Para tip up question

R

realitycheck

Joined
Nov 24, 2007
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313
Hey Steve I have a quick question. I believe I asked this before but I cant find it anywhere. When you change the para military's over to tip up do you just drill and tap the g-10 or do you inlay some metal in the g-10??
If you just drill and tap the g-10 how does this hold up?
Some people say that the screws can come out and damage the g-10 and so on. I dont know if this is true just what i've read. I was wondering your opinion on this. Thanks for your help.
 
Spyderco's G10 is quite strong with like 30% more glass fill. In my own tests of clips I threaded in Spydercos G10 scales that I had donated to me by folks that had them replaced for whatever reasons and on G10 I bought at suppliers the clips bend out or flat out broke before the G10 was bothered at all. In fact I ran into no circumstances where the G10 pulled out as you describe. I'm not saying it could not happen. I mean you never know but it didn't happen to any of the stuff I tested.

In my experience threads hold quite well in synthetic man made materials like those we use a lot and I'd rank them in this order for thread holding based on my own experiences. FRN, Zytel, G10, Micarta, Carbon Fiber. Ironically carbon fiber does not seem to hold them as well as I expected it to. I thought knowing what I do about that material that it would be the best but to my surprise the FRN and Zytel I've threaded for folks seems to have come back to me less by far than any of the others that did so if you follow some simple rules of thumb they can work for you. The threads can strip and thats from one of several things that can happen. But seriously if you are hard on clips and have bent them before, caught them in seat belts or banged them up good on table corners and what not, or if you just are prone to taking your clip on and off a lot I'd probably say you should go ahead and pay the little bit extra and have the threaded inserts put in behind the scale just as added insurance but I have to believe that if you really had a clip that thick and strong and pulled it hard enough to actually pull out the material that it would happen whether there was an insert on the back or not. The only way I see avoiding that would be to maybe inlay a full titanium backing plate there which adds a lot more work and money for a clip.

Anyway,

I always advise folks never to overtighten the screws since this can strip or weaken the threads.

Don't make a habit of taking the clip on and off a lot as this increases the chances of cross threading a screw and messing up the threads.

Never use loctite or super glue in the threads as this can strip or weaken the threads the first time you do have to take a screw out after that.

I've done them both ways with threaded inserts placed behind the clips on the undersides of scales and without any backing but just threading the material by it's lonesome whether they be G10, carbon fiber, FRN or Micarta.

Most elect to just go with the threading the G10 only and have in the back of their minds that they would go to the insert behind the clip later if the need arises. I might also add that at this point in time I've been making pocket clips for approximately 11 years both for myself and for folks on all the forums whether they be for knives or flashlights. In that time I've literally done thousands for knives and I'm sure hundreds of those have been with just the threaded G10 or some other man made synthetic. I've never had anyone write me and tell me that what you presented happened. I am just now sitting down with the wife to do our book keeping from 2008. Based on my books I did over 400 pocket clips last year alone. If this was an issue I have to believe it would have happened more than once by now and if it did happen more than once you can certainly be guaranteed that I'd be working them on the knives differently from then on. Anyway, I hope that answers your questions.
 
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STR, thank you so much. One more question. I ordered a clip, some screws, and a tap to change my para over to tip up. I ordered a tap that is 2-56 size. They sent the right tap and I think one bag of screws is the right one but they're not marked. The other bag is not the right screws. So my question is do you know what size and thread pitch spyderco uses on their para for clip screws??
I tried screwing the tap into the old holes where the orignal clip used to be but it was hard to tell if it was working right, the blade stopped it from going in well.
 
I'm fairly sure that most of the Golden made knives are going to be standard USA sizes you can find. So even if its not the 2-56 it is something you can still obtain. Besides if you are drilling holes just drill some number 48 holes or #50 if you don't have 48s and thread the holes carefully using that 2-56 tap and the 2-56 screws will fit the new holes no problem. The only way you need to worry about it is if you are planning to put it back to tip down carry.

I believe they are 2-56 though in that knife and the Military. What you want to watch is the length of the screws since if you stick them in there after drilling and threading and they go in to far you can ding your edge closing the blade if you are not careful. Speaking of the one to watch for odd ball size screws are any made in Japan. The one to watch for that uses the same clip as the Military and Para Military but is now discontinued is the Impala that has some really odd ball Jap size screws larger than a 2-56 but smaller than the next size up we can get here, (4-40 I believe). I have never found any like the ones in the Impala and other Japanese made folders for Spyderco. Ironically the Byrd line has more standard screw sizes than the Japanese ones and of course the difference between the Impala and the Millie and Para Mil is that the Impala was a VG10 model made in Japan folder. This is not unique to Spyderco though. All the Japanese and some China and Taiwan folders can be problmatic for sizing. I've run into that here with an R2 that has me stumped until I figure out my next step. Even the pivot barrels are all odd sizes.

STR
 
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Thanks STR, I am going to use the screws that came on the knife. So length shouldn't be an issue. That's why I was asking if they were 2-56. One last question if I order a titanium clip from you for the para, just silver no special color. When could you ship it to me?
I know your backed up on your work so I dont want to bother you with it if I can just get a clip from you. I'm pretty sure I can drill and tap it myself.
 
My brother sent me a knife last week that he wanted a clip on and I made one for it for tip down carry only to discover he actually preferred and liked tip up carry better so I made another one for tip up for him and have one that should fit on yours tip down if that is what you are wanting.

To be honest with you its much much easier for me the way I work to make the clip first and then have you drill the holes where you want them once you get the clip from me. That way I can just fold it over without worry and not have to worry about whether the fold over will cause the clip to underhang or overhang off the end of the folder because you can make it sit where you like and set it there drilling the first hole, then thread. Mount the first screw and drill the second screw hole and then take it all off and thread the last one. Now you are set to put it back on and it will be perfect.

STR
 
Steve did my Para tip up about 6 months ago. I've carried it nearly everyday since with no issues. I check the screw tension every so often and have found no problems. Don't over tighten and don't remove the screws.
 
I'm getting a Para in the mail tomorrow. STR can you please let me know how much it cost to do the tip up carry with lowrider pocket clip?
 
Its already posted in the sticky for low rider clips top the page page one of my forum all the time everyday. You can find the work order form there for getting a job to me as well. I also have it in the 'Read this if you need to mail me work' sticky that is top the page somewhere with the rest of the sticky posts on page one.

Thanks for asking

STR
 
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