Folder Locking Mechanisms

tri-ad lock, axis lock, and compression lock....all 3 are pretty strong. well made liner locks are very tough too.
 
The strongest lock is the one you don't have. Fixed blade.

Otherwise, balisong. After that, I'd say framelock, followed by by a tie for the axis and caged ball bearing lock. I say framelock because the strength of the lock to hold the knife open is dependent upon how tightly you grip the knife; of course that point is moot if you have the grip strength of a baby.

I'm not quite sure where to place button locks.
 
orthogonal1 said:
What other lock transfers forces to the stop pin to keep the blade in the open position?
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Compression lock. The lockbar wedges itself between the blade tang and the stop pin. Forces are transferred through the lock bar to the stop pin.

AXIS lock. I guess I could have elaborated. Closing forces are not transferred to the stop pin like opening forces are. But the tang pushes against the AXIS lockbar which is like a bigger movable stop pin. Regardless, the forces are transferred to the metal liners.

All the AXIS variants all transfer force to a component which eventually gets distributed to the metal liners. There are probably some other ones that I don't know about or I am forgetting right now.
 
From an engineering standpoint, I would say the Axis-Lock is the strongest lock yet devised.
 
Tri-ad is stronger than the axis I think. Considering the thickness of the stop pin in the Tri-ad and comparing with the lock cylinder of the axis, the Tri-ad's is with more cross-sectional area. Also once the slop in the pin in the lockbar is reduced to nothing due to load applied, then two pins are in play.

http://www.coldsteel.com/triadlock1.html

The illustration in the website is not the real thing but from comparing to my folders it is very close so you can see how thick/sturdy is the mechanisms involved.
 
harkamus said:
The strongest lock is the one you don't have. Fixed blade.

Otherwise, balisong. After that, I'd say framelock, followed by by a tie for the axis and caged ball bearing lock. I say framelock because the strength of the lock to hold the knife open is dependent upon how tightly you grip the knife; of course that point is moot if you have the grip strength of a baby.
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+1

My thoughts exactly.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Compression lock. The lockbar wedges itself between the blade tang and the stop pin. Forces are transferred through the lock bar to the stop pin.

AXIS lock. I guess I could have elaborated. Closing forces are not transferred to the stop pin like opening forces are. But the tang pushes against the AXIS lockbar which is like a bigger movable stop pin. Regardless, the forces are transferred to the metal liners.

All the AXIS variants all transfer force to a component which eventually gets distributed to the metal liners. There are probably some other ones that I don't know about or I am forgetting right now.
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Okay, one other lock transfers closing forces to the stop pin. One relatively known lock, anyway.

Transferring forces to a the liner or frame is not a particular issue of import - what else can the various forces be transferred to? The issue is how such force transfer is done, the various mechanical interactions in the process of transfer, and the relative strength of these components.

Force diagrams anyone?
 
I see these questions come up a fair amount of time and I look at my collection of knives, the locks these knives have, and think of what knives I have had break or had the lock fail.

I think there are a lot of strong lock designs out there, many still/are manufactured.

But there is an underlying issue not brought up, to wit: A knife is not solely a lock, but is a sum of parts. If the lock is one of robust design and put in a robust knife (usually read as "big"), the lock will show itself as being strong.

The Rajah series, for example, are not petite knives.
 
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Depends on the balisong in question. Some balis have small pins and that means it is not as strong as say a BM42.
 
