DistortionSlayer
Gold Member
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2012
- Messages
- 562
Hey all,
A few weeks ago, I received one of my grails: a Crusader Forge FIFP EX. This monster came to me used although with a little wear. As soon as I got it, I noticed it has some substantial lock stick and slight side-to-side blade play. No lock rock what-so-ever.
I know the knife was used so it didn't seem to bother me and I could have sent it into CF customer service (called them and told them about it, they send it in) It would be a 2 month wait but I know they would have taken care of it without an issue.
Being the impatient person I am, and not wanting to part with my blade, I took it apart and decided to see what I could do about it.
This is what I saw.
The washers that came originally with the knife seemed a little on the small side compared to the rest of the blade. They are about the size of the Hinderer teflon washers and are definitely smaller than the ones strider uses. Now, knowing how large and heavy the blade is, a smaller diameter washers would have to squeeze the blade with a smaller surface area and the radius of contact between the washer's middle and the end was going to be small. This would cause a larger torque on the washers from the blade in the closed position from the lockbar, which I would see manifest as a small gap was visible on one side of the washers and the blade. As I pushed the blade from one side to the other I could see the gap travel from one end to the other.
So I decided to get new washers. The inner diameter of the original washers is about 0.25 inches and the outer diameter is about 0.51 inches. The thickness is about 0.031 inches
I couldn't find any phosphor bronze washers with those exact dimensions but I was able to find a pair with dimensions inner=0.5133, outer=0.718 inches, and thickness 0.025 inches from Seastrom manufacturing. The original washers would fit inside of these new ones perfectly.
There was a thickness difference between the original and the Seastrom washers by about 0.005 inches which I had to take care of by carefully sanding down the originals on a diamond file.
When all was said and done, I put the blade back together....no stick....no blade play....no gap. Perfect lock up, perfect centering, and perfectly smooth.
So, I'd highly recommend this mod to anyone who has had problems with lock stick and/or blade play with any crusader forge knives. I love their knives but with all Ti framelocks, they will wear and eventually develop these issues. Small diameter washers do not help either. The whole mod took me about 3 hours. I'll also give a huge thumbs up to Seastrom as well. Even though they're one of those companies with average part orders in the multi-thousands, they got my 4 washers to me within 3 days of me ordering them.
Total cost of this mod: 12$ + 4 hours of my time
A few weeks ago, I received one of my grails: a Crusader Forge FIFP EX. This monster came to me used although with a little wear. As soon as I got it, I noticed it has some substantial lock stick and slight side-to-side blade play. No lock rock what-so-ever.
I know the knife was used so it didn't seem to bother me and I could have sent it into CF customer service (called them and told them about it, they send it in) It would be a 2 month wait but I know they would have taken care of it without an issue.
Being the impatient person I am, and not wanting to part with my blade, I took it apart and decided to see what I could do about it.
This is what I saw.
The washers that came originally with the knife seemed a little on the small side compared to the rest of the blade. They are about the size of the Hinderer teflon washers and are definitely smaller than the ones strider uses. Now, knowing how large and heavy the blade is, a smaller diameter washers would have to squeeze the blade with a smaller surface area and the radius of contact between the washer's middle and the end was going to be small. This would cause a larger torque on the washers from the blade in the closed position from the lockbar, which I would see manifest as a small gap was visible on one side of the washers and the blade. As I pushed the blade from one side to the other I could see the gap travel from one end to the other.
So I decided to get new washers. The inner diameter of the original washers is about 0.25 inches and the outer diameter is about 0.51 inches. The thickness is about 0.031 inches
I couldn't find any phosphor bronze washers with those exact dimensions but I was able to find a pair with dimensions inner=0.5133, outer=0.718 inches, and thickness 0.025 inches from Seastrom manufacturing. The original washers would fit inside of these new ones perfectly.
There was a thickness difference between the original and the Seastrom washers by about 0.005 inches which I had to take care of by carefully sanding down the originals on a diamond file.
When all was said and done, I put the blade back together....no stick....no blade play....no gap. Perfect lock up, perfect centering, and perfectly smooth.
So, I'd highly recommend this mod to anyone who has had problems with lock stick and/or blade play with any crusader forge knives. I love their knives but with all Ti framelocks, they will wear and eventually develop these issues. Small diameter washers do not help either. The whole mod took me about 3 hours. I'll also give a huge thumbs up to Seastrom as well. Even though they're one of those companies with average part orders in the multi-thousands, they got my 4 washers to me within 3 days of me ordering them.
Total cost of this mod: 12$ + 4 hours of my time
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