Para 3 Blade Play Question

[SirEP]

I recently purchased a new Para 3. I noticed that before the blade is locked in place, there is a little bit of wiggle from the tip to the bottom of the blade. There is no side to side wiggle though. When people talk of blade play, are they referring to the side to side movement? Is the forward and back movement before lockup normal? My PM2 doesn’t have this movement. I’m attaching photos to illustrate what I mean.

[holeshot]

I recently purchased a new Para 3. I noticed that before the blade is locked in place, there is a little bit of wiggle from the tip to the bottom of the blade. There is no side to side wiggle though. When people talk of blade play, are they referring to the side to side movement? Is the forward and back movement before lockup normal? My PM2 doesn’t have this movement. I’m attaching photos to illustrate what I mean.

SirEP, welcome to the fourm! It is my understanding that blade play is judged once the blade is locked up. I never thought to check for it in the position you describe. I did pull out 4 of my Para 3s and all of them did that a little bit. I even tried it on my new CF 52100 PM 2 and it did to, just less. I'm positive that there are other fourm members here who are much more knowledgeable than I am so wait and see if they chime in. :)

[Sjucaveman]

I can't see any reason to even check for blade play before lockup. So long as it's right once locked up I wouldn't be concerned. Knives aren't designed to be used halfway open.

[bouhunter]

I can't see any reason to even check for blade play before lockup. So long as it's right once locked up I wouldn't be concerned. Knives aren't designed to be used halfway open.

Agree. Would never occur to me to look for that, or care. Not sure I would even call it "blade play".

[SirEP]

I appreciate all the replies! You are right, a knife isn’t meant to be used half-open. I just wasn’t sure how people gauge the tolerances.

[Sjucaveman]

I appreciate all the replies! You are right, a knife isn’t meant to be used half-open. I just wasn’t sure how people gauge the tolerances.

It's likely looser then for a nice smooth opening.

[BushcraftJoe]

Can we just all admit that virtually every folding knife has some amount of blade play? Even when locked. My para 3 does and I’ve even tightened it too much to fall shut and I could still feel some side to side wiggle.

[bouhunter]

Can we just all admit that virtually every folding knife has some amount of blade play? Even when locked. My para 3 does and I’ve even tightened it too much to fall shut and I could still feel some side to side wiggle.

Well not really. I just checked 3 random knives (Native, Dice, Para 3). There is absolute 100% zero blade play on any of them.

[The Meat man]

All my backlock FRN models (Native 5, Dfly Salt, Manbug) have a little vertical blade play. My Advocate and Military do not, and none of my knives have side-to-side blade play.

[BushcraftJoe]

TL;DR All folding knives have some level of blade play.

I have 3 spydies. Native 5 lightweight, zero play up down side to side. Manix 2 XL, zero vertical play, very minor side to side but only if I really try. Para 3... where do I start with the para 3?

My Para 3 came set up for right hand tip up carry, it had a fall shut action and zero vertical play. To be honest I don’t really remember giving it a good side to side test. Now I’m left handed and I prefer a deeper carry so I opted for a left hand tip down set up, it retained its zero vertical and drop shut action. After a few weeks of use I noticed a little side to side flex while I was cutting some plastic, moderate use nothing crazy, no prying or torquing. I remedied the side wiggle by tightening my pivot while realizing that I was going to have to sacrifice my fall shut action, I was ok with that.

Act 3: The Clip. Fast forward a couple of months, I ordered some wiha torks screwdrivers and can now confidently turn some screws without worrying about stripping them with my cheap amazon set. I decide I don’t care so much about the overblown carry height of the para 3 and I’m going back to tip up for ease of opening in edc tasks. While I have the clip off I think maybe I’ll dial in the action and find the sweet spot of drop shut and no wiggle, done. Now I’ll put the clip back on, oh... blade play? Adjust the pivot till no blade play, won’t drop shut. Out the clip back to tip down, same thing. I tried multiple combinations but just couldn’t get it right, and now I’m stuck in such a weird place that I don’t even think you guys will believe me. Now I’m set up left hand tip up and I have zero vertical play but if I’m honest there is pretty noticeable blade play when I test side to side, not a lot but more than I want. More on that later, cuz here’s the weird part. When I hold the knife in my left hand and do my awkward lefty comp lock grip where my finger tips clutch the pocket clip for dear life and I hit the lock tap with my thumb, the knife will drop shut; however, if I hold it in my right hand and close it normally as a right handed person would (I’m reasonably ambidextrous is most tasks), the knife will not drop shut.

