Aftermarket bearings

[K.O.D.]

Just for the heck of it I ordered Taco bearings for my Spyderco Southard and Domino.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I've been home sick for two days and they came today. Having nothing to do, I installed them. The braces and washers are definitely higher quality. However, the improvement in action isn't what I expected. It's slightly better in the Domino. The domino is (at least mine) is difficult to tune for centering and decent action.

The Southard, is no quicker to deploy or vlose. I've been messing with it for about an hour.

Both knives had the cupping of the washers I'd heard of. So at least I feel more confident about durability, but I'm not sure if the price (for the Southard at least) was worth it.

Is this lack of improvement is something I'm doing wrong, and/or a design limitation in the knives themselves?

Any opinions are welcome.

Thanks.

 

[jeronimo]

I have Taco Bearings in four of my ZT's.

My Plain Jane 0562Ti, which has had the Taco Bearings installed the longest (over 1 year), has the smoothest action of any of my bearing pivot knives.
My other three ZT's are recent builds, and aren't nearly as smooth, though, they are a little better than the stock steel bearings. No centering issues on any of them.

I'd say give 'em some time to break in. Hope this helps a little!

 

[K.O.D.]

I have Taco Bearings in four of my ZT's.

My Plain Jane 0562Ti, which has had the Taco Bearings installed the longest (over 1 year), has the smoothest action of any of my bearing pivot knives.
My other three ZT's are recent builds, and aren't nearly as smooth, though, they are a little better than the stock steel bearings. No centering issues on any of them.

I'd say give 'em some time to break in. Hope this helps a little!

I wasn't aware they would need to break in.

Also, I think Spyderco 's design on these were less than ideal, as every other brand of knife on bearings does not use the same design. It could be just a limiting the design.

 

[jeronimo]

I wasn't aware they would need to break in.

Also, I think Spyderco 's design on these were less than ideal, as every other brand of knife on bearings does not use the same design. It could be just a limiting the design.

Could be.
On my 0562's, the pivot screw adjustment had to be spot-on, with the Taco Bearings installed, vs the factory KVT bearings.

 

[Rusty Shackelford]

I don't have any experience with Taco bearings but I did replace the bearings in my Spyderco Smock with Skiff bearings which are another high performance ceramic bearing manufacturer and I did not notice much if any improvement in action but I did notice a change in the audible lockup of the blade which was much welcomed. I think the blade must be opening a little faster which is making that more solid lockup sound, but it's imperceptible to me otherwise, worth the cost for that and the step up in quality and corrosion resistance for me though.

 

[jjg6319]

I put Skiffs in my Hinderers and I noticed an improvement in 2 of them right away.

 

[Wild Willie]

I put skiff bearings in my Kershaw lucha, my dad's and brother's are both still with the factory steel ones. There's a tangible improvement to me at least, mine definitely flips more quietly and a bit smoother.

 

[K.O.D.]

Update. The bearings are very smooth, the issue is lockbar pressure, especially on the Domino. The Taco bearings are smooth enough for drop shut, but the detent ball and lockbar pressure slow it down a lot. Not sure how to rectify that. I put some 10 weight nano oil in the pivot and the detent, which helped.

 

[jeronimo]

Tweak the lockbar.
I've had to do it to a couple of my ZTs, and a couple of Hinderers.

 

[sharp_edge]

Update. The bearings are very smooth, the issue is lockbar pressure, especially on the Domino. The Taco bearings are smooth enough for drop shut, but the detent ball and lockbar pressure slow it down a lot. Not sure how to rectify that. I put some 10 weight nano oil in the pivot and the detent, which helped.

You nailed it. The smoothness of folders has more to do with the interaction between the detent ball and the blade tang than with bearings.

 

[K.O.D.]

You nailed it. The smoothness of folders has more to do with the interaction between the detent ball and the blade tang than with bearings.

I took the domino apart and adjusted the lockbar. The action is as good as its going to get, a design limitation on the part of the bearings. All my other bearing knives the bearings only contact the blade, this and the Southard the bearings contact the handle and blade, causing extra friction.

While the action on the Domino is smoother now, the biggest difference is I can finally center it, and without hassle.