Sunken backspring repair

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GaiusJulius

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I have a few knives that I’d really love… except for the fact that their backsprings are a little sunken when the knife is open. This is a pet peeve of mine. My question is, short of sanding the frame, is there any way to fix this? I’ve honestly been tossing around the idea of carefully adding a little JB Weld to the appropriate side of the tang, but I’m not sure if this is a realistic idea or not. Anyone tried it?
 
this is one of the outcomes ive seen happen to one of the 15s i have thats been through multiple alterations. i too wonder if there is a remedy. its a little sunken but nothing terrible.
 
My one regret about the porch is that I learned about the proud and sunken. If I noticed them before reading about them here, they never bothered me. Now these conditions are one bane of my existence. But take heart, plenty of other things are going to bother you more.

Knife content: I agree with Steve.
 
It might be possible to gently hammer the kick and stretch it a little. That's the portion that affects spring position when closed. Also, an adjustment like that wouldn't affect the spring in the open position. I'm not sure it would be worth doing though. A lot of room for error.
 
draggat said:
It might be possible to gently hammer the kick and stretch it a little. That's the portion that affects spring position when closed. Also, an adjustment like that wouldn't affect the spring in the open position. I'm not sure it would be worth doing though. A lot of room for error.
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suppose where its sunken plays a part in the fix right?
 
The only way to truly fix that is to weld material back onto the blade tang. Whether the knife came like that, or the tang has worn down with use, that is what's happening
 
I had a Case where the backspring was massively proud and the blade was very canted forward. I fixed it pretty well with a needle file. But removing material is easier than adding. Given the fact that most of my knives that exhibit this are to a fairly small degree I’m thinking the best answer is to get over it. Easier said than done though.

I find I’m far more willing to overlook -or try fixing and not care too much if it works or doesn’t - when the knives are “cheap and cheerful.” When they’re expensive it bugs me!

My Bladeforums ‘20 from Italy actually has a radiused or rounded backspring, which strikes me as an exceptionally elegant solution to this question because then it’s not obvious if the spring is proud or sunken. Most old knives I’ve seen are not too uniform …makes me think I’m pickier than my grandpa was.
 
We all have our bete-noires with knives...with me it's this proud/sunk backspring horror. No it's not nit-picking, it's having proper judgement and taste ;) Not only is it aesthetic- it looks shoddy and badly finished- but it's also functional, I dislike the feel of my thumb resting on a backspring that's obviously raised or sunk when using the knife! Likewise, when the knife is closed it's pleasing to find a smooth backspring properly finished or like when the scales are properly fitted or radiused to the liners.

G GaiusJulius Very good point about the Forum 20 knife, the rounded backspring is a very clever touch but it's no mean feat of construction either especially on a Swayback frame . Lionsteel-another Italian firm-also adopt this approach with their knives.

Pity this fault cannot really be remedied and it's also worth thinking about VERY careful filing of kicks, I lowered a Sheepfoot on a Stockman too much and it messed up nice flush backsprings....:eek: Plus be cautious who alters your knives they may not be able to line up the springs like the originals....

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You'd have to take the whole knife apart and weaken the spring and/or take material off the spine of the blade, trying to get everything flush before putting it together.
I don't think it is worth it
 
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