slipjoint binding upon closing

[ashwinearl]

Diagnosing slip joint binding.

I started to peen a silpjoint together and it was clearly going to bind in the closed position. even with noticeably play in the blade when open , it was slow to fully close. Opening it had its snap.

Can someone help with trouble shooting. Is this indicative about an pivot hole that has been drilled off center? or springs that are non flat/ parallel. , liners/scale (shadow G10) not flat.

Is there a chance or reworking it from blade/spring and trying again. Or is it destined for the trash heap?

 

[DevinT]

The kick is probably rubbing against the liner. Sometimes when setting the pin, it will shift and kick the blade over to one side. Look inside and see if there is any rubbing against the liner. There could be other problems also.

Hoss

 

[Joseph H.]

Its hard to be sure about the problem. Everyone makes them with there own proces and every proces has his own problems.
Have you releaved the liners? And is your tang flat and paralel?
If the tang isn't totaly flat, for example, youre kick is a tiny bit thicker than the rest of the tang, it can catch the liner. Like Hoss said.
This can be solved bij releaving the liners. This also keeps the tang from scratching.
Or gring your kick thinner.
Hope it helps.
Joseph

 

[ashwinearl]

I think it is my liners. It was a hack job relieving them. I'm going to redo them, or try making some washers from shim stock. I have a punch kit for making washers I've never tried yet.

 

[Randy3000]

I have had0 ill fitting scales glue up with the liners bowed and it caused this binding issue. I had to torch the scales and reglue new ones on.

 

[Nsewell]

If it’s not the liners it could also be a bent pivot pin. Sometimes if you don’t hit the pin square when your peening it can bend the pivot and cause binding. I’ve done this several times. Just peen a little and check in all positions to make sure it is still moving freely. The first few I made I left the pin way to long to make sure I had enough and it would bend most times instead of swelling.

 

[AVigil]

I think it is my liners. It was a hack job relieving them. I'm going to redo them, or try making some washers from shim stock. I have a punch kit for making washers I've never tried yet.

Washers? You need to have the blade thinner so , Blade+washers = back spring thickness

 

[Bill DeShivs]

I never understood the "washers" thing, or relieving the liners. Both of these leave a very small bearing surface that will wear down much quicker than plain old liners. They make the blade more prone to wobble also.

 

[Randy3000]

I never understood the "washers" thing, or relieving the liners. Both of these leave a very small bearing surface that will wear down much quicker than plain old liners. They make the blade more prone to wobble also.

While you have far more experience then me, I have to disagree with you here about relieving liners. I think NOT relieving creates too much bearing surface and makes an action somewhere between lacking smoothness to outright not closing all the way on its own once the knife has been in the pocket a while and isn't oiled up anymore. A typical blade tang for me measures < 1/4" at the pivot from the kick side to the notch side. I also typically do a rounded end (no half stop) which is somewhere around 5/32" from the end to the edge of the pivot hole. It is not difficult at all to leave plenty of meat on the liners to make good stabilizing contact with the tang, and relieve the part of the liners that contacts the tang closer to the tip to make a smoother non-binding action.

Edit
With the blade open, mark the blade tang that is sticking out of the handle right at the edge of the liner. Now close the knife and mark an arc along the liner following that tang mark. It is fine to relieve the liner outside of that arc and not affect the stability.