How To My new Gayle Bradley 1 and easy mod

A

Ad58

Joined
May 23, 2005
Messages
373
So I bought a Gayle Bradley 1 and it is a terrific knife indeed!
Let's start with some pics:





As we all know, closing the knife is hard to do and gives you a sore thumb pretty soon.
I solved this in a very easy way. Dissamble the knife and just bend the lockbar a little bit back to decrease the lockbar tension. Carefull, that needs some force! And just 1 mm will do. Measuring helps.
Also sandpaper and polish the sharp edges on the liners, especially the area where your thumb goes.
I also polished the washers, the inside of the liners and the pivot hole area on the tang.
Some pics of the GB1 dissambled:





I can play with my GB1 for hours now. It became very smooth and a breeze to close! A mod which is very easy.

The GB1 certainly lives up to the hype and then some! It became my favorite knife in a very short time.
One for the road, thanks for watching:

 
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Ad58,
THANK YOU for the cool thread.
Interesting to see the inside of it. As beautiful inside as out.

I am SO GLAD you didn't cut a groove into the handle to get to the liner lock.

I don't fidget flip so I have never had a prob with sore thumbs; however I will admit to two handing the GB to close it while working some times.

Yes the knife is a real pleasure to own and use . . . in every detail . . . no disappointments here.
 
Thank you bro! Removing a part of the carbon and liner with a Dremel in order to get better access to the liner lock is like cursing in the church! I think you can not make a better statement that you don't understand the whole engineering concept of the GB1 .....

Back to the dissambly: all parts fit extremely well, so it is a little bit hard to separate everything once the torx screws are out. The fittings are really exceptional! Very tight, yet easy to reassemble again without any problems. And as you can see on the pics, even the shoulders of the pillars are D-shaped. Perfection all the way!
 
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Sounds like we have another GB man. I like what you did Ad58. I agree with you and bagger on the cutout issue.

Be careful though, the GBs have been known to make a man forsake his others blades. You might not ever want another knife.........


..................yeah, right. :rolleyes::)
 
i actually like the stronger thicker lockbar of the gb1. i prefer the gb2 in every way except the thin lighter lockbar.

nicely done for those who find it hard to close etc, but for me its taking away the main thing i liked about the knife. go figure.......
 
Wowbagger said:
Ad58,
THANK YOU for the cool thread.
As beautiful inside as out.
Click to expand...

+100! The simplicity of this model is genius...For my money-- hands down-- the best value in production folders maybe in the history of the world-- I mean it!

jbmonkey said:
i actually like the stronger thicker lockbar of the gb1
Click to expand...

Most definitely...now find yourself an early release GB1 with solid liners and prepare to be amazed even further...

jbmonkey said:
nicely done for those who find it hard to close etc, but for me its taking away the main thing i liked about the knife. go figure.......
Click to expand...

AGREED! To each his own, and kudos to the OP for making this GB1 your own...but the philosophy of design Mr. Bradley put into his knife was that the liner lock was to blend as close to the frame as possible to avoid accidental side, twisting-type disengagement.

Personally it makes me more mindful and deliberate when closing the lock-- maybe even to the point of having to actually slow down and think about disengaging it-- perhaps even having to use 2 hands to close the blade ...GASP, EGAD! :eek::p

However I still find it quite easy to unlock one-handed bare handed...however it gets a bit more "mindful" to close if I'm wearing work gloves. But, like JB, I think that can be viewed as a good thing!

Good thread and excellent pics! :D

Check this video out ...GOOD STUFF!!! :)
 
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uxo2 said:
I held a GB1....
And I preferred the GB2.
Click to expand...
Put a GB1 to some use and it becomes the near-legend that is actually is.

And Petey2.1, I agree with your post, especially the first two (.1) points. :D The GB1 is the best value in a folder I've found - materials, design and execution. And also on the V1 solid liner - mine came from the factory right at .019 - .022 behind the edge; a slicing monster.
 
I've never held the GB1,one of the trade offs living in fly over country.:( I have recently purchased the GB2 however. At first I had two use two hands to close the blade , now after some break-in time no problem closing the blade one handed and the deployment has smoothed out as well. Wow such a quality knife for under $140 !!! :D:thumbsup:
 
Maybe you understood me wrong. Only thing I did was decrease the lockbar tension a bit a polish the sharp edges.
I can't see this affects mister Bradley's philosophy behind this knife.... Accidental side, twisting-type disengage is still impossible, as the knife was meant to be. But YMMV!
 
I had both of them and got rid of both because I am a knife fidgeted-can't help it. If I had thought to try this I might have kept at least one. And I too prefer the 2. I could care less about hard use for my needs. I just liked the looks. Still think it is Spyderco's sexiest blade shape.
 
I concur on the blade shape
kNlqTPb.jpg
 
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