Here's a question I have wondered about for a while: on a knife that has a nickel or brass pivot pin and stainless handles, can the side play of the blade be taken up by applying pressure to the handles in a vise, or will this just cause the pivot pin to become loose? Thanks.
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pivot pin question
- Thread starter Bartleby
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,955
You may temporarily tighten things up but after use it will most likely move back to the same lateral blade play it once had. You may also inadvertantly mess up the sides of the bolsters or stainless with the teeth of the vise if you don't use a hardwood scale or at the least some lead shields on them the vise to keep them from coming into contact with the body of the folder..
STR
STR
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,955
On some knives made this way like the Buck 110 for example. They just develop a slight bit of play over time and especially from heavy use. A little blade play is not going to affect the performance of the knife though. If it gets real sloppy it may be in need of a warranty check by the company that made it but this is rare. They usually reach a point and then stay there for a very long time. It may just be that you have broken the knife in.
If the play bothers you that bad I know of no other way to correct it aside from peening it with a hammer, which I don't recommend except as a last resort. There is no way to really ever get all the play out of the blade except to maybe pop the pin out and replace it with a new adjustable pivot pin. This will probably require drilling out the blade pivot hole as well as the handles though.
In the past I have always stuck a thin old style Gillette razor blade in between the blade and the body of the knife. Once that is seated down in to where the edge is touching the pin I peen it on one side with the other side sitting securely on a good 'clean' anvil. The razor blade assures that you don't over peen and make it so tight that the blade doesn't move correctly. If you can't slip a thin razor blade in there then I'd say you don't have enough play to worry about. Use it as is because the play is within normal tolerance if that is the case.
STR
If the play bothers you that bad I know of no other way to correct it aside from peening it with a hammer, which I don't recommend except as a last resort. There is no way to really ever get all the play out of the blade except to maybe pop the pin out and replace it with a new adjustable pivot pin. This will probably require drilling out the blade pivot hole as well as the handles though.
In the past I have always stuck a thin old style Gillette razor blade in between the blade and the body of the knife. Once that is seated down in to where the edge is touching the pin I peen it on one side with the other side sitting securely on a good 'clean' anvil. The razor blade assures that you don't over peen and make it so tight that the blade doesn't move correctly. If you can't slip a thin razor blade in there then I'd say you don't have enough play to worry about. Use it as is because the play is within normal tolerance if that is the case.
STR