How to fix blade centering on the Paramilitary 2?

[Evil D]

Gave it a try. Didn't quite work out. I don't own a para2 but I'm guessing the construction is a little different. With the sage2 the pivot is female on both sides with screws on both sides that thread in. Is the para the same?

Yep same kind of construction. Another thing you can try is loosening everything up and wedging a piece of paper between the blade and liner pushing the blade towards the direction you want it to move to, and then snug everything down and see if that moves the blade any. I've also done that in the past on a Military with good results.

[Oreogaborio]

Yep same kind of construction. Another thing you can try is loosening everything up and wedging a piece of paper between the blade and liner pushing the blade towards the direction you want it to move to, and then snug everything down and see if that moves the blade any. I've also done that in the past on a Military with good results.

As have I... except I just used my hand to hold the blade in the direction i wanted it to move while tightening down the screws. Little tricky but works on some knives

[Shoop]

Sounds like your problem is solved and several have mastered it as well. I don't have a Para2 but I have had centering problems when closed on a couple of other knives. The screws are the thing but this is how it makes sense to me. Picture a stack of paper you are going to put in your printer. You should bend the stack a couple of times to keep some of the sheets to stick to the ones next to it. I picture this and the knife is 5 pieces of paper. The blade being the center one of course. If you loosen the screws, hold the knife at the pivot and try to bend the handle one way then the next you can see how the scales and liners would slide against each other. When they are bent to the point that the blade is centered between the liners that is when to tighten the screws. You may need to play with it to get it just right. This is the exact same thing you guys are talking about. I thought I'd throw in my way of picturing it because it helps me to understand what is really happening. Now when you tighten the screws in a certain order that could be a way to line the scales/liners up correctly. This theory I have I think applies to most folding knives I think. Now the ones with only FRN or some other material and no liners is different I suppose. I guess the pivot screw is your only option here. However, I've never had this issue on a knife other than one with liners. I think this goes to show the accuracy in Spyderco's planning and manufacturing. Hope this made sense.

Thanks jackknifeh. Your imagery helped me with a slightly off center brand new Smock. Before this approach, I’d tried my usual, which includes loosening all scale and pivot hardware, then wedging something between the blade and liner on the side the too-close blade on the tightened-knife. No luck there. And the weird thing was that tightening EITHER side of the pivot caused the blade to pull to the clip side. Completely unlike any other knife with dual screws (either side) of the pivot. I was about to return the knife. I tried doing a complete disassembly, clean, lube and rebuild, all to no avail. Still either an off center blade, or a centered blade, and blade play.

Then I tried your technique:
1. All scale hardware and pivot screws loosened.
2. Bow the knife completely nudging the blade away from the clip-side where it had been ending up before.
3. (While still bowing the knife) Cinching down there pivot screws to about where I felt they’d ultimately end up.
4. (While still bowing the knife) Tightening the CRAP out of the scale hardware.
5. Viola! Let off the “bowing” pressure, and the blade was centered.
6. Backed off the pivot hardware to get the blade moving the way it should (was too tight before I did).
I’m pleased with the results! Time will tell, but I think I nailed both the centering and blade tightness! Oh, and the Smock is pretty amazing once dialed in.