Will using thumb studs affect blade centering or increase side to side play?

C

cptkomondor

Joined
Dec 4, 2013
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9
If you always open a knife with the right hand thumb stud for example, will the constant pressure downwards on the blade mess up the centering or introduce play? When I open my knife and look down on the blade I can see the blade bulking under the pressure from my thumb.
 
Maybe on the cheaper made knives. For example, my sebenza shows no blade center issues and the thumb stud is the only way of opening.

It depends on quality of knife.
 
LOL! nope.

That was the short answer. Here's the longer one: It will do nothing to your knife. The pivot will eventually loosen and you will get side to side play. This may even cause the centering to be off as well. Tighten the pivot and you are good to go. If you don't want to tighten the pivot screw as often, back the screw out and throw on a couple drops of blue Loctite. Using the thumbstud will not hurt your knife at all - that's what it's there for.
 
not on any knife.

If the pivot is tight, and the blade doesn't rub the liners, it won't damage the knife at all to use the thumbstud regardless of quality. Besides, none of us carry trash anyway.
 
AntDog said:
not on any knife.

If the pivot is tight, and the blade doesn't rub the liners, it won't damage the knife at all to use the thumbstud regardless of quality. Besides, none of us carry trash anyway.
Click to expand...

Plastic bushings on cheap knives most certainly do wear more under friction. I had an old Boker that the lock side bushing was considerably more "polished" than the opposite side. When I flipped them I had to readjust it multiple times to get it centered.
 
So it looks like most people agree that the solution is to tighten the pivot. I had kept my pivot a little loose on purpose because I liked how it allowed for a smoother opening.
 
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