Bearing Pivot

[jdmichael]

I like the knives Brad Duncan produces but I have heard he is hard to deal with. Who else uses a bearing pivot or IBKT I think it is called? Any good recommedations. I would buy a Duncan but I am fearfull if I have to have it servied or maintained since I use all my knives in a heavy fashion.

TY J.D.

 

[John M Cohea]

Check with David Winston. He makes some very smooth flippers and framelocks that use some type of bearing system, and the action is effortless. He is a great guy and has great customer service as well. His email adress is winstonknives@yahoo.com, and phone# is662-323-1028.

 

[dsvirsky]

IKBS -- Ikoma Korth Bearing System

 

[kc custom]

Les Voorheis uses them.

 

[nate3993]

darrel ralph, RJ martin, mikkel willumsen

 

[Les Robertson]

Hi JDM,

Just to remove any confusion, RJ Martin does not use the IKBS system.

 

[jdmichael]

Thank you for the suggestions.

 

[jdmichael]

Has anyone used the IKBS pivot? is it smoother than anything else?

 

[T.K.C.]

Todd Begg uses IKBS. My little Gent's Glimpse has it. I love it.

If you want the most awesome flipper, get an RJ Martin. His system IS the cat's meow, as far as flipper goes. RJ does NOT use IKBS, like Les said. He uses his own system.

 

[severedthumbs]

IKBS has lots of weaknesses, I would stay away from it.

 

[Tim Galyean]

IKBS has lots of weaknesses, I would stay away from it.

Please elaborate.

 

[Bruce Bump]

IKBS has lots of weaknesses, I would stay away from it.

This is the first bad thing I've heard of the IKBS. Why do you say that?

 

[SAR]

IKBS has lots of weaknesses, I would stay away from it.

It may be hard to get him to type more than one line or word.

I would like to hear more of this weakness.

Spencer

 

[BrB]

IKBS has lots of weaknesses, I would stay away from it.

I have handled several here in Brazil, made by Korth themselves, never found a problem. It does tend to get some dust and dirt sometimes, but it did not affect my expectations, and it is a hell of fun to take it down for cleaning.

Jeff Velasco

 

[Kevin Jones]

IKBS has lots of weaknesses, I would stay away from it.

I had an opportunity some months ago to exam one of Todd's folders with the IKBS system, and was blown away by it. Didn't want to put it down.

severed likes to stir up threads with an occasional hit & run.

 

[BrB]

Rather childish and BS based would you say?

Jeff Velasco

 

[jdmichael]

I appreciate all the advice, I think I may buy the RJ Martin.

 

[Kohai999]

I appreciate all the advice, I think I may buy the RJ Martin.

There is nothing wrong with IKBS, per se.....it requires a little more maintenance over phosphor bronzer or nylon washers imo...not necessarily bad.

IF you take the knife completely apart for removal of stuck matter like peanut butter, jam, motor oil or blood.....it is absolutely necessary to NOT lose any of the bearings, unless you have others on hand....which can be tricky, especially if you are doing in-the-field maintenance.

I like RJ's work very much.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[Lorien]

Adding bearings in place of bushings adds more complexity to the machine, which I assume is what severed was getting at.

Bushings have a much greater surface area, (which is why they're stickier) and presumably would last longer for that reason.
For the majority of knives produced using bearings, these wear issues will probably never be an issue. However, if one gets their knife into a lot of dirt on a regular basis, a bearing system will ultimately be less reliable.

Since high performance is the intention of a bearing system for folding knives, one must expect trade offs and usually the trade off is durability, but that all depends upon usage.

I'm a bicycle mechanic by trade, and as such, am always dealing with both bearing and bushing systems. Since I specialize in mountain bikes, I have seen over the years, the benefits and downfalls of either system as they are exposed to abuse and the elements.

 

[Kevin Jones]

Adding bearings in place of bushings adds more complexity to the machine, which I assume is what severed was getting at.

Bushings have a much greater surface area, (which is why they're stickier) and presumably would last longer for that reason.
For the majority of knives produced using bearings, these wear issues will probably never be an issue. However, if one gets their knife into a lot of dirt on a regular basis, a bearing system will ultimately be less reliable.

Since high performance is the intention of a bearing system for folding knives, one must expect trade offs and usually the trade off is durability, but that all depends upon usage.

I'm a bicycle mechanic by trade, and as such, am always dealing with both bearing and bushing systems. Since I specialize in mountain bikes, I have seen over the years, the benefits and downfalls of either system as they are exposed to abuse and the elements.

Interesting. Over the last 40 years ball and roller bearings have all but totally replaced bushings in automotive, truck and heavy equipment applications.
The exception would be crankshaft rod and main bearings which ironically are actually bushings but constantly immersed in motor oil. Many bearings utilized today are sealed (permanently lubricated) and practically last forever.

As the IKBS seems to be an open system it would be interesting to see results of performance testing. I guess time will tell.