Button locks?

clockworkfish said:
Awesome photos tiguy! I am amazed at how simple that looks. On the tang is the receiving hole for the lock tapered? As in do you think they used like a V bit or something similar to establish the angle?
Click to expand...
The only hole in the tang is for the pivot pin. The back of the bell or cup on the button slides into the tapered groove on the tang. This area looks a little funny because the blade coating has been remove from the wider end of the groove. The groove could have been made with a shaped cutter before hardening or a shaped grinding wheel after.
The pictures were taken with a hand held ipad. My light box isn't set up yet.
 
Having tried one, I wouldn't call it a simple mechanism- there has to be some taper on the button for the lock to be positive when open- probably a simple operation with a mill, but tolerances are kind of close.
Again, the thing to do would be to blueprint a kit knife, and make the button on a mill, it's probably not bad if you do that.
Anyone know of a tutorial, cd, tape, book, that walks through the different challenges for a button lock?
 
Yes, Don Robinson wrote up making methods on these a had them published in a small book. USA Knife Maker Supply has them for sale. They are very illegal to make, own, or carry in some places. For sure in Canada. Frank
 
Frank Niro said:
Yes, Don Robinson wrote up making methods on these a had them published in a small book. USA Knife Maker Supply has them for sale. They are very illegal to make, own, or carry in some places. For sure in Canada. Frank
Click to expand...

Frank,

They are only illegal if they are auto
You are right though, it may be very difficult to educate a cop on the spot what makes it legal / illegal




Brian Tighe makes lots of manual opening button locks that are as sweet as can be.
http://www.tigheknives.com/Tgal1.html
 
Frank, surely you mean autos are illegal, not button locks!?! Why would a button lock be illegal? Of course I don't think stilettos or switchblades should be illegal either, but that's another issue altogether!
 
Button locks fall under the same legislation as switchblades in most jurisdictions. You will not see them named as button locks but are referred to in the law as falling into the category of "gravity knife". The button unlocks the blade and requires no further manipulation of the blade to open (gravity) whereas a flipper, for example, requires a physical manipulation of the blade and therefore is far less scary to the sheeple. So silly.
 
Varga Knives said:
Button locks fall under the same legislation as switchblades in most jurisdictions. You will not see them named as button locks but are referred to in the law as falling into the category of "gravity knife". The button unlocks the blade and requires no further manipulation of the blade to open (gravity) whereas a flipper, for example, requires a physical manipulation of the blade and therefore is far less scary to the sheeple. So silly.
Click to expand...

Well that is certainly interesting, even looking up gravity knife on wiki shows that a button lock falls in that category. I wonder if there are any simple ways around that...
 
Now as I have been thinking about this wouldn't this mean that most locking knives are gravity knives? for example the axis lock, and almost any good liner lock will easily fall open after the lock is disengaged? Also we need some lawyers on bladeforums to clear up all these legal questions lol
 
None of my button lock knives will open by just pressing the button and allowing the blade to fall open...they all have detents.
 
It is spring loaded into the blade face. There is a spot machined into the blade to hold it there until I open it with the thumbstud. The same as a traditional liner lock or frame lock.
 
Also was looking up california knife laws a lil (not a lawyer so take this with a grain of salt) but looks like having a detent prevents it from falling into the category of gravity knife, however slight it may be.

So far it seems like button locks with a simple detent might actually be a worthwhile thing to make, since they are fairly simple, and might be a lil easier to do than a linerlock (in some ways). Sometime in the next year or so I think I will be making one
 
Thanks, Frank!
I came close to making my first one work, but decided to put off further attempts until I have a mill available.
Will certainly check out Robinson's book!

Fortunately for me, the laws here in Wa. State were recently clarified as to who can carry autos, and how they're defined. It's currently quite legal for me to make and sell them within the state, though I can't actually "carry" one on my person.

Edit: Frank, I don't see the booklet anywhere on their website, though they do have a couple of his others. Do you have a link?
Edit on the edit: Found it :)
 
Last edited:
The defining characteristic is that you have to "overcome resistance to opening" by pressure on the blade itself.
You either pull on the blade, use a thumbstud, push on a flipper lever, etc.
What's illegal is a blade that you don't have to touch to deploy, whether it's by flipping, gravity, or spring power.
Btw, aren't small autos completely legal to carry in Cali? I think it's 2" or less...
 
Last edited:
I would agree that a strong enough detent to prevent the blade from falling open would put it in the same category as a standard opening knife like a thumbstud framelock.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top