Very slight 0560 mod + new appreciation for G10

Murky Depth · Dec 4, 2012

Hey guys, I got inspired by the 0560 review by Nicegy525 to sand down the over-hang on the handle scale of my 0560 to make closing the knife easier on the thumbs. I thought it was gonna be a quick job, but got a true appreciation for the toughness of G10. I just want to mention that, for anyone who has been bugged by the difficulty of unlocking the 0560, this slight mod makes all the difference in the world. I sanded everything down flush with the steel liner (with the exception of an area of the steel that has a slightly abrupt dip):

sinsanity · Dec 4, 2012

Nice job! How did you sand it down? I was thinking about doing it too but I'm not too handy and scared I might FUBAR the scale :x

Murky Depth · Dec 4, 2012

I can understand being not very handy, I'm right there with you. I am a total noob with these types of things, so the way I did it is probably not ideal. I wrapped 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper around the end of a pen (cap on) & just went back & forth, making sure to keep a good, even curve on the scale. I also wrapped the sand paper around the sharpened end of a pencil for certain spots. I then finished everything off with 1000 grit. Knife was not disassembled during any of this. Probably far better ways to do this, but you asked

...

Here are the cutting-edge instruments I used:

sinsanity · Dec 4, 2012

Hm seems simple enough, I will give it a try once I feel brave enough! Thanks for telling me how you did it!

Nicegy525 · Dec 4, 2012

That's exactly how I did it, except I used 220 grit for faster results. Always better to go slow and easy, using the least abrasive material necessary. You can always remove more material, once it's gone you can't fix it

Ta2warrior · Dec 4, 2012

The overhang on mine hadn't bothered me at all, but after reading Nicegy's review, and now this post.. I can tell it's there. Haha.. drat.. darn jedi mind tricks..

Now I'll have to do this to my 0561..

NorCalMtn2 · Dec 4, 2012

This is a great mod but I'm surprised it's even necessary. The G-10 on my 0350 and 0200 follow the liners exactly.
Does anyone know why the G-10 overhangs the liner on the 560?

wobly · Dec 4, 2012

NorCalMtn2 said:
This is a great mod but I'm surprised it's even necessary. The G-10 on my 0350 and 0200 follow the liners exactly.
Does anyone know why the G-10 overhangs the liner on the 560?

The G-10 doesn't overhang on my 0560.

Murky Depth · Dec 5, 2012

NorCalMtn2 said:
This is a great mod but I'm surprised it's even necessary. The G-10 on my 0350 and 0200 follow the liners exactly.
Does anyone know why the G-10 overhangs the liner on the 560?

Really have no clue why they designed it like that (if it was intentional to begin with). I also have an 0200 & everything's perfectly flush; it's flawless. Not so with the 0560.

Here's the overhang I'm referring to:

Here's the sanded-down version, makes a huge difference in terms of ease of closing:

NeverMore1701 · Dec 5, 2012

I think I'm going to do that, thanks.

bobpoptart · Dec 5, 2012

I bet they cut away the liner so it would be easier to get your thumb on the lock bar. No liner = more space to get your fat fingers wedged in there.

jonnymac44 · Dec 5, 2012

Murky Depth said:
I can understand being not very handy, I'm right there with you. I am a total noob with these types of things, so the way I did it is probably not ideal. I wrapped 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper around the end of a pen (cap on) & just went back & forth, making sure to keep a good, even curve on the scale. I also wrapped the sand paper around the sharpened end of a pencil for certain spots. I then finished everything off with 1000 grit. Knife was not disassembled during any of this. Probably far better ways to do this, but you asked ...

Here are the cutting-edge instruments I used:

Wow! No wonder it took a while

You need to be a bit more aggressive with G-10 to make a dent in it without spending all afternoon. The more you experiment the better you'll get. Also, for an inside radius that size, it would help to go to home depot and get a piece of wooden dowel from the lumber department that's bigger than a pencil or pen, 3/4" or 7/8". It will make things go smoother. You want something that is as close to the size of the curve you're working as you can get. I would be comfortable starting out with 100 grit paper to remove the bulk and then go down from there.

Nice mod! After your first few they get easier and easier, especially after you get over worrying about messing up your knife and get some confidence. Thanks for sharing!

Murky Depth · Dec 5, 2012

Thanks for the feedback everyone...

Jonnymac44 -- You're right that it took forever. I definitely will use coarser sandpaper next time I do something like that.

Murky Depth · Dec 5, 2012

By the way, here's a clearer shot of that 'trouble' spot that I sanded down (pic source here):

2ac · Dec 5, 2012

NorCalMtn2 said:
This is a great mod but I'm surprised it's even necessary. The G-10 on my 0350 and 0200 follow the liners exactly.
Does anyone know why the G-10 overhangs the liner on the 560?

I thought about doing this to mine after reading this, it looks nice following the liner like that. But after looking at it for a second I got to thinking, it's supposed to be this way. Think about a worst case scenario, wearing thick gloves, cutting at an odd angle or in an odd space. That scale is the same height as the lock. There's no chance that something is going to get in there and push that lock over. Now if the scale is flush with the liner it's exposing the lock too much.
It may seem like stretch, but things like this happen at the worst time. Especially when the last thing you might be thinking about is how you're gripping your knife.

michaelsmith · Dec 5, 2012

I think the G10 overhang is a Hinderer thing. Isn't it the some on the XM-18?

Murky Depth · Dec 5, 2012

2ac said:
I thought about doing this to mine after reading this, it looks nice following the liner like that. But after looking at it for a second I got to thinking, it's supposed to be this way. Think about a worst case scenario, wearing thick gloves, cutting at an odd angle or in an odd space. That scale is the same height as the lock. There's no chance that something is going to get in there and push that lock over. Now if the scale is flush with the liner it's exposing the lock too much.
It may seem like stretch, but things like this happen at the worst time. Especially when the last thing you might be thinking about is how you're gripping your knife.

I looked at mine straight-on from the side, and all I have is about 2 millimiter's worth of a dip to work with, compared to zero before sanding it down. For me personally, the design & function of the knife is vastly improved. Every knife I've ever encountered allows at least some amount of lateral space in order to push the liner or lock bar over, but the 0560 does not, and I'm not the only one who's found that to be a pain in the thumb. It was a nightmare closing it before the mod (for me), but of course your mileage may vary.

Rusty Shackleford · Dec 5, 2012

Murky Depth said:
Really have no clue why they designed it like that (if it was intentional to begin with).

From what I can gather by looking at mine, the G10 scale was machined to match up exactly with the lockbar side. Then the liner on the scale side was trimmed in order to make a bit more room for your finger.

Murky Depth · Dec 5, 2012

Rusty Shackleford said:
From what I can gather by looking at mine, the G10 scale was machined to match up exactly with the lockbar side. Then the liner on the scale side was trimmed in order to make a bit more room for your finger.

I see what you're saying; it still didn't work well enough for me. I'm really glad I read that review by Nicegy525, otherwise I don't think it ever would have occurred to me to make this mod, and this was literally the only thing that bugged me about the knife. Now I feel like it's perfect.

NeverMore1701 · Dec 5, 2012

Did mine just now, took about 30 seconds with a dremel and maybe a minute with 400 grit to smooth it all out.

Disclaimer: dremeling is a good way to ruin whatever you're working on, I don't recommend it.