All About Pocket Knives

Most of us will have had a couple of them, or still have;
A good knife, blades almost full, good grips, overall appearance very nice, but,mostly the master blade has no snap, the backspring is somewhat lower than usual when the blade is closed.
What is the cause, worn out , weak spring, or worn-out pivot pin, and more important, can it be cured?

A lot of opening and closing over the years, combined with the blade tang being harder than the spring material will often cause a divot to wear in the backspring reducing tension, causing a loss of "snap". I've also seen the tang area wear down as well as a combination of both. The ones I've repaired have needed to be taken apart and those areas TIG welded to replace the worn-away metal and then re-ground back to factory specs.

I've got a couple of never used knives with little or no snap, both Schrade by the way. Any ideas on those?

tjmurphy wrote:I've got a couple of never used knives with little or no snap, both Schrade by the way. Any ideas on those?

Too much fondling.

I have a very nice Camillus 4-line which has this problem, was thinking about wear on the pivot pin first, because this is the softest metal, do not dare to take it apart,because if there is another cause of the problem, like wearing of the spring or the blade curve, I cannot do anything about it.
Can it be prevented by oiling, if yes, which kind of oil do you use, just light oil or something with Teflon in it?

tjmurphy wrote:I've got a couple of never used knives with little or no snap, both Schrade by the way. Any ideas on those?

I like your signature; Am a big fan of Bluegrass music myself!

Thanks a lot Paul, and it's very true. Music is a great stress reliever. Beat the guitar instead of the dog.

tjmurphy wrote:Thanks a lot Paul, and it's very true. Music is a great stress reliever. Beat the guitar instead of the dog.

The DVD of "The four Pickers" is my favorite!

Paul Tummers wrote:

tjmurphy wrote:Thanks a lot Paul, and it's very true. Music is a great stress reliever. Beat the guitar instead of the dog.

The DVD of "The four Pickers" is my favorite!

Not familiar with that one. Is that with Earl Scruggs, Steve Martin, etc.?

tjmurphy wrote:

Paul Tummers wrote:

tjmurphy wrote:Thanks a lot Paul, and it's very true. Music is a great stress reliever. Beat the guitar instead of the dog.

The DVD of "The four Pickers" is my favorite!

Not familiar with that one. Is that with Earl Scruggs, Steve Martin, etc.?

You got that right!
A friend of mine sent a copy from Oregon to me, my favorite since then!

Elvis wrote:A lot of opening and closing over the years, combined with the blade tang being harder than the spring material will often cause a divot to wear in the backspring reducing tension, causing a loss of "snap". I've also seen the tang area wear down as well as a combination of both. The ones I've repaired have needed to be taken apart and those areas TIG welded to replace the worn-away metal and then re-ground back to factory specs.

You're right Elvis, most people just don't want to pay what it would take to have this problem fixed either. It's fairly involved. I have gotten new knives that had this problem and it really sucks the life out of a new knife so no more for me! If it ain't got snap, you can keep that crap is my motto!

Paul Tummers wrote: The DVD of "The four Pickers" is my favorite!

Since you like Bluegrass, maybe you should pay a visit to this thread: http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/kni ... 21&t=20513

A worn pivot pin will do it too. It's one of those things you don't know until you take it apart. On new knives it's either poor design, crappy materials or a combination.

You're right Bob.

Paul Tummers wrote:Most of us will have had a couple of them, or still have;
A good knife, blades almost full, good grips, overall appearance very nice, but,mostly the master blade has no snap, the backspring is somewhat lower than usual when the blade is closed.
What is the cause, worn out, weak spring, or worn-out pivot pin, and more important, can it be cured?

The most common cause I have seen for this problem is a worn tang- 90% of the time
Second most common a worn spring- 8%
Worn or bad pin - 1%
Other problems -1%

In the hundreds of knives I have fixed, if there is no snap, it is usually a worn tang.
Not this may be affected by the brand - Most of my work is on Schrade, Camillus and pre WW II knives.
There may be a company that does not harden their springs enough and their springs wear instead of the tang.

Paul Tummers wrote:I have a very nice Camillus 4-line which has this problem, was thinking about wear on the pivot pin first, because this is the softest metal, do not dare to take it apart,because if there is another cause of the problem, like wearing of the spring or the blade curve, I cannot do anything about it.
Can it be prevented by oiling, if yes, which kind of oil do you use, just light oil or something with Teflon in it?

A 4-line Camillus is 65 years old or older. It likely has been opened a few thousand times. Those often had a square end on the tang. If you can look in there & see that it is rounded, tang wear is most likely the problem.

