Para 2 Problems any advise?

Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
916
I just got a para 2 in and it came with some side to side play. It did not return it cause I really wanted an all black para and they are just never in stock anywhere or at least I just cant find them:mad:
Anyway, I have tried adjusting the pivot screws, taken the whole thing apart, done everything I can think of and it wont go away. I even took it apart and replaces the pivot and washers with other ones from my other PM2 and that didn't work either. What worries me is that even if I tighten the pivot screws to their max there is still side to side play. Anyone have any ideas on what could be causing this and any solutions for me?
Thanks!
 
And you've tightened the bladestop screws? When you tighten everything down, how loose is the blade pivot? Like, does the blade swing free, or is it sticky?
 
Yea I've tightened everything down, and the blade swings fully free even with everything tightened down, no stickiness at all.
 
Odd. Since you have other PM2's to scavenge from, try replacing ALL of the internal hardware. Could be that the stop pin or pivot pin is too wide, or there's a burr causing something to not mate up to where it should. It'd be helpful if you could post close-up pictures of the stripped liners too. My PM2 had a burr that was causing additional drag on one of the washers, so it's not unheard of that small defects can escape the factory.
 
Tried replacing all the internal screws, stop pin and pivot. COuldn't separate the liners tho. Still didn't help the problem, the blade still has side to side play with everything tightened down. Do you think it could have something to do with the liners themselves?
 
Try switching the blade. If everything else is fine, there's only so many parts in the knife!
 
I tried adding a third washer and that seemed to solve the problem. Do you think if I just buy two very slightly thicker washers that might be the answer. Is there any reason why I should not use thicker washers?
 
remove material on the shoulders very carefully or find slightly thicker washers. not a fan of multiple washers, i'm sure it'll work just fine but it's not the classiest way.
 
if that the case what could I do?

IMO, nothing, the knife functions safely correct?

Then use it.

The slight side to side play of the bushing system has been known for some time and no one to my knowledge has had a user issue.
 
Last edited:
I've owned 6 different Para2s... only 2 of them didn't have some side to side blade play (a couple of the ones that did have play were actually pretty significant). Just a nature of the beast kind of thing when it comes to the pivot bushing system I'm afraid.
 
It needs to be sent to Spyderco for evaluation...probably not what you want to hear nor do you want to be without your new knife...but stuff happens...my new Ti Millie is going back for the exact problem and i've stood on my head trying to fix it...long and short of it...Cherlynn told me to send it in...
 
remove material on the shoulders very carefully or find slightly thicker washers. not a fan of multiple washers, i'm sure it'll work just fine but it's not the classiest way.

This is what I did to eliminate play in mine. OP, since you've taken the knife apart you are obviously familiar with the stepped pivot design in the para2. The play occurs because either the washers are thinner than the step on which they sit, leaving a gap between the blade, washers, and scales, or because the stop pin is slightly too long causing the scales to sit unevenly which can result in the blade binding despite there being play in the pivot. From the sounds of it, you tightened all of the screws all the way down and the blade still swings freely with a small amount of play. In that case, it is very likely you need to take just a thousandth or so off both sides of the pivot. Ideal measure the pivot with a digital caliper and then VERY carefully sand both sides of the pivot down equally, test, and adjust. It may take you several tries to assemble, adjust, disassemble, sand, reassemble but eventually you should be able to tweak the play out
 
I've owned 6 different Para2s... only 2 of them didn't have some side to side blade play (a couple of the ones that did have play were actually pretty significant). Just a nature of the beast kind of thing when it comes to the pivot bushing system I'm afraid.

This is true a lot of them have some side to side that is hard to adjust out, but like marthinus posted if the lock holds then all is well in my opinion and i'd just use it and it wouldn't be a concern to me. The thing about the pivot bushing is it requires more fitting than a normal knife so it is more likely to have side to side, but it is certainly not true at a higher price point like Chris Reeve Knives that use the pivot bushing, so it's not really nature of the beast but how much you are paying for the knife that partly reflects the amount of work that goes into the knife.
 
^^^Yep, it's all about tolerances. The pivot bushing system seems to require pretty exacting specifications & if they are a bit off you get blade play. Not the end of the world...and not fatal to the knife's function...but certainly annoying.
 
Back
Top