Solution for fixing overly strong spring?

[screened porch]

I tried that icepick between tang and spring after reading this thread. I had two new-to -me jacks and an old sunfish with immovable pen blades, and they all work great now.

 

[blademan 13]

I will be giving this a shot tomorrow on an old black box Winchester stockman, the main is literally a nail ripper. Very stiff spring combined with poor crescent pull placement and access. Thanks for the tip!

Finally got around to doing this yesterday, a few minutes spent gently over-extending the spring did wonders. Pull went from a 9.5 to a more usable 8. Still may work it a little more. No problem with blade play.

 

[Lemmy Caution]

Finally got around to doing this yesterday, a few minutes spent gently over-extending the spring did wonders. Pull went from a 9.5 to a more usable 8. Still may work it a little more. No problem with blade play.

Glad it worked out for you. Just be careful. I received a 78 American Jack yesterday that tore off a chunk of my thumb nail. So I decided to soften the spring using this method. Well I may have went a bit too far. It went from an 8-9 to a 4-5. At first my heart sunk because it seemed like the spring had gotten lazy on me as well and wouldn't close the blade completely. I flushed it out and oiled it and tuned it for a while and now its very smooth. The walk and talk are still crisp, but it won't be tearing up fingernails. So after all I'm happy with the results, but YMMV.

 

[idahoguy]

Handy advice on over stressing the spring. It worked for me. Can't emphasize enough to watch closely how far over-bent the spring is in the stressed position, and checking the results very carefully and frequently.

 

[UseitorLoseit]

Spring tension will not be reduced by leaving a knife in any particular position for any length of time. You basically have 4 options:

1. Alter the geometry of the blade tang. Meh.
2. Polish contact surfaces. This may help a little.
3. Bend the spring beyond its elastic deformation range. The prybar method mentioned above is one way.
4. Springs fatigue cyclically. Open and close it a lot.

 

[H2O2HI]

Hi guys. I've just received a GEC #25 clip point that has a rather heavy pull. I'd say it about 8-9. I've almost damaged my thumbnail opening it. Is there a homegrown remedy to sort this out? I've read somewhere that leaving it between the halfstop and fully opened for a few days might work. Does it really? Or do I just have to bear with it and hope the spring weakens with time? I've flushed the pivot and lightly oiled it but it hasn't improved things.

Thanks for your help.
Linus

I have a Osage Orange #73 that is my all time favorite Knife! It started out with a pull of 8+. Bummer! I overstressed the spring often, but after a few days it would regain most its strength. I kept doing it, and got it down to a 7.
I finally cured it by using a lap on the tang edges. A jewelers file is pretty innacurate. I cut a flat side on a toothpick and loaded it with a spot of oil and tripoli. After a couple of minutes lapping both edges, The pull is smooth and at a 6. Flush clean with oil.
I suppose one could touch the temper with a soldering iron. But only on a knife I was so angry with that I would throw it away in any case.

 

[Oldy]

Thanks to this thread it has allowed me to tame one tough sob hombre the infamous 73 ,i did it a bit different but the concept of extending the spring past its day to day use was key.