Are bearings the next big thing?

I'm glad Ray chimed in! I was thinking the same thing. It's gotta be easier to get the knife "right" with bearings. I'd imagine a knife could be made with lesser tolerances and a less finite pivot adjustment.

I never know what my knives may see day to day. It is certainly not uncommon to get lint, dust & food gunk in them, they may get and stay wet, they may get glue or nasty solvents on/in them & occasionally dry Portland cement just to name a few situations. The simpler the mechanism the better. I don't like a bunch of nooks and crannies to catch gunk. Honestly I wish CRK would quit cutting holes in their washers but I do think their very wide washers are the best thing out there.

I may be in the minority but I absolutely couldn't care less about a knife that effortlessly glides out of the handle. I want sturdy, reliable and easy (or easier) to clean.
 
No bearings for me, thank you. Quite happy with bronze and teflon washers.
 
I think bearings on a knife are a solution to a problem that doesn't exist...

Sure if you want some high end production flippers and customs with bearings, why not. But I highly doubt they will become part of the every day knives, because they are completely unnecessary.
 
Well, shoot if nobody wants bearings I'll let all my knifemaker friends know so we can stop putting them on our knives! LOL! It is afterall an extra step and expense to put them on there.
 
goodeyesniper said:
I think bearings on a knife are a solution to a problem that doesn't exist...

Sure if you want some high end production flippers and customs with bearings, why not. But I highly doubt they will become part of the every day knives, because they are completely unnecessary.
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That may be, but it shouldn't stop them from using them.

Where would cars be if they left it alone at "good enough"?

Generally constant improvement, and innovation help to drive sales. Would I want my Buck 110 with bearings? No way. The design doesn't call for it because it's considered a classic. My Contego, however, is not. I'd prefer it with bearings, and I think most people would too.
 
raylaconico said:
Well, shoot if nobody wants bearings I'll let all my knifemaker friends know so we can stop putting them on our knives! LOL! It is afterall an extra step and expense to put them on there.
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Ray,

What's in your Slim EDC? I haven't looked yet. This knife has the smoothest feel when opening over all my other knives.

Dan
 
dcoffe01 said:
Ray,

What's in your Slim EDC? I haven't looked yet. This knife has the smoothest feel when opening over all my other knives.

Dan
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Dan, thanks I've made those with and without bearings. Most of the slim EDC's were made without but from now on all my knives will probably have bearings. I just like how you can tighten your pivot screw a lot more with bearings than you can without bearings while keeping the same ease of blade rotation.
 
This much I'm pretty sure of. Knives with bearings are here to stay. And I, for one, love them . . . especially the one in my avatar! :)
 
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Cars used to be sold without oil filters, they were an "upgrade." Maybe someday in the future we'll feel about bearings on folders the way we now feel about oil filters on cars. It is an interesting conversation.
 
Strigamort said:
Ray, are there any local stores where I can see your knives? Not sure if you saw my post.
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No stores. You can come by if you like. Let me know ahead of time to make sure I have something you can look at. I usually sell my knives as I make them.
 
Bearings are the not the next big thing. They are big now and I believe someday pretty much all knife makers will use them. At least in customs.
 
I agree. Bearings are a "big thing" right now. Soon enough they'll become commonplace. Keep in mind that CRKT has already put bearings in a knife that sold for all of $30.00 at Walmart. Apparently the cost of adding bearings ain't no big deal. Regardless of whether bearings add complexity, the offset in terms of how smoothly a knife with bearings deploys won't be lost on consumers.
 
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I'll bet it's also fun looking for them with a magnifying glass and flashlight after they fell out on disassembly haha! Seriously, at least the itty bitty ones I saw in a YT vid, pretty sure it was a CRKT model. I know people say things like, "you should never have to take your knife apart to clean it" and so forth but I have had to do just that on a few occasions and after seeing that vid I don't think IKBS is very user friendly in terms of maintenance. How about a caged bearing? I'd be into that.
 
In my opinion its a total misperception when people think bearings make things more complicated. If using IKBS then yes there are things that can fall out of place if you take the knife apart. However, caged bearings are no more complicated than washers. Each bearing system that I use is a single contained unit. They make things simpler IMHO. Try tightening the pivot on a folder with washers and you will quickly loose smoothness and ease of blade rotation. You have to find that sweet spot where there is no blade play while the blade still moves freely and sometimes it's just a compromise of both. Not so with bearings!
 
I really do like IKBS, but I'm not really picky when it comes to pivots. I've owned bronze washer, teflon washer, or even washer-less knives that have been as smooth as the Umnumzaan I had.
 
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