Arc lock & Axis lock are the same?

[wuyeah]

Hey guys, i know this question might be asked before, but somehow i try to search thread engine it doesn't pop any result. Maybe due to limited access membership.

Is SOG Arc lock = Axis lock? are they the same locking system with different name?

I have so many BM knife, frame lock, mono lock, liner lock.....i just don't have all time famous Axis lock. That is weird...for most people prob. Axis lock is the first to own. now i have meantion it.......makes me think...maybe i need a new knife.

 

[knife saber]

The Arc lock and the Axis locks are not the same. Similar, quite possibly - but not similar enough to create a patent problem. Technically, the Axis lock has a bar which moves freely in a slot, whereas the Arc lock's pin is anchored to a small bar, which is in turn anchored to the handle, allowing the bar to move in an arc within its slot - hence the name. Both systems have three points of contact on the blade tang when open - the pivot pin, the stop pin, and the locking pin.

They're both pretty cool. Now that you know they're different, you have to get examples of both.

 

[Wunderbar]

Can you flip open an Arc lock like you can with the Axis lock? I'm thinking about getting the Trident folder and I would really like that feature.

 

[Robbie Roberson]

Yes you can very easily flip the arc lock open and closed.

But the SOG Trident is an assisted opener, so it is entirely different in opening and closing than the arc lock.

I hope I understood you correctly.................

Robbie Roberson

 

[Gryffin]

Comparing an Axis lock (one of the dozen of so Benchmades I have... yeah, I know, i have a problem!) and the SOG Arc Lock (on a Scuptura I picked up a while ago), I can see some major differences.

Seems to me the Arc Lock was an attempt to steer around Benchmade's patents. The basic concept is identical: a heavy locking pin wedges between slots in the liners, and the tang of the blade. The difference is, the Arc Lock swings the locking pin in, well, an arc, on a couple of short swing arms. Problem is, those swing arms take up a lot of vertical space; the Axis Lock doesn't have the arms, so it's much more compact.

Cold Steel has another variation on the same theme, too. In their lock, the axi... er, "lock pin" wedges between the liner slots and the blade tang, but with in the CS design, there's a "track" cut in an oversize blade tang, that the lock pin travels through, from full-closed to full-open. Like the SOG version, it's only suitable for large blade tangs and handles, that provide the extra vertical room.

(I've heard it postulated that the Cold Steel lock is less succeptible to dirt and such, because of the enclosed lock pin track; but I disagree. The slots in the liners let in plenty of crap by themselves.)