Blade play - kosher or not?

U

Uri

Joined
Oct 29, 2007
Messages
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I have bought a One Hand Fireman and an Adventurer recently.
Both are lockblades. Excellent knives!

Now, with the main blades open and locked there is a noticeable amount of vertical play on them. However the flat screwdriver locks in place most securely, with no play at all.
I have checked out several of these knives and they all feature exactly the same amount of blade play.

Knowing the famous consistent quality of Victorinox, I would not for a second assume this to be a QC issue or a design flaw - if it is there, it is there for a purpose.
But for what purpose?
Does anybody know?:confused:
 
Uri said:
I have bought a One Hand Fireman and an Adventurer recently.
Both are lockblades. Excellent knives!

Now, with the main blades open and locked there is a noticeable amount of vertical play on them. However the flat screwdriver locks in place most securely, with no play at all.
I have checked out several of these knives and they all feature exactly the same amount of blade play.

Knowing the famous consistent quality of Victorinox, I would not for a second assume this to be a QC issue or a design flaw - if it is there, it is there for a purpose.
But for what purpose?
Does anybody know?:confused:
Click to expand...

My OH Trekker blade locks solid, no play whatever in any direction. Assuming these Vics are all in the same family, you might want to rethink the QC matter.
 
I've probably had 100 or more of the one hand opening blade Vics and they all had a bit of vertical play. Perfectly normal in my opinion.
 
Okay, today I paid a visit to Victorinox Canada, and showed them my OHF.
They were very forthcoming, but not astonishingly knowledgeable.
They brought a stock OH Fireman, compared them and concluded that since there was the same amount of blade play on both, it had to be a design feature after all:)
But I could take their knife, if I felt like it.
I thanked them, and said I would hold on to mine:D
 
I used to have a HUGE pet-peeve about blades with a wobble, but nowadays, it doesn;t bother me too much. They ALL develop them eventually if they don't have them right off the bat. Due to the nature of the beast, a little blade play won't affect it's performance. It won't affect how it cuts. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
 
If I understand you, your talking about play in the lock mechanisim?

I don't mind a bit of play sideways in a knife, but if its a lockblade and it has play in the lock when it's supposed to be in a locked open position, I don't know if I'd trust that lock. But then I tend to be leary of blade locks anyway.
 
I noticed the same in my Bundeswehr OHT. It's nothing that concerns me- the blade is still very secure.
 
The Vic Swisstool also has play in their tools.

I don't like it myself. Why can't they build a tool without it? Other companies do.
 
Both are fairly new and might loosen up with use, but as of now, my OHT and Swisstool Spirit blades and implements lock up solid. Lucky me, I won't have to obsess about this for a while. :jerkit:
 
I have an Adventurer, and it has the movement you describe. The blade moves downward slightly if you press on the spine, until it is stopped by the pin that moves to block the tang when you open the blade. IMO this is not a defect, or even blade play at all, in the sense of looseness or wobble. The design is basically a slipjoint, and the blade is held in place by the spring as firmly as any. The blocking pin is there for safety, but it isn't meant to hold the blade open.

I think the Fireman is one of the liner-locking Vic's, which I haven't seen, but the same kind of play is common in this kind of simple liner lock (my Camillus electrician's knife, for example). Again, since there is a spring to keep the blade open, there is no movement in use.

It is possible to get liner locks pretty tight, and maybe Victorinox considered movement in the screwdriver less acceptable than in the blade.

As for blade play being kosher, IANAM*, but I would say no. :D

iSaur

*I am not a mohel
 
In OHFireman there is no spring pressure, (one would not be able to open it one-handed, methinks). When I depress the liner, the blade is not held by anything, it just pivots easily.
Looks like this is one of those little insignificant life's mysteries, that will never get unveiled :)
 
Hi,

Checked a few of both pivot and liner locks - they all have a bit of vertical play. Bear in mind that these are mass production tools with tolerances which stack up - hence the wobble.

As it has been said, old engineers (i'm one) never die, they just lose their tolerance.

Joe
 
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