New backspring?

SnackPack

SnackPack

Gold Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2019
Messages
451
Kind of a newbie question here. I have a GEC made knife that I love, but it’s got a couple things I’d like to see if a knife maker could iron out.

The pull is very soft, the backspring has a good pop to it however. Also when the blade is out and snapped in place, when I go to close the knife it almost ‘pops’ free if the open position. Such as if the blade over traveled and is binding on the backspring.

Are there any knifemakers among us that would be willing to take a look at it, and perhaps even fashion a new backspring for the knife?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Zac
 
I can't speak for everyone, but making a new backspring would involve shaping, surface grinding, hardening, and tempering, and final fit-up, requiring someone to take the whole knife apart and pin it back together, then likely grind and hand sand most of the thing again for a good finish. It would take a large part of the effort that goes into make an entire slipjoint, so I personally wouldn't invest the time in it, and I don't know if you'd be willing to pay what it would actually cost to do it. In my mind, on a $100-ish production slipjoint, it's not worth it to have a knifemaker work on it. I think Jason's suggestion of contacting GEC is your best bet.
 
Lee Hester said:
I can't speak for everyone, but making a new backspring would involve shaping, surface grinding, hardening, and tempering, and final fit-up, requiring someone to take the whole knife apart and pin it back together, then likely grind and hand sand most of the thing again for a good finish. It would take a large part of the effort that goes into make an entire slipjoint, so I personally wouldn't invest the time in it, and I don't know if you'd be willing to pay what it would actually cost to do it. In my mind, on a $100-ish production slipjoint, it's not worth it to have a knifemaker work on it. I think Jason's suggestion of contacting GEC is your best bet.
Click to expand...
Well, it's a Fremont Jack, excellent stag covers so i'd likely be willing to spend it. I may contact GEC and send it away to them, worst they can say is there's nothing they can do for it.
 
FYI everyone I think I largely remedied the issue. It seems that the backspring was sticking further down the spine than at the pivot, likely somewhere toward the tip end of the knife. I blew out the length of the spine with compressed air then did a flush with thin lubricant followed by smothering the backspring in mineral oil. It seems to have done the trick. Perhaps there wasn't over travel at all and it was an issue with the spring sticking somewhere along the spine.

Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top