I purchased a well used Ka-Bar Folding Hunter. Unfortunately as it was online, there was no way to tell that the spring recessed a good 1/8th of an inch or more down below the scales when open. It has massive forward and backward play. Is there anything I can do to fix this, or are the surfaces just worn out? Any help would be appreciated greatly, and even a simple yes or no would put me at ease.
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Slipjoint lock up problem.
- Thread starter Rumsey
- Start date
ea42
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2006
- Messages
- 4,016
Rumsey, most likely you've got a very worn knife. Abuse and lack of oil can wear a tang and spring down quite quickly, especially if there's a constant supply of grit in the joint. I suspect that your tang is worn round, and the spring is worn down as well. Another issue could be that the spring is too short, but that's not quite as likely. I've done up a sloppy illustration to show you what I mean since trying to explain it would likely cause more confusion than relief.
The first image is of a properly fitted joint. You can see that there's a slight space under the end of the spring, and the spring is ground at a slight angle at the contact point with the blade back. The downward pressure of the spring is now exerted on the point between the round end of the tang and the run-up, which forces the blade up tight against the spring.
The second illustration shows a worn tang. The spring now winds up resting flat against the run-up before it comes in contact with the blade back, resulting in a loose joint and dropped spring.
The third illustration shows a short spring, which allows the blade to come up too far, resulting in the spring once again laying flat on the run-up and causing a loose joint. This is usually evident by the blade appearing to angle up higher than the line of the knife back.
There's really nothing you can do at this point to remedy the situation since the damage is already done. If the knife is very dirty inside and there's a lot of goop around the tang area, you could try giving it a good cleaning and oiling, maybe it would help.
Eric
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The first image is of a properly fitted joint. You can see that there's a slight space under the end of the spring, and the spring is ground at a slight angle at the contact point with the blade back. The downward pressure of the spring is now exerted on the point between the round end of the tang and the run-up, which forces the blade up tight against the spring.
The second illustration shows a worn tang. The spring now winds up resting flat against the run-up before it comes in contact with the blade back, resulting in a loose joint and dropped spring.
The third illustration shows a short spring, which allows the blade to come up too far, resulting in the spring once again laying flat on the run-up and causing a loose joint. This is usually evident by the blade appearing to angle up higher than the line of the knife back.
There's really nothing you can do at this point to remedy the situation since the damage is already done. If the knife is very dirty inside and there's a lot of goop around the tang area, you could try giving it a good cleaning and oiling, maybe it would help.
Eric
