Military blade play questions

[Evil D]

So today was the first day i really got to put my new Military to some good use. Ever since i bought it i've felt that the pivot was crazy tight, but i blamed that on the fact that my Para 2 is silky smooth, plus the difference in locks. The blade won't fall by gravity with the lock tab pressed all the way in, but i'm not sure if that's a liner lock thing or not and i figured it'll break in smoother anyway.

Well, after making about 20 or so cuts/open/closes, i noticed the blade was flicking out rather freely so i jiggled the blade and was shocked that it wiggled like crazy and i can actually see the liners spread apart when i jiggle the blade.

Now...one thing i thought was that this is a longer blade, so it's possible to get more leverage on the blade when wiggling it. So i tried it with my fingers right at the pivot, and it wasn't as bad but there's still a lot more play than i'm used to seeing especially in a knife with a pivot pin as large as this (by comparison i've never owned a Delica that had blade play).

So, is this typical? I don't wanna bother sending it in if this is normal. I haven't adjusted the pivot yet but the blade is still pretty tight even though it flicks out now so i don't wanna tighten the pivot and end up with a super tight opening action.

[chuck_roxas45]

Just tighten the pivot until there's none and break it in EvilD. None of my millies have play.

[JNewell]

Just tighten the pivot until there's none and break it in EvilD. None of my millies have play.

This ^^^

Reassemble with Loctite 242 blue...

[Evil D]

Geez...now the blade is way out of center It was super loose though.

[chuck_roxas45]

Geez...now the blade is way out of center It was super loose though.

Just shim the blade with some folded paper when you tighten the pivot so it doesn't get off center.

[Cheddarnut]

Darkside has sabotaged ur millie from beyond the counter as revenge for your mutiny.

[Evil D]

Just shim the blade with some folded paper when you tighten the pivot so it doesn't get off center.

Yeah i did...it's pretty straight now. All the liner screws were loose except one, and of course that one stripped. I swear, if they don't do anything else with the Military 2, it needs enlarged screws like the Para 2 has. I need to find a competent modder to put the large ones in for me. I don't have a drill press or anything to counter sink the holes the right way.

Darkside has sabotaged ur millie from beyond the counter as revenge for your mutiny.

Man, you know that's right! In the long run though i'm probably gonna end up getting a DLC Military now that i'm starting to like the knife itself.

[KardinalSyn]

No blade play on my Millies either when fully open. The knife blade when closed tends to move towards either side of the handle if slight pressure is applied on the hole or the blade spine. Movement is on the opposite direction of the applied pressure and I suppose that this is normal given the design and length I the blade.

I may have tried the folded paper method to center my camo Millie blade a dozen times but though it may work for a while, you will find that the blade goes off center after use. On this method I have given up.

So far, I have only opened the CF Millie M390 a few times. It's totally centered so far.

I agree with you on the need for larger screws. Perhaps Spyderco tried it out and abandoned the use if larger screws at the design stage. We will. Ever know unless Sal or someone involved in the process lets us know.

I thought that Spyderco applied loctite to the main screws except for the pivot screw and the clip screws. Sorry to hear about the stripped thread. If all the liner screws were loose, that's indeed bad.

The Millie is a super knife.

[chuck_roxas45]

Hey Kard, I've also tried another fix. Just loosen the pivot until you can push the torx side in a little. Then slowly tighten it.

[KardinalSyn]

Thanks Chuck. Not sure I want to. Kinda learning to live with the blade slightly off center.

[Donut]

A couple of months ago, a guy posted pictures of a couple Millies in the "Post you mods" thread, that he changed out ALL the screws on. If I were you, I would PM that guy to see if he can hook you up.

[Evil D]

A couple of months ago, a guy posted pictures of a couple Millies in the "Post you mods" thread, that he changed out ALL the screws on. If I were you, I would PM that guy to see if he can hook you up.

Yeah that's the pic that gave me the idea but I don't remember who's mod it was, I'll have to dig it up.

[KardinalSyn]

I saw that he had removed the backspacer entirely. Wonder how that effects the stability of the knife.

[Sht]

Finish breaking it in the play around to get it where you want it. My camo satin blade will fall free once the lock is disengaged with zero blade play.

[NoFair]

I saw that he had removed the backspacer entirely. Wonder how that effects the stability of the knife.

Done that with 3 of mine and no problems what so ever. Never had blade play in a Millie either

[KardinalSyn]

Done that with 3 of mine and no problems what so ever. Never had blade play in a Millie either

Surely, there must be a reason why Spyderco thought that the backspacer is needed for the Millie. I am very much interested in the why. Glad to hear that you have good results with them mods.

[NoFair]

On the new ones I don't think the spacer is plastic with SS pillars like the old ones, but an aluminium solid spacer. I've kept the pillars, but removed the plastic around them. I would not remove the aluminium backspacer without having pillars to replace it.

If you don't round the G-10 edges on the scales slightly it can be slightly less comfortable than with the backspacer in place.

Looks like this with pillars and no spacer:

[Evil D]

I just saw a Ti Military in the knife shop that someone modded, he took the back spacer out and just put one pillar where the lanyard hole used to go and left the middle holes empty. I guess you can get away with that with Ti scales but i didn't care for it myself.