I have had the best luck with One Lube by Slick 50. It has Teflon in it. Sometimes One Lube is often all that a lazy knife needs to have good snap. I have had knives with no snap that I clean with Birchwood Casey gun cleaner, then oiled with One Lube and then had them snap like new. It is amazing how much dirt effects the action of a knife. Not only that, but the dirt is usually what caused the tang, spring or pin to wear down.

Just my 2¢,
Dale

Great info Dale, thank you!

singin46 wrote:Great info Dale, thank you!

Absoutely! The gunk along the backspring can slow the action down as much as anything. Only after all these avenues have been exhausted is taking the knife apart recommended.

have had knives with no snap that I clean with Birchwood Casey gun cleaner,

Is that the stuff in the spray can? Almost like carb cleaner/degreaser? I've got a few recently purchased knives that just don't have any "snap" to the blades. Springs seem heavy enough, but the blades don't snap open like I'd prefer. Have blown one out with WD40, which had minimal effect. I would try something like the gun cleaner if I was certian it'd not harm the finish of the knife. Two of the knives I'm thinking of are Case stags, and it appears they have some type of clear coating or varnish over the scales. I don't want that stripped off by using a harsh cleaner if I can help it.

Any and all info is appreciated.

The stuff I got says it is safe for synthetic materials.
I don't think I have used it on celluloid, but I have used it on stag, wood, metal and bone handles without any probs.

W-40 is really made to dry something out - Water Displacement -formula 40
It really doesn't lubricate much.

Clean it with the Birchwood Casey, (it is the aerosol can) then lube it with Slick 50 One Lube.
I think you will be surprised at how well it will snap then.

Let us know how it works.

Dale

Clean it with the Birchwood Casey, (it is the aerosol can) then lube it with Slick 50 One Lube.
I think you will be surprised at how well it will snap then

I'll give that a try. I used the WD40 more for blowing out the gunk than as a lube. The knives that I spoke of above are new, old stock, Case knives nearly 20 years old. They've got some kind of black gunk that gums up the works and I wanted to try somthing mild & thus I tried the WD40.

20 year old, NOS (new-old-stock) Case knives.........
I am not a Case guy, but I think I have heard that the era circa 1990 was not Case's brightest shinning moment. I was running a cutlery store then and IIRC, Case was struggling and Zippo bought them out and basically saved the company. At least that was the story I got from the guy who was our Case rep at the time. He had been the Case rep for 30 or 40 years and his dad was the Case rep before him. There wasn't much about Case he didn't know.

I am thinking that what you have may be some rough from polishing left in the knife. I know I get that when I polish a knife after putting it back together. The Birchwood Casey cleaner should take it out. It may be harder to get out since it has had 20 years to harden, but it should work. I find it helps if I blow the cleaner out with an air hose. If there is a lot of gunk in there you may have to repeat the process 2 or 3 times, but it should work. Keep doing that until the stuff coming out is clear and not black.

Your WD-40 may have helped by softening the stuff also.

Good luck,
Dale

tjmurphy wrote:I've got a couple of never used knives with little or no snap, both Schrade by the way. Any ideas on those?

most modern schrade knives, old timer, uncle henrys, and even some open stock knives had backsprings with less than optimum tempering (too soft), coming from a store display where the blades were left partially open increases the chance of weakened backsprings.

I have a couple of knives that I am not please with the snap; I know they aren't worn and the springs should be strong. I assume the Birchwood Casey is a solvent; will it take the color (dye) out of bone scales? I haven't been able to find this product locally. I have some Hoppe's # nine; hoping that will work as well.


Paul

I have found Birchwood Casey at Wal-Mart, Sports Authority, most gun shops and most Sporting Goods stores in my area. My local Wal-Mart stopped carrying it a few months ago. That is when I started looking for it. It is more readily available than I had thought.

I have not had a problem with it on the bone or any handle material.
It is safe for synthetic materials according to the label.

I try not to get the Gun Cleaner on the handle; I use the nozzle (tube) and spray it down in between the liners & basically blow the gunk out between the liners, springs and tang of the blades. It has a good amount of pressure so the pressure and the cleaner blows the gunk out. I have even seen chunks of gunk blown out of knives. After I have sprayed it I blow any loose dirt out with my air compressor.

The Gun Cleaner has a very low evaporation point and dries in seconds after spraying the knife. I think it evaporates too fast to soak into the bone. Personally, I would be hesitant to use Hoppe's because of the oil in it. The oil in the Hoppe’s makes it evaporate much slower & it might cause a problem with some handle material.

Here is a pic of the Birchwood Casey Gun Cleaner so you know what to look for.

Good luck with it,
Dale

Thanks for the pic Dale, I'm gonna try to pick some up today.