nail breakers?

mrknife

mrknife

Joined
May 9, 2010
Messages
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Just got my CSC HMT from a fellow member here, and was surprised to find it very easy to pull open. Is this the norm for CSC? Do other companies make harder to pull knives? Who makes nail breakers? Do you have one? if so what did you do with it or to it?
 
I have had many CSC items. They are top notch but I have found myself wanting a harder pull on just about every one.
 
CROWEMAG said:
I have had many CSC items. They are top notch but I have found myself wanting a harder pull on just about every one.
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Yeah, I can foresee myself buying more CSC HMTs. definitely not gonna discount them just cause they are softer to open. Someone has told me CSC makes the kabar single blade trapper, so that should be interesting to see when it arrives.
 
mrknife said:
Yeah, I can foresee myself buying more CSC HMTs. definitely not gonna discount them just cause they are softer to open. Someone has told me CSC makes the kabar single blade trapper, so that should be interesting to see when it arrives.
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They do make the dog head knives. I have a Barlow that is nice but has really large gaps in the back springs. Sent it back, received one with the exact same issue. I kept it because its really nice.
 
I've got a Case Peanut that has a stiff but usable pull on the main blade, but the pen blade is a nail breaker. Sad, because it's probably the prettiest knife I own. I already tried storing it halfway open without any change.
 
When GEC started making knives back in 2006 they all were nail breakers, but made that way to emulate knives of yesteryear. They had so many complaints that they started to soften the springs. Such a shame too. I love strong pulls on a knife and a strong snap just like a gater!!

Russell
 
There's strong and there is "really strong" in terms of pulls. Seems to be something often related to a particular frame size. I have an old #23 that has a strong pull, but I wouldn't call it a nail breaker.

CSC's pulls are a little on the light side from my point of view for a quality slip joint, but they are still okay.
 
okto said:
Noob question: why would you want the blade to be harder to pull?
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if it's too easy to open , it probably is too easy to close, nobody want's a knife to close too easily. I have had some blades try to close in certain cutting positions, not good. Some knives made for hard work have either locks on the back of the knife or linerlocks for this reason. some people like soft pulls and others like hard pulls on a knife. Which would be more pleasing, a strong handshake or one that's like a sloppy fish.
 
I have a Canal Street Cutlery Cannitler that has very pleasant pulls. About a 5 on the pull scale on all three blades. Not too soft and not too firm.

I've owned some of the older GEC nail breakers mentioned above and I still have one of them. It's a two blade #23 from 2008 I believe. I can get the blades opened but it's a scary maneuver.
 
Most of my CSC knives are on the lighter side. The Barlows seem to have the stiffest pulls and HMT the lightest.
 
I have had two canal street knives, and they were both nice 5s to open. In my experience, GEC knives have been getting softer on their pulls as Rusty said. My latest one, a 22, has about a 4-5 pull on both blades. I like a mid range spring myself, enough to snap open and closed with authority but not be impossible to open. IMO, the pull on a Swiss Army knife (the typical benchmark for a "5" spring) is just about perfect.
 
Both of the Schatt and Morgans I own are brutal. Keystone Medium Coke Bottle has a long pull that ends half-way down the blade so it's really hard to get leverage, #13 Wildcat Driller has a wide enough blade to pinch open but, riding on two springs, it's a fighter! The pen blade on the #13 is much more reasonable. Also have a Case 5-blade sowbelly where the small clip blade has chipped away some fingernail, yet the rest of the blades put up the resistance you'd expect - spongy yet functional. In terms of the most robust yet manageable slip joint I've handled, the Aitor Castor Pequena opens with authority and the rougher blade finish is easy to get a good purchase on.

Not much of a fan of heavy back springs if I'm counting on a nail nick, but otherwise I'm more than happy to hear that solid *CLACK*.
 
If you want a real nail-lifter...look no further than a GEC 26 or many 73/23s. They can double up as finger-choppers too if you don't keep your wits about you...:eek::eek::D

Many of GECs other patterns are much more moderate but never weak, so there's comprehensive choice.

NOTHING (oiling, filing, repeated opening/closing, or leaving it open at acute tension) does anything to tame one of my 73s and I dig a heavy spring. So be a bit cautious, pity as it's a really beautiful looking individual.:confused:

Nail nick citing can make a heavy sprung knife even more unwieldy. If it has longpull and put nearer the tang it is more tricky to open than a forward cited crescent nick. Many French knives have what I feel is an ideal spring balance. Quite easy to open (blade shape & nick?) but hard to close.
 
