Native Chief blade play when closed?

[Naperville]

What I do to draw right handed is stand left foot fwd, and slightly crouch and aim my left shoulder at the target while simultaneously drawing (almost) with both hands. Keep the folder or fixed blade at your hip toward the rear. Don't expose the tool. It need not be a knife, it could be a roll of quarters. Immediately raise your left hand to chest height to block any attempt to grab your right hand/arm/head.....

Thanks for the “tip” :)

This is for a two handed opening.

Normal defense posture for a single hand opening knife is to raise your left hand up to cover your ear, and point your elbow into the target's chest while simultaneously opening the blade with your right hand at your right hip. Keep the knife at your hip out of reach. You may not have to use it. Using a knife in an altercation raises the probability of a serious criminal offense.

Michael Janich has some good knife drawing videos on this subject. Some of them may be FREE on YouTube.

[Stas]

Still not solved 100%. There was just a bit of pivot adjustment left, so I tightened the crews on both sides.
The blade play reduced quite a bit, but after opening and closing the knife it returns to the same amount of play.
I've tried this 3 times: tightening the pivot screws, then opening the knife, closing and re-tightening again.

The screws' heads seems to stay on the same position – I don't think they are moving with the blade opening.
Not sure what's going on exactly.

I've ordered a thread locker, but if the screws doesn't move I don't know if it will fix the issue.

Leave it as it is? Or try something else?

[eventhorizon]

Noticed the same thing on my REX45 Chief right away when I got it. Though it doesn't bother me much, I'm still wondering what it is about.

[Stas]

It would be much appreciated if someone from Spyderco could throw light on this issue.

If it needs to be fixed, how to do it properly (tightening pivot screws doesn't help much).

If this is 'by design' on some examples, I just want to know if I can use the knife safely and that the blade won't start to rub the scale after some time. Both S90V steel and Carbon Fiber are too nice for this :)

[Naperville]

It would be much appreciated if someone from Spyderco could throw light on this issue.

If it needs to be fixed, how to do it properly (tightening pivot screws doesn't help much).

If this is 'by design' on some examples, I just want to know if I can use the knife safely and that the blade won't start to rub the scale after some time. Both S90V steel and Carbon Fiber are too nice for this :)

It may take a while but if you have done all of that and cannot get it to where you want it, give them a call to see what their turn around time is approximately and send it in for warranty work. You may need some code to get warranty work...I don't know, I've never sent a Spyderco in for Warranty work.

Include a short 2 to 3 sentence explanation with the knife, with your name, return address and phone number. See if they can fix it for you.

[Stas]

It would be much appreciated if someone from Spyderco could throw light on this issue.

If it needs to be fixed, how to do it properly (tightening pivot screws doesn't help much).

If this is 'by design' on some examples, I just want to know if I can use the knife safely and that the blade won't start to rub the scale after some time. Both S90V steel and Carbon Fiber are too nice for this :)

It may take a while but if you have done all of that and cannot get it to where you want it, give them a call to see what their turn around time is approximately and send it in for warranty work. You may need some code to get warranty work...I don't know, I've never sent a Spyderco in for Warranty work.

Include a short 2 to 3 sentence explanation with the knife, with your name, return address and phone number. See if they can fix it for you.

Thank you for the suggestion. It is quite complicated and expensive as I'm in Europe.
Already paid above MSRP price for it (this is what we do here to have a Sprint Runs:) and hope for an easier solution.
Maybe this issue is a non-issue. At least three people replying to this thread has the same issue and also want to know what is that.

[Naperville]

I'm sorry.... I just got frustrated for you! I took out my S90V Native Chief and pushed and shoved the blade everywhere to see if I could replicate what you are seeing. I am interested in helping you.

Yes, when the knife is completely closed, I can FORCE the tip over to touch both scales. But I would never call it loose. It does not take a lot of strength, maybe 10 to 15 lbs of force. It is a 4 inch long piece of steel and you are leveraging it against the pivot point. I'm no engineer, but I think that is all that is happening on my knife, and it is definitely not loose.

Is this what you are encountering? If so, NO WORRIES!

I was looking for your location, but could not find it right off in the thread. I'd just hold onto it. I think that you will be fine.

By the way, my name is Thomas. My location is my username, I am in Naperville, Illinois, USA.

[JRinFL]

My S90V Native 5 had the same issue and it took a fair bit of fine tuning to get the looseness out while keeping the blade from being too tight. It is a very slight turn to go from too tight to loose. I did put thread locker (222 Purple) on the pivot screw and once I got it tuned, I left it alone overnight. My recent Native Salt in Magnacut has the same issue and will receive the same treatment.

