Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
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Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
Hey gang! So I was using one of my MAGO OTFs to cut up some junk mail today. When I went to close it, I thought it went off track. When I went to reset it, it wouldn’t reset. I was thinking, “Oh great! Don’t tell me the spring broke!” Upon taking it apart, I discovered it wasn’t the spring that broke but it was the front hook the spring is attached to that broke. Bummed and thinking I may have to go out and buy another one, I started thinking about some hardware I had that I could perhaps use to improvise my own front spring hook. I went digging through my supplies and my “knife junkyard” where I had a cheap OTF that broke a while ago. I looked at the internal parts of this OTF to see if I could do a swap out and unfortunately the parts weren’t the right size. Okay. I then went to my picture hanging supply kit. I found these brass hooks which looked like something I could bend and mill down to the size and shape of a spring hook for the MAGO. Well, after a few hours of hammering, bending and reshaping, grinding down with my Dremel, measuring and grinding some more, I finally had something that fit the spot where it needed to go. This next part took a few tests before I could get it to work. I noticed it wasn’t getting enough spring power to launch the blade into the open position. It was launching closed okay. So it was halfway fixed. Next I thought about trying another spring. I took the spring from my old broken piece of crap OTF, it was slightly longer than the MAGO spring, so I trimmed it down slightly. Made sure everything was lined up properly, kept the blade in the “derailed” position where the spring tension was off, and fastened down the screws. Reset the blade in the open position and launched it closed. Tried opening and it kept misfiring. I then got my WD40, squirted some into the opening, and held a cloth over the front of the knife while I gave it a good shake to get the oil into every internal part that needed it. I tried opening and closing it a few more times and soon enough, voila, the MAGO is back in business launching out and back in perfectly! I pretty much did this all from scratch! This was my first successful OTF repair and I feel very proud of it! Thank goodness for crappy broken knives as they can make great “organ donors” (LOL!) and thank goodness for little household items that can be utilized to help bring things back to life like the internals in an OTF knife! Attached is a pic of the knife and broken spring hook (you see where the little front clip broke off) and the brass wall hook I reconfigured into the new one.
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Last edited by Mario on Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:34 am, edited 2 times in total.
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- Posts: 2219
- Joined: Sat May 03, 2003 11:10 pm
- Location: Forest Grove, OR
Re: Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
Congratulations! You worked hard enough to accomplish what most lower-end OTF owners wouldn't bother to attempt. Most people I know would have "bagged it" and bought another one. (They wouldn't have exhibited the patience or the personal "sang-froid" to effect such a meticulous repair).
Good for you!
Good for you!
Fishtail Picklock
- whippersnapper
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- Location: Michigan
Re: Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
Good job Mario!
Re: Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
Good job !
- rock-n-roll$$$$$$
- Posts: 991
- Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2016 9:04 pm
Re: Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
yes!, VERY good job, we learn by doing.
Re: Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
I have a mini mago that's broke. . . .and I stripped the screw socket with the wrong allen wrench.
too lazy to find my multi-point screwdriver set.
it now sits in a box. . . broken. . .
I play with the bigger 11 inch version , , now and then.
too lazy to find my multi-point screwdriver set.
it now sits in a box. . . broken. . .
I play with the bigger 11 inch version , , now and then.
Re: Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
I was going to say, the screws holding the bottom bolsters on got stripped while I was fixing mine, so I used a couple screws from the broke OTF.
Anyway, thanks guys! Upon accomplishing this fix, I noticed the ringing noise it used to have when it opened and shut was also gone. Nice to fix that as well!
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- Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:08 pm
Re: Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
Mario, this is really impressive! I'm curious.... other than simple hand tools like hammers, vise-grips, etc.
what power tools did you use, other than the Dremel? Or was that the only power equipment that you needed?
(Last week's flea haul included (3) genuine Petersen vise-grips, two of which were the long-nose type.... a dollar each!)
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Re: Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
The Dremel was pretty much all I needed as far as a power tool. Did the some of the bending with my pliers after hammering it flat.
- JimBrown257
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- Location: Michigan
Re: Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
That's awesome! Making a new part for a cheap DA OTF is about the hardest thing there can be to make.
This is how it starts to for most knife guys (though, usually it is something simple like a guard or a spring). Keep at it!
This is how it starts to for most knife guys (though, usually it is something simple like a guard or a spring). Keep at it!
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- Posts: 34
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2021 1:56 am
Re: Successfully repaired a MAGO OTF today!
That's a terrific fix. Very imaginative too.