Double Liner Lock Idea

[amacks]

I was lying in bed last night, and had an odd idea for a knife lock mechanism. Have a linerlock on both scales, and some type of switch which would pull them both back to allow the blade to close. This would give the lock more strength, twice as much metal, and redundency for safety. Also the two locks could touch eachother under the tang of the knife, each preventing the other from sliding too far. Finally the two would shield each other from being accidentally unlocked by the user.

The unlock mechanish could either physically pull the two leafs back against the scales, or be a small metal piece in the back of the handle which would pivot up between the two locks and simultaniously push them back. Then the user could close the knife half way, the unlocker preventing the blade from snapping clodes on fingers, move fingers and push the knife down the rest of the way.

Well what;s the verdict, am I a genius, or did they spike the dining hall food more than usual?!
Aaron

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Aaron --

You better see what they're spiking the meat loaf with, it sure is strong

Seriously though... Although I'm a liner-lock hater, one thing I admire about the lock is that it is self-adjusting. That is, as the end of the liner wears, it gets a little shorter. This would introduce blade wobble, except that the blade tang is slightly angled, so that as the liner wears aand shortens, it just moves over to the right. This self-adjusting mechanism keeps the lock tight at all times, even as the liner wears.

In your lock, if both liners are touching each other, as soon as they wear a tiny bit, it introduces blade wobble.

What you could do is instead of shaping the blade tang at a single angle, shape it like a v. One liner would rub up against one side, and the other liner against the other side. Of course, on a .125" blade (or less), this doesn't leave much room for wear before the liners reach the middle and you get what I described above...

Cool idea though!

Joe
jat@cup.hp.com

 

[amacks]

Well the pasta has taken effect, and I have the solution. Drill the stop pin slightly off center, and install it so that the thinest part is closest to the blade. When blade play becomes a problem, rotate the pin slightly. I know that this won't solve the problem, but it's as good as I could do without something really powerful.
Aaron
ps if this doesn't make sense, think of this pin like a cam.

 

[Jim March]

The "pivot cam" is exactly how you adjust the chain on many motorcycles.

This whole thing *could* work on a BIG folder. You'd need at LEAST 3/16ths steel width to do the "v grind" tang properly but that said, it's a HELL of a good idea.

I'd buy one in a 6"er!

'Course, I'd buy damn near ANYthing in a 6"+ folder...

For a lock release, I'm visualizing a sort of "block" that swings down out of the grip towards the pommel and rides up the blade groove towards the pivot on a "rail" on one side of the grip. It would probably have to have one or more "joints" so that it'd lay flat in it's "home" in the grip but then swings and folds into the groove.

A simpler way would be to wear a (thumb? finger?) ring with a protrusion you'd slide up the channel to release. I know, that's cockeyed, but if it doubled as jewelry and came in a choice of styles...?

Jim March

 

[amacks]

The ring is an interesting idea, I had never thought of it. I was picturing something like the other, a rectangle of metal with a pivot through the handles. It would rotate up to unlock the blade. The rotation could either be achieved by a lever in the handle scale, like the kershaw leverlock, or a slide, like the new spyderco lock.

Now for the question: Knifemakers, is this feasable, or just my psychotic ramblings?
Aaron

 

[Kit Carson]

Aaron,
Back in the late 80s I experimented with a lock very similiar to what you described. The problem I had with them was getting the 2 locks "timed". I tried them the same length and also with one slightly shorter than the other. I used a lever similiar to a front locking lockback folder to separate the two for closing the knife. Never worked for me so I went on to build a few two bladed (end to end) liner lock.