Fixing a Deficient Liner Lock

Send it back. Pffffft - why waste time worrying over bs like that? If your knife doesn’t “knife” when you get it, send it back and get a specimen that does. Period.

You mess with it trying to fix it and it’s yours forever. Gonna take that chance?
 
I took another look at the lockup surface on the tang and I suspect that there is, for want of a better word, a secondary bevel that creates a small pocket for the lock bar to set into. Using a magnifying glass. Very subtle and hardly noticeable, but enough of a complexity for me to avoid an attempted fix. As mentioned above, I am going to break it in and go from there. I like the blade a lot, and N690 is good for me. Thanks for the help!
 
rycen said:
You took it apart, it’s yours now.
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I am accepting that. Lesson learned and will use what I learned when making future purchasing decisions. Water under the bridge, so to speak. It takes a firm tap on the table to make the lock fail. Not a light tap, but not slamming it either. If it doesn't correct itself after breaking in, I will treat it as a slip joint knife. I am over it and am moving on.
 
AntDog said:
Send it back. Pffffft - why waste time worrying over bs like that? If your knife doesn’t “knife” when you get it, send it back and get a specimen that does. Period.

You mess with it trying to fix it and it’s yours forever. Gonna take that chance?
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I've done that a couple of times with knives that I couldn't replace or felt were basically perfect except for something within my ability to modify. Usually that's just centering, but I did increase the lockbar tension on an otherwise perfect VK-1 and it went really well. I was definitely scared of ruining it, but it went well. Minor adjustment, done with minimal changes per attempt, barely a discernible difference in the lockbar when I finished, but it happily improved the action the way I wanted. Just a touch more detent.
 
It takes SO little to adjust a lock, and you want to leave some space for lock wear.

If I were doing it, I would take it apart and use various grits of fine sandpaper to try polishing the area first. You'd be surprised just how miniscule you need to take off for things to go from way too tight to just right.
 
Sounds like the lock bar engages exactly where it supposed to. I would do as many suggested- open it and clean it, also inspect the lockbar. It should have flat face and locking mark should be at the corner, it never engages with the whole face. 15-20-30% is good engagement numbers for a new knife.
If you’re sure tha you won’t round it up, you can slightly polish it, no file as others suggested, just very high grit stone.
I would do this after I clean it up and open/close it for a week or two, it might just self adjust.
‘I’ve done tons of spine whacking. Came to conclusion that means nothing. It’s your knife and your understanding how to test it, do what you want, don’t matter to me but my advice would be to just forget the spine whacking, it’s pointless IMO.
 
I'd try putting some toothpaste on the mating surfaces, and wear it in with constant opening and closing...
 
It is a wharncliffe blade and it will only be used for cutting on a flat surface, so the lock is not that important anyway. It will do for my needs. Again, I really like the blade so far. Looking forward to my first sharpening session on the whetstones. Thanks.
 
I have messed with some liners before and I can't remember one time I succeeded. They look really simple but require very precise geometry to work right. More so than other locks. Possible for the average person to fix, maybe, but in my experience unlikely. I wouldn't trust it afterwards.
 
greater said:
I have messed with some liners before and I can't remember one time I succeeded. They look really simple but require very precise geometry to work right. More so than other locks. Possible for the average person to fix, maybe, but in my experience unlikely. I wouldn't trust it afterwards.
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Pretty much my conclusion after a careful inspection under the magnifying glass. It locks up, just not great. But good enough for my purposes. When compared to my Ontario Utilitac, this liner lock pales in comparison.
 
Ajack60 said:
I’d try to adjust the liner lock tension by taking the knife apart, noting where the lock bar is stationed and bend it in a tad bit. That will let you know if there’s room for the lock to travel over some. If it causes lock stick without moving over into the blade more, then it is a manufacturer mishap.
Remember, once you do anything to the knife, it’s yours.
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I just did an operartion like this. The liner lock bit hard on opening and closing when the blade has to push the detent down.

Upon disasssembly I found that the lock bar was bent starting in the middle, making it a short and stiff lever. I bent the lock back a bit to straighten out the middle and then bent the entire lock bar forward from the beginning, making a longer lever that's easier to operate.

The knife has a much more comfortable action now.
 
Simple fix !

Disassemble the knife ...
Grab a pair of pliers or multi grips ..
And bend that liner .... ( carefully in the correct Direction - dont twist it the wrong way )

Two things will happen ..

A) Liner lock tension will increase
B) the bend will shorten the liner lock bar .. Increasing engagement !

I had a knife with 50% or so engagement ( half the liner lock bar engaging the blade + it was a soft lock )
After a tweak ( bend ) I have serious lock strength and full engagement ..

Start gentle , give it the slightest little bend , assemble the knife and test ...

Or send it back and say it's dangerous !
 
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