Question about Micarta and blade play

[Big_Tex]

Absolutely LOVE my collection of shamans... it’s my favorite Spyderco and my go-to work knife. As I’ve put my Micarta shaman through its paces, it’s worn in and oh so buttery smooth. Recently, I noticed a tiny bit of side to side blade play and curious what role the Micarta scales might have in that? Seems like I remember seeing a video somewhere that mentioned the Micarta can be a bit finicky as you tighten the screws and the Micarta getting “squished” down a bit impacting the action. I’ve done all I know to do... and all the screws are good and snug (nothing over tightened by any means) and that small amount of play won’t go away. Anyone have any thoughts on this? (I’m a bit new around these parts and I apologize in advance if this has been addressed in another thread)

Thanks!

Happy Independence Day to all my blade brothers and sisters!

[VooDooChild]

Bump. Im curious about this as well now that you mention it.

I cant remember how the pivot screw on the shaman seats into the handle.

Does it matter or is it only dependent on the liners?

Have you tried disassembling the knife completely and putting it back together?

Also I find myself saying this for compression locks a lot. Especially the shaman. The tolerances are very tight. There is a super small sweet spot of pivot tension that is both perfect action and no blade play. This spot is not easy to dial in and can take a lot of "tuning" to get it right tightening with hand tools. If you are off by just a hair then its not at that perfect spot.

[dj moonbat]

I can't imagine that a stack consisting of stainless steel screwed to micarta is markedly less rigid than a stack consisting of stainless steel screwed to G10 or carbon fiber.

[kodai78]

I second that. The play doesn’t have anything to do with the Micarta. As little as a 1/4 turn or less of the pivot screw makes a difference to the pivot action. I would very methodically adjust the pivot until the play was gone. If you can’t get it right contact customer service at Spyderco. I adjusted my Shaman pivot recently and very small movement of the pivot made a difference.

[Manifestgtr]

I keep a TINY bit of side to side adjusted into my z-wear shaman. I don’t use it for anything rough and it flows so freely, I prefer it that way. Once I set it that way, it seemed to stay in place pretty nicely

[aaronkb]

I don’t think it’s the material.

You mentioned it isn’t over tightened…. Is it possible it’s slightly under tightened?

I’d also try adjusting the stop pin screws. Not only is that close enough to the pivot that I imagine it could affect rigidity, more importantly the interaction between the stop pin, lock and blade has a major role in action and blade play or lack thereof.

[VooDooChild]

I don’t think it’s the material.

You mentioned it isn’t over tightened…. Is it possible it’s slightly under tightened?

I’d also try adjusting the stop pin screws. Not only is that close enough to the pivot that I imagine it could affect rigidity, more importantly the interaction between the stop pin, lock and blade has a major role in action and blade play or lack thereof.

No screws on the stop pin but rotating the pin could help.

I think the pivot just isnt in its sweet spot which can be difficult to adjust to.

[Big_Tex]

I’ll take it apart tomorrow and look under the hood to check on the stop pin and report back. Thanks for the feedback brothers.

[Big_Tex]

Update: I took the knife apart, and simply flipped the stop pin over and put it back in place. Got the knife back together, and the side to side play seems to have gone away. Action isn't as smooth as it was before, but blade is still centered.

[aaronkb]

No screws on the stop pin but rotating the pin could help.

I think the pivot just isnt in its sweet spot which can be difficult to adjust to.

Whoops, goes to show I haven’t carried my shaman in a bit!

Update: I took the knife apart, and simply flipped the stop pin over and put it back in place. Got the knife back together, and the side to side play seems to have gone away. Action isn't as smooth as it was before, but blade is still centered.

Sometimes it just needs to break in again with the new circumstances. Did you lube everything in the pivot area before you put it back together?