How do you adjust blade centering?

[sitflyer]

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.

It doesn't look like there are any scratches on the blade, if it isn't hitting the liner, I would just leave it alone...

 

[knarfeng]

To my knowledge there is no good way to center a blade at home. If it really bothers you, contact either the seller for a swap or Case to see if they will tweak it for you.

 

[waynorth]

The risk of turning it into junk is too great!!
An unused knife should be sent back for crinking. If it breaks they will replace it.
If you break it, you will be hauling a little more garbage out on Monday morning. The fact that you are asking implies you don't know the risks.
I brought (in person) a $220 special knife back to Queen for crinking (A Dan Burke Cattle knife).
The technician tapped the blade once (BG-42), and blew it into three pieces!! He's supposed to know how to do it!
They gave me a new one, even better (nicer F&F) than the one they were trying to fix/crink!!

 

[MTHall720]

Thanks to ALL. This has helped me with my decision. I love the looks of this knife and it opens very smoothly. I am going to make it easier on myself and not trying any home remedies. In fact,I just need to adjust to the idea that if I love everything else about a traditional, except for the degree of centeredness I will just leave it alone, unless it rubs and then send it to the manufacturer.

 

[TLARbb]

Thanks to ALL. This has helped me with my decision. I love the looks of this knife and it opens very smoothly. I am going to make it easier on myself and not trying any home remedies. In fact,I just need to adjust to the idea that if I love everything else about a traditional, except for the degree of centeredness I will just leave it alone, unless it rubs and then send it to the manufacturer.

I think that is the right decision. The problem will be a warped pin or the hole in the blade is not squarely drilled. Both of these issues can be fixed, but it would require disassembly of the blade and some type of tweaking. Most single blade knives like yours are not deliberately krinked at the factory and the blade is straight if properly ground. You can tell by looking at the blade if it is improperly ground. That would necessitate a trip to Case for a new blade. Anyway, it the grind is good and the knife is not rubbing, I'd keep it and use it. On a knife like the one you show, sending it to Case can result in them trying to send you a knife "of equal value". That might be fine or it might not be okay.

Ed J

 

[ea42]

Ed, I'd venture a guess that at least 85% of blades in new knives need to be crinked at the factory, and that includes single blade knives. There are too many variables involved with cutlery and assembly for a run of knives to have perfectly centered blades right off the bench. First and foremost is the fact that blade holes are drilled a couple of sizes larger than the pins to facilitate pin spread when the pin is hammered. If the blade hole were the same size as the pin, you'd wind up with a knife that you can't open or close smoothly because the pin is bound up in the hole. Due to this size difference you'll invariably have the pin compress more to one side than the other on most occasions, which will throw the blade just a tad. Slackening the blade after hammering in order to achieve smooth walk and talk will also throw the blade a bit. Additionally, it's extremely difficult to grind both sides of every blade dead center in a production environment, the cams on the mark and pile side grinders just don't work that way; the pile side always cuts a bit more near the tip in order to maintain an even edge. Couple that with the need to constantly adjust the depth of cut due to the grinding wheel steadily wearing down after each blade is ground.
Crinking is simply another step in the cutlering of a knife, and it's a required step at that. It's not that you're moving the blade over a half inch, most times it's just a tad, maybe a sixteenth or thirty second of an inch at the tip, which is generally imperceptible once the knife is finished.

Eric

 

[midnight flyer]

Thanks to ALL. This has helped me with my decision. I love the looks of this knife and it opens very smoothly. I am going to make it easier on myself and not trying any home remedies. In fact,I just need to adjust to the idea that if I love everything else about a traditional, except for the degree of centeredness I will just leave it alone, unless it rubs and then send it to the manufacturer.

I am like the rest here. If the blade doesn't rub, it is fine with me. I have knives that are perfectly centered and quite a few that aren't. After months of use, I have also mysteriously had blades move a bit more towards center, but for the most part they stay where they are. Again, if it doesn't rub on liners or other blades, that is fine with me. If it is going into the work knife collection, I drop it in my pocket and don't think twice about it.

Good for you for listening to the guys here, and waynorth's experience says it all.

I accidentally bent a blade a bit when I was using it on an older folder years ago. When I tried to bend it back (very, very carefully I might add!) it was doing fine, then *clink* and the blade snapped. I was only trying to get it far enough over in the case to keep it from hitting the liners, not even trying for center.

Lesson learned.

Robert

 

[Ryan Sumner]

I have a Case Damascus stag 'coke bottle' knife (about 3 inches closed) that has good centering, but had about 4 millimetres of the tip bent towards the liner. When I bent it I fully expected it to snap, and I was ok if it did because I didn't think there was any other way and didn't mind reshaping it. It bent back perfectly, and looking back on it now, I was crazy to even try!
It's definitely the right decision to send it back, I don't think much reshaping can be done if the blade snaps at the tang!

 

[TLARbb]

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?

I think this is your best bet. They can fix them for you, but I'd use them until then. Actually, if they are not hitting the liners/scales, I wouldn't have any problem using them as is until you can get them to GEC.

Ed J

 

[ptradeco]

The risk of turning it into junk is too great!!
An unused knife should be sent back for crinking. If it breaks they will replace it.
If you break it, you will be hauling a little more garbage out on Monday morning. The fact that you are asking implies you don't know the risks.....

With great care!