Very heavy pull problem

R

robertj298

Joined
Mar 7, 2014
Messages
244
I received this knife 8 or 10 years ago. It's a Winchester Moose knife. It's a beautiful knife but the clip point blade had an extremely heavy pull at both half stop and full stop. Is there any way to lighten up?

6583A415F5404FB4883F138884CCAB67.jpg
 
One of the modders glennbad glennbad or @Jfowl31 might be able to take it apart and remove some material from the spring to lighten it. But that's subject to their comfort level/desire.
 
There has been several conversations on here about leaving the blade out to the position that the spring is fully extended for an unspecified amount of time to stretch the spring. Some said days,other months. Varying opinions as to whether it works. I tried it on a modded Camillus TL-29 and it definitely didn't work. I've got a Fightn' Rooster sheepfoot stretching now. We'll see on that one.==You might also try flushing out the joint with soap and hot water while manipulating the blade to wash any gunk from manufacturing left in there. Blow dry it and oil it good afterwards. You can also put the blade in a padded vice, oil it up and open and close it about a thousand times.:). Some will ease up with use. This has worked for me in the past.--KV
 
Also worth a try leaving the blades out at half stop for a few days to stress the springs and see if the resulting slight metal fatigue helps at all. Its a great price if it works.
edit. kvaughn beat me to the post.
 
I tried the resting 3/4 open position method on my gec 73 and I dare say it worked for me, it lightened the pull a bit.
 
I received a Lambsfoot knife that had a near nailbreaker pull and after spending some time flushing out the joint with WD40 and soapy hot water, then working it open and closed with some Mineral Oil on the joint, its MUUUCH better and smooth as butter. Still a strong pull, but my thumbnail is much happier for it!!! Put some masking tape on the blade leaving enough to get a good hold of rather than grabbing the blade itself and work it out!

Matt
 
I don't have any personal experience regarding the leaving the knife half open and it softening the pull, but I have heard that it does work sometimes. The only way I have been able to lessen the pull on nailbreakers is to soften the corners of the tang with files. It doesn't soften the spring strength, just the beginning pull out of the well.
 
The "leave it partly open to stress the backspring" trick worked for me on a Rough Rider whittler. Went from impossible to open to merely stiff but usable.
 
glennbad said:
The only way I have been able to lessen the pull on nailbreakers is to soften the corners of the tang with files. It doesn't soften the spring strength, just the beginning pull out of the well.
Click to expand...
I have used this method as well with good results. I find that resistance to getting started is often caused by not having any transitional curvature from the fully closed position (this is a good thing on the other side, when the knife is fully open but is a problem on the kick side especially with blades that have nailmarks that sit low in the frame).
 
I would try the cleaning/oiling/lots of opening method before leaving the knife open and sitting. Just toss in a movie, tape up and blade and start going!
 
I had a real nail breaker on a Bower barlow on the main blade. I hyper-extended the spring using a quarter (if I remember correctly maybe a dime) in my vise. Basically you push the spring past fully opened with some sort of thin metal object. I did it just a little at a time until it felt right. I think if you extend the spring too far you are out of look with a spring that is too light unless you take it apart and bend the spring in again somehow. Worked for me but not the best alternative if you are afraid of the what-if.
 
I recently bought a Robeson made Kabar scout with a three very tough pulls (one nearly impossible). I had to leave the tools at half open for max pressure on the springs for a little more than two weeks. That did the trick. Tested the knife last weekend and pulls remain in their corrected managable state. I assume the solution was a permanent one.
 
glennbad said:
The only way I have been able to lessen the pull on nailbreakers is to soften the corners of the tang with files. It doesn't soften the spring strength, just the beginning pull out of the well.
Click to expand...

I actually just did this, oddly, before I read this from you. I feel better about doing it after reading that you do it though - short of a true knifemaker you're someone I'd trust for advice.

My newly acquired GEC #74 had rather stiff pulls. The seller mentioned that the #74 was known for particularly stiff pulls, but that this one wasn't as bad as others. Still, it was a bit stiff. I took a narrow diamond file I have (it's what Microtech ships, or at least used to ship with their knives) and every-so-slightly rounded the corners down a hair. Probably not even a hair, if a hair is used as a unit of measurement. It helped a ton, and I barely did anything. It's still as snappy as before, and as positive at the stops, but it's not the nailbreaker it was at the stops.

I did look at my other knives with half-stops first. My Cases, including my Bose collabs, and my one custom knife - a Jim Dunlap - were all ever-so-slightly slightly rounded on the tang corners. The caplifter/screwdriver blade on my SAKs has even more rounded-off tang corners. My GECs however, are basically squared off. So I didn't feel like I'd hurt anything by doing it. After all, it's no more than would happen naturally after use after the years. Just without the waiting or opening/closing it over and over a few thousand times.

If the knife in question has half-stops, this might be a solution for strong pulls. If you have the right tool(s), patience, and restraint. Remember: a tiny bit at a time, and be sure to clean and re-lube the knife each time you check, as particles left behind might affect how it feels (ie: gritty instead of smooth). You can also round more towards the opening side of the tang corner rather than the closing side (the side of whichever corner is against the spring for a specific action), that way it snaps just as hard (particularly when fully open, so it's secure and safe), but is easier to open. Because who care's how stiff it is to close, right?

Of course, first do the pivot flush and lube stuff before making an irreversible decision like this.
 
Groundhogsniper said:
I believe to have any effect, the blades would have to be left at either 1/4 or 3/4 open.
If the knife has half stops as you say, the springs would be under little if any tension at halfway.
Click to expand...

I would agree. If the springs are flush or nearly so at the half stop position (whether it actually stops there or not) there would be little to no extra tension on them. I think 1/4 or 3/4 where you can see the spring protruding the most would be more effective.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top