Nailbraker - what can I do?

sextant

sextant

Joined
Mar 21, 2006
Messages
935
I'm a big fan of my 6488 Congress. It's in great shape and I carry and (carefully) use it regularly.
Everything is nice and tight - good snap, no gaps, no wobble :D
The only thing that troubles me is the fact that that the coping blade is so stiff that in 2 out of 3 tries I don't manage to open it :grumpy:
I have oiled the joints and practiced a lot but the thumb nail on my left hand is in poor condition by now...
Who knows a trick? Is there anything I can do to make the action smoother ?



 
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i think this is the reason why i've been liking my single blade folders more. no fiddling around with the pen knife as much, plus i hardly use the pen knife, maybe to clean my nails. maybe just continue to work the smaller blade more, but not sure.
 
it looks to me as if the nail nick isnt properly shaped, either not enough pressure applied or the wheel was worn, it looks very shallow. Is it any easier to open the coping blade if you first have the bigger spear blade open ? If you havent tried that, then give it a go, especially with the cut-out notch, it should be possible, if not easier;)
 
Question do you get use out of all four blades! I'm digging the half congress pattern. Well really looking for half congress blades in a trapper handle really!
 
Thank you all for your answers.

shrapne1 said:
it looks to me as if the nail nick isnt properly shaped, either not enough pressure applied or the wheel was worn, it looks very shallow. Is it any easier to open the coping blade if you first have the bigger spear blade open ? If you havent tried that, then give it a go, especially with the cut-out notch, it should be possible, if not easier;)
Click to expand...

The nail nick could be deeper - maybe that would help. If I open the spear there will still be the large sheep foot blade in the way:



cchu518 said:
Question do you get use out of all four blades! I'm digging the half congress pattern. Well really looking for half congress blades in a trapper handle really!
Click to expand...

Right now I only use three :D
If need be I would get along with only one blade but I find it a lot more useful to have two, three or even four different (!) blades. And it's much more fun, too :)
Isn't there a "mechanical" way to widen the gap between the liners?
 
sextant said:
Thank you all for your answers.
Isn't there a "mechanical" way to widen the gap between the liners?
Click to expand...

Don't do that or try that. You could really mess it up.

Here's something to try. Get some dry graphite powder and sprinkle it in liberally in the joint. Work the blade as much as possible and let the graphite work into the joint. Remember, the key is dry graphite.

I tried that this morning on a GEC linerlock that was particularly hard to open and it worked great. The blade opens smoothly and much more easily.

This graphite idea isn't mine. I got the idea from someone that posted about it earlier this week. I can't remember who it was and I hope they read this and take credit for it.

Anyway, the graphite turned the pull on my knife from an 8 to a 6 1/2 or 7.
 
Modoc ED said:
Don't do that or try that. You could really mess it up.

Here's something to try. Get some dry graphite powder and sprinkle it in liberally in the joint. Work the blade as much as possible and let the graphite work into the joint. Remember, the key is dry graphite.

I tried that this morning on a GEC linerlock that was particularly hard to open and it worked great. The blade opens smoothly and much more easily.

This graphite idea isn't mine. I got the idea from someone that posted about it earlier this week. I can't remember who it was and I hope they read this and take credit for it.

Anyway, the graphite turned the pull on my knife from an 8 to a 6 1/2 or 7.
Click to expand...

Thank you! This makes sense to me. I'll go and get some of that magic stuff and will let know how it turned out.
I'm quite positive that I'm not the only one with that problem :)
 
Yes, we use graphite as lubricatant all the time in guitars.

You can also shave some pencil lead gently into a fine powder, collect it, and use that.
 
Modoc ED said:
Don't do that or try that. You could really mess it up.

Here's something to try. Get some dry graphite powder and sprinkle it in liberally in the joint. Work the blade as much as possible and let the graphite work into the joint. Remember, the key is dry graphite.

I tried that this morning on a GEC linerlock that was particularly hard to open and it worked great. The blade opens smoothly and much more easily.

This graphite idea isn't mine. I got the idea from someone that posted about it earlier this week. I can't remember who it was and I hope they read this and take credit for it.

Anyway, the graphite turned the pull on my knife from an 8 to a 6 1/2 or 7.
Click to expand...

+1 on the graphite
 
The blade access issue is why I generally only carry knives with two blades. The small blades generally don't get used as much (at least by me) and they get gunked up with dirt which adds to the problem.
 
I just got a Rough Rider congress with this same "problem," but for the shield-side pen blade. The real issue isn't friction or spring strength, but that the nail nick is too close to the pivot to get any torque. Looks like that might be contributing to your coping blade issues. I figure it'll loosen out over time.
 
I tried the graphite and it really helps a lot. Thanks for the idea! It's still tough to open but I think I can break it in this way.
The shorter blades are hard to grab on the shallow nail nick with the longer blades sitting behind. And like this I can't even use a knife pick...
The strong springs add to the problem but I just love this solid feel - once the blade is open :D
Thank you all for your help!
 
You said your left thumbnail was getting worn out, but I assume you are right handed (most people are), so your right would be both stronger and more coordinated. With the knife closed and the nick of the coping blade facing you, just turn the knife 180° and open it down and over with your right thumbnail. Now that the graphite has worked, this should be much easier.

PileNickOpen_zpsb6e112af.jpg~original
 
I have a GEC #85 harness jack and the punch is impossible to get open without using a tool of some kind, so it just sits in the tube. I sent it into GEC and it came back exactly the same. I think it's partly a really strong pull and also partly because the nick is buried so deep I can't get any leverage on it.
 
More than anything I think that shallow nail nick is your problem. I've seen that issue on multiple examples of old 70's Case knives. If I was bound & determined to use that knife, I'd see if I could get the nick cut deeper. As you probably know, it's a very expensive knife and for that reason I'd probably just use & carry something else.
 
Was there any truth to leaving the blade half open so that the spring was bent out the farthest it would go and leave it like that work days/weeks would soften it a bit?

Case Congress...one of my all time faves! Beautiful knife!
 
I tossed my Rough Rider Canoe in a cheap $20 ultrasonic cleaner with dawn and let it run for around 6min, loosed up the blades and made them open and close much easier where as before my pen blade was extremely difficult to open. Just oil afterwards and take some precautions on what you throw in the ultrasonic, etc. (And don't stick your hand in there while the thing is running, it's bad for your health.)

I have to admit it's a little crazy how much the thing cleans up my knives and other parts even after I thoroughly clean my knives it still manages to pull out dirt and grease not matter how thoroughly I cleaned it before.
 
I don't officially condone this, but when my Western pen knife had really stiff blades I left the master blade halfway open overnight, and in the morning it was much softer.

Again, I just want to say do this at your own risk, and please don't be angry with me if you get a busted backspring. :o
 
34b3f15dc219c8d13118781ab61555f2_zpsdb84fe17.jpg
[/IMG]
I got this otherwise, really quite splendid Bulldog Toenail about six months ago. The main blade was a ten, needed to jam a bamboo chopstick into the nail nick to open it the first time. I left it in the ten O'clock or two O'clock position overnight.....for an entire month!! It's now a quite reasonable seven. You could give it a try. ;-)
Sellers pic. I hope it's not considered unethical to use. I certainly consider it unethical to sell a knife knowing full well that it requires a tool to open!
 
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