Neurotic question about the Military

Barry H

Barry H

Joined
Nov 3, 1999
Messages
1,685
I have had my Military for about 4 months, and all this time, I have noticed that blade action is still rather stiff. This comes after cleaning and using minimal lube on the pivots. I even backed off the pivot tension bolt hoping to loosen up the action, but that seemed to adversely affect the lockup. I have also noticed that when I am holding the blade in between open and closed, I can feel the blade move ever so slightly back and forth. Is that the normal function of the ball detent? I can really feel the detent as I open the blade. My dealer has an older model Military (new) with an ATS-34 blade that opens up smooth as silk. Did the older models have different mechanics?
Short of sending the Military back to customer service(which I probably should do)is there some obvious thing I am neglecting to do? Sal, if you read this, I would eapecially here from you. By the way, how did your experiment go with the Military Jr.?
Any chance those will be available for sale?
Thanks again!
Barry H
 
I'm curious. In what way is the lockup affected by loosening the pivot? I'm thinking it must be side to side movement.

I'm also not sure I can picture the blade play you described at the half way open point.

My experience with a few new knives in the past year is that the action "wears in" through use. You didn't really mention how much you've "exercised" the action in the past 4 months.

I like the action a bit tight on my Military...not so tight I can't open it with a real solid thumbtip flick, but tight enough that the blade requires a little encouragement to close. It's safer that way for me. When open, the G10 slabs seem nice and tight against the blade.....zero side to side play.

I wonder if your knife really has a problem or just thinks it has.

....I am also curious about the status of the Military Jr. project.

regards
Phil

[This message has been edited by ptn (edited 11-10-2000).]
 
Phil,
The play I am describing isn't side-to-side, but open-close. Take your Military and open the blade half way between open and closed.
Then very gently, move to open or close the blade. Almost immediately reverse your action and repeat this motion for a few seconds. Try not to actually move the blade, but rather to feel the blade move open-close as if the ball detent were allowing the blade to move back and forth. My conclusion is that the ball detent is causing undue pressure on the side of the blade which is thereby causing slow action in the opening of the blade. Or maybe the pivot hole is concentric and not round, therefore the back and forth movement. I really don't think that that's the problem. An other thing that my knife doesn't do is when the blade is half open, the blade doesn't fall down closed when the handle is held vertically. I own a Benchmade AFCK (basically a Military clone) that is so slick, that when I open the lock to close the blade, the knife closes itself. Lockup is rock solid and there is no side-to-side slop at all. I'm just trying to get slick action in the opening/closing of my Military.
I hope I did a better job describing my symptoms!
Barry H
 
Barry,
I think the play that you are describing is caused by the difference in size between the pivot hole in the blade and the pivot pin itself. I think this tolerance is necessary to allow the blade to rotate properly around the pivot pin. Try holding the liner to the side and wiggling the blade backwards and forwards. You should feel just a little bit of movement and this should prove that the action of the liner isn't causing the opening/closing play.
You should be able to obtain smooth opening/closing action, but I doupt that you will be able to get that action as light as that of the AFCK. The military's liner exerts more sidewards force than that of the AFCK- depress each liner and you can feel the military's is much stiffer. Also, the ball bearing detent in the blade is bigger in the millitary than in the AFCK. This means that the ball bearing sits deeper with more contact, and requires greater force to overcome. This keeps the blade closed more securely than on the AFCK

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Hugh
 
I have found the same thing. I think it is down to the ball indent. It is holding the blade closed with much much more force than I am used to. I can see how it makes this knife safer but less smooth. Put some grease in that area and a drop of Tuf Glide on the grease. This and lots of use are all I can recommend. If you open the knife half way and move it open and closed without locking it or closing it fully, is is smooth? If so then it is the retention of the ball indent. That is how mine is. My AFCK on the other hand opens with a flick of the hand. Smooth as silk, but dangerous? I always strip and service any new knife (any that allow this!). I did this with my Military and it did improve a bit. However it will take a lot longer now to wear in.

Have a good one!

W.A.
 
Barry, I think the little wiggle you describe in the halfway open position is possible because of the eccentricity in the blade pivot hole and pivot pin relationship. If so, it is certainly not a problem.

I should think you could adjust the pivot tension until the blade would simply fall closed when the liner is depressed, although I've never tried it with the Military. As I stated in my first post, that's much too slick an action for me. I don't want gravity dropping that blade on my thumb.
 
Take note: the blade pivot pin is not necessarily the only way to tighten up any play. Its concentric design was intended to "readjust" lockup where the locking liner would wear upwards towards to opposite side of blade tang. But this wear would only occur after considerable use.

Take the appropriate torx drive(s) to the blade stop pin and tighten slightly. This may help to take up any blade play, as I' ve done successfully. Sal G. had recommended this.

But I would first give it some more "breakin" time as I' ve had some similar experience with a bit of excess tension. I also prefer a NON free dropping blade when depressing the liner lock. At times it has provided a small measure of safety.

L8r,
Nakano
 
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