All About Pocket Knives

I bought a Camillus 23 large jackknife from Ebay. Decent shape for a 60 yr old knife BUT the main blade has some, not terrible, sideways blade play. The pen blade next to it is tight when open. What I can't figure out - where is the wobble coming from? The large thick bolsters are fine, the pivot pin appears OK, the brass liner that is on one side of the big blade is not bent. So how can blade wobble? Any insight? Any tricks to tighten it up? It is a user and I might just have to live with it.

It may need a new pivot pin, or you may be able to tighten it up with a few properly placed taps on the main blade side bolster. Can you see a tiny gap between the blade tang and the bolster?

Yes, if you push it one way, a sliver of space between tang and bolster. Push the other way, sliver of space between tang and brass divider/liner.

tallguy606 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 08, 2024 3:35 pm Yes, if you push it one way, a sliver of space between tang and bolster. Push the other way, sliver of space between tang and brass divider/liner.

When you look at the front bolsters can you see either or both of the pivot pin heads sunken into either or both of the front bolsters just a little bit? If so, this is where the gap that you can see is coming from. If so, you can temporarily cure the blade wobble by placing each bolster on a flat, very solid, stable surface (like the 5lb anvil that I have on my workbench) and using a flat faced hammer give the center of the front bolsters a few light taps on each side. Then check for blade wobble and repeat the previous step until there is no more wobble. Be very careful and don't overdo it, otherwise you will end up with the blades being too tightly pinned and you won't have any blade snap. As I said, this is a temporary measure, and if you use the knife a lot you will need to replace the pivot pin.

Herb’s method works really well and I’ve used it several times.
You can also place the bolsters between two pieces of soft wood and squeeze the bolsters gently with a small vise checking wobble and snap as you go. When it feels good but still a tad loose, take it out of the vice and if the pivot pin stands proud of the bolster you can carefully peen it tight again. Be sure to check the action frequently while peening to avoid over tightening the blades. Be careful, I’ve over-tightened them before. Then file the pin down and polish the bolsters smooth.
Froe

Thanks. your tapping method worked. Blade is tight now, but I have to push blade the last little bit into frame when closing. I am OK with that and think it was a good tradeoff for a tight blade.