Ceramic ball on Umnumzaan

pbubsy said:
My reason for buying the Umnumzaan is

when I saw the Umnumzaan....I got excited. WHY?
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Because you're as much of an obsessive knife knut as me!!!!:p

LOL...hell I didn't know about the damn thing until I stopped in here last night. I thought this might be a conversation about the Sebenza 21!:o

And the only reason I'm not buying this new Oppa Umma Luppa CRK is that I'm as broke as a joke right now!:mad:

Of course a brand new Gen2 XM-18 satin flipper will do that a guy's wallet.:D

Truth be know.....I'd own em all if I had the money!;)
 
Solstice said:
Because you're as much of an obsessive knife knut as me!!!!:p

LOL...hell I didn't know about the damn thing until I stopped in here last night. I thought this might be a conversation about the Sebenza 21!:o

And the only reason I'm not buying this new Oppa Umma Luppa CRK is that I'm as broke as a joke right now!:mad:

Of course a brand new Gen2 XM-18 satin flipper will do that a guy's wallet.:D

Truth be know.....I'd own em all if I had the money!;)
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EXACTLY!!! :thumbup:;)

It's an incredible knife!!! I'd been waiting for one ever since I saw a new folder was coming out.....I didn't even know what it would look like, but having faith in CRK I would buy it no matter what :D

I'm singin the same song....just reversed! :foot: I need to get a XM-18......eventually :o

What do you think of it.....maybe comparing it with the Sebenza in terms of utility, comfort of carry, fit/finish and all the juicy!
 
:p about to go out for a bit (been holed up and sick all day) and was trying to figure out which one to carry, seb or um....it's like trying to choose between Salma Heyek and Penelope Cruz!
 
Ceramic Ball & Detente...

um-ball-unlocked.jpg
 
So, is all the lock contact on the ceramic ball? The Ti isn't actually making contact at all?
 
pbubsy said:
Yessir. Ball to tang contact....no ti to tang. :thumbup:
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Darn, that's gotta be a really small contact area (the tip of the ball to the tang). One thing that I always liked about my Sebbies was the fact that, unlike other frame-locks, the Seb has a much larger area of the Ti lock-face contacting the tang. I wonder how long it's going to be until someone manages to pop the ceramic ball out of the lock-bar with a spine-whack? I really do wish Mr. Reeve would explain the benefit of this new feature, cause personally, I just don't see it.

Regards,
3G
 
3Guardsmen said:
I wonder how long it's going to be until someone manages to pop the ceramic ball out of the lock-bar with a spine-whack?
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Just a thought, and maybe I'm missing it... But doesn't the detent ball stay in constant contact with the blade? Both closed and open. Perhaps this will prevent the possibility of losing the ball.
 
blackend said:
Just a thought, and maybe I'm missing it... But doesn't the detent ball stay in constant contact with the blade? Both closed and open. Perhaps this will prevent the possibility of losing the ball.
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Can't speak for 3G, but while the ball will kept in contact with the blade in at least one dimension, in the pic Adamlau posted (very nice pic sir!), the ball looks like it might still detach from the ti by moving to the "left". Conversely, if the knife was opened and a picture taken in the same orientation, it might detach by moving "up" and out of its recess.

I'm interested in knowing the answer as well, because while I've never seen or heard of a properly manufactured liner/framelock losing the detent ball, those don't have stress put on them in the same way that the Umnum's is.
 
blackend said:
Just a thought, and maybe I'm missing it... But doesn't the detent ball stay in constant contact with the blade? Both closed and open. Perhaps this will prevent the possibility of losing the ball.
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Well, as Th232 said (very eloquently and accurately I might add), I too noticed that the area of Titanium that holds the ceramic ball in on the Umnumzaan appears to be substantially less (two sides/faces of the ball are exposed) than on other liner-locks and frame-locks, as the Umnumzaan's ceramic ball is doing 'double duty.' Also, the pressure exerted on the Umnumzaan's ceramic ball will be much different than on another liner-lock or frame-lock.

You're certainly right in that it does appear that the ceramic ball will be in constant contact with the blade, however, to me, it looks like the closing (unlocking) motion of the blade would be where the ball would be at greatest risk of coming out, as there is pressure being applied against the ball, biasing it towards the rather large opening cut into the Titanium to expose it. That is why I wondered if a hard spine-whack, which biases the lock towards opening (unlocking), might be enough to pop the ball out. I may, however, be completely incorrect in my assessment.

