How to loosen up a GEC slipjoint?

Will Power said:
Sadly true. A beautiful 73 I bought from the Exchange rejected all efforts to improve its 9.8 spring ( I swear I felt my nail lifting out of place :eek::barf: ) Tried all the suggestions (this was long before this particular thread) including vice work, leaving it open at an angle for weeks..., then tried filing part of the tang to round it, no better. This latter of course voided any guarantee and as I live overseas I saw little point in sending it in. My other enquiries to GEC about replacing at my own cost a damaged Ivory Smooth Bone scale (hardly rare or complicated) were met with discouraging indifference.

Ah well, can't deny the looks of the 73 though...

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Thirty minutes and a dremel could solve your problem. An EO notch would look very handsome on that 73 and you could open it with a pinch grip.
 
Good suggestion thanks! But I don't have the skill (weak eyesight) and I'm not a huge fan of EO notches. The other aspect is closing the thing:mad: That spring is so tough on half-stop that your fingers could get docked, notch or no notch:eek::D:D:thumbup:
 
I took a fine jeweler's needle file to the corner of the tang on the awl on my Washington Harness Jack. Even after rounding the corner, it's still a nice strong pull, but manageable. Perhaps I could or should have sent it to GEC, but my understanding is that these knives were made with the intention of a very hard pull, so it wasn't technically defective. At any rate, my method worked.

Does anyone know how GEC would lighten the pull on a knife? I was under the impression that they would thin the backspring a little bit. What I like about removing material from the tang, rather than from the spring, is it shouldn't effect the strength of the spring to keep the blade from closing. I only round the corner of the tang that pushes the spring open.

Hopefully that all made sense. It's been a long day.:D
 
Rachel I suspect they do what you did, working the tang. Thinning the backspring might weaken it yes, and I suppose it implies a costly dismantling/refit job?
 
Will Power said:
Rachel I suspect they do what you did, working the tang. Thinning the backspring might weaken it yes, and I suppose it implies a costly dismantling/refit job?
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Rounding the corner of the tang will help with the initial pull for square tangs (half stops). Mike Alsdorf does an excellent job with his customs, easy to the half stop, then quite a bit heavier to full open. The initial pull is where I have the most difficulty, so I look to single blades that can be plucked open. A man has to know his limitations :)

Where the backspring pin is located and the shape of the spring itself would be the two determining factors.
 
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The back spring on my Boker Plus Barlow is rather stout and reaching the nail pull/nick behind the smaller spear point/pen blade is exasperating. I find myself pulling out the smaller blade to access the larger clip point blade. It has it's challenges.

Good luck.
 
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