Ontario Utilitac II blade play

J

joepa150

Joined
Mar 15, 2010
Messages
350
Just received my Utilitac. So far I think it is excellent for the price. When I got it there was no blade play. It opened easily with a slight flick of the wrist BUT not as smooth as I have seen on some youtube videos. I read that someone mentioned adjusting the torsion screw (name?). So I loosened it 1 turn and it opened very easily but had some blade play. I tightened it up maybe 1/2 a turn. Now it opened easier than intially but does still have a very very small amount of blade play.

So is it ok to loosen up so it is easy to open without flicking but has a very small amount of blade play?

Will it loosen more overtime?

Will it damage any parts of my knife?

Thanks
 
Welcome to the wonderful world of pivot tension. It can be a pain to master, but once you do, you'll be able to adjust any knife out there.

It sounds like you just need to find that sweet spot in the pivot. Keep in mind that when making adjustments, you need to go at very small increments or you will loosen/tighten too much and the action of the knife will be off. You said you loosened it 1 turn, try going at a quarter of a turn now, back and forth until you reach the desired tension.

My Utilitac never loosened after I found the right pivot tension, and I actually cranked it till the blade was slightly off center to the lockside. It still fired open like a champ, though. Just be patient with it and keep practicing. As far as I know, you won't be doing any damage whatsoever if your'e just adjusting the pivot. Good luck.
 
grownstar said:
Welcome to the wonderful world of pivot tension. It can be a pain to master, but once you do, you'll be able to adjust any knife out there.

It sounds like you just need to find that sweet spot in the pivot. Keep in mind that when making adjustments, you need to go at very small increments or you will loosen/tighten too much and the action of the knife will be off. You said you loosened it 1 turn, try going at a quarter of a turn now, back and forth until you reach the desired tension.

My Utilitac never loosened after I found the right pivot tension, and I actually cranked it till the blade was slightly off center to the lockside. It still fired open like a champ, though. Just be patient with it and keep practicing. As far as I know, you won't be doing any damage whatsoever if your'e just adjusting the pivot. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more.
 
All of Grownstars suggestions are right on the money. If that doesn't fix your problem ( and most likely it will), take the handle scales off and evenly tighten the frame screws.The stop pin can get a little loose on the Utilitac II and this is the fix.
 
I will play around with it. I added a drop of oil and set the tension so it opens easily without flicking my wrist. If 100% is no blade play, then it has about 96%.
 
joepa150 said:
I will play around with it. I added a drop of oil and set the tension so it opens easily without flicking my wrist. If 100% is no blade play, then it has about 96%.
Click to expand...

flatblackcapo is right, If you can't dial it out with small pivot adjustments the next thing to do would be to remove the scales. You see, unlike a lot of knives, the screws you see in the scales are not actually the screws that hold the frame together. Once the scales are removed, you will find I believe 3 screws that actually hold the frame together. Sort of a neat design. If any of these aren't right they could cause the frame to be out of alignment and not allow you to dial out the play. The only complicated thing about removing the scales is that you will need to remove the pivot screw. It is not that hard but I can certainly understand being wary of doing such a thing if you haven't done it before and especially on a knew knife. Your other option would be to contact Ontario and see what they say. They might have you send it in under warranty. Just some ideas.

Keep at the pivot adjusting before you do anything you are not comfortable with. At a certain point though, if you can't make it how you want, you might need to go warranty route or take apart route. The UT2 is a solid knife, there shouldn't be any play, might be an issue with your specific example and nothing to do with how much you adjust.
 
Mine's still smooth as butter :) Happened to have it on me today.

IMG_20141112_160835426_HDR_zpspnjjwjm9.jpg
 
That thing is asking to be hit with my belt sander and given an aftermarket wave!

I just might order on tonight!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top