Yeah, that seems like the best option. The last Lawman I got in trade was sanded and looked kind of sloppy, but I blame that on the one who sanded..
In between my last post and this one I went ahead and sanded off the texturing of my mini AK-47 starting on it while together and finishing up after taking it apart. (what a lock up on this model for such a small knife!) But anyway, I noted some things from doing it that should be passed on to anyone else deciding to do the same. By the way, what a diff in the way it comes out of the pocket once smooth. I was able to put tension back into the clip after this with no worries at all now!
Number one thing noticed was of course that the pins all overhang out a tiny bit now after taking down about .010 or more of the thickness of the G10. The pins don't stick out bad but enough to notice it. I could flush them down on my belt grinder but to be honest its a user and I don't care so I left it. Besides its not bad looking as is and certainly something I think most could live with
Number two, if you look on the insides of some of the latest generation of Triad lock knives like the non lined American Lawman, the Mini Lawman, the Mini AK-47 and probably others you'll notice that when the blade closes it rests on a pin on the inside of the folder just below the rocker arm (lock bar) and this pin does not show through on the outside. However, the holes are drilled pretty deep and if you get carried away sanding too much I see that it would be possible to expose that pin. I managed not to on my own but I did take one side down enough to notice a small semi circle developing where the pin was and that told me right then its getting thin stop standing. No worries though with mine the G10 still measures out to be thick enough to be a non issue based on my micrometer but if you sand down on yours to see that evidentiary ring or circle indicating where the pin hole was drilled thats your tell that you are getting close. You still have about the thickness of a .015 washer at first sight of that. After that its exposed the pin.
Third thing I noted on the AK-47 only was this. The grooves going width wise in the handles actually give plenty of thumb purchase to still extract the folder from the pocket even after sanding off all the texture so in short the texturing is not missed at all on this particular model.
Also, I've learned in the two models I've taken apart from Cold Steel now that the Triad lock is their lock of choice that while the pins look identical I've found in both models experimenting that they are apparently location specific. Swapping pins in the wrong place on my Mini AK-47 for example, resulted in up and down blade play if I stuck the stop pin in the rocker arm position and the made the rocker arm pin the stop. Why this is so I cannot tell you. It is the case though. Also, I noticed that the pins fit better going in the way they were from the factory meaning, the same side that was showing on the clip side should be still showing when re-assembled. Screws didn't seem to make a bit of diff so long as they are the same mount screws. The lock spring holder set of four screws are the same but apparently you can mix up where they are with no worries. The clip screws are longer so they need to be kept free of the spacer screws to keep from mixing them up.
While at this I went ahead and used my Mini Bear Jaw multi-tool on my key ring to use the 56 Rockwell blade in it. The AUS8 blade on the AK is at least 58 RC and probably closer to 60 so using that softer blade it was kind of like a scratch and win lotto ticket for the edge and in a matter of minutes I cleaned off all the black coating on the blade scraping it away quite easily. Turned out sweet! No scratches at all and I didn't even need to take the blade out to really make it completely look clean. In fact even after having the blade out when I could easily have removed the rest of the coating I left it alone figuring why bother. You can't see the black at all when its opened anyways. :thumbup:
STR
