Vintage Specwar folder questions

samwinthrop

samwinthrop

Joined
May 26, 2022
Messages
14
Hi everyone,
I recently came across a ‘98 Specwar folder. It is in new-old-stock condition and has the serrations coated in black finish while the plain edge is bright metal. Have any of you ever seen a blade where the serrations were not cut after the finish
was applied? Also, it unfortunately suffers from very late lockup. My understanding is that Emerson will not work on it anymore since it is pre-2000. Any ideas how I could go about improving the lockup timing? I would post photos, but I’m not sure how to do that here. Thanks!
 
samwinthrop said:
Hi everyone,
I recently came across a ‘98 Specwar folder. It is in new-old-stock condition and has the serrations coated in black finish while the plain edge is bright metal. Have any of you ever seen a blade where the serrations were not cut after the finish
was applied? Also, it unfortunately suffers from very late lockup. My understanding is that Emerson will not work on it anymore since it is pre-2000. Any ideas how I could go about improving the lockup timing? I would post photos, but I’m not sure how to do that here. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Candidly? Early Emersons had this issue somewhat commonly. I'd do one of two things. Either sell it to an Emerson collector (so they can jack the price further and sell it to their "brothers" on one of the two Facebook pages), or else carry and use it. It's not going to get any better than it is right now.
 
Quiet said:
Candidly? Early Emersons had this issue somewhat commonly. I'd do one of two things. Either sell it to an Emerson collector (so they can jack the price further and sell it to their "brothers" on one of the two Facebook pages), or else carry and use it. It's not going to get any better than it is right now.
Click to expand...
Turns out there was another option. I took a 0.125” drill bit shank and cut it down to the length of the stop pin, then turned down the ends of the pin until it fit into the scales. The extra 0.003” pin thickness made up for the worn lock bar and now I have a ‘98 Specwar with perfect, early lockup and zero lock rock. FYI the original stop pin was 0.122” thick on these old models.
 
samwinthrop said:
Hi everyone,
I recently came across a ‘98 Specwar folder. It is in new-old-stock condition and has the serrations coated in black finish while the plain edge is bright metal. Have any of you ever seen a blade where the serrations were not cut after the finish
was applied? Also, it unfortunately suffers from very late lockup. My understanding is that Emerson will not work on it anymore since it is pre-2000. Any ideas how I could go about improving the lockup timing? I would post photos, but I’m not sure how to do that here. Thanks!
Click to expand...



Where did you hear that they won’t work on pre 2000 knives ?
 
jeepin said:
Where did you hear that they won’t work on pre 2000 knives ?
Click to expand...


Well I never go to their website so I wouldn’t have known that. That’s pretty lame.
 
Last edited:
jeepin said:
Well I never go to their website so I wouldn’t have known that. That’s pretty lame.
Click to expand...
Oh, sorry about the “bold letters” comment. I didn’t mean to slight you. It was just a description of the form. I agree that it is lame given they claim a “lifetime warranty” on all their knives.
 
I have an Emerson that needs this. i could do it but i dont have a lathe... as long as that stop pin doesn't get toooo big to mess up the detent ect then this is the best way i can think of.....
 
It works wonderfully. I don’t have a large either, so i clamp a drill to my workbench and put the rod to be turned down in the drill chuck. I then clamp the trigger down and Robert’s your mother’s brother! Just use a file or sandpaper to turn down the rod to size (I used an old drill bit shank). As for the detent, if there is an issue with the larger pin just file a bit of the blade down where it hits the pin when it closes until the detent engages again.
 
samwinthrop said:
It works wonderfully. I don’t have a large either, so i clamp a drill to my workbench and put the rod to be turned down in the drill chuck. I then clamp the trigger down and Robert’s your mother’s brother! Just use a file or sandpaper to turn down the rod to size (I used an old drill bit shank). As for the detent, if there is an issue with the larger pin just file a bit of the blade down where it hits the pin when it closes until the detent engages again.
Click to expand...
*large = lathe
 
I am going to give this a try over Xmas when I am off work.... The knife has been sitting in this state for 7+ years! ;) I will report back....
 
samwinthrop said:
Hi everyone,
I recently came across a ‘98 Specwar folder. It is in new-old-stock condition and has the serrations coated in black finish while the plain edge is bright metal. Have any of you ever seen a blade where the serrations were not cut after the finish
was applied?
Click to expand...

I thought I remembered seeing this occasionally on early Emersons, so I did some looking. It's not uncommon. This is also a '98 model.

IMG-4020.jpg



Emerson may have been replicating a technique/procedure he learned from Benchmade. It seems to have been prevalent on the 975S.

IMG-4025.jpg


IMG-4024.jpg



I even found a '99 Commander that appears to have coating on the entire edge.

IMG-4023.jpg



It may look strange, but I can't see that a coated edge would hurt performance, particularly on serrations.


-Steve
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top