Slipjoint problems with blade hitting scales

[kcorn]

I just finished a trial assembly of my first slipjoint. The rise and fall was set on my rise and fall jig to about .001. The problem came when I closed the blade I noticed that the end of the blade did not center within the scales. It slightly rubs upon closing although it does so smoothly. The blade is noticeably canted to the side at half stop as well. Could my spring not be perfectly square? Would that account for the cant at half stop and fully closed?

The other problem I'm having is that although while on my jig the rise and fall is set to right at .001 after I did the trial assembly it seems to be slightly more than that. I used a 3/16 bronze bushing with a 3/32 pivot hole from K&G. I always had the bushing oriented the same way while on the jig and during assembly. The bushing would pivot with the blade while on the jig but I bet it does not in the assembled knife with side pressure from the liners. Could my pivot hole not be perfectly centered in the bushing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for all of the help and inspiration on here guys!

[Don Robinson]

Originally Posted by kcorn

I just finished a trial assembly of my first slipjoint. The rise and fall was set on my rise and fall jig to about .001. The problem came when I closed the blade I noticed that the end of the blade did not center within the scales. It slightly rubs upon closing although it does so smoothly. The blade is noticeably canted to the side at half stop as well. Could my spring not be perfectly square? Would that account for the cant at half stop and fully closed?


That sounds like your pivot hole is drilled at an angle, not square to the blade.

Or,is the blade straight after heat treat?



The other problem I'm having is that although while on my jig the rise and fall is set to right at .001 after I did the trial assembly it seems to be slightly more than that.


That's not unusual. The extra pressure under spring pressure sometimes causes the rise and fall not to be flush. I usually go over the back of the knife with a high grit belt to fix that.


I used a 3/16 bronze bushing with a 3/32 pivot hole from K&G. I always had the bushing oriented the same way while on the jig and during assembly. The bushing would pivot with the blade while on the jig but I bet it does not in the assembled knife with side pressure from the liners. Could my pivot hole not be perfectly centered in the bushing?

Who knows?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for all of the help and inspiration on here guys!

Hope this helps.

[kcorn]

Thanks Don. I'm thinking you are right about my pivot hole possibly not being square with the blade. I can't think of anything else it might be that would make sense. I drilled all of the holes using my mini mill. I have used a bit of a homemade jig with a dial indicator on it in the past to align the table on it. Where do you get an inexpensive indicator for that purpose? Thanks for the help!

[Don Robinson]

See the sticky at the top of the forum for "How to line up your spindle".

You can get a dial test indicator at Enco, Harbor Freight, MSC, etc.

[kcorn]

I think I figured out the problem. I think my blade warped during heat treat. It seems to be just very slightly bent just past the ricasso. Any way to fix that or is it toast. I hate to scrap the whole knife. Thanks for the help!

[Don Robinson]

You can probably bend it straight.

Rather than a hammer, use a press if you have one.

[kcorn]

I don't have a press but I was able to clamp it in my vise between two pieces of brass and ever so gently bend the tang back into position. I would the place on a flat piece of micarta and guage the rise of the tip using my calipers. Luckily I didn't snap the blade and got it back centered. It wasn't really all that bent so it really didn't take long to do. Now the blade lines up perfectly! Bullet dodged!

I'll try to attach the bolsters and scales this next week and post some pics of the finished knife. I'm excited now that the blade lines up well it really has a nice action.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. Don, I can't wait to finish a few slips so I can try my hand at a liner lock. I have your video and it is absolutely great! Thanks!