Speaking of slim trapper designs, all of the CSCs I've held have been easy to open. Queen #11s were a little stronger on the back springs. For GEC #48s, the slim 440C ones were easy, about on par with the CSC HMTs. The slim 1095 were a little stronger. The big clip #48s I'd put in between the 440C and slim 1095 ones because the big clip is easy to pinch open.

If you really do want a nail breaker then I would look at the #73 pattern for a knife around the lengths of the #48s. Assuming you're staying with single blade knives then look for one of the 1095 #73 models *without the lanyard hole*. IME, single blade #73s with lanyard holes were much easier than those without. Like 5-6 range instead of 6-8 range.

My only real nail breaker was a GEC #53 Cattle Baron that I eventually sold. More so because I didn't really like the color of the bone than the pulls. My strongest user was this #73L that I eventually used jeweler files to round the tang at the corners thereby making it easier to open. Now its about a 7 instead of a 8.5. The second pic was my first #73 user that I also rounded the tangs a bit. You can roughly see the differences between what a single blade #73 would look like compared to a big clip #48. Same #33 in both pics.

 
2Dead said:
Speaking of slim trapper designs, all of the CSCs I've held have been easy to open. Queen #11s were a little stronger on the back springs. For GEC #48s, the slim 440C ones were easy, about on par with the CSC HMTs. The slim 1095 were a little stronger. The big clip #48s I'd put in between the 440C and slim 1095 ones because the big clip is easy to pinch open.

If you really do want a nail breaker then I would look at the #73 pattern for a knife around the lengths of the #48s. Assuming you're staying with single blade knives then look for one of the 1095 #73 models *without the lanyard hole*. IME, single blade #73s with lanyard holes were much easier than those without. Like 5-6 range instead of 6-8 range.

My only real nail breaker was a GEC #53 Cattle Baron that I eventually sold. More so because I didn't really like the color of the bone than the pulls. My strongest user was this #73L that I eventually used jeweler files to round the tang at the corners thereby making it easier to open. Now its about a 7 instead of a 8.5. The second pic was my first #73 user that I also rounded the tangs a bit. You can roughly see the differences between what a single blade #73 would look like compared to a big clip #48. Same #33 in both pics.

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nahhhhh double bolster guy here. I will buy your gec #48 big clips tho, if you ever want to let them go! :) im more curious on how nail breakers came to be, is it a thicker spring? cause I remember taking apart cheap slipjoints like reindeers from pakistans and making single blade trappers and the pull was definitely messed up after i hammered everything back together
 
It can be the thickness of the spring, the tempering of the spring, where the spring is pinned to the handle, where the nail nick is located on the blade, and even the knife opening technique used. All of these can affect the perceived pull of the blade.

I guess sometimes a stronger pull is designed into a knife to make it harder to close. Perhaps designed this way before the liner lock tabs, lockback designs, or other locking methods were used. I suppose it was easier and cheaper to just make a slip joint harder to close.

ETA
Another thing that can affect pull is how tight the bolsters are. Tight bolsters can add friction to the blade tang making it harder to open.

I took a quick look at the appendinx in my LG4 and don't see "pull" or "nail breaker" mentioned as a topic of discussion. So how they came to be... Not sure. Could be preference in pull or some just turned out harder to open and because of that, were left in drawers to be found decades later instead of being used up with everyday tasks.
 
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2Dead said:
It can be the thickness of the spring, the tempering of the spring, where the spring is pinned to the handle, where the nail nick is located on the blade, and even the knife opening technique used. All of these can affect the perceived pull of the blade.

I guess sometimes a stronger pull is designed into a knife to make it harder to close. Perhaps designed this way before the liner lock tabs, lockback designs, or other locking methods were used. I suppose it was easier and cheaper to just make a slip joint harder to close.

ETA
Another thing that can affect pull is how tight the bolsters are. Tight bolsters can add friction to the blade tang making it harder to open.

I took a quick look at the appendinx in my LG4 and don't see "pull" or "nail breaker" mentioned as a topic of discussion. So how they came to be... Not sure. Could be preference in pull or some just turned out harder to open and because of that, were left in drawers to be found decades later instead of being used up with everyday tasks.
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that definitely did it, ive hammered on the bolster before and it became awfully difficult to open. Had to shim it a bit.

thanks for looking it up!
 
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