Do sticky locks eventually all become less sticky?

Misanthropia

Misanthropia

Joined
Jul 10, 2011
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Normally I wouldn't clutter the forum with another post about something that can be ascertained from a quick google, but this problem has me at my wit's end, and I would like to see opinions or experiences from everyone else.

My question is this: does a sticky titanium lock, be it a liner or frame, inevitably get less sticky? Or even once "broken in" is it possible for a lock to remain sticky. I'm not just talking about a little stickiness, I mean enough to make a clicking noise when it finally disengages. I recently got my HTM Gunhammer back from warranty service (for unrelated issues) and the titanium liner lock is incredibly sticky. At first I attributed this to it not being broken in, but after three days of constantly playing with it, I have very little to show for it other than a mangled thumb and piece of plastic I now use to disengage the lockbar.

I am familiar with both the sharpie and pencil trick; however, in one or two disengagements of the lock, the sharpie/pencil has been completely wiped from the blade tang, and it goes back to being sticky. Occasionally it seems like I'm making progress, but I constantly have to reapply the sharpie/graphite. Am I not waiting long enough for it to break in, or is it possible that this is a problem that will never go away?
 
Depends.... if it's so sticky you need to use a screwdriver or both hands to disengage it.... you should probably send it in. If it's just a bit sticky, it might eventually become smooth. A strider sng I had went from sticky to smooth after some use, but a small sebenza I had never smoothed out.
 
The Logical One said:
but a small sebenza I had never smoothed out.
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Not sure if its enough to bother you, but if it is send it back, and they will take care of it.
It will come back with no stick, and won't come back with a "meets spec" note like some companies do.
 
If you have to pry to unlock it, I would send it back. No sense in trying to break in something that far out of spec. I've sent in a couple for this reason and I'm always happy I did afterwards.
 
Wow! I was just going to post this exact question. I have and older Strider SNG with a sticky lock. I wanted to know if polishing the lock face with a dremel would help, or is that not advisable? Thanks in advance for any help.
 
machineage said:
Wow! I was just going to post this exact question. I have and older Strider SNG with a sticky lock. I wanted to know if polishing the lock face with a dremel would help, or is that not advisable? Thanks in advance for any help.
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[video=youtube;umDr0mPuyQc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umDr0mPuyQc[/video]
 
This kinda bothers me cuz I'm in on the s90v HTM forum knife. One thing I hate is a sticky lock:eek: Hopefully I'll get lucky like I have with my other Ti framelocks/ linerlocks:thumbup:
 
machineage said:
Wow! I was just going to post this exact question. I have and older Strider SNG with a sticky lock. I wanted to know if polishing the lock face with a dremel would help, or is that not advisable? Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...


Not sure if they will take care of it, but I know CRK will even if you were not the first owner.
I've heard Strider doesn't answer the phone, but shoot them an email. I would hope a company that charges what they do would fix it for you. Worth a try.
 
Ken44 said:
No, not all of them do.
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Agreed, I've had some that did...Hest 2.0 and some that didn't...CRK Umnumzaan, Strider Sng. With the Strider, it was the old lock design. Would actually lockup if you opened it too rapidly.
Go figure.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I don't think I'm a nitpicker because this lock is quite sticky. I've experienced all levels of stickiness, but never one that hasn't been cured by the sharpie trick.
 
The Ti liner locks on a couple of my Emersons were so sticky I could hardly disengage them at first. They broke in nicely.

Good excuse to play with 'em....


Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
In theory, yes they will all eventually smooth out as metal is worn away. In practice this could take so long as to be useless.
 
Well my prayers were answered because all of a sudden it smoothed out. There was no gradual progress towards smoothness, just one time I closed it and it stopped sticking. So strange. Guess I posted this a bit preemptively!
 
Misanthropia said:
Well my prayers were answered because all of a sudden it smoothed out. There was no gradual progress towards smoothness, just one time I closed it and it stopped sticking. So strange. Guess I posted this a bit preemptively!
Click to expand...

Probably a bit of gauling got cleared away.
 
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