I saw a clip on YouTube a long time ago on adjusting a balisong properly. The recommended setting was to open the knofe and look at the handle ends with the blade pointed away. Looking at the ends, the inside of one liner should be even with the inside of the opposite liner on the other side of the handle. Let's see if I can do a keyboard illustration:

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Yep, kind of like that.

Anybody else have a different or similar take?

Does any of this make any sense? LOL!!

I think that is knife specific.

None of my bolted together balis are so loose and by carry BM41 isn't either.

Unfortunately, the "keyboard illustration didn't work out...

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quote:

Originally posted by orthogonal1:
I think that is knife specific.

None of my bolted together balis are so loose and by carry BM41 isn't either.

Oh, I should have mentioned that none of mine are that loose, either. Out of the two dozen or so balisongs I have, the only ones that loose are very old, well-flipped non-adjustable knives.

So what's your method of adjustment?

I just adjust the screws and/or change the washer thickness until it feels right - a smooth, solid feel when manipulating.

I find I carry loose knives very little and I see no reason a bali should be any different than any other folding knife.

quote:

Originally posted by orthogonal1:
I just adjust the screws and/or change the washer thickness until it feels right - a smooth, solid feel when manipulating.

I find I carry loose knives very little and I see no reason a bali should be any different than any other folding knife.

Fair enough - can't ask for a fairer answer than that. I'll post what I do to get my "starting place" for a balisong adjustment:

First, I loosen the pivots, then tighten them until I just begin to feel the pivot screw get snug.

Then, with the knife opened and the blade pointing at the ceiling, grasp one handle firmly, and move the other handle up and around toward the blade. If the blade tips over, the pivot is too tight; if not, I'll snug it a tiny bit more and repeat until I find the spot where the handle is just tight enough to tip the blade over, then back it off a smidge. Any looser adds too much play - any tighter and there's not enough.

Repeat for the other handle, and the preliminaries are done. At this point, I flip the bali for a few minutes and check again, using the procedure above. New knives should be flipped for a while before even attempting the adjustment.

If, after adjusting and flipping, the handles are too loose (it's unlikey they'll tighten,) repeat the adjustments for both handles.

Once the adjustments have stabilized (you can flip the knife a few dozen times without the handles loosening,) back out the pivot screws, apply a drop of Loctite and repeat the adjustments.

It may seem like a long, drawn-out process, but if you flip your balisong much at all, you'll spend the time loosening and tightening it, anyway. Once I've done this setup, I almost never need to do it again until the zen screws or pivot screws have worn appreciably.