How do you adjust blade centering?

MTHall720

MTHall720

Joined
Sep 21, 2010
Messages
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With modern design pocket knives I know the answer to this question.
However with slipjoints I have no clue at at all. My usual Google search didn't help much. Any thoughts?
 
Depends. IS it a single blade knife like a sodbuster, or multiple crinked blades like a stockman? What kind of construction is it? Also, does it have blade play when its open? If its pin-through-bolster constructed and has blade play, clamping it in a padded vise should tighten the liners in on the blade and force it to center. That comes with the risk of over tightening and making the knife very difficult to open. The only other thing I can think of would be an uneven grind. Some of my lower end slipjoints look like they're leaning to one direction or another when, in reality, the blade stock is true but the grind is off. Hope this helps, maybe you'd get more responses if you were more specific with the pattern, construction, etc.
 
Don't plier it! Trying to flex the blade could result in a traumatic dis attachment of said wedge-o-steel. Then the party's really over :(
 
The best thing to do is send it back to the manufacturer if you can. They'll either properly fix it or send you a different one.
 
Thanks everyone.
Here is what I am working on
1] Case Grandaddy Barlow Bradford. Very nice looking but is off center. One large blade. Doesn't rub though.

2] A single blade "fruit knife" cheap blade to practice on from Rite Edge
 
I personally krink the blades. It works well, and doesn't adversely effect sharpening. Ive done it to the Case sodbuster, peanut, trapper and some others with good results. Its kind of a give and take, because you will have centered blades, but when they are in the open position, they'll look crooked. But i can live with that.
 
Don't know how to crinkle. In the case of mainstream knives like Case I could send it to them.
 
The bend in the blade would drives me crazy! The off center bothers me too though......
I would sent it in and let the maker mess with it.
 
I guess I'd want more information before making a recommendation. Was it manufactured or custom made?
In either case, who?
What design? Stockman? jack? whittler?
A picture would be useful to show the issue.

For a lot of regular factory produced knives, the blades don't always end up exactly centered for a couple of reasons.
*If there are more blades than springs, the blades have to be bent to fit into the body. It's really really hard to bend them exactly the right amount, so sometimes they are not exactly centered.
*Sometimes a manufacturer will take a blade that is offset so as to fit into the type of design described above, but put it in a knife which does not require bent blades. Those will naturally be offset a bit and will appear to not be centered.
 
I want to fix mine as well, I have a single blade Boys Knife and a single blade Farm and Field that are both off. Im in Africa and cant send them back or I would have already. I guess the other option is to just use them and send then to GEC in Sept when I get home. Thoughts?
 
To crink a blade you'll need some tools. First is a crinking block, it looks like a 2 stairs (lower part and higher part with about 3/8" difference in height) and a small hammer. You place the blade on the block so the middle of the blade is on the upper stair and the tang on the lower and then hammer lightly on the tang stamp, the blade will bent upwards. The problem is that if the tang is tempered then it could break the blade, so you need to check it first. I used this method successfully but not on new/expensive knife. The first thing to do is return the knife to the maker.
Mike
 
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cfoster2003 said:
I want to fix mine as well, I have a single blade Boys Knife and a single blade Farm and Field that are both off. Im in Africa and cant send them back or I would have already. I guess the other option is to just use them and send then to GEC in Sept when I get home. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Use them and send it back to GEC when you are back.
Mike
 
As a general rule is there a correlation between blade centering on large single blades that are considered better quality such as GEC or S&M?
 
If you want to crink a blade I'd recommend not using anything really hard that'd mar the blade or knife surface. I use a cloth under the knife and a plastic headed mallet, along with a piece of leather that props the blade up. I put the leather at around the halfway point of the blade, sometimes even a bit closer to the tang, and strike the blade just above the tang shoulder. On a knife like the daddy barlow you'll likely have to give it a pretty good whack. Most production blades should be annealed at the tang, but yes there's always the chance of the blade snapping, which is another reason I use a more malleable hammer to soften the blow. Just be sure to hit it at the shoulder area, and use to edge of the hammer head to concentrate the hit where you're aiming. As far as actually seeing a bend in the blade, in reality you're moving it such a small distance that it'd be hard to notice (unless there was already a bend in that direction before you crinked). Here's a little video of the process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCv0Y3xzIHk

Eric
 
Here are the pics. This blade opens smooth as silk. It is just a matter of preference that I was trying for more centered blade. I have never used this and just got it not long ago. I may try to trade for a Tom's Choice Barlow from GEC or S&M at some point so I want this to be totally perfect centering if possible.

Grandad2.jpg


Grandad5.jpg


Grandad4.jpg


Grandad7.jpg
 
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