F ball bearings! OK, maybe not so much now, opinion changing

A

Aldebaran

Joined
Sep 18, 2004
Messages
335
I am so tired of finding a knife I might like only to find it has the latest stupid fashion; BALL BEARINGS! This is less than a useful "feature". IMHO ball bearings in a knife is a design flaw. Knives are to be used and not to be made for the feel of the opening. When did he smoothness of opening a knife take precedence over its ultimate utility? Many of the knives I would have ordered immediately otherwise have been disregarded and put into the ignore pile for life because of this stupid fashion.

I know I am going to get people tell me differently and call me narrow minded, but if you use your knife in real circumstances then ball bearings are going to be a problem. Ball bearings are going to accumulate crap and get sticky and gritty. Some designs have been failing out of the box because the point contacts of the balls causing brinelling or denting the surface they ride on, and they require frequent and sometimes tedious disassembly and reassembly procedures to keep them clean and lubricated.

C'mon manufacturers! Stop making fashion knives and make knives that can be relied on to work in conditions other than just flipping at the desk when bored.
 
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Lycosa said:
Washers make sense to me also.
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And dryers too! There are some ball bearing knives out there that can handle a dirty environment just fine. Why now have utility AND a smooth opening knife? My 0562 has seen some extensive cutting in foundry environments and nothing a drop of tuf glide and a good blowing out with air can't fix!

Have you used any ball bearing knives over time? Did you experience a failure of some sort?
 
I also have a bunch that haven't skipped a beat for years. I can honestly say out of the 20 or so bearing flippers I have.....not one has had a hiccup. And I use my knives.
If I see a knife with bearings and I like it...I buy it. If I see a knife I like and it has washers.....I buy it.
Missing out on some amazing knives......JMO.
Joe
 
They make what sells! End of story.


May I suggest starting your own knife company? You can make knives how YOU want them instead of what's popular...let me know how it all works out. [emoji849]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I don't disagree (nor do I agree) with your points.
I am however, very curious as to the cause of this slightly over the top tirade?
In other words. What knife broke your heart?
 
91bravo said:
And dryers too! There are some ball bearing knives out there that can handle a dirty environment just fine. Why now have utility AND a smooth opening knife? My 0562 has seen some extensive cutting in foundry environments and nothing a drop of tuf glide and a good blowing out with air can't fix!

Have you used any ball bearing knives over time? Did you experience a failure of some sort?
Click to expand...

Full disclosure: I have not owned a ball bearing pivot knife and never will. I have extensive experience as a heavy industrial mechanic, and mechanical engineer position, and scientific instrument design engineer, automotive and motorcycle mechanic, and machinist. I have camped in the forest and the desert. Dirt is everywhere.

A foundry is probably one of the worst industrial environments you could ask unprotected ball bearings to survive. So you just need to blow some compressed air through the knife and squirt some special oil into to pivot. Do you have access to a compressor and oil in the middle of the desert? How about just after gutting a fish for the fire by the stream? Should you need to clean and lubricate all the time? My washer pivot knives never have had grit get into the bearing surface causing it to stick.

It is simple. A ball bearing system costs much more to implement than just a couple of washers. Washers need a drop of oil and off you go. I don't always have a compressor with me wherever I go. In high load low speed applications, plain bearings (washers) are highly preferred over ball bearings. It is an engineering principle.
 
I agree, although I haven't used many bearing knives so I can't really speak on them. I think I just prefer the simplicity of washers, been really into Emersons lately.
 
NorthernSouthpaw said:
I don't disagree (nor do I agree) with your points.
I am however, very curious as to the cause of this slightly over the top tirade?
In other words. What knife broke your heart?
Click to expand...

I elaborated why I don't like ball bearing knives. I started this thread to start a conversation and yes I was intentionally being provocative. But seriously, almost all the new knives I like, and most of the old ones, have ball bearings.
 
SpySmasher said:
Lol, as if you deserve to have every knife made just for you. Swallow your tears and stop acting like a baby. Go buy one of the hundreds of knives that will fit your bill.
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Nice argument :rolleyes: I am sure you have never had an opinion about what you like or don't like in knives. You can make a point about where I am wrong, or just insult me.

There are not "hundreds" of knives I might like even without ball bearings.
 
Like Aldebaran, I have never owned a ball bearing pivot knife. His point is summed up in the final paragraph of his last post, to wit:

It is simple. A ball bearing system costs much more to implement than just a couple of washers. Washers need a drop of oil and off you go. I don't always have a compressor with me wherever I go. In high load low speed applications, plain bearings (washers) are highly preferred over ball bearings. It is an engineering principle.

Until I understand some real advantage, I don't want the increased cost, maintenance, or complexity of many tiny parts doing a job that is accomplished perfectly well by two simple washers.
 
I sure do have an opinion on knives but I don't foist them on other people, lol. When you are calling for an end to a feature that many people clearly enjoy just to have your own way with every manufacturer that's worthy of an insult. :rolleyes:
 
I've owned plenty of both washers and ball bearing knives, and honestly they both work fine. You're overthinking the issue, its not that complicated. Ball bearings are more satisfying for some people when it comes to the action of the knife, and other people prefer washers, both work in use. Plenty of people use both as work knives.
 
Bearings are made to spin.

Bushings/washers are made to pivot.

Which is it that a knife does?
 
I feel same as the OP, but realize most don't use their knife in ways that'll test the weakness.
Like wtlj says, they make what sells.

Op, welcome to the world of bling buyers, where they out number us 100,000 to 1.
 
SpySmasher said:
I sure do have an opinion on knives but I don't foist them on other people, lol. When you are calling for an end to a feature that many people clearly enjoy just to have your own way with every manufacturer that's worthy of an insult. :rolleyes:
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Didn't you just foist your opinion?

I also didn't call for the end of a feature, but rather asked for an option to have a knife made a different way. I assume you are for choices. The design choices being made by manufacturers is their opinion being foisted on everyone. I am voting with my money and not buying them. My next knife will probably be the Steel Will Cutjack FRN D2. It seems to do everything I want without ball bearings.

I am sorry you don't like other people's opinions and prefer to foist your preference on me to not voice mine.
 
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