Spyderco Para 2 Pivot Problems

[Dustbuster03]

Hey Bladeforums.com fam! I got a Spyderco Para Military 2 about 4 months ago and i love the knife, except one big thing! I got the knife and the first time i flipped it open i knew there was an issue. So my friend that i work with has a PM2 also and thats what made me get one, his opens smooth, really super smooth! Mine on the other hand came out of the box with side2side blade play but opened smooth. So i tightened the pivot and frame screws up enough so it wouldnt have any play, but once i did that it wouldnt open very smooth at all. I tried lubing it up with all kinds of different things. Didnt work. Im just dissapointed that its not opening properly, and the grind is also a little messed up too. ( Pretty uneven). So i need your opinions on what to do, or would warranty cover that? Has anyone dealt with this issue on their PM2? Thanks in advance! Dustyn

 

[Allen R.]

Most para 2's I've owned are gonna have some side to side wiggle , by tightening it down , yea you made the play go away but you made it harder to open, eventually it may break it for you and you may get a knife with no play that opens smooth, but like i said most of the para 2's I''ve had and I've had quite a few have had play, now that blade play is not gonna make the knife fail by any means but if your ocd like me about blade play it can't be there, you could send it in but honestly it's pretty common on that model and dunno what they'd do to fix it since nothings wrong with it, now had you tightened it down and still had play i'd say send it in. Pick your poison , have a tight knife with no play or loosen it up and have some play but youll have a smooth action, I suggest just playing with the knife for awhile with it tightened down and seeing if that helps before doing anything else, a knife just like a gun or other things does have a break in period and after being opened and closed a few hundred times will eventually break in , If you still have problems after that, then I'd send it in , Just DO NOT TAKE IT APART OR YOU WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY! I tightened the last one I had all the way down like you described and just played with it constantly while watching t.v or whatever and it eventually broke in, no play and it loosened up a bit too.

 

[Allen R.]

You could always sell it , If your unhappy with it i put my last one up for sale and it sold in under a minute NO JOKE! fastest sell ever! they are out of stock everywhere and if you wanted to sell it I promise it would be sold in no time on here.

 

[Fancier]

The pivot on the Para 2 has a bushing instead of a washer. It is intended to be assembled with the pivot screw run down snug and then the knife should open smoothly.
If you tightened it further to remove side play and the knife became hard to open then I believe that the pivot is over tightened. If you can loosen the pivot screw and then run the screw down snug and the knife opens normally then returning it to Spyderco probably won't help you since the knife seems to be operating as designed.
I also suggest selling the knife if you aren't completely satisfied with it since the Para 2's are in short supply right now.

 

[zl1]

Mines got the slightest amount of play if I try to wiggle it
Otherwise it's smooth with no discernible problems.
Grind was uneven too but no bigs

 

[seelow123]

The pivot on the Para 2 has a bushing instead of a washer.

It has both. The bushing goes into the hole where the female part of a normal knife pivot would go. There are still washers on each side of the bushing.

 

[phillipsted]

It has both. The bushing goes into the hole where the female part of a normal knife pivot would go. There are still washers on each side of the bushing.

This design is called a "bushed pivot" since the bushing and pivot are combined into the same part. Because the pivot can only be tightened down so far, tolerances in manufacturing are key. And Seelow, you are right - the P2 still has two phosphor bronze washers.

TedP

 

[seelow123]

This design is called a "bushed pivot" since the bushing and pivot are combined into the same part. Because the pivot can only be tightened down so far, tolerances in manufacturing are key. And Seelow, you are right - the P2 still has two phosphor bronze washers.

TedP

:thumbup: I really wish more manufacturers would use them. A US made Spyderco flipper with a bushed pivot would be amazing.

 

[mkjellgren]

The para2 is extremely sensitive to adjustment of the pivot screws as well as the stop pin screws. Tightening or loosening of either by even a fraction of a turn can have a big impact on the action. My advice would be to remove both the pivot and the stop pin screws and put a bit of loctite on the threads, then tighten down the pivot very carefully just until there is no wiggle in the blade, if the blade still moves smoothly at this point then tighten down the stop pin screws a little bit at a time, checking the action the during the process. If that doesnt work, try the opposite, loosen both screws, tighten the stop pin down until the action is smooth, then try to adjust play out of the pivot. Again, the para2 is very sensitive to even very minor adjustment so it may take a bit of tinkering to get it perfect. Also, as mentioned above, some para2s just have a very slight amount of side to side play that just cant be adjusted out, its really not a big deal and is fairly common with this knife, but I can see how it may bother some people.

With reference to the uneven grinds, I fail to see the issue here. I just dont understand why so many people have been upset about factory edges lately. Just reprofile the dang knife and be done with it. Every knife owner should be able to fix an uneven edge relatively easily, and if you cant, you better break out some cheap kitchen knives and start practicing. Its the responsibility of every knife owner to take care of his own tools.