[Stas]

I'm sorry.... I just got frustrated for you! I took out my S90V Native Chief and pushed and shoved the blade everywhere to see if I could replicate what you are seeing. I am interested in helping you.

Yes, when the knife is completely closed, I can FORCE the tip over to touch both scales. But I would never call it loose. It does not take a lot of strength, maybe 10 to 15 lbs of force. It is a 4 inch long piece of steel and you are leveraging it against the pivot point. I'm no engineer, but I think that is all that is happening on my knife, and it is definitely not loose.

Is this what you are encountering? If so, NO WORRIES!

I was looking for your location, but could not find it right off in the thread. I'd just hold onto it. I think that you will be fine.

By the way, my name is Thomas. My location is my username, I am in Naperville, Illinois, USA.

Hi Thomas, thank you so much for this!!! In my case, I can move the tip of the blade left-right with the tip of my finger, without any force.

Stas

[Stas]

My S90V Native 5 had the same issue and it took a fair bit of fine tuning to get the looseness out while keeping the blade from being too tight. It is a very slight turn to go from too tight to loose. I did put thread locker (222 Purple) on the pivot screw and once I got it tuned, I left it alone overnight. My recent Native Salt in Magnacut has the same issue and will receive the same treatment.

I did a slight turns of the both pivot screws and blade play reduced, but after opening and closing the knife just once it returns to almost the same amount of play. Which I don't understand.

Initially I did not want to loctite anything before breaking in period. But if I use thread locker and leave it overnight without opening the knife after tightening, it may fix the issue?

[Naperville]

I'm sorry.... I just got frustrated for you! I took out my S90V Native Chief and pushed and shoved the blade everywhere to see if I could replicate what you are seeing. I am interested in helping you.

Yes, when the knife is completely closed, I can FORCE the tip over to touch both scales. But I would never call it loose. It does not take a lot of strength, maybe 10 to 15 lbs of force. It is a 4 inch long piece of steel and you are leveraging it against the pivot point. I'm no engineer, but I think that is all that is happening on my knife, and it is definitely not loose.

Is this what you are encountering? If so, NO WORRIES!

I was looking for your location, but could not find it right off in the thread. I'd just hold onto it. I think that you will be fine.

By the way, my name is Thomas. My location is my username, I am in Naperville, Illinois, USA.

Hi Thomas, thank you so much for this!!! In my case, I can move the tip of the blade left-right with the tip of my finger, without any force.

Stas

Now I fully comprehend the issue. Mine does not move much without some force applied so you must find a way to tighten that down and affix it in place with Locktite.

Listen to what some of the others have had to say about this process. They are knowledgeable and will lead you to the solution.

All of this inspecting of knives has led me to discover that my blade isn't 100% centered. It is very close though and is completely a user, so I do not care. I owned $20,000US in knives at one time and never had any of them apart.

[Naperville]

My S90V Native 5 had the same issue and it took a fair bit of fine tuning to get the looseness out while keeping the blade from being too tight. It is a very slight turn to go from too tight to loose. I did put thread locker (222 Purple) on the pivot screw and once I got it tuned, I left it alone overnight. My recent Native Salt in Magnacut has the same issue and will receive the same treatment.

I did a slight turns of the both pivot screws and blade play reduced, but after opening and closing the knife just once it returns to almost the same amount of play. Which I don't understand.

Initially I did not want to loctite anything before breaking in period. But if I use thread locker and leave it overnight without opening the knife after tightening, it may fix the issue?

I would not keep loosening and tightening the screws, surely that will lead to stripped threads, or damage to the screw heads.

When you are ready to Locktite it, then go ahead and hopefully for the last time, apply the Locktite tighten it up, then let it sit for 24hrs.

[JRinFL]

My S90V Native 5 had the same issue and it took a fair bit of fine tuning to get the looseness out while keeping the blade from being too tight. It is a very slight turn to go from too tight to loose. I did put thread locker (222 Purple) on the pivot screw and once I got it tuned, I left it alone overnight. My recent Native Salt in Magnacut has the same issue and will receive the same treatment.

I did a slight turns of the both pivot screws and blade play reduced, but after opening and closing the knife just once it returns to almost the same amount of play. Which I don't understand.

Initially I did not want to loctite anything before breaking in period. But if I use thread locker and leave it overnight without opening the knife after tightening, it may fix the issue?

It did for my Native 5. Make sure you are using only blue or purple Loctite, not red permanent thread locker.

[Stas]

It did for my Native 5. Make sure you are using only blue or purple Loctite, not red permanent thread locker.

Thanks a lot! Blue 242 is the one I got.