Para2 Issues

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Dragonbut

Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
17
Hey guys, I recieved my Para2 a couple weeks ago, so far the hardest it's been used is opening a Sharpmaker box, and being repetitively opened and closed, and I have two minor issues, one is that the lock sticks a little in the open, locked position, which I'm assuming is from not being lubed yet, and the other is that it has slight blade play, but I don't want to mess with the pivot screw. Have any of you had these issues?

~Dragonbut
 
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It sticks in the closed position or when the knife is locked open? Try not to get any lube on the lock face because it can make the lock stick worse. As for the play, you can try to tighten the pivot and stop pin screws in varying increments to get it to the sweet spot.
 
Orion's Belt said:
It sticks in the closed position or when the knife is locked open? Try not to get any lube on the lock face because it can make the lock stick worse. As for the play, you can try to tighten the pivot and stop pin screws in varying increments to get it to the sweet spot.
Click to expand...

Whoops, I meant open, locked position.

Also, I'd prefer not messing with the screws, and I lightly use my knives, so the blade play shouldn't really matter much.
 
The sticky lock is fairly common on the p2 but there are a few remedies to make it better but i'm not too familiar with any of them (Never had a sticky lock on mine). You can tighten the pivot all the way down and the knife shouldn't have play anymore. that's what I did (I actually took mine apart beforehand) and there's no play.
 
The blade play is common. Try tightening the stop pin and the pivot down a little. As for the sticky lock it will ether become un-sticky after you open and close it quite a bit, or you could try graphite on the lock face, although I don't know how well that will work because if the compression lock. Both common complaints.

This thread should actually be in the Spyderco section.

Good luck!
 
For the sticky lock, just draw on the lock face on the blade tang with a pencil. It will lessen the stick until the lock breaks in and no longer sticks.

As for the blade play, it is extremely common for production knives to have a little wiggle from the factory. This is the case simply because production numbers are high enough that each and every knife can't be meticulously looked over and adjusted prior to leaving the factory. I know you said you don't want to mess with the pivot but your worried are completely unwarranted. Adjusting the pivot isn't scary and you absolutely CANNOT mess anything up. You are simply taking a torx driver and literally tightening it 1/8 of a turn or less. It shouldn't take much to snug up that pivot and get rid of the play.
 
you might end up stripping the screw head, but as long as you know how to use a screwdriver you should be fine. I always adjust the pivot screw on my new knives.

just tighten it a little bit and see if it works, and tighten some more if you need to.
 
Yeah, don' t worry about messing anything up when tinkering with the pivot screw on the Para2. It has a bushing system which essentially means that you can tighten it all the way down without affecting the action.
 
I agree with the sentiments here. A. don't oil the lock. That will make the lock move more to the right (if looking at the spine) and might cause it to stick more. I had the same problem on mine and it cured itself. Maybe a little break in time is necessary. B. Feel free to adjust the pivot as often as you like. Just do it carefully. I found with mine that once I got it dialed it to how I wanted it, it remained centered, rock solid locking wise and absolutely ZERO blade play and I haven't had to adjust anything since. And that is without using any locktite. Tinker away carefully and you will have your para perfect in no time. Coincidentally, the only production knife that I didn't have to do a at least a little tinkering (1/8 turn on the pivot, tightening the handle screws, etc,) was the gayle bradley. That knife is absolutely perfect from the factory.
 
jc0228 said:
The blade play is common.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
I have seldom heard of blade-play with the PM2's. I have five that are rock-solid. None have sticky locks. From the posts above, it sounds like you should have no trouble in tweaking this fine knife back into perfection, without having to send it in.
Sonny
 
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Mine had some side to side play after about a year of use...turned out to be the stop pin screw. It was loose. I tightened down and all is well.
 
FWIW, I have these "issues" as well. I wouldn't really call them issues, more like quibbles.

But I have tried to dial out the minor side-to-side blade play by tightening/loosening the pivot and stop pin. I was never able to dial it out completely even if I tightened it to the point that the action became noticable stiff (could no longer do a middle finger flick). Apparently there is some magic combination of tightness between the pivot and stop pin that will eliminate play and keep the action free, but I did not have the patience to find it. The blade play is totally acceptable from a functional standpoint. And there is absolutely no vertical play.

Also my lock bar is sticky. When I disassembled the knife I very carefully smoothed the contact surfaces. I could have gone farther as there are still some machining marks visible, but I did not want to remove very much material. I put a little pencil graphite on the surfaces before I reassembled. It's still sticky. I think the compression lock design is prone to this because you've got a thin flexible sheet of steel wedged between two surfaces simultaneously. Perhaps if made just right it could be stick-free, but my theory is that the tolerance is less than it would be for a liner lock.

Anyways, it's not like it's painful to operate the lockbar, or it noticably slows down the action of closing the knife. And the design is definetly inherently strong. It's just not the watch-like precision you find on some locks.
 
The good thing is that you can adjust all that out with your torx driver. Make some small adjustments to the stop pin screw, as was mentioned and also your pivot.
 
I wouldn't lubricate your lock. It might help for a little bit but will most likely extend the break in period.

A small amount of blade play won't hurt anything but it's also not a big deal to tighten the pivot screw. That said, the way the bushing is made it is possible that tightening the pivot won't take out the blade play. But I like to add teflon tape to the screw threads and adjust the pivot on new knives. It only takes a minute, is easy to do, and let's me adjust the blade how I like it. Adjusting the pivot is ok to do, but taking apart the knife voids the warranty.
 
Okay! Thanks everybody who answered! I'll try tightening the Pivot and Stop Screws. As for the sticky lock, it actually didn't start until I repetitively opened and closed the knife, it really doesn't matter, just a small annoyance.
 
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