- Joined
- Mar 22, 2000
- Messages
- 355
Plain Jane small regular Sebenza.
-
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And your favorite frame-lock folder is what?
- Thread starter Mark W Douglas
- Start date
- Joined
- May 16, 2006
- Messages
- 1,769
Wegner mouse with modded titanium handles or yellow handled Benchmade moni grip 555(hole opener).
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,957
I'm kind a likin' the one in my signiture line at the moment 
Its a real beefcake at .158 thickness. I just love a chunky little giant of a knife.
Seriously, I have a lot to say about this so sit down for a read. In my opinion Chris Reeve's Sebenza is the standard by which all other frame locks should be judged and for many reasons. He goes above and beyond in ways that other makers don't mess with. I won't go into all that because frankly, he could skip all those steps before making the frames and it would still be better than most. Chris does everything right even to the amount of surface area contact and lock width behind the blade to the very critical lock relief cut out where a lot of guys seem to miss the boat by taking that relief cut down to thinner than even a super light duty liner lock would be. If I made a liner lock of titanium stock that thin and sold it as a heavy use tactical folder I'd be laughed out of the industry but they do it this way all the time and people trust these .030 and .032 heavy duty knives with their fingers during hard use. Not me man. I've seen and played with enough titanium to know just how easy it is to bend titanium and snap it when that thin. Almost like breaking a heavy duty pretzel with some pieces I've played with the same length and width as a lock on most folders. I tend to look at knives without bias if at all possible. When I see one that screams at me how overbuilt it is everywhere with the bull pivot, big a$$ stop pin and chunky frame but has this near paper thin lock relief it stands out to me as a major imbalance to the system as a whole. That is the weak link in the chain and the one I see the most often done wrong by many makers that should know better. In short Chris has it down pat. The Sebbie is the best engineered folder on the market in the way of frame locks. IMO.
Doing what I do I get to see and handle as well as closely inspect and many times get quite intimate with all of the major and minor manufacturers knives out there and I see more than a few so called heavy duty tactical folders that are nothing more than gents knives in wolf clothing. I'll spare you the list of the ones to avoid. It would just get me in trouble again anyway because some people don't want to hear that there is room for improvement in the way they do things I guess.
As to the frame locks I think you can trust out there. I'll give you a few I rate very highly for strength and reliability.
The Camillus Cuda Maxx. This is a true heavy duty frame lock. .150 titanium stock and .080 to .084 lock relief. Thats stout folks and you know what? It puts the Maxx at the top of my list for best made production frame locks out there right up there tied for first place with the A.G. Russell Sting which is another overbuilt tough a$$ frame lock folder that has come into my shop in the last two years for a low rider clip or flip of the stock one.
These Stings are not my favorites personally and neither are the Cuda Maxx knives (but I do love that D2 blade in the Maxx) and in fact I would never buy either of them but you can't deny a well built folder when you see it. If other makers followed these examples in how to build a frame lock it would alleviate a lot of the controversy surrounding these type of locks. The Sting is one you just need to break it in first to get the lock traveling in further than when new. The ones I've seen in my shop are a bit tight when brand new but once they are worn in some and smoothed out you have you a nice reliable very strong lock behind that superb blade. A lock you could most likely sit on and not have to worry about. Try that with one of the .032 lock relief ones. If you think you have to have some reknown in the world to know what you are talking about think again. I used to make mine the way I saw these other guys doing theirs. I got a big wake up call one Sunday afternoon. I gave one of those frame locks to my 80 pound nephew who folded the lock in and ruined it about ten minutes after I gave it to him by sticking it in a slot in my work table and simply pushing down. Not even 80 POUNDS defeated and ruined that lock!
Some others that I see in the way of productions I'd call "made right". The Kershaw Vapor and Leek are both excellent smaller folders with the stainless steel locks making them quite strong and my favorite is the Storm I and II which are perhaps the best value out there in a quality made strong and reliable frame lock.
In the more expensive ones the little Buck belonging to Dave H above now in blue jean blue is made right and the S30V blade took one heck of an edge. The lock relief on that one is uniquely tapered where it is thinner at the bottom than at the top and stronger than it may appear at first glance.
I have also been very impressed with the BenchMade Skirmish and Mini Skirmish knives I've seen when the few that I did work on came through my shop.
Note: I do grant you that I don't see multiple knives from production companies that often. I have only seen two of each of these except the Cuda Maxx which I have had examples of in my shop for low riders, clip flips and bead blastings on so many occasions I've lost count. As with any production folder there may be variances and I have seen some in the Maxx as noted above but I'm betting that for the most part these are all consistantly quite good and trustworthy knives.
