How to flatten a steel liner?

[sharp_edge]

I have a ZT folder with an off-centered blade that is impossible to correct with all the tricks that I could find online. If the knife is not assembled properly, it would also have slight detent rock (i.e., blade up and down movement in closed position). I believe the cause of both is that the steel liner is not flat (I put the liner on multiple flat surfaces to verify this). I do not have special equipment other than multiple doors in my home Will it work if I stick one end of the liner in the hinge of a door and bend it? Or there might be some better approaches? Thanks in advance.

p.s. It appears KAI's method is to loosen the pivot to "correct" the centering at the cost of introducing side to side blade play, so I do not plan to re-send the knife in for warranty work.

 

[DB_Cruiser]

I had a Kizer Mini Domin that arrived with a bent liner. I could see the bend in it. I am fairly certain that ZT's have much thicker liners than this Kizer, but I was able to correct the problem by disassembling the knife and putting the liner in a vice so that the bent part was just above the jaws (I padded the liner between a couple of pieces of paint stirring stick to protect the liner). I then used a piece of wood to smack the liner and straighten it out again. Not sure if this would work for you, it may depend on how the thing is bent and how thick that liner is but that is how I fixed a similar problem.

 

[Wowbagger]

I think bending it is just the begining to FLATTENING it.
The next step would be to double back tape it to a block of wood and rub it on fresh wet or dry sand paper. Mark the liner from end to end with black marker like this :

Then rub it on the sand paper on a very flat surface. Where the marker is scrubbed off first are the high spots.
Once you scrub it and remark it a few times you will get to where you get rub marks the length and width of the face of the liner pretty much all at the same time.
THEN
it is flat.
Don't over do it; you don't want to make it thinner or tapered in relation to the other side of the liner.

 

[sharp_edge]

The bending is subtle such that it is hard to tell where the issue is. All I know is when laying the liner on a flat surface and pushing down one end, the other end will go up slightly and no longer touch the surface. Flipping the liner over and repeat, the other end will not go up even a tiny bit.

Yes the liner is not thin and it is fairly hard. I used two pairs of pliers, one on each end (tape wrapped so they do not scratch or ding the liner) and tried to bend it, did not seem to work.

Maybe I should just leave it as off centered because everything else of it now is so great.

 

[tiguy7]

You need a large vise with smooth jaws and a set of graduated hammers (so you don’t have to use force).

 

[dsalazar]

The bending is subtle such that it is hard to tell where the issue is. All I know is when laying the liner on a flat surface and pushing down one end, the other end will go up slightly and no longer touch the surface. Flipping the liner over and repeat, the other end will not go up even a tiny bit.

Yes the liner is not thin and it is fairly hard. I used two pairs of pliers, one on each end (tape wrapped so they do not scratch or ding the liner) and tried to bend it, did not seem to work.

Maybe I should just leave it as off centered because everything else of it now is so great.

Use a mirror to check it’s flatness. Also a couple pics and I may be able to help. Usually the screws would be affected.

 

[sharp_edge]

Use a mirror to check it’s flatness. Also a couple pics and I may be able to help. Usually the screws would be affected.

Thanks. Using a mirror is a brilliant idea, which I will give a try tommow when I will also take some pictures.

 

[dsalazar]

Thanks. Using a mirror is a brilliant idea, which I will give a try tommow when I will also take some pictures.

Also keep in mind if you don’t bend the exact spot that is bent then your just making more small bends in the liner. The liner will look flat but have micro bends where there was only one.