JB, thanks for posting that link. I hadn't seen it. It certainly is fascinating reading and, if true, while not very scientific, is pretty revealing as to the kind of abuse these things can absorb.
You mentioned, though that the RL failed in that test. I didn't get that.
REKAT Carnivour-this was an incredible knife, great lock, and the testing was very similair to the Axis lock's testing, with all my might, i could not get it to budge-even with the malet. I must say though, the rolling lock on the rekat did bend alot more then the axis lock did-while giving pressure with my weight-but it never failed, nor the axis lock.
The knife held and didn't fold. That tells me that it didn't fail. All locks appear to have been damaged to some extent and that would lead me to believe that none of them "passed".
You said:
Also, the Rolling lock has many more small components, each of which is a possible source of failure due to wear
Which small parts are you referring to? The actual lock is a single round pin that has a slot in it for the blade to pass through and a spring to power it. That's only two parts. There is no way for the pin to move fore and aft or up and down. It can only rotate. It can only fail by shearing. The rest of the mechanism consists of the thumb slide, return spring and actuating (unlocking) lever. Those components have nothing to do with locking force or lock integrity. If one of them fails, one simply wouldn't be able to unlock and close the blade. An inconvenience, certainly but hardly a hazard.
As a technician (I never finished all of the coursed to be an engineer) who has actually worked on both types of locks, I don't agree that the Axis lock is a "significantly stronger" design and neither will it give warning before failure in all cases.
Initially, BM had problems with the omega springs that powered the locking bar but, to their credit, they recognized the problem and quickly fixed it. I haven't heard of one breaking in a long time.
Actually, if there was a problem with either lock, I would be inclined to examine the heat treating and tempering of the components, rather than the design. With both types having equally proper hardness and tempering, (pivot pins and locking bars), I doubt that either one would have failed. The bending reported in the "test" seems to indicate that more attention should be paid to that area. Same for the pivot on the Mono-Lock.
Sergiusz, I also like the Axis lock. I didn't say otherwise. I did say that I thought that the Rolling lock was better and you asked if I had any side-by-side test data to prove it. I simply asked you if you had any data to prove otherwise. I was simply responding to your questioning of my opinion.
I don't believe that the test related in the link that JB provided actually proves anything, especially since the person in question refuses to send the knife in for examination and verification.
If you can't believe how much the Rolling Lock can hold, I suggest that you take that up with REKAT, since that is where the figures come from. I have no reason to disbelieve them but, then, I'm not an engineer.
My
experience tells me that the "rumors" of spotty heat treatment are true. As a dealer of both REKAT and BM. I have seen a lot of knives of both brands pass through my shop.
In the past three years I have had seven BM knives come back with blades that appeared to have been improperly heat treated. Two of them were 910 Strykers that needed constant and repeated sharpening. they would not hold their edges. One was returned to BM by the customer and they replaced it without comment. The other one was kept by it's owner and I occasionally get it back for sharpening. The blade steel is not as hard as it should be. I don't know why the owner won't send it back.
I also had two BM Emerson models (970 and 970SBT) come in with chips out of the edges and in the case of the 970SBT, broken serrations. A BM800, AFCK was also brought in with broken serrations and a pretty good sized divot out of the blade. All three knives were sent back to BM and replaced.
Then there were two AFCKs (1 large 800SBT and one small 812SBT) that came in with locks that had failed because the blades had worn at the contact point where the lock touches the blade.
Both wear patterns were identical. The blades were worn smooth and curved so that they cammed the locks out of engagement when pressure was applied to the back of the blades.
Do I believe there is/was a heat treatment problem at Benchmade? I'm absolutely convinced of it.
None of the REKAT models that I have sold have ever come back with any complaints about heat treat or blade performance. One Carnivour came back one time due to roughness in opening. I replaced the knife and then smoothed out the roughness on the returned one. A couple of days later, the owner came in and traded back for the one that I smoothed out. That was the only problem I ever had with the REKAT brand.
I don't doubt that the AFCK that you have is a good one. Most of them are. I have seen enough of them, though, to have a different opinion than you do, that's all.
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Dennis Wright
("Have a knife day!")
(NSTBFCM)
[This message has been edited by Dennis Wright (edited 05-27-2000).]
