Slipjoint Backspring Tension

[Blues]

In chatting with one of our slipjoint makers the topic of backspring tension arose.

Personally, I like the spring tension on the firm side but short of a nail breaker.

Too firm and you won't look forward to opening and using the knife imho.

Too loose and you won't look forward to using the knife for fear of potential accidental closure.

So, on a scale of 1 through 10, with 1 being that the knife would essentially fall open under its own weight and 10 being a nail breaker, let's hear your preferences.

I think this kind of information will be useful to the makers that visit the forum. :thumbup:

 

[338375]

I would have to say in the middle, not to hard and not to soft.. I prefer the spring to have some resistance, but as you mentioned, not to the point where its not even fun to use because its hard to open. Not worried about my nails, never even had one of them there manicures. But I do keep em cut short just because I'm always gettin my hands dirty and greasy.

 

[freezergeezer]

I voted 7, becasue my nails can be quite brittle. Otherwise I prefer an 8 or 9.

I'm in the process of designing a pocket knife for me to make myself, & hope to be able to cam the tang so that it's stiffer to close than open. I sure would appreciate any advice on that one.

 

[Durwood]

Elliott,

I've had this discussion with a makers myself and I tend to prefer the backspring tension on my slippies on the heavier side, but not nail breakers. I also like the tension to fit the size of the knife. In other words, I expect a heavier duty pattern to have heavier spring tension, while I prefer my smaller slippies backsprings to still be on the slightly heavy side, but more fitting to the pattern--if you get my drift.

Nail Nick position plays a major role in how much tension is acceptable too. If the pattern has the nail nick toward the tang, too much backspring tension makes the knife really difficult to open. On the flip side if the nail nick half way out or farther toward the tip, leverage works in your favor and a heavy backspring isn't as much of a bad thing. Then there's personal preference--I love the amount of tension Ray Cover puts on his slipjoints, and generally he is consistently toward the Bank-Vault side of tension, but I've heard others (a few) complain that Ray's knives are too hard to open.

I've also talked to a maker that insists he wants his backsprings on the lighter side for safety reasons, and generally produces a spring tension a little less than I like on the larger patterns.

In reality, an experienced maker should be able to adjust backspring tension fairly easily and when the details are being worked out on a custom order backspring tension should not be overlooked.

 

[Blues]

Durwood, we are 100% in accord. :thumbup:

 

[Thomason]

5.7831 - I like it in the middle. Not too hard, not too easy but leaning more to the tad on the firm side.
I have owned a few that were very hard for me to open and one that I just could not open. As nice as the knives were, I just could not bring myself to keep them. They all moved on to those folks who inject steroids in their opening thumb.

Edit - My Covers are just about right.

 

[canineforge]

Great poll, Elliott. And, Darwin is spot on about nail nick location and size. But, I had to go with #8. Nails grow back, tension doesn't.
I imagine this one will stay on the slightly-strong side, but will be fun to watch.
Thanks!

- Joe

 

[Durwood]

Great poll, Elliott. And, Darwin is spot on about nail nick location and size. But, I had to go with #8. Nails grow back, tension doesn't.
I imagine this one will stay on the slightly-strong side, but will be fun to watch.
Thanks!

- Joe

I went with 8 as well, Joe, and I'd consistently take a little heavier spring tension than I want as opposed to less Like you said, nails grow back

 

[F3X]

I like the opening tension on my Boker Copperhead, actually on all my Bokers. From closed they open easily, you can grab the blade with 2 fingers and pull it open but about 40 degrees from full open the tension builds and then it pops in place. My Case Stockman is a nail breaker to open but has the same pop to full open as my Boker.

My Queen has 1/2 stops and it is firm to start to open from full closed and you need to keep your nail in the nick and have a good hold of the blade till the 1/2 stop or it will snap closed on you. Then from the 1/2 stop you can easily grab the sides of the blade to full open.

I think Boker has it right on my 3 examples.

 

[Blues]

5.7831 - I like it in the middle. Not too hard, not too easy but leaning more to the tad on the firm side.
I have owned a few that were very hard for me to open and one that I just could not open. As nice as the knives were, I just could not bring myself to keep them. They all moved on to those folks who inject steroids in their opening thumb.

Edit - My Covers are just about right.

I'm right at about 7.5 myself, Rob.
(Now that Roger Clemens ruined it for the rest of us. :jerkit

 

[billym]

I gave it an eight. I like a assertive snap from the backspring.
Bill

 

[thawk]

I like it firm too, and would prefer to break a nail rather than have it fall open. The best snap is the one that makes a sharp thud noise. Even has a small echo.

I'd say somewhere between 7 and 8 is best for me.

 

[6.0stroker]

I tend to go w/ the heavy side here cause time and use can take some of the spring away, any metal to metal contact w/ wear no mater the amount of lube used will cause this, also I prefer 1/2 stops.

 

[555]

I have a couple of Knives that I swear that use these as Back Springs.

They might be hard to open. (which also makes them child safe.)

But when you close them, they do make heads turn.

Me, I like Strong Back Springs.
I guess I have strong Nails.

 

[VCM3]

I like it the way the Bose Guys do it

 

[siguy]

i have one knife that has a weak spring when keeping the knife open, but when keeping the blade closed it is strong. so it falls closed but there is enough tension to keep it closed securely.

i wonder if the opposite could be done, on purpose. to make it easy to open, but hard to close? i think that would solve all problems.

personally i like it a tad on teh firm side, it feels more secure. i don't like nailbreakers though, they are not much fun to use.

my brother has such weak fingernails that he needs his knife to fall open. he can't usually open a slipjoint unless he can pinch it with the pads of his fingers (so all of the multiblades are out of the question for him).

 

[fewpop]

Great thread Elliott. :thumbup:

I voted at a 7, although anything between 6 and 7 would work fine for me. I would rate the Ray Cover, Sr.'s I've had as about 6.75 and, as Goldielocks says, "just right."

Although I quoted Goldielocks, I'm still a manly man, and if I wanted to, could carry a knife rated at #15 = "Makes Chuck Norris whine & shiver like a Chihuahua."

 

[Blues]

Great thread Elliott. :thumbup:

I voted at a 7, although anything between 6 and 7 would work fine for me. I would rate the Ray Cover, Sr.'s I've had as about 6.75 and, as Goldielocks says, "just right."

Although I quoted Goldielocks, I'm still a manly man, and if I wanted to, could carry a knife rated at #15 = "Makes Chuck Norris whine & shiver like a Chihuahua."

"Yo Quiero Nail-Nick Hell!"

 

[Peregrin]

Firm to reasonably strong is my preference. All the custom slip joints I have fall in this category with the exception of one nail breaker.

 

[Thomason]

On those really strong ones fewpop doesn't break a nail but he has ripped the nail nick right off the blade.