Firsts? Who invented what in the knife industry?

Ken Onion-Stud Lock (speed bump among others)
Gavin and Grant Hawk-Hawk Lock (MUDD and R.A.M.)

I like the weird locks, and those are two of my favorites, esp. the stud lock. That should be on more folders.
 
yablanowitz said:
Like I said, "In its current form". The concept of a locking tab as part of a liner dates back at least a hundred years, but those were not the same as what we call a liner lock these days. Those old liner locks still relied on a backspring to hold the blade open. The "lock" was merely a tab to inhibit accidental closing. What we currently think of as a liner lock, with a detent ball in the locking tab, a stop pin and no backspring was developed by Michael Walker.
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Thank you for the explanation. I completely overlooked the backspring. I now see the distinct difference.
 
I was wrong, some people can be convinced. I have never before seen anyone who thought they were the same change their point of view.
 
vszero said:
demko for tri-ad lock and lynn popularized the american tanto[/QUOte

Didnt know that about the American tanto. Anyone else think of other blade shapes that someone or some company made popular nowadays. Perhaps maybe when G-10 started being one of the main materials used in tactical folding knife handles?
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dano said:
Nope...John PerMar invented it, but it was refined by Demko (Cold Steel).
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Incorrect, the PerMar patent was issued May 2007 mine was filed April 2007. Since a pending patent can not be accessed by the public this proves that my design was 100% independent of the PerMar patent. Sadly, I have been misrepresented
 
That seems strange after years of having a simple lock back, two people would have the same concept a month apart.
 
Bob Lum: "respected as the first American custom knifemaker to introduce the Asian tanto-style blade to western knife circles."

Butch Vallotton: "credited with inventing the ambidextrous blade thumb stud."

^ Does this mean someone else first introduced the thumb stud altogether?
 
What about the extension of the blade tang that serves as a stopping pin, like the Case xx russlock. I am not sure who invented that, but I am curious if anyone knows.
 
egally08 said:
That seems strange after years of having a simple lock back, two people would have the same concept a month apart.
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Not really, I worked on the tri ad for a long time before the patent was applied for. The stop pin is an essential part of a frame lock. I built a lot of frame locks and when I started playing with cold steel lock backs I realized they could be improved with a stop pin. I'll bet others thought of this concept as well. In fact almost all locks,except the standard back lock, use some type of stop pin.
 
DemkoKnives said:
Not really, I worked on the tri ad for a long time before the patent was applied for. The stop pin is an essential part of a frame lock. I built a lot of frame locks and when I started playing with cold steel lock backs I realized they could be improved with a stop pin. I'll bet others thought of this concept as well. In fact almost all locks,except the standard back lock, use some type of stop pin.
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I am glad you didn't think I was being sarcastic, because I wasn't. After I wrote it, I realized it might of come off that way. I understand what you are saying and I agree, but the fact that two patents were applied for within a month, after years of having the same design just seemed to be a little more then a coincidence. If you say that it is just a coincidence then I believe you. Thank you for spending your time here and clarifying this.
Elliot
 
rat trap was always a liner lock, and a thin one at that

Onion also did the vault lock on the Whisper

Bram Frank uses the term puzzle lock, and it somehow got a patent, it is a compression lock

centuries before the russlock was the friction folder

the one-hand lock was created by Crawford

Elishewitz has done the e-lock and bolster lock, maybe more

Sawby did the self-lock

Lake did the tail lock

Paul lock, obvious who made it

McHenry & Williams also did the levitator lock

Demko also did the ram safe lock

lots and lots of other locks, most just never caught on.
 
Just realized I don't recall anyone throwing the phantom lock by Spyderco in there.
 
Who started the "knock out cut" on frame locks? I have often wondered if it is necessary or a fad looks.
 
kreole said:
That does indeed say comp lock, but if you look at literally any pic of it, you can see it's a liner lock. This is a pointless argument in this thread, though, because the Para predates the Rat Trap, as does the patent http://www.google.com/patents/US655...&sa=X&ei=503mUI0Pi4LxBPiFgeAN&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAA .
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The question I addressed was who else used comp lock. I just quoted cliff to say the rat trap did. I don't have one, wish I did. A liner lock can look like a comp lock if it's upside down. Para is from the top, maybe the rat was from the bottom. Or maybe cliff got a prototype to review.
 
a compression lock cannot work from the bottom. the compression and liner lock are almost identical except for the fact that the locking liner on the compression wedges between the tang and stop pin.
 
Interesting thread great topic.
I think the button lock like the ones on all the newer autos with the clockspring's made a huge impact on knife options.
I searched and could only find a reference to Matt Conable William Henry knives,sounds right to me.
 
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