Repairing bent wire clips

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zhyla
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Repairing bent wire clips

#1

Post by zhyla »

Over the years I've come around to the wire clips. I think I still prefer the regular hourglass clip hands down, but on tiny knives I can see the weight and cost advantage of the wire clip.

One thing about the wire clip that has to be admitted though is how easily they bend out of shape and how hard they are to bend back into shape. My Chap LW caught on the edge of a table this week and got tweaked way out of whack:

Image

I should have taken a photo with it on the knife -- it was bent pretty far out of shape in a couple directions.

Now I'm aware that Spyderco will sell me a replacement clip, but it's not like this is the last time this will happen. I needed a way to be able to bend the clips back into shape once in a while. If you've tried to do this you've found that the wire is prone to twist and hard to hold steady enough to put enough force on it with pliers. Here's my simple solution:

Image

It doesn't solve all of my problems, but it holds it flat which is a huge deal when you're trying to work out a kink. Once it's secured I used a combination of hammering and pinching with a vice to work it back into shape of sorts.

It's not perfect and honestly I think it's unlikely that once bent out of shape one of these clips can ever be restored to perfect geometry, but it's good enough:

Image

I think if I had to do this more often I might 3d print some fixtures that conform to the shape a bit and aid with applying clamping force for doing the bends. But this will do for now. Hope this helps somebody else who scratches their heads about how to re-bend these clips.
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bigboned
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Re: Repairing bent wire clips

#2

Post by bigboned »

Brilliant thankyou
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kodai78
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Re: Repairing bent wire clips

#3

Post by kodai78 »

Thanks. I will need to do this myself sometime again and this will help. Last time it took two pair of pliers and some strong language.
:spyder: Shaman REX 45, Smock, Baby Jess Horn CE, Spydiechef, Schempp Bowie,Ti Fluted Military, Titanium Military, Native S30 V and G10, PM 2 in S35VN, and S110V, Manix 2 LW BD1 and SPY 27, Sage 5, Positron black CPM S30V, Chaparral w/Raffir Noble scales, SuperLeaf VG 10, Ladybug H1, Dragonfly 2 in ZDP 189 and Superblue/420J1 and H1, Delica in ZDP 189, Clipitool Standard, the Cook’s knife VG10, Santoku, paring and utility knives, all in MBS 26. :spyder:
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ronT2
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Re: Repairing bent wire clips

#4

Post by ronT2 »

Great idea! Thanks for sharing...

I haven't had to do any major bending/repair yet but it might also come in handy for some fine tuning.
My EDC rotation: Kapara, Chaparral CF, Mantra, Sage 1, Sage 5, Dice, Domino, Gayle Bradley 2, PakkaDelica, Native CFF
JuPaul
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Re: Repairing bent wire clips

#5

Post by JuPaul »

Very handy solution. Thanks!
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gull wing
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Re: Repairing bent wire clips

#6

Post by gull wing »

Good work. :)
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zhyla
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Re: Repairing bent wire clips

#7

Post by zhyla »

ronT2 wrote:
Sun Jan 12, 2020 11:31 am
Great idea! Thanks for sharing...

I haven't had to do any major bending/repair yet but it might also come in handy for some fine tuning.
Oh, for just adjusting tension I have a tip as well... just flip the clip around backwards so it’s hanging off the butt of the knife but bolted on tight. Then you can easily bend the clip to increase the tension.
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