Folders: What's the "Strongest" Lock?

Originally posted by HJK
From the site it looks like the megaladon comes in one style and is an auto. Any versions street legal for Kanuckistan?
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me: ... has no plans of making a manual folder. He is not making much money on this knife as it is. So he is not anxious in producing any other versions of it. A pity.
 
Im surprised no one has mentioned Spyderco's ball bearing lock featured in the new Dodo. The ball bearing provides a friction fit the locks up tighter than Fort Knox.
 
Well, since we're talking about the "Megaladon" knife, i thought that maybe i could shed some light on where he got the name and why it's appropriate. :)

He chose to spell it incorrectly so as to not risk any liability from other brands already using the properly spelled name: "Megalodon". The full name is Carcharocles Megalodon, a long extinct giant white shark, existed approx. 5-15 million years ago. So giant in fact, a full size modern Great White would literally be like a sardine in comparison. A modern GW shark is incredibly powerful amd massive, and can weigh 3,000 lbs or more, Megalodon probably weighed in the neighborhood of 200 THOUSAND pounds! The largest T-Rex puny at "only" 20,000 lbs. :) Megalodon is the most powerful predator that ever existed, EVER. The ultimate super predator.

So, you can see why Arlee chose the name, it apparently fits.

Here is a picture of my wife holding a 6.4" Meg tooth, 5" wide, weighs nearly 2 lbs. Fully serrated and knife sharp. My wife is 5'11 and actually has large hands, if i had had a normal size woman hold it for the picture, it would have been even more impressive.

So, here is the actual "Megalodon" that the above mentioned knife took its name from, or more accurately its tooth, which is all we have left of them.

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Below is a picture of a reconstructed Meg jaw, with real teeth, impressive, the thing is, this would have been a relatively SMALL Megalodon shark!!! A big one could have been twice as big!

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Fixed blade. No bushings not bothered by debris , and will not fold up on your fingers. I like slip joints also, because there is no anticipation of a lock, you use the knife like it has none.

Be well
Floyd
 
1. integral lock (crk and strider)
2. axis lock (BM)
3. compression lock (spydie)

I will state that I have only handled a couple of balisong knives, so my knowledge and experience is very limited in that dept.

Also, would not the "strength" of a folding knife lock be dependent upon what the knife is being used for ?

I would feel much more comfortable twisting and prying with my strider vs. an axis lock from BM, although for normal cutting, I would not hesitate to use the BM. Sometimes we just can't pick the enviroment that a knife will be used, correct ?
 
When twisting the blade, I think the Axis-lock has less chance of folding than a Liner-lock because of the way they're built.

For the Axis-lock to fail while twisting, the handle would have to spread apart far enough for the locking pin to come out. That would require the pivot screw and the screws holding the handle together to give way enough for the pin to fall out of the liner cut-outs, and even then the locking pin itself is held in the cut-outs with washers and thumbstuds--which would also have to break.
Or...the the handle would have to spread enough for the stop-pin to fall out of its liner cut-outs. And if that happened, the blade could still only fold backward (or upward?) on to the back your hand with the unsharpened spine of the blade, and it could'nt fold completely because it would still strike the top of the locking pin.
Either way, I'll bet your grip fails or the blade snaps before the Axis-lock gives.

With a Liner-lock things are different. In a firm grip, your hand is in contact with the locking liner itself. Twist in one direction and your hand will push the liner further across the tang. But twist in the opposite direction and your hand will push the locking liner away from the tang and could disengage the lock. This is why so many Liner-locks are recessed within the handle to make this less likely to occur.

It's hard to explain in words,
Allen.
 
Originally posted by allenC
When twisting the blade, I think the Axis-lock has less chance of folding than a Liner-lock because of the way they're built.
[...]

With a Liner-lock things are different. In a firm grip, your hand is in contact with the locking liner itself. Twist in one direction and your hand will push the liner further across the tang. But twist in the opposite direction and your hand will push the locking liner away from the tang and could disengage the lock. This is why so many Liner-locks are recessed within the handle to make this less likely to occur.
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Unfortunately, hand interaction with the lock isn't the only way liner locks fail when torqued. Liner locks depend heavily on the leaf/tang geometry, and getting the geometry right can be tricky. The more you torque the knife, the more the handle and pivot might flex, which in turn changes the geometry. Many (most?) real-life liner lock failures I've heard about are due to this. If I were to make a guess, I'd guess that more rigid frames make the lockup less susceptible to this problem. Things like fuller backspacers and alignment pins (rather than just 2 or 3 screws) would seem to help keep the handle from flexing as much.

Joe
 
Originally posted by bell
Are the Axis Lock (BM) and the Ball Bearning Lock (Spy) the same thing?
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Short version: legally no, practically... sort of. If I remember correctly, it's the same mechanics but a different mechanism.
 
Since nobody else said it, I will: Megalobyte, thanks for the interesting post. Yeah, it was off topic, and it was stuff I already knew, but who cares? The Megalodon must have been something to behold (from a safe distance ;) ).
 
Have you ever seen,held or used a Megaladon?
If not how can you say that a balisong is the toughest?
Hey guys it weighs less than a can of beer,how much does a Buck 110 weigh.How many auto knives are sold in the world each year? LEO's and EMT's as well as active militery service people can own them in most places(not all)!
You all keep asking for the strongest most reliable locking mechanism? But when it comes along you ignor the reviews posted here from our peers.I have handeld all the knife lock styles mentioned here have you,all?I have had the lockback fail on me seriously cutting my hand!!! Most of the others can and have failed for others!
Dirt,sand, debris or pocket lint can NOT get into the locking mechanism of the Megaladon to foul it up.It locks closed as strong as it does open!
It will NOT open in your pocket(tip up or tip down)!
No human is strong enough to break the lock (while holding in your hand)!
Don't ask what is the strongest knife lock,without adding qualifiers like non-auto and under 8oz.of weight.Untill something stronger comes along and has been tested by the same people here that have tested the Megaladon.When that day comes along I am sure you will all here about it!But for now you have your answer.Megaladon, period!!!!!!
arlee at pcez.com
 
No one has brought up trust old twist lock, made infamous by Cold Steel, also used on Opinel and others. Okay, it's annoying, but it works very, very well.
 
Well, it might be helpful to segregate lock designs into two categories: Locks that activate automatically when the blade is opened, and locks that take two hands to put in place.

Locks that automatically activate when the blade is fully opened are generally relatively complex and not very reliable. If you can use both hands to lock the blade open though, then it's not difficult to construct a lock that's 100% reliable (or at least will never close on your fingers).

Personally, I'd just use a fixed blade if I were really concerned about lock strength. Engineering is complicated. :confused:
 
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