Bumps,blue +green help please

Joined
Feb 25, 2005
Messages
411
:jerkit: Just got my blue bump todayfrom NG. Kinda disapointed as the frame only catches the blade tang 1/16"!! Is this normal for these knives????? Really don't want to send it back.
thanx all
 
That would be normal and use will only make it better... also when you white knuckle the knife it will shift more so you kind of want it there.
 
Hey Pal, Robert is right, my leek's tang engagment has only gotten better with use. If you don't like your bump you can always sell it to me!
 
Well, frame- and liner-locks due wear in with use.

It's actually quite the judgement call.

The big problem is when the locking piece goes all the way over to contact the opposite frame. That's the no-no good condition.
 
As said above, with wear the lock bar will move across the tang. But that doesn't mean your knife's lockup is currently safe.

One school of thought is that it is best for the lock bar to be as far to the left as possible while still maintaining a good lockup. This is because as the lockbar and tang wear, the lockbar will move across the tang and eventually to the other side of the handle. Once there is nowhere for it to move any further, any additional wear will result in blade play. Having the lockbar start as far to the left as possible means the longest possible life for the knife.

However, by most accounts, it takes a very long time for this to occur. Realistically, you'll probably die before tang/lock wear becomes a problem. Wear can be a problem for junker knives, but I haven't heard of anyone having to retire a quality knife because the liner or frame lock moved to far over and then caused unacceptable blade play. The lockbar will move, and it may even eventually move all the way across. But I doubt it will be a problem in the forseable future.

The other school believes that having the most contact between the lockbar and tang is the best. This means more friction between the two, and less chance of slipping. A popular knife that follows this school is the Sebenza. The lockbar and tang have something like 85-95% contact. The resulting lockup is very solid and just looks very confident. And Sebenza's have been around for 10 years and there are no reports (that I know of) of tang/lockbar wear being a problem, or even noticable at all.

Enoguh of my blah blahing.

The point is that I think you should do a spine-wack test. I normally hesitant to suggest a spine-wack because I am hesitant to do them myself. I fear being cut, and I fear causing needless damage or wear to my knife that would not have been caused in normal use. I feel a spine-wack puts far more stress on the knife than I ever will. A light spine-wack can at least tell you if the lock is working at all, though.

I think you should wrap a towel around your hand (to protect you) and do a fairly hard spine-wack against wood or something not so hard that it might damage the blade. If it passes, then you should feel safe with the lock even if its appearence doesn't inspire confidence. If it fails, then you should probably send the knife to Kershaw. They have great customer service.

I think you might be underestimating how little contact between the tang and lockbar is actually needed for a strong lock. But we may be underestimating how little contact there is on your knife. The only way to know is to test it. And I think your situation is such that a test is warrented.
 
Interestingly, in my only knife with liner wear (m16), it has actually gone all the way across. It only took maybe two months too. However, I continously beat it up with no consequences...the liner goes all the way over but there's absolutely no play and it withstands incredibly hard spine whacks.

By the way, the reason it went over so fast was because of spine whacking. Before I started testing the knife, the lockup was normal....but roughly 20 hard spine whacks on oak gradually moved it over.

However, it still bothers me visually.
 
Guys, thanks for all the input. I really hate to send it back cause it so pretty! I guess I was spoiled by the lock-up on my Sebie and Bradley Alias, they just snap into place with a wonderfull sound. Iwill do my part to break it in. Ihave already done some medium spine wacks and it held. Just would like to see more than 1/16" contact. In a perfect world!
 
Hair said:
I think you should wrap a towel around your hand (to protect you) and do a fairly hard spine-wack against wood or something not so hard that it might damage the blade.

I dunno about this. I can get an awfully hard whack without getting any fingers in the way or losing control of a knife. I'd worry about damaging the knife if I tried this. I think I might want a kevlar towel as well, the blood washes out so much more easily;) .

Gordon
 
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