All About Pocket Knives

I have older stockman, the spay blade on lower end has side to side slack. The pin shows on pile side, mark side not showing. I don"t want to replace the pin. What do I need to do?

Harold

Hi Harold,

Attempting repairs of any type on a knife can have disastrous results if done improperly. That being said, a sometimes fix is to sandwich the bolsters between leather strips, and GENTLY compress in a vice. I have found that while this may tighten things up some, it does not always stay fixed. The main reason is that pin (that you can see showing) has pulled into the bolster. It was originally flared out to hold everything together, but through use or abuse, has loosened up enough to pull.

In my experience, once a pin has pulled, even if it is compressed back together, it will tend to go back that way under continued use. They only more permanent fix I have found is to replace the pin altogether, re-peen it, and re-finish the bolsters.. If you do not have experience doing it, then I do not recommend you attempting it without practice on other less valuable knives first.

Glenn

Thanks Glenn.

Harold

Not that I am an expert,but everything Glen said I have experienced.
Good luck in getting that blade fixed. I also hate loose blades.

Bob

Glenn if I may ask, can you replace the pin without taking the entire knife apart ?

philco wrote:Glenn if I may ask, can you replace the pin without taking the entire knife apart ?

Short answer, yes. You'd have to be able to tap out the pin, then obviously have replacement pin material of the same thickness as the current one. The last thing you will need is the ability to flex the spring(s) enough to get the new pin in. It sounds like on the OP knife, the spey is on the back end, where the spring for the main (clip?) is. That's a tough end to do, as the springs are differently shaped. See the attached pic.


See how the spey spring runs flat to the end, and the main spring slopes up to the top of the bolster? Even with the proper tools, it's still quite difficult to flex both those springs the proper amount to place the pin. Not sure how other mechanics do theirs, but I always pin this end first on a stockman for that reason.

If you drive the pin out with another pin, you don't have to worry about all that!

How long does it usually take to replace a pin? It seems like a tedious task?

Kase's Kutlery Plus wrote:How long does it usually take to replace a pin? It seems like a tedious task?

If you have the right tools and experience, about 10-15 minutes.

glennbad wrote:

Kase's Kutlery Plus wrote:How long does it usually take to replace a pin? It seems like a tedious task?

If you have the right tools and experience, about 10-15 minutes.

I'm going to have to start practicing!!

I think Bill's method of driving the old pin out with a new pin would work well with steel pins, but nickel silver pins are much softer. I have never successfully replaced a pin by driving the old one out with a new nickel silver pin.
I am using cutlery nickel silver pins and not pins made from jewelry nickel silver wire, most of the nickel silver pins I used are premade cutlery pins and I still find them to soft to drive out the old pin.

Sidebar:
I have experimented with purchasing nickel silver wire from jewelry making sites and making my own pin from that nickel silver wire. I don't know all the ins and outs of the way of the way they grade hardness in the jewelry business, but "dead soft" and "half hard" are a couple of the terms I have seen used applied to nickel silver wire. The nickel silver wire I have purchased from jewelry supply sites is the perfect size, but it was rated "dead soft" and was way too soft for a pivot pin.

I'm with Dale on this one, driving pins with pins works occasionally on steel and/or if the pin is not very tight to begin with. The only thing I use jewelers wire for is scale pins, the hardness is not an issue and sometimes is helpful but they are generally too soft for most other operations.