- Joined
- Jul 31, 2002
- Messages
- 2,954
Hi all. I'm writing this basically as a rant, because of some serious problems I've had with a handmade liner lock. I'm hoping that you can all learn from my experiences. Makers- don't do what this maker did! Buyers- look for these things before you buy, no matter how much it glitters!
When I got this knife, the blade was very loose and rubbed against the liner. I thought as soon as I tighten up the screw a bit, it would all be fine. Wrong.
1. The pivot screw would come loose after opening/closing it a dozen times, no matter how much lock-tite or superglue I used. The threads of the screw and nut were just too sloppy.
2. The washers were too thin and too small diameter. There was not enough room for the ball detent to squeeze past the tang when closing, putting more strain on the pivot, and causing the blade to rub the liner. If I tightened the pivot enough to keep the blade from rubbing, it could barely be opened with one hand. Also, since the washers were not as big in diameter as they could have been, there was a smaller area against the tang to keep it from twisting.
3. The thumb stud was too big. It stuck out way past the handle, catching the interior of my pockets... (see below)
4. The ball detent did not engage the tang properly, allowing the blade to come open easily. (in fact, after the pivot was loose upon the 12th opening, the blade would literally fall out of the handle under its own weight.) This, combined with the grabby thumb stud, lead to a very, very unsafe combination! Because I was too bull headed, I put holes in 4 or 5 pockets and my thumb before I quit carrying it. I should mention this knife is a double ground folding fighter with a needle-sharp 4 1/2" clip point blade. The final straw was when someone said to me, "Whoa, man! Look out there!" as he pointed at my thigh area. That 4 1/2" long needle pointed double ground clip point blade was sticking straight out the front of my jeans!!!!!
I shudder at the number of horrid ways that situation could have gone differently.
5. Most of the handle screws were threaded directly into the titanium handles. I know many people do this, but please guys, consider using stainless nuts to hold the screws and not titanium! Ti just can't hold threads. One screw was already stripped by a previous owner, and I stripped one by applying maybe 1/3 INCH POUND of torque. I guess people just basically get the screws barelyyyyyy snug, and hope some glue will hold them in place. This seems to defeat the purpose to me. If you don't want a customer taking it apart, use rivets or pins. If you put in a screw, it should be actually used as a screw, i.e.- you should be able to apply enough torque to the screw to do its job all by itself.
6. Customer service. This one warrants its own thread, but it's something for makers to work on, and customers to ask about before the sale. After reading the above comments, I'm sure many of you would reply "just send it back to the maker and he'll make it right for you". Well, I did that. After a dozen phone calls and a wait of TWO FRIGGIN' YEARS!
I finally got my knife back from the maker,- IN WORSE SHAPE THAN I SENT IT! That's right. He actually made a new liner in an attempt to remedy the ball detent problem. And now, the ball does not engage the tang at all!!!! Before, if I held the knife to a light, I could see that the ball would just baaarelyyyy begin to engage the dimple on the tang, but now, it doesn't even try to engage! And before, the liner had 100% lockup with the tang. Now, half the liner doesn't touch the tang.(Which I guess I'll fix myself with some stoning) Also, when I got it back, there were a bunch of surface scratches on the blade that I'm 99% sure weren't there when I sent it. I guess since the knife was laying on his bench for two years, at some point he just picked it up and used it since it was handy. (looked like he had tried cutting carpet that was full of grit. or like he tried cutting a scotch-brite pad in half) And... That gawdammed blade STILL comes loose and rubs the liner after opening it for the fourth time.
These are problems I would expect with a $2 Chinese knock-off, but not something like this. Sorry for the rant, guys. But like I said, I hope some of you here can benefit from this info.
When I got this knife, the blade was very loose and rubbed against the liner. I thought as soon as I tighten up the screw a bit, it would all be fine. Wrong.
1. The pivot screw would come loose after opening/closing it a dozen times, no matter how much lock-tite or superglue I used. The threads of the screw and nut were just too sloppy.
2. The washers were too thin and too small diameter. There was not enough room for the ball detent to squeeze past the tang when closing, putting more strain on the pivot, and causing the blade to rub the liner. If I tightened the pivot enough to keep the blade from rubbing, it could barely be opened with one hand. Also, since the washers were not as big in diameter as they could have been, there was a smaller area against the tang to keep it from twisting.
3. The thumb stud was too big. It stuck out way past the handle, catching the interior of my pockets... (see below)
4. The ball detent did not engage the tang properly, allowing the blade to come open easily. (in fact, after the pivot was loose upon the 12th opening, the blade would literally fall out of the handle under its own weight.) This, combined with the grabby thumb stud, lead to a very, very unsafe combination! Because I was too bull headed, I put holes in 4 or 5 pockets and my thumb before I quit carrying it. I should mention this knife is a double ground folding fighter with a needle-sharp 4 1/2" clip point blade. The final straw was when someone said to me, "Whoa, man! Look out there!" as he pointed at my thigh area. That 4 1/2" long needle pointed double ground clip point blade was sticking straight out the front of my jeans!!!!!
I shudder at the number of horrid ways that situation could have gone differently. 5. Most of the handle screws were threaded directly into the titanium handles. I know many people do this, but please guys, consider using stainless nuts to hold the screws and not titanium! Ti just can't hold threads. One screw was already stripped by a previous owner, and I stripped one by applying maybe 1/3 INCH POUND of torque. I guess people just basically get the screws barelyyyyyy snug, and hope some glue will hold them in place. This seems to defeat the purpose to me. If you don't want a customer taking it apart, use rivets or pins. If you put in a screw, it should be actually used as a screw, i.e.- you should be able to apply enough torque to the screw to do its job all by itself.
6. Customer service. This one warrants its own thread, but it's something for makers to work on, and customers to ask about before the sale. After reading the above comments, I'm sure many of you would reply "just send it back to the maker and he'll make it right for you". Well, I did that. After a dozen phone calls and a wait of TWO FRIGGIN' YEARS!
I finally got my knife back from the maker,- IN WORSE SHAPE THAN I SENT IT! That's right. He actually made a new liner in an attempt to remedy the ball detent problem. And now, the ball does not engage the tang at all!!!! Before, if I held the knife to a light, I could see that the ball would just baaarelyyyy begin to engage the dimple on the tang, but now, it doesn't even try to engage! And before, the liner had 100% lockup with the tang. Now, half the liner doesn't touch the tang.(Which I guess I'll fix myself with some stoning) Also, when I got it back, there were a bunch of surface scratches on the blade that I'm 99% sure weren't there when I sent it. I guess since the knife was laying on his bench for two years, at some point he just picked it up and used it since it was handy. (looked like he had tried cutting carpet that was full of grit. or like he tried cutting a scotch-brite pad in half) And... That gawdammed blade STILL comes loose and rubs the liner after opening it for the fourth time. These are problems I would expect with a $2 Chinese knock-off, but not something like this. Sorry for the rant, guys. But like I said, I hope some of you here can benefit from this info.
I see no makers names posted by Striper28 and think he has every right to state his observations. No names were mentioned, therefore no reputations were harmed. If I start making knives, does that mean I can not comment on other makers work as a whole?? I DO see Striper28 suggesting that care is taken with choosing a custom and I think that is sound advise.