Regards,
3G
 
I figure it's as simple as this: CRK wouldn't have released a knife to the public that had a design flaw. It would then fail eventually for some...or most and they would be in deep S#$%. I'm sure not only did they test it's integrity thoroughly, but they also implanted it in such a way that just makes soo much sense that they're not worried becausei it's overbuilt just like everything else they make. Really, do you know how risky it would be to take a chance on something like that? They wouldn't be in business if they took those kind of risks with the quality of their products. I can't say it any better than that.

CRK knows as well as any company out there that provides a product or service that it takes years to build a foundation for quality, cutomer service, and general excellence in both service and product in the eyes of the consumer. That reputation, that faith people have in the quality of said company is very hard to get back once screwed up by putting shoddy products/services out there.....no way CRK would make that mistake.

That being said, I think the ceramic ball is cupped in there so the pressure exerted on it is transferred to the sides of the cupped area of the titanium scale where the ball is seated. So the means by which the ball is adhered/attached to the cup aren't stressed. At least that's the way it appears and that's what would make sense. There's no bond out there that you could trust to keep that ceramic ball in there indefinitely in all the knives released in all the theatres of use over the lifetime of the knife which is basically the lifetime of the buyer :p so it would have to be mounted in such a manner.
 
pbubsy said:
I figure it's as simple as this: CRK wouldn't have released a knife to the public that had a design flaw. It would then fail eventually for some...or most and they would be in deep S#$%. I'm sure not only did they test it's integrity thoroughly, but they also implanted it in such a way that just makes soo much sense that they're not worried becausei it's overbuilt just like everything else they make. Really, do you know how risky it would be to take a chance on something like that? They wouldn't be in business if they took those kind of risks with the quality of their products. I can't say it any better than that.

CRK knows as well as any company out there that provides a product or service that it takes years to build a foundation for quality, cutomer service, and general excellence in both service and product in the eyes of the consumer. That reputation, that faith people have in the quality of said company is very hard to get back once screwed up by putting shoddy products/services out there.....no way CRK would make that mistake.

That being said, I think the ceramic ball is cupped in there so the pressure exerted on it is transferred to the sides of the cupped area of the titanium scale where the ball is seated. So the means by which the ball is adhered/attached to the cup aren't stressed. At least that's the way it appears and that's what would make sense. There's no bond out there that you could trust to keep that ceramic ball in there indefinitely in all the knives released in all the theatres of use over the lifetime of the knife which is basically the lifetime of the buyer :p so it would have to be mounted in such a manner.
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Or what he said! Thanks pbubsy. I didn't want to state the obvious, only commented to a reasonable solution. I'm not worried about the detent coming out in the least bit. Not to say that it can't happen, just doubtful. And OMG... if it did happen...what next? Gee, guess I'd just send it back for repair and again, not worry! Chris and Anne stand behind all their products!
:thumbup:
 
Maybe Strider had it right, little contact area is better? :confused:

Lots of people gave them crap about their lockbar not making full contact. Now CRK changes their full contact lockbar face for their "hard use" knife to very very little contact area. Ti is soft or so I hear, seems that the Ti face will get a nice bump dented into it over time? Not to mention that there is little to no friction holding the lock locked. When a framelock fails I would think its more of a slipping problem than a lockbar breaking problem? All in theory anyways, I could get by with a slippie for 95% of my cutting needs. ;)

I do trust CRK and have a Umnum on order, so I guess I will see for myself. :cool: Could be the next big thing in Tact-T Kewls or a........ Epic Fail???
 
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Either way I will still have my plain ol' blue stud and spacer BG-42 regulars to fall back on. :D

IMHO maybe the best EDCs to ever roll out of CRK? Now loooong gone :grumpy:
 
So-Lo said:
Maybe Strider had it right, little contact area is better? :confused:

Lots of people gave them crap about their lockbar not making full contact. Now CRK changes their full contact lockbar face for their "hard use" knife to very very little contact area. Ti is soft or so I hear, seems that the Ti face will get a nice bump dented into it over time? Not to mention that there is little to no friction holding the lock locked. When a framelock fails I would think its more of a slipping problem than a lockbar breaking problem? All in theory anyways, I could get by with a slippie for 95% of my cutting needs. ;)

I do trust CRK and have a Umnum on order, so I guess I will see for myself. :cool: Could be the next big thing in Tact-T Kewls or a........ Epic Fail???
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What do you mean with Strider, I don't really know much about what you say...I don't doubt you, I just want to know more. I've never heard that. Do their locks not engage fully? When new at least?

I know that Ti is a very soft metal and the blades of these knives are very hard. I also know they heat treat the locking surface to help out a little. I've never had a Reeve or other high end knife slip on me so I can't say why that would happen. If the lockbar engages far enough I can't see that being a problem.
 
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