A growing number of collectors customize their automatic knives by changing scales, bolsters, blades, doing fileworks, ... Wether you're a guru or just a wannabe knife modder, this is the place to discuss it!
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Here's mine, it would not lock in open position as found. The blade had a slight left banana and the locking hole closest to the tang was completely full of polishing compound. There was also polishing compound stuck all around the blade & back spring. Geez, the French! I cleaned out the compound and it would almost lock. After taping up the bolster I filed the tang slightly then checked, re-taped, filed, checked, etc. until the blade was straight and surprise, it locks in open position.....usually.
Sometimes the blade bounces back and ends up 90-degrees to the handle too. I don't want to file anymore as the blade looks like it sits right. So, a couple things: It seems like my button technique might not be correct. Are these a bit finicky on firing than an Italian? Also, will the latch mechanism break-in any with use so might lock-up improve over time? Anything else I might check?
Many thanks to Bill DeShivs for readily sharing the information that got me this far. I would not have even attempted to tackle this otherwise!
You can very lightly peen the pivot pin to give more resistance to the blade.
Getting off the button quickly can help, but it's hard to be that quick! They open fast! It's best to slow the blade down.
I suspect taking this knife apart, thoroughly cleaning, and de-burring it would do wonders. I oiled it last night and this morning there is black sludge coming out everywhere from the tang area. Original assembly was rather "très médiocre". It did improve by just repeatedly pushing the button with the blade open. The latch was hanging up on the liner and now operates better. One thing I noticed in comparison to other switchblades is the detail on the tang. It is very rough with not much of a radius so that there is a definite visible "step" when it opens. I may gradually clean that up to see if it improves further.
Well, adding a radius on the tang seems to have helped. It opens smoother and the step is much less. Amazing it left the workshop this way but, laisse-tomber.
Still, I wonder how much better it would be taken apart & tweaked? Am I correct in that removing the 2 rivet heads is all that is needed to get it apart?
It's not worth it. Just flush it out with WD 40, and gently tighten the pivot.
Removing the 2 rivets is a start. There is a third one under the scales.
Bill DeShivs wrote:It's not worth it. Just flush it out with WD 40, and gently tighten the pivot.
Removing the 2 rivets is a start. There is a third one under the scales.
Thank you! If I do it it is strictly as a learning exercise.
More that I want to see if I can do it more than anything else.
It fires & locks ~90% of the time with only the occasional bounce-back, no-lock. I saturated it with WD-40 as Bill suggested and it flushed most of the crud out too. One thing I noticed is that this knife seems very sensitive to your grip. Whereas my Italians & Daltons open nearly 100% any way you hold them, this one needs a tight grip to lock. That may be the ~10% misfire I get but could also relate to the blade speed issue and timing compounded with the grip.