STR
Its a real beefcake at .158 thickness. I just love a chunky little giant of a knife. Seriously, I have a lot to say about this so sit down for a read. In my opinion Chris Reeve's Sebenza is the standard by which all other frame locks should be judged and for many reasons. He goes above and beyond in ways that other makers don't mess with. I won't go into all that because frankly, he could skip all those steps before making the frames and it would still be better than most. Chris does everything right even to the amount of surface area contact and lock width behind the blade to the very critical lock relief cut out where a lot of guys seem to miss the boat by taking that relief cut down to thinner than even a super light duty liner lock would be. If I made a liner lock of titanium stock that thin and sold it as a heavy use tactical folder I'd be laughed out of the industry but they do it this way all the time and people trust these .030 and .032 heavy duty knives with their fingers during hard use. Not me man. I've seen and played with enough titanium to know just how easy it is to bend titanium and snap it when that thin. Almost like breaking a heavy duty pretzel with some pieces I've played with the same length and width as a lock on most folders. I tend to look at knives without bias if at all possible. When I see one that screams at me how overbuilt it is everywhere with the bull pivot, big a$$ stop pin and chunky frame but has this near paper thin lock relief it stands out to me as a major imbalance to the system as a whole. That is the weak link in the chain and the one I see the most often done wrong by many makers that should know better. In short Chris has it down pat. The Sebbie is the best engineered folder on the market in the way of frame locks. IMO.
Doing what I do I get to see and handle as well as closely inspect and many times get quite intimate with all of the major and minor manufacturers knives out there and I see more than a few so called heavy duty tactical folders that are nothing more than gents knives in wolf clothing. I'll spare you the list of the ones to avoid. It would just get me in trouble again anyway because some people don't want to hear that there is room for improvement in the way they do things I guess.
As to the frame locks I think you can trust out there. I'll give you a few I rate very highly for strength and reliability.
The Camillus Cuda Maxx. This is a true heavy duty frame lock. .150 titanium stock and .080 to .084 lock relief. Thats stout folks and you know what? It puts the Maxx at the top of my list for best made production frame locks out there right up there tied for first place with the A.G. Russell Sting which is another overbuilt tough a$$ frame lock folder that has come into my shop in the last two years for a low rider clip or flip of the stock one.
These Stings are not my favorites personally and neither are the Cuda Maxx knives (but I do love that D2 blade in the Maxx) and in fact I would never buy either of them but you can't deny a well built folder when you see it. If other makers followed these examples in how to build a frame lock it would alleviate a lot of the controversy surrounding these type of locks. The Sting is one you just need to break it in first to get the lock traveling in further than when new. The ones I've seen in my shop are a bit tight when brand new but once they are worn in some and smoothed out you have you a nice reliable very strong lock behind that superb blade. A lock you could most likely sit on and not have to worry about. Try that with one of the .032 lock relief ones. If you think you have to have some reknown in the world to know what you are talking about think again. I used to make mine the way I saw these other guys doing theirs. I got a big wake up call one Sunday afternoon. I gave one of those frame locks to my 80 pound nephew who folded the lock in and ruined it about ten minutes after I gave it to him by sticking it in a slot in my work table and simply pushing down. Not even 80 POUNDS defeated and ruined that lock!
Some others that I see in the way of productions I'd call "made right". The Kershaw Vapor and Leek are both excellent smaller folders with the stainless steel locks making them quite strong and my favorite is the Storm I and II which are perhaps the best value out there in a quality made strong and reliable frame lock.
In the more expensive ones the little Buck belonging to Dave H above now in blue jean blue is made right and the S30V blade took one heck of an edge. The lock relief on that one is uniquely tapered where it is thinner at the bottom than at the top and stronger than it may appear at first glance.
I have also been very impressed with the BenchMade Skirmish and Mini Skirmish knives I've seen when the few that I did work on came through my shop.
Note: I do grant you that I don't see multiple knives from production companies that often. I have only seen two of each of these except the Cuda Maxx which I have had examples of in my shop for low riders, clip flips and bead blastings on so many occasions I've lost count. As with any production folder there may be variances and I have seen some in the Maxx as noted above but I'm betting that for the most part these are all consistantly quite good and trustworthy knives.
STR
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2005
- Messages
- 498
From the cheap seats again, I think the CRKT S-2 is a GREAT knife for the money. I can't believe nobody even bats an eye at it.
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2005
- Messages
- 18,769
Hmmm so many Stryders and Sebenzas listed...I must be in the cheap seats.
Hey great seats eh buddy!
A Spyderco Volpe (very well made by Fox of Italy) and another shout out for the Boker Subcom!
Hey great seats eh buddy!
A Spyderco Volpe (very well made by Fox of Italy) and another shout out for the Boker Subcom!