Ken Onion Assist: Stop bar dent?

F

futant

Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
143
I'm sharpening/cleaning my friend's (battered) Ken Onion folder.
I have to really tighten the main blade pivot screw to stop the blade from wobbling (so tight that the blade doesn't open/close without applying manual pressure).
I remembered reading in a thread here about how repeated slamming against the stop bar can result in a dent on the base of the blade that can cause this. I checked and, sure enough, that's just what has happened (so nice to learn from all of you).
Is there a way for me to fix this or is the damage done?
Thanks.
 
I guess I wasn't clear enough, the dent is on the blade flat, not the bar.
Thank you, though, for the suggestion.
 
I don't see how the stop pin would affect side to side movement. I'd go over the assembly screws, not just the pivot. I found that messing with the sequence of tightening them during reassembly can help with blade slop.

Can't figure why the blade would be denting, that should be harder than the pin.
 
Yeah, I don't know... seems to me that the pin would dent, too.
Not the case, however.
I'm going home with this knife now and will take it apart and take a better look at it. Hopefully I'll be able to, at least, improve on its fit.
I'll probably throw the thing through a window after some frustration.
5 minutes later I'll be digging it out from the bushes and coming back to the forums to see if there are any other ideas/suggestions.
Thank you, all your help is much appreciated.
 
It’s possible that the dent in the base of the blade has a ridge on each side. This is caused by the metal expanding out the sides as it is dented. The ridges may be rubbing on the liners of the knife as you open and close the blade. You may be able to see the ridges or feel them with your finger. It would be easier to tell if you disassembled the knife. You could remove the ridges by carefully rubbing the flat sides of the pivot area of the blade on a fine stone. You just want to remove the ridges on the dent, not any other metal around the pivot area. This is only a guess.
I would have thought that the washers would have provided enough clearance so the ridges wouldn’t rub. I can’t tell much else without seeing the knife. Maybe you just need new washers. They may be worn out. Let me know if you have any more information. Good Luck.
 
I just took apart my whrilwind that I use for work. 3 years of hard use. I have that dent your talking about. I rubbed my fingernail over it and its not a rut but just a mark from hitting the pin. I cleaned ever part and put it together and my blade wobble stopped. Give it a try.
 
That sounds like good advice. I really doubt if the dent could be deep enough to cause trouble. If you take the knife apart you can clean it and check for worn washers, etc. Let us know what you find.
 
Thank you all for the help.
Slice, Ook... exactly that.
Once I took the knife apart it was clear that the dent was just an illusion of a dent. It was actually years of crud that had been packed onto that spot on the blade during 1000s of openings, forming a hardened rut. /\_/\
I scraped it off, cleaned and the rest of the knife with tri-flow and reassembled. Blade is pretty tight now :) and it looks quite nice and has that nice chemical cleaner smell to it.
Just a final sharpen tomorrow, try to get a tip back on the blade and it goes back to him a much nicer knife.
Thank you again, take care.
-Barclay
 
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