Scagel Fruitport could close further?

If you don't want them to sharpen it, tell them so. Most knife companies will sharpen a knife sent in for repair as a matter of courtesy.
 
I agree with that. A little more thought, just email or call them. Its a small company and only they can answer your questions. They worked on my spring green whittler twice and I got the same knife back both times.
 
avoidspam said:
Sudden thought on the 'filing the kick' option talked about here. Looking at the end of both the Fruitport and #73 models which both have half stops it looks like the spring sits flush against the flat portion of the blade tang so I'm guessing filing the kick would make little if any difference.

Thoughts...?

Sam
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That thought crossed my mind too. I filed the kick on the sheepfoot blade in my #49 Queen "Cattle King' stockman, and was surprised to see the spring didn't lower/sink hardly at all; only about a hair's thickness of drop, literally, from filing ~1/16" from the kick. Upon closer examination, I could see that the flat of the blade's tang rests against the inside of the spring, which limits how far the spring drops (width of the tang, between the pivot pin and the spring, remains fixed). It occurred to me, most of the knives I've seen with really sunken springs look that way due to heavy wear on the blade tang and/or the spring itself, and less-so due to other causes, like filed kicks.

This could obviously be hit-or-miss, depending upon the construction and fit of individual knives. If the tang doesn't rest flush against the spring in the closed position, the kick's depth may be the only thing keeping the spring flush to the liners/scales. I might expect to see this more in cheaply-constructed/designed knives.
 
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avoidspam said:
What we need is a participant willing to pull their GEC/Fruitport to bits...., anyone?

Sam
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Ha, please nobody do this on my account. Is it even possible to do this and put it back together?

upon further investigation I believe I understand the interaction between the backspring and blade. It is a simple trigonometric configuration; an obtuse triangle is made between blade and backspring with the obtuse angle cut out of the blade (technically this surface is curved) making the spring the longest leg.
If I were to shorten the stop the spring would sit closer to the blade on the tang and because there is curvature on the tang the spring might not lie flush. The curvature is very slight and only a small amount of metal would need to be removed, but all things considered I think I am going to send it into GEC.
Thanks everybody for the helpful suggestions!
 
justsomedude said:
Ha, please nobody do this on my account. Is it even possible to do this and put it back together?

upon further investigation I believe I understand the interaction between the backspring and blade. It is a simple trigonometric configuration; an obtuse triangle is made between blade and backspring with the obtuse angle cut out of the blade (technically this surface is curved) making the spring the longest leg.
If I were to shorten the stop the spring would sit closer to the blade on the tang and because there is curvature on the tang the spring might not lie flush. The curvature is very slight and only a small amount of metal would need to be removed, but all things considered I think I am going to send it into GEC.
Thanks everybody for the helpful suggestions!
Click to expand...

Sounds like the best option.

I'd agree about the triangle theory, however, if that is the case then you should be able to file the kick without affecting the backspring because the backspring will still be sat on the blade tang at the front of the knife (where your eye sees it). All you will do is make a thinner triangle.

Sam
 
avoidspam said:
Sounds like the best option.

I'd agree about the triangle theory, however, if that is the case then you should be able to file the kick without affecting the backspring because the backspring will still be sat on the blade tang at the front of the knife (where your eye sees it). All you will do is make a thinner triangle.

Sam
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But its a triangle on a pivot. So if you remove a little height from the kick then it will allow the triangle to pivot downwards towards the kick, letting the tang rise. The backspring has to settle somewhere. Make any sense?
 
richstag said:
But its a triangle on a pivot. So if you remove a little height from the kick then it will allow the triangle to pivot downwards towards the kick, letting the tang rise. The backspring has to settle somewhere. Make any sense?
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I think you have it exactly right, at least that is what I was visualizing. The consideration I see is that that part of the tang is rounded and a shift of 1/32" may keep the spring at the same height. I'm not going to risk it, I have my first CRK coming so I will just send this in once that gets here and I probably won't miss it too much while it's gone.
 
justsomedude said:
I think you have it exactly right, at least that is what I was visualizing. The consideration I see is that that part of the tang is rounded and a shift of 1/32" may keep the spring at the same height. I'm not going to risk it, I have my first CRK coming so I will just send this in once that gets here and I probably won't miss it too much while it's gone.
Click to expand...

Either way, GEC makes the things, they can fix them too :)
 
I will say this. For this particular knife in the OP, with the blade tip just barely too high, it wouldn't take hardly any metal removal from the kick to lower it. My own knife was an extreme case, with the sheepfoot's spine about 1/8" or so above the spine of the clip blade. My goal was to make the two spines flush, which I did. I removed a lot of that D2 from the kick (about 1/16", as mentioned). Considering how miniscule the spring drop was (if any; I didn't see where exactly it was, prior to grinding the kick), I wouldn't worry at all about sanding the kick on the OP's mentioned knife. The amount of drop at the tip of the blade will be significantly greater, for a given smaller amount of metal removal at the kick. Considering only a fraction of a millimeter of lowering is needed at the tip, I'd just make some light passes with wet/dry paper (maybe 400/600 grit), or a file, and constantly keep re-checking the tip and the space below the edge inside. Shouldn't take much at all.

Obviously, I'd be mighty brave about this, IF this was my knife ;). But it isn't, so if the choice is to send it back to the maker for a fix, I completely respect and understand that. Not trying to sway the decision one way or the other.
 
richstag said:
But its a triangle on a pivot. So if you remove a little height from the kick then it will allow the triangle to pivot downwards towards the kick, letting the tang rise. The backspring has to settle somewhere. Make any sense?
Click to expand...

Blond moment, thank God my job doesn't involve engineering....., oh, hang on!

Sam:)
 
UPDATE

In a fit of confidence inspired by Obsessed with edges, I took a file to the stop post... and fixed my problem completely! The tip of the blade now rests a solid 1/16" deep in the handle, and the spring still lies perfectly flush!
Thanks everybody.
 
Hurray! Glad it's sorted.

So what does this tell us about our triangle....? Well, my guess is the front of the blade tang is not far enough on front of the pivot for minor filing of the kick to make the spring drop significantly. this may apply with the Fruitport, but perhaps not others...

Sam
 
I've filed the kick on 4 or 5 of my knives with very good results. I made a cardboard "sheath" to protect the blade from the file and filed 3 or 4 strokes and then checked my progress by closing the knife to see if the tip still protruded. It took about 3 tries (less than 20 strokes with a fine toothed file) before I was satisfied. I did it on knives where I was sure the edge wouldn't touch the spring. None of these knives were a fruitport so I don't know if it will work in your case but it was an easy fix each time I tried it.
 
The tang and back spring definitely meet at a different spot now, but that part of the tang is rounded and I believe this accounted for the shift.
 
justsomedude said:
UPDATE

In a fit of confidence inspired by Obsessed with edges, I took a file to the stop post... and fixed my problem completely! The tip of the blade now rests a solid 1/16" deep in the handle, and the spring still lies perfectly flush!
Thanks everybody.
Click to expand...

Hey, that's great! :thumbup:

I'm glad it worked out. I'd assumed you were going to send it back to the maker. But, it's always good to see some initiative taken to fix one's own knife.
 
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