicks carefully. they may not be mashed (blades are generally harder than springs) but rather rough grindings on the kick to regulate the sitting height of the blade in relation to the handle when closed. here's my chestnut bone peanut. it looks mashed but it's actually grinding.

peanut_mash1 by hank_rearden, on Flickr
 
I would try this - should work fine.

300Bucks said:
A picture with the blade open would satisfy the curious to the condition of the 'kick'. The part thats off.

A 'tiny' piece of folded up aluminum foil jamed down in the blade well just under the kick peak will work like Robins paper match..

300Bucks
Click to expand...
 
Here, Let me try to be the tour guide here, mainly for the OP and those with confusion on 'kicks'.

In another thread we talked about "kicks". I will use my own photo as I already have arrows drawn on it.

These are 'kicks'. They keep the blade from contacting the spring when closed in the blade well. Notice how nice and rounded they are on this old Schrade. These were quality forgings or adjusted correctly.
881_f-1.jpg


In Hanks photo above it appears that the normal rounded corner of the newly forged blade has been ground down flat, or possibly had 'over-adjustment' on assembly. It appears to me, you pros jump in here, that someone at the factory has gotten heavy with the grinder and a kick that low would need to be checked for the blade edge hitting the spring. If Hanks knife is hitting, if it came from factory that way and Hank has not altered it, I would consider the factory should make it right.....You will see some of these fitting marks on kicks, mainly in production knives, as blade fit is adjusted at the factory. I admit to talking about honing a kick to slightly lower a blade. But I used the word honing and slowly and carefully. This is not a job for a beginner and surely don't use a large mill file or a grinder. I also would be very cautious in attempting any of this on a classic like the Schrade above. 300Bucks
 
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This is a cut & paste of a reply I posted in another thread in the Maint forum. Same situation there, and this is what I recommended:

With new knives, a common remedy is just to sharpen the blade a couple or three times. Usually, the little bit of metal removed from the edge is enough to eliminate the problem, after a sharpening or two. Some real poorly-constructed knives can't be helped this way, but most decently-made folders will respond to it. How much metal needs to come off, is dependent on how hard the contact is. Worst case, the blade actually rests against the inside of the backspring, on the pin 'hump'. A less severe case, and more commonly seen example, is when the edge makes contact only if the blade is allowed to snap closed, and it over-travels and 'bounces' on the backspring. In a case like that, it usually only takes a sharpening or two, to eliminate the problem.
Click to expand...

If resharpening is something you're comfortable with (is the blade D2?), then the above is what I'd do. If you'd rather not mess with that yet, it may be best to send it back and let Northwoods/Queen make it right.
 
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I had the same issue with a Northwoods medium stockman. It wasn't hitting hard, so I just lved with it and after a few sharpenings, the blade quit hitting the spring.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
This is a cut & paste of a reply I posted in another thread in the Maint forum. Same situation there, and this is what I recommended:



If resharpening is something you're comfortable with (is the blade D2?), then the above is what I'd do. If you'd rather not mess with that yet, it may be best to send it back and let Northwoods/Queen make it right.
Click to expand...

I think it is only hitting when it snaps shut, because I sharpened the flat spot out and shut it easy and it did not hit. The blade is D2. Thanks
 
Part of the ritual I go through when I get a new pocket knife is to fold a narrow strip of thin paper and move it along the length of the closed blade. If it moves easily I know the blade edge does not rest on anything or the sides of the blade do not rub the liners anywhere.
Of course it does not solve any issues but if there are any it just tips me off that I may need start freaking out, waving my arms wildly, babbling and drooling, and acting all crazed. :D

IMG_1186.jpg
 
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