Does filing the kick change the position of the spring?

Ernie1980

Ernie1980

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Apr 19, 2012
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I have read that this can happen, but have not seen it on the occasional knife that I have tinkered with. How would changing the kick move the spring?
 
Hmm we were discussing that in a prior thread where I had to modify a knife that came from the UK. The position of the spring moves forward in theory as you file the kick down. But I suppose this would only affect the position significantly if you had a lot to file off. Now when I filed down the kick on my schatt&morgan medium cokebottle it didnt move much.
 
I know a little goes along way so if it were to move the spring you prob wouldnt notice
 
I have never noticed a difference, but am looking at a more expensive knife to modify so don't want to take any chances!
 
I would be more cautious of blade wrap. Study the blade well the best you can and take as little as you need to :thumbsup:
 
It can, so be careful. Only remove as little from the kick as necessary and check the spring position repeatedly.
 
It's a matter of degree. Since the kick is extending the spring, changing the height will change the position of the spring. Whether or not it noticeable will depend on how much and how good your eyes are. ;)

I think it's important to mention that... flush springs are more an artifact of the hafting process than something meaningful. The springs are ground flush along with the handle material. Since it is the result of grinding, it is not a matter of precision (though it often is mistakenly addressed by collectors that way). In contrast, Victorinox finishes all the parts prior to assembly and the springs are not ground flush. It's done this way for several reasons but the plastic and anodized aluminum handles are not well suited for grinding the backs. I suspect Buck may not grind the backs on the 301 but I'm not 100% sure.

If the parts were cut with such precision that they were flush without grinding, that would be impressive. But they're just ground flush. Similarly, it's not a matter of precision when blades are centered by annealing the tangs and bending the blades straight.
 
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The short answer is quite possibly. The long answer is it has a lot to do with the shape of the tang compared to the height of the kick. If the tang tapers down in size at all toward the kick, as opposed to staying parallel, then reshaping the kick may make the spring sit more shallow against the tang. As was mentioned above, a little can mean a lot, so go light.
 
Thanks for the insight! I will try to snap some pictures tomorrow when I have some decent light.
 
You can check the GEC #35 Churchill thread to see several examples of knives whose kicks were filed down on the secondary blade. I did mine and there is a slight recess in the spring where it was flush before, but I can only tell if I rub my finger on the spring to find it.
 
I filed down the kick of a GEC 47 Hay'n Helper quite a bit so the blade would seat much lower. The spring was significantly sunk as a result. I also did it with a 2 blade, but not nearly to the same degree. The springs sunk a little bit, but it was more noticeable by touch than it was by sight.
 
I think the spring will always move almost exactly 50 percent of the height ground off the spring. I could be wrong. but think about it. the spring is held where it is in the closed position by two pints on the knife tang. those two points plus the pivot are a triangle that will balance on the spring. I think if you removed 1 mm, the spring would have to move a half mm.
 
Working on a Slipjoint atm(in CAD); I can send pictures of the mechanics later. It can definetly change how the spring sits when in closed position
 
abcdef said:
Thanks SV-97. I would like to see that.
Click to expand...
Hey, just got to it :D
First normal:
TsezoYK.png


And ground down(0.5mm off):
X5VuDul.png
 
From experience, I have seen both outcomes happen, so I'll echo what glennbad glennbad wrote. Shape and design matters. Seems like it happens more often on pen/double end jacks, but also depends on what you want to achieve. If you just want to drop the tip of the blade to sit lower in the well on, say, a drop point that's poking your finger, then you probably wouldn't need to remove enough kick to get spring sinkage. If you want to drop a sheepsfoot blade to sit parallel with a clip point blade, that might be a different story, as now you're talking more metal compared to the previous scenario I described. Even so, it often isn't a dramatic difference, and not something that a non-knifenut would likely notice. Just you or me ;)
 
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