Knife Outlet said:
I don't think it is a can of worms. There are pluses an minuses to every type of lock. My own opinion is that the frame lock is the strongest but it is also one of the heaviest. The sliding tang locks seem to be quite strong but they are more prone to failure because they use several parts, including springs. Lockbacks are quite strong but sometimes make the knife harder to open than other types. Basically, if you use the knife in the manner for which it was designed, no properly made lock should give you trouble.
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I stand in agreement! Well said!! If you are using a knife properly I believe a good quality slip joint is good enough. But yes accidents are prone to happen and if you strike/cut something and the blade happens to hit/stick in food the way you did not intend, that is where a well made lock is great. I have so many knives that I probably have most of the common locks. I just recieved my first tri-ad locking knife yesterday and I must say I am impressed. Yes it is hard to disingadge but I am a six foot tall man with over two hundred pounds of mass. So I have no problem with it. I am actually glad it is so hard to disingadge. But take this same knife (mini lawman) and give it to my wife and she would hand it right back to me and say "I don't want that crazy thing I can't close it". There is where the right lock for the right person comes in.

I like different types of knives for different occasions. I own a OD-1 Kershaw, totaly black with titanium nitride black coating on all stainless parts with the new 14C28N--- their new propriatary/favorite steel they will be using on most of their future knives. It has a little circular wheel on top and when you pull it back the thing is so so smooth it just glides out with a wisp (non assisted). I thought that was the smoothest action to be had till I held/operated that new CRKT Ripple at Sportsmans Warehouse. I pushed that little flipper very softly and it was like the blade was riding in just air. I could not believe a knife action could be so smooth. I hope those special bearings in that thing are sealed though. Both knives being non-assisted. Assisted knives are a joke--oops did I say that.

Any way I am always to long winded but thats me. I enjoy knives so much I can not help but talk about them. But in all honesty to answer the original question I do believe the Tri-Ad is the strongest "I" have ever used so far.

But I do love my little slim, sleek and trim Kershaw OD-1. SWEET --- Bye:)

Daniel AKA nativecajun
 
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Unless I missed it the Opinel twist lock has'nt been mentioned. This type of lock made with premium materials may be amoung the strongest. I'm not sure but Chris Reeve's may have made a quality one yrs ago.
As someone mentioned its not just the lock, its the sum of all the parts. Most lock if made correctly & with quality materials will work fine.
 
Ankerson said:
They don't need all that, just hang about 500 + lbs off of them bad boys and see if they can take it. :D

And do it on video and put it out there for everyone to see. ;)

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that to happen though. ;)

If they say they are strong they need to put it out there and prove it. :)

They can talk about it all day, but that doesn't mean a whole lot IMO.
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I agree talks cheap, lets see some side by side comparision tests doing the same exact tests. But i doubt that will ever happen.
 
This may have been said a couple times already, but the balisong is simply the strongest locking mechanism.
As long as your hand is grasping the handles there is no way for the blade to close, unless it breaks of course. But there is no way for the "lock" to break.
Granted, balisongs are probably illegal wherever you live, so if you have to go with a traditional folder, I really REALLY like the AXIS lock.
SOG's ARC lock is also really nice. But it sounds like the consensus on this forum is that the TRI-AD is the winner.
 
T.K.C. said:
Since the OP is a gold member, he CAN search. This subject HAS been discussed many times.
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I understand that it has been discussed, but none of the posts I looked at were really tailored to my needs.
 
Folding Knife ==Broken Knife....If you Want To Bet Your Life on IT Buy A Fixed Blade !!




2Panther
 
TKC - I know this thread is beyond old, it just popped up in a search....but I wanted to reply to your post here as it's a huge pet peeve of mine. Not only do you come across as crotchety for no reason, you ironically end up looking foolish to most of the readers when your intent was to look like the only one with any sense/intelligence. Of course he can search for it, he knows this....we all know this....what he can't do, without asking the question fresh, is obtain the most current opinions of his fellow knife loving brothers...esp. with a topic like locking mechanisms which is always advancing, his question and all other similar questions that have been covered many times in the past, are still as relevant as any of the other past questions were. And lastly, if the subject bores you due to it's over-coverage, the civilized and cool thing to do is to ignore it and leave a post on a thread you are passionate about, because it's that passion that actually adds something to threads, instead of responses like yours that serves only to leave a sour taste in the readers' mouths, and I guess leave you with a satisfied feeling, however hollow it may be.
 
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