Problem Aligning Blade

E

ErikB

Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Messages
42
I purchased an inexpensive kit here for a first-time little project: http://www.prixusine.fr/PrixUsine/FicheProduit.aspx?ProdId=1864

It has two flat sides with a bolster on each, a spring along the spine, and the blade. In English it is called a lock-back (?) I think.

I have started cleaning the parts with a dremmel (there was a fair amount of cleaning up to do, especially on the spring) and test-fitting them. I found that the blade fits somewhat diagonally between the two flat metal sides.

How do I straighten it out? Any ideas?
 
Examine very carefully and try to determine the reason it's not straight. Is the pivot pin perpendicular to the sides? Is the blade drilled straight? Are the holes in the sides in good alignment with each other?

I'm interested in finding a kit like this for sale in the US. I want to try one of these.
 
EricB when making or assembling a folder always think FLAT. It could be the blade
in not true or the tang is not flat. When i grind my blades I put them between to pieces of flat steel to make sure its straight . I also use a granite block to hand sand the parts FLAT. If you don't have access to granite block a piece of glass would do pretty good. Lay your sandpaper on the glass then get a wood block about 4 inch long put masking tape on it , stick the blade on it and get to sanding.
Do this to the liners as well and the rocker . Use wet & dry sandpaper if you can get it and sprinkle a little water on it or better yet windex. Remember FLAT think FLAT when making or assembling a pocket knife. Goodluck !
 
I hope you haven't caused any damage with the Dremel tool .Yes , think flat. Burrs on the edges I would remove by hand not Dremel.
 
mete said:
I hope you haven't caused any damage with the Dremel tool .Yes , think flat. Burrs on the edges I would remove by hand not Dremel.
Click to expand...

Oh. Good point. Hand sanding instead.

The misalignment is not on parts I've dremmeled.

All I've ground is the back of the spring. I could go through 1,000 miles of sandpaper to get the burrs off of it....

Thanks heaps for the advice, guys.

This is the first time I've worked with wood and metal. I'm used to model airplanes. It's time to learn new materials, new uses, etc. I'm really excited!
 
gbuskirk said:
I'm interested in finding a kit like this for sale in the US. I want to try one of these.
Click to expand...

They're cheap (ish) on that website. My wife speaks French and I could sort-of make out enough of the words on that site to figure it out. We used an American credit card and did a regular purchase. It worked out just fine.

You could give it a go easily. I'd sure like to know what you discover, too, in ordering and making one of these.

Also, for a really cool looking kit (that's over my head at this point) look up the DDR3 from knifekits.com. THAT's a good looking knife (at least to my tastes).
 
Little project update in case anyone is interested.

Blade is fine. I just had to straighten out the spring and to use a vice to squeeze the bolsters flush with the flat panels. They were spot welded together and then a hole was drilled through both pieces. The burr in between separated them a little. It's now straightened out (forgive the pun).

I assembled the metal parts of the knife and discovered that I need to flatten the connection between the spring and the tang as the spring is not quite straight. This results in the flat pieces separating from each other sideways with the spring going one way, the blade the other.

Must open it up, sand and file, and try to get it nice and even. Otherwise, the knife will eventually tear itself apart with use.
 
Update - I'm really frustrated. After peining the pins the spring does not seem to want to settle all the way so the blade does not lock open or closed. Ruined. I'm very frustrated.

My theory is that the peining tightened too much and the once-parallel sides now form a V. This keeps the spring from going down all the way (think Van Dam or Jet Li in a hallway with his legs spread and pressed against the walls, 10' off the ground).

In any case, I'm really annoyed.

Anyone have similar experiences making this kind of knife?
 
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