JE Made mods

fishface5

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This is a modern traditional but still a traditional so it seems appropriate to post here as an FYI.

I had been wanting one of these without the swedge so that it would be easier to pinch open. I finally got one off the exchange but it was super-tough to open. The spring was very strong and the pull was not far enough down the blade to give much leverage. So I thought I would share 3 mods I did that really helped.

(1) you can't see this mod b/c I didn't want to take the knife apart again. But it is easy to take apart and remove the backspring. Thanks to a search of BFC I learned that by (slowly and carefully) removing material from the backspring on the inside face -- in the area north / towards the blade around the center pin or screw that holds the backspring in place -- you can reduce spring tension. Don't take off too much, and keep the transitions rounded you don't want any sharp angles! Check as you go! I got it down to where it was still strong but not actually painful on the nails when using the pull.

(2) extend the long pull. I obviously screwed this up aesthetically. If I had it to do again I would have done more with a file and only the beginning with the dremel. I have shaky hands so my dremelling was imperfect. But what I did was to use a conical diamond dremel bit to draw out the long pull (regularly dipping the blade in water to cool it). Result: longer pull = more mechanical leverage = much easier to open!

(3) rounding the edges of the g10 scales to allow thumb and fingers closer access to the blade when pulling it open. Simple but very helpful. (I also tried my hand at jigging the scales, which feels better in hand but I clearly need to work on my patterning).

I can now comfortably pinch it open without needing to dig a nail in, but the walk and talk is firm and snappy.

Anyway I wanted to share because I am VERY impressed with the construction of this knife, and I initially though with despair that I would have to sell it because it was so hard to open, but now after modding it is fantastic! (But if you try this, just be more careful than I was with the long pull, because the F&F of these knives is so excellent it is a shame to ding it up as I did to mine)
 
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Those are both very brave mods, I don’t think I could mess with the spring on such a nice knife! You definitely made the knife yours:thumbsup:
 
Looks great with the longer long pull and the jigging. Don’t worry about the pattern, I think random looks better than a set pattern :thumbsup:
 
Thanks! Actually the spring part is easy and not scary and best of all remains hidden from view if not perfect. The pull is the tricky part and I got impatient . . as for the jigging I need to study some Penas . . .
 
Looks great and thanks for sharing! I have a JE MADE slipjoint and always like to see others. Really hard to find information on these or anyone that owns them so thanks again.
 
The fit and finish on this knife at least is fantastic - it makes me think of it as the sebenza of slippies. Except for the (to me) over- strong pull. That can still be addressed in the swedged models by tinkering with the backfiring. JE seems to have moved on to other models for the time being, but they are worth checking out!
 
The pull on mine isn’t strong at all. To me, it’s a perfect. So far this is the only model that had appealed to me. The Zulu and the New York don’t do it for me but I love this model.
 
- pull on mine was too strong (for me) as well, I moved it on immediately.

Very nice folders indeed, I think he'll go places if he listens to his customers a wee bit.

Nice mods, makes a difference :thumbsup:
 
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Looks great and thanks for sharing! I have a JE MADE slipjoint and always like to see others. Really hard to find information on these or anyone that owns them so thanks again.

We carry them, I am pretty familiar with them if you have any questions. JE Made has been my favorite knife find of 2018.
 
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