Detent question

Britt_Askew

Britt_Askew

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Messages
1,218
I made 2 liner lock knives.
First one I used .020 washers , everything went ok.
Second one I made to use .005 washers
Well you need to sink the detent ball into the liner so that there is not ball sticking above the washer right..
and it just didnt seem like .005 was enough ball to work so I changed the backspacer so I could use .020 washers on that one too.

Are .005 and probably .010 washers to small ? .015 washers enough/ to small ? .020 is what needs to be used ?
Thoughts
 
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Are you a decimal off? You mean 20 thousandths and 5 thousandths?

.005 is too little ball to give a good detent imo, but when I had a similar situation I just ground the back side of the lock a bit so there was clearance.
 
If you use thinner washers, you need to remove more material from the backside of your lock bar to account for that. You don't set your detent ball deeper in your lock to account for it.

For example: if you wanted your detent ball to protrude .020" from your lock bar, and you use .020" thick washers, you probably SHOULD take .005" off the backside of your lock bar just to make sure you have a little bit of clearance when the blade is closed.

If you choose to drop down to .005" washers, you would need to remove .020" of material off the backside of your lock bar to allow clearance for your detent when closed.
 
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.010" in most of my linerlocks, but I remove .015" off the underside of the bolster to allow more clearance. Giant folders get .016". Slip joints are the only folders I use .005" washers in.
 
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