repair question side wobble

[cbnutt]

i was emailing a guy about a case stockman he was selling, typical 3 blade, clip spey, shepfoot , he said all three have great snap, spey and sheepfoot tight no side play, but, the clip had some side play open, mabe 1/16 each way, that would be mabe roughly 1/8" all together, is this something that a good repair man could fix, that would stay solid when using the knife ? possably a new pin through the bolester would help ? thanks.............

[keithw]

For some reason, blade wobble really bothers me.

I bought one a while back that had some wobble, and after reading some posts here,
I decided to try to fix it myself.
I took a (thick) leather belt and cut sections to cushion each bolster and put it in my shop vise.
I then tightened the vise a little at a time, releasing the pressure often to check on the progress.
It actuallly worked, it tightened up fine, and didn't mar the bolsters.
I wouldn't try it on a knife with thin bolsters, and from what I can gather, Schrade knives
use a "swinden key" assembly through the bolster, which won't work.
Maybe you could try it on a junker, just for practice.

Good luck,
Keith

[bonehead]

cbnutt,

1/8" of play is quite a bit for a pocket knife, I would shy away from it unless you really want it. I also have done what Keith mentioned, but its just a quick fix for a knife that might be stored away in a collection where its useful days are pretty much done. Keep in mind the vise trick is only temporary fix and a knife that is this worn will eventually require a more extensive repair. There are a few really good folks here that may take on a job like that for you.

Good Luck, BH