can you find info on lock strength from most manufacturers?

M

mountainbound

Joined
Mar 9, 2012
Messages
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i was browsing an old thread at the spyderco forum, sal was talking about the in house testing they do on there folders. they have different ratings for how many lbs it took to defeat the lock. heavy duty or mbc ect. what other companys do/post info on simmilar testing? im curious how my kershaw tremor stands up or my buck 119 in terms of lbs to defeat the lock for example.

my curiosity is purely for fun, not any real reason other than im intrigued by the different designs of knives,

the manufacturers i was looking for was kerhaw, buck and sog. thanks
 
Things may have changed....but traditionally the makers keep that info under wraps and do not release it. I don't think you will get that info from any manufacturer?
 
thanks for the reply, of all the searching ive done ive only found spyderco and of course cold steel. for what its worth. i wonder why they wouldnt advertise that info? you would think that lock strength would be a serious selling point...
 
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Spyderco breaks knives in a controlled fashion all the time, theirs and other manufacturer's. Other makers probably do as well. I would consider it foolish to release that information to the public. I know Sal has given out ballpark figures on some Spyderco knives in the past, but it isn't something he publishes regularly, and he's never given exact figures ony any knife as far as I know. Most people don't even understand what the units used really mean, and even fewer have the means to use the measurement effectively, much less duplicate the test procedures. The information is valuable in engineering the lock. Once the knife is made and sold, that information is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
 
There is also some question about how useful this data would be if it were released.

A piece of steel will respond differently to "strain load", as opposed to "shock load". A knife that may be able to take hundreds of pounds of force, if it is applied in a controlled fashion, may respond quite differently to, say, a smart whack on the spine of the knife.

In many cases, there is some lateral or torquing force applied, as well. That is to say, you don't always cut straight, and this can stress the lock differently, or even cause other components to fail.
 
yeah that whole inch/pounds system was definitly confusing. sal said a few times it was for there testing porposes only, i hadnt thought about the lawsuit thing. ah well would have been fun to reaserch. thanks for the help.
 
Shorttime said:
There is also some question about how useful this data would be if it were released.

A piece of steel will respond differently to "strain load", as opposed to "shock load". A knife that may be able to take hundreds of pounds of force, if it is applied in a controlled fashion, may respond quite differently to, say, a smart whack on the spine of the knife.

In many cases, there is some lateral or torquing force applied, as well. That is to say, you don't always cut straight, and this can stress the lock differently, or even cause other components to fail.
Click to expand...

sounds like there are way too many factors to consider there with no real way to measure with any real consistancy. thanks, this queston had been driving me crazy all day!
 
Cold Steel is the only company I know of that will show you how many pounds the lock is holding. I believe that the Triad Lock is incredibly tough and durable. But in the end it doesn't really matter to me. If I like a knife I don't ponder if it can hold X amount of pounds. Also what the lock can take in static loads is not going to be the same under a shock load.
 
There are a lot of factors in a lock failing. If a mfg posts a certain failure in pounds of force, and yours fails with much less, and you are injured, a law suit might follow. However, the knife as it left the mfg is quite different from one that has been used/abused or whatever circumstances might alter the original specifications resulting in premature failure. Quick, call in the lawyers! Makes sense to me why they don't or wont publish that information.

Omar
:rolleyes:
 
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