Tightening/peening a wobbly LB7 ?

MtMike

MtMike

Joined
Dec 8, 1999
Messages
325
I'm just finishing a custom leather sheath for a friend's LB7. It's not an older model(Schrade+ blade, but has been used VERY hard. Not surprisingly, it has developed some side to side blade wobble. Doesn't affect the ability of the knife to do its job, but I was wonderinf ig it's possible to tighten it up without damaging theknife further. Will light peening on the pivot pin work?

Thanks,
MtMike,
Custom Leather
 
Light peening may well do the job. So might a slightly larger pin. Why if you have the option not send it back to Schrade. If you choose this option and want this specific knife make sure to tell them that if you cannot get your original piece do not repair. If it does not matter then do not specify and they will fix or send new. My own experience is that the tolerances on nickle silver favor a new larger pin versus the peening of the old one. I am not much of a mechanic so perhapes I am wrong. In either event good luck. LT
 
Thanks LT - as I said, it's not my knife, but my buddy trusts me with his knives. I tried lite-peening, and it took 98% of the wobble out. I could probably get it really snug, but also sacrifice a little smoothness if I took it that far. Good tip -- and I never thought of having him send it back to Schrade DOH !!
BTW the custom sheath came out super too, so he'll be a doubly happy camper :D
Mike.
 
I have an old LB7 with no problems, but I have fixed a similar knife from Puma, and also an old Schrade stockman, neither was too bad.

If it can be sent to Schrade, they should do it right. I wouldn´t attempt to fix a slight wooble unless it was an old knife and I was willing to take the risk of leaving it worse. Of course if it keeps getting hard use it will likely get loose again.

I´ll take responsability for my actions but not for yours, that been said, this is what I´ve done:

With the knife closed laying over a flat surface, a sharp blow with a hammer on the end of the bolster (not on the pin) so as to close the gap between the two bolsters a tiny bit (the difference can´t be seen), the hammer leaves a mark unless it is protected by someting like a piece of wood, if done too hard the blade will offer some resistance to open/close.
 
Don Luis -- here's exactly what I did. I wrapped the bolster in some scrap 9 oz leather (being a leatherman I have plenty of scrap) and laid it on my bench vise. I positioned a piece of scrap micarta directly over the pivot pin -- it also rested over the brass bolsters. Then I hit struck the micarta with a standard carpenter's hammer, then checked the fit of the blade. I repeated this several times until I got the fit I wanted. BTW, using the leather and micarta rather than hitting the brass directly, it left no marks on the knife.
Since then I've done the same thng to an old Sears (Camillus?) folder, and an early Rigid (Santee) folder. Same results -- it works well for tightening lateral blade play. I still have some vertical play on one of the knives which was not affected by my hammering, but one thing at a time.
Mike
 
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