Now even worse than being left handed in the knife world is being a left handed Canadian. I’m not sending my knife in, I’m just not. It’ll cost me $50 cad to send it in a way I’d be confident it would arrive, and who knows if customs would let it come back. The real point of this entire story is that I think side to side blade play in folding knives is inherent to the design. I don’t really care which knife you want to hand me, if I pinch the blade spine and grip the handle then torque my wrists, I’ll feel a wiggle. Some would need to be pushed and torqued so much that it’s like well what the **** are you doing pushing so hard to test such a trivial amount of wiggle but it is in there. My Native 5 lw is like that, as was my ZT0350 I used to own. Next step is going to just tear down my para 3 and lube and tighten the thing a la Nick Shabaz and just live with whatever comes out of that. Thanks for reading this rant guys, keep on wiggling.

[The Meat man]

TL;DR All folding knives have some level of blade play.

I have 3 spydies. Native 5 lightweight, zero play up down side to side. Manix 2 XL, zero vertical play, very minor side to side but only if I really try. Para 3... where do I start with the para 3?

My Para 3 came set up for right hand tip up carry, it had a fall shut action and zero vertical play. To be honest I don’t really remember giving it a good side to side test. Now I’m left handed and I prefer a deeper carry so I opted for a left hand tip down set up, it retained its zero vertical and drop shut action. After a few weeks of use I noticed a little side to side flex while I was cutting some plastic, moderate use nothing crazy, no prying or torquing. I remedied the side wiggle by tightening my pivot while realizing that I was going to have to sacrifice my fall shut action, I was ok with that.

Act 3: The Clip. Fast forward a couple of months, I ordered some wiha torks screwdrivers and can now confidently turn some screws without worrying about stripping them with my cheap amazon set. I decide I don’t care so much about the overblown carry height of the para 3 and I’m going back to tip up for ease of opening in edc tasks. While I have the clip off I think maybe I’ll dial in the action and find the sweet spot of drop shut and no wiggle, done. Now I’ll put the clip back on, oh... blade play? Adjust the pivot till no blade play, won’t drop shut. Out the clip back to tip down, same thing. I tried multiple combinations but just couldn’t get it right, and now I’m stuck in such a weird place that I don’t even think you guys will believe me. Now I’m set up left hand tip up and I have zero vertical play but if I’m honest there is pretty noticeable blade play when I test side to side, not a lot but more than I want. More on that later, cuz here’s the weird part. When I hold the knife in my left hand and do my awkward lefty comp lock grip where my finger tips clutch the pocket clip for dear life and I hit the lock tap with my thumb, the knife will drop shut; however, if I hold it in my right hand and close it normally as a right handed person would (I’m reasonably ambidextrous is most tasks), the knife will not drop shut.

Now even worse than being left handed in the knife world is being a left handed Canadian. I’m not sending my knife in, I’m just not. It’ll cost me $50 cad to send it in a way I’d be confident it would arrive, and who knows if customs would let it come back. The real point of this entire story is that I think side to side blade play in folding knives is inherent to the design. I don’t really care which knife you want to hand me, if I pinch the blade spine and grip the handle then torque my wrists, I’ll feel a wiggle. Some would need to be pushed and torqued so much that it’s like well what the **** are you doing pushing so hard to test such a trivial amount of wiggle but it is in there. My Native 5 lw is like that, as was my ZT0350 I used to own. Next step is going to just tear down my para 3 and lube and tighten the thing a la Nick Shabaz and just live with whatever comes out of that. Thanks for reading this rant guys, keep on wiggling.

I don't have any experience with the Para 3 but that sounds strange. I hope you can get it fixed to your satisfaction. I dislike blade play in any direction, but I've come to accept a little up-and-down in my FRN models.

[Pelagic]

Ideally, you wouldn't want blade play at all, even before lockup, although it isn't really necessary. I like to think that my blade is completely flush against the washers and as tight as possible without sacrificing action smoothness or ease of deployment. The tighter you keep it, the more you will prevent the possibility of blade play in the future. And I am not saying that because I condone hard use of folding knives. Sometimes mistakes happen and the added sturdiness comes in handy. Keeping it tighter will probably help prevent small particles of sand and whatnot from getting into the pivot as well.

