I got my Lil Native today!

DavidZ

DavidZ

Gold Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
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I got my Lil Native from the postman today. It is the lock back version. It is a beautiful knife for sure, and is welcome in my EDC rotation.
But the little devil bit me. I noticed too late that the tip of the blade is just proud enough of the scales that it allow my finger to catch it.
Now my question to my forumites here, is where can I sand down on the underside to get the tip to settle deeper between the scales.
I am open to any ideas to those in the know. I hate to send it to Spyderco for work as that will take time and cost $$.
If I can get a good picture I will post it here later.
Here are the pictures.
I1Ddr7Y.jpg


FRchPwi.jpg


WdLZKIf.jpg


CCVQPix.jpg
 
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If u change the blade stop area u could easily mess the whole thing up. That sounds like what your talking about. You’d probably be better off just ever so slightly grinding off that smidge that over hangs.
 
If you have the compression lock lil native, changing how deeply the blade sits will also cause misalignment of the detent hole. I think it'd be wise to do what Dallas said and grind the spine and tip down lower into the handle.
 
Dallas T said:
If u change the blade stop area u could easily mess the whole thing up. That sounds like what your talking about. You’d probably be better off just ever so slightly grinding off that smidge that over hangs.
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I did think about that, but that would shorten the blade. I would like someone from Spyderco to chime in.
 
DavidZ said:
I did think about that, but that would shorten the blade. I would like someone from Spyderco to chime in.
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There's really no other alternative to make the blade sit deeper. You could get custom scales made that nest the blade better by being just a touch wider where the tip sits when closed. Good luck
 
It's pretty easy to make a lockback sit further down by filing down where the blade hits when closed. I'm not sure if that has an internal pin it hits or if it hits the lock bar, which changes where to file. Also keep in mind a modification like that surely voids the warranty.
 
I don't have the lil'native, but if it functions the same as the n5, it's very easy to lower the blade, without any ill effects.
I've done it on several knives, including the native5, and just recently an urban.
 
jpm2 said:
I don't have the lil'native, but if it functions the same as the n5, it's very easy to lower the blade, without any ill effects.
I've done it on several knives, including the native5, and just recently an urban.
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I would love to hear how you did it.
 
DavidZ said:
I would love to hear more details.
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Like others have said you'll need to file down the closed position contact point. This is going to be different on different knives but the concept is the same.

In the picture below, the point labeled A is where the blade contacts the lock bar in the closed position providing a stop. As you can imagine, filing that point on the blade/tang will cause the tip to sit deeper. That's the gist of it. You'll need to figure out where the Lil Native contacts and file that down a bit. Now you need to be sure that when you drop the tip, you're not making the edge contact the lock bar. You'll need to find a sweet spot where the tip is dropped to your liking but not so dropped that you're now dulling your edge every time you close the knife.

eYViUiZ.jpg


One thing to consider is if the Lil Native uses a secondary internal stop pin like a lot of other Spydercos. If it does, you then have another point you'll need to file to match up with the filing you did at point A. The closed stop could also be based entirely in an internal stop pin, meaning the blade doesn't even have a point A to begin with, the blades closed position being dictated solely by the internal stop.
 
Like Knifebro says.

Here's a picture of one of my natives with a scale removed.

N5-open-en.jpg


If the lil'native is like this, the blade stop position is where it contacts the lock bar, point "A" in Knifebro diagram.

On the native, you can usually see the exact point of contact on the "choil nub" (as has been described somewhere else). This is the point you want to remove metal. I doubt a metal file will do this as the s30v is too much for it. You can use diamond files, small sharpening stones, or plain sandpaper for this purpose. Go slow, test closure often, you can't put the metal back...
Don't use heavy pressure, it doesn't take much. Be careful as the sharp edge is just a fraction of an inch away, don't slip.
This is done without disassembly.
Good luck and use caution if you decide to do it yourself.
 
Thanks to kniferbro and jpm2 and their posts, I decided to take the plunge, and took the one scale off to get a better look see.
ccDTbI4.jpg

I sanded down the "choil nub" and presto all is good.
If you look closely, I believe that there is an obvious manufacturing defect on the lock bar. There is a small cut out on the lock bar where the choil nub should have rested in, but it is not in the right place in this case.
Thanks all!
 
It does indeed look like the notch in the lock bar is incorrect, or the blade is wrong. Either way, they don't match up.

Good job making it sit lower and thanks for the peek inside.

If it were me, and after future sharpenings that again expose the tip, in this case I'd remove metal from the lock bar instead. Doesn't look like there's much "nub" left.

I'd like to see peeks inside other lil'native back locks for comparison.
 
Worked out perfectly. Yay!

Yeah it definitely looks like the defect is on the lock bar side of the contact point. No biggie in sanding down the nub but good knowledge for the future.
 
I have a lil native lock back. Haven’t taken it apart, but looking inside can see that the depression in the lock bar where the “nub” is seated when closed is actually quite broad. It looks like in the case of your knife it wasn’t fully milled out.
 
My lil Native back lock is perfect. In your case, you may need to lightly sand that area on the lock bar. I would have returned that knife.
 
jpm2 said:
It does indeed look like the notch in the lock bar is incorrect, or the blade is wrong. Either way, they don't match up.

Good job making it sit lower and thanks for the peek inside.

If it were me, and after future sharpenings that again expose the tip, in this case I'd remove metal from the lock bar instead. Doesn't look like there's much "nub" left.

I'd like to see peeks inside other lil'native back locks for comparison.
Click to expand...

The picture above is before the modification. I wanted to make sure that it was the nub that made contact before the choil. Otherwise, I would be grinding in the wrong location. I did not take it apart after the modification to tale a picture.
 
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