closing CRKT Apache....

[Angelus1781]

So this is kind of werid. My old old CRKT Apache closed on me a few months ago. It was acting like a slip joint with the liner lock acting like it just wasn't there. So I threw it in the drawer and forgot about it. I was just cleaning and found it again. Snapped it open and it functions again. Whacked the spine, and nothing happened. Should I risk using it again? Any reason why it would work again? Or did the liner just snap into place after being misaligned?

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I don't know why it hadn't been working right for a while, but go ahead and use it now -- just check it periodically. If it slips again, look to see if something isn't jammed inside the lock area.

 

[Angelus1781]

Cool, thanks for the advice! Gonna go sharpen it up, and clean it. Like having a new knife when you find any old one.

 

[Artfully Martial]

Bizarre. I'm really fascinated with this incident. If you can find the time, I'd like you to run some of my liner lock tests and tell me what your results are.

Of course, be very careful, and put something between you and the blade.
But you knew that.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=353254

Thanks, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[Angelus1781]

Well I did the first 2 tests on your list. Wore a leather glove for it. The lock didn't flex or move. Not blade play either. Now I'm just confused by. I had it pressed hard enough hand was shaking. Tried the 2 test after that, by smacking the spine 25 times, same as you. Again nothing.

I don't get. It was closing like a slip join, like the lock wasn't even there. Even showed a few friends it. Now its like it never happened.

 

[Artfully Martial]

I can't even hazard a guess. Sometimes, with liner locks, however, the way you open it is vital to the way it locks. For instance, if I use the thumbstud on my urban shark, the liner locks securely, but isn't difficult to push back and unlock. However, if I flick it out, the liner locks half a mm further and it becomes a big effort to put it back.

Hypothetically, you might be flicking it whereas you used to open it slowly, and the extra half a mm or so from the flicking makes the difference.

Ludicrous? Very possibly, but I can't think of anything else.

 

[maximus otter]

My old old CRKT Apache closed on me a few months ago. Should I risk using it again?

No.

Send it to CRKT for warranty repair.

If you can't identify and repair the problem, you can't guarantee that it won't recur. With your irreplaceable fingers in the blade path.

maximus otter

 

[StuntDouble]

Make sure there is nothing that could get between the liner and the tang of the blade. My Military's liner will slip a little bit if too much oil gets on the blade tang.