[colin.p]

You know something, I used to stress about blade play. I'd have my knives fall shut but have slight side to side play. I spent hours trying to find the balance, but on some, I never could. Then when I bought my first Spyderco's, a PM 2 and a Para 3, guess what, yup still some blade play. I found if I wanted drop shut, blade play was the price. That was with a couple of my Benchmade's and my two Spyderco's. Now not all my knives had that but some did.

Now, I say screw it. If the blade play is very minimal or barely perceptible and certainly not the cause of failure I have learned to accept it. I would much rather have smooth action and stop going out of my way looking for blade play. I really enjoy using and playing with all my knives and I get the most satisfaction with a "smooth as glass" action.

[Sjucaveman]

I set my blade so that it isn't flickable but can be opened with the thumb if that's what it takes to eliminate blade play.

[BushcraftJoe]

You know something, I used to stress about blade play. I'd have my knives fall shut but have slight side to side play. I spent hours trying to find the balance, but on some, I never could. Then when I bought my first Spyderco's, a PM 2 and a Para 3, guess what, yup still some blade play. I found if I wanted drop shut, blade play was the price. That was with a couple of my Benchmade's and my two Spyderco's. Now not all my knives had that but some did.

Now, I say screw it. If the blade play is very minimal or barely perceptible and certainly not the cause of failure I have learned to accept it. I would much rather have smooth action and stop going out of my way looking for blade play. I really enjoy using and playing with all my knives and I get the most satisfaction with a "smooth as glass" action.

Were in a similar place brother

[wolfgaze]

I only own about 6-7 Spydercos... Blade play only bothers me if I can feel the blade move/shift when I'm applying pressure and cutting into something - then I find it really annoying... My black FRN Dragonfly 2 does this, and I don't use it anymore as a result (yes I tried tightening the screws)... My other Spydercos have seemed fine...

[wolfgaze]

You know something, I used to stress about blade play. I'd have my knives fall shut but have slight side to side play. I spent hours trying to find the balance, but on some, I never could. Then when I bought my first Spyderco's, a PM 2 and a Para 3, guess what, yup still some blade play. I found if I wanted drop shut, blade play was the price. That was with a couple of my Benchmade's and my two Spyderco's. Now not all my knives had that but some did.

Now, I say screw it. If the blade play is very minimal or barely perceptible and certainly not the cause of failure I have learned to accept it. I would much rather have smooth action and stop going out of my way looking for blade play. I really enjoy using and playing with all my knives and I get the most satisfaction with a "smooth as glass" action.

I may be in the minority here but I actually prefer a bit of resistance when opening my knives... I tighten my pivot screws (with some freshly applied blue loctite) until I reach the desired resistance... Of course this means that the blade won't swing/fall shut easily - but I don't need that to happen...

[Sjucaveman]

You know something, I used to stress about blade play. I'd have my knives fall shut but have slight side to side play. I spent hours trying to find the balance, but on some, I never could. Then when I bought my first Spyderco's, a PM 2 and a Para 3, guess what, yup still some blade play. I found if I wanted drop shut, blade play was the price. That was with a couple of my Benchmade's and my two Spyderco's. Now not all my knives had that but some did.

Now, I say screw it. If the blade play is very minimal or barely perceptible and certainly not the cause of failure I have learned to accept it. I would much rather have smooth action and stop going out of my way looking for blade play. I really enjoy using and playing with all my knives and I get the most satisfaction with a "smooth as glass" action.

I may be in the minority here but I actually prefer a bit of resistance when opening my knives... I tighten my pivot screws (with some freshly applied blue loctite) until I reach the desired resistance... Of course this means that the blade won't swing/fall shut easily - but I don't need that to happen...

I'm with ya, it's a tool not a toy. So long as I can open and close it one handed it's working as intended.

[wrdwrght]

I just noticed that my 52100 PM2 has slight vertical play when in the locked position, unlike my six others.

Looking down on the back of the open and locked knife, I stuck a popsicle stick between the left scale and the liner that slides rightward under the lockbar, then pulled the stick rearward.

The vertical play ceased, even after I removed the stick.

Instructive, no?

[Pelagic]

Question: If you've tightened the pivot screws on a PM2 as tight as they'll go, and there is still a hint of side to side blade play, what can be done? Thicker washers?