framelock question

[grnamin]

Question for all framelock folder makers: Is the locking bar permanently bent into place by mechanical means or a combination of mechanical means and heat? Is it possible to change the direction a locking bar is bent? There a production folder I really like that's available only in a righty configuration. I'm ambidextrous, but prefer lefty folder carry. It looks like the blade pivot end has enough material to change the bevel of the locking bar contact slanted section so that it can accomodate the locking bar from the opposite direction. Hence, I'm wondering if a locking bar can be "retrained" to bend in the opposite direction. Many thanks for your input.

 

[Matt Shade]

Nope :grumpy:
You COULD take the knife apart and bend it the other way, especially if its titanium. If its steel you'd probably be looking at heating and bending then re heat treating.
The problem is that you only have about .01" of room for engagement on the tang (assuming the blade is 1/8" thick) Changing the engagement for the opposite direction means taking the bevel all the way past square to 7 degrees in the opposite direction. You'd take about .02" off of it, so the lock tab would be too short.
In case your wondering.....yes I DID learn this the hard way

 

[grnamin]

Thanks, Matt. In this case, the blade material is more than 1/8", maybe 3/16" or thicker. I won't try to mod the bevel unless I'm sure there'll be enough material to work with. The handle is made of titanium so it's good to know that it can be bent in the opposite direction mechanically only.

 

[Matt Shade]

I think your confused on how the knife works, that or I'm not understanding what you want to do.
You can't just bend the liner and put the knife back together with them switched. The tang is shaped like a ramp so that the lock tab will slide across it from the low side towards the high side and push the blade up against the stop pin. Basically wedging it in place.
If you flip the whole assembly and leave the ramnp as is, the lock tab will not even engage it. If you shorten it enough to push past the high side of the ramp it will flip all the way over against the opposite liner because there will be nothing to stop it. If you don't shorten it, it will just remain trapped between the scales and the tang.
Another problem, although much more minor is the detent ball will be on the wrong side of the liner, and there is no hole in the tang for it to engage on the other side.

I guess I wasn't real clear when I gave dimensions on changing the lock bevel. I was just trying to show how little room for error there is. On a thicker tang, there will still be a 7 degree angle but the increased distance across the tang means more difference in the hieght of the low and high sides. Switching the bevel would mean taking even more off.

 

[grnamin]

Thanks, Matt. I understand the locking mechanism. I'll inspect the bevel first and see if there's enough material to work with in order to change the angle. The ball detent hole looks like it's drilled completely through the lock section. I might be able to salvage the ball itself. I can probably drill a new ball detent divot on the other side of the blade. If there isn't enough material on the ramp to work with, then I won't proceed. I'll just drill and tap holes in the non-lock scale side and attach a clip there for left pocket carry.