Framelock vs Everything else combined

I used to prefer frame locks above all, but that honor now goes to the compression lock. Sal said that frame locks fail long before the compression locks do in their destructive testing. Since the compression lock is equally as simple as the frame lock and is stronger, that makes it better IMO.

The new Para 2 should be just awesome-I can't wait to get one.
 
billbunton said:
Framelocks are (now) my favorite, followed by axis.
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+1

I own all types, BM Axis, CS Triad, Spyderco Linerlock, Various Stainless & Ti framelocks and they all work quite well. What's the beef & name calling about? :confused:
 
billbunton said:
Framelocks are (now) my favorite, followed by axis.
Click to expand...

Mee Two. I like the frame locks of my Hinderer and CRK's because I love those knives so much, but I'm also a fanboy of Axis locks because I think they are cooler. And I'm also Schizophrenic. :eek:
 
Tri-ad lock and then framelock.
 
Lock - I couldn't care less, honestly. I don't hold the lock. I don't cut with the lock. A great lock with a lousy blade in a pair of handles that are uncomfortable is useless. :) A good knife is a combination of good steel, good grind, good heat-treat, good lock and good handle design and materials, no??? ;)
 
I prefer AXIS, with framelock coming in at a close second. For me, it well and truly comes down to which one I enjoy using the most.
As A.P.F. said, if you buy and maintain quality knives, it should never be an issue. The only locks I've ever had fail on me were those which were poorly made and those which I put through abuse that I would never ask of these knives in the real world.
 
I'm not an engineer... but I taught pre-engineering courses for most of twenty years. Of course, that has nothing to do with my lock likes. I also like cats, and that has about as much bearing on my knife selection! I do appreciate well designed and executed knives.

Lockbacks, a la the Buck 110, which I had considered a standard of comparison, were my favorites for years. Seven years ago, I joined the Kershaw crowd - liner lock AO examples, like the Scallion, Blur, & Leek worked perfectly - never broke even an AO spring. After much use, battered and misguided sharpening attempts later, they are all still functional. Then - Benchmade AXIS lock - another bullet proof design. Never a failure, either. Somewhere in time, the frame lock appeared - wow. My first, a BM 630 Skirmish, deserved a really big wow! Many more followed.

A properly made Ti framelock is a work of techno-art. If you want to be really spoiled - especially price-wise - get a blemished JYDII in Ti/SG2. Unreal quality... just don't expect to beat it for less than several times what it cost. I do prefer all-Ti handled framelocks, like my BM's, Buck 172 Mayo TNT, Kershaw JYDII's, and CRK Umnumzaan. Some part-G10-ers, like my BM 755, ZT-301, & Boker Haddock, etc, are tough acts to follow. Sadly, ask me which I like best, AXIS, framelock, or lockback, and I'll state an unequivocal "Yes!".

Stainz
 
I will take the AXIS, followed by its variants, followed by the HAWK and Compression lock. The bottom of the list would be frame and liner locks.

I am not a fanboy in that I use my knives to make an informed decision to see which is more reliable and comfortable/ easy to use. Since I am a mechanical engineer I also look hard at the design to see which are designed the best and which have potential problems. I don't just blindly like something because it is popular or whatnot.

I don't like frame and liner locks for a few reasons mainly the reliability. I have had a frame lock wear out on me in a year and liner locks accidentally close. These are also the locks that usually fail the spine tap test. I also don't like that they require a repositioning of the hand to close and put my fingers in the path of a hair whittling blade when I am working and not paying total attention to the knife. Yes they can be very strong but they can also close with pressure without giving any sign. The only way to know if you get a bad one is to buy it and try it out. And I take very good care of my possessions and all that failed on me were quality knives that get talked about frequently here. I can only have so many problems before I give up on something, especially when I can't fix something on my own. A linerlock many times requires a new lock bar which the company has to supply.
 
The biggest advantage I see in a framelock is it's simplicity. It's integral to the handle, so there's an absolute minimum of moving parts. When it's designed and executed well, there's very little that can go catastrophically wrong under normal, and in many cases, hard use (stopping short of abuse, like batoning with a folder). Locks which rely on small, delicate parts (like little coil springs), and the associated hardware to hold those small parts in place, I think will be more vulnerable to failure of one kind or another, eventually. I own many of the knives with the coil springs & such, and I do like them. But, I'm always a little more aware of the possible ways they can fail.

Well-executed simplicity is always better, in my opinion.
 
I would take any lock over a framelock, as long as they were constructed with similar levels of skill. Actually, I would take any other lock from the top production manufacturers over a mid-tech or custom framelock.
 
hardheart said:
I would take any lock over a framelock, as long as they were constructed with similar levels of skill. Actually, I would take any other lock from the top production manufacturers over a mid-tech or custom framelock.
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I wish you'd have elaborated just a little, given your expertise. :(
 
I'll take a liner lock for me please. Simple to use. Asthetically pleasing and plenty strong enough. I'm not hanging weights from my folder anytime soon.
 
I just don't care for the feel. The all-metal scale in every weather condition and the closing action doesn't feel as good to me (the actual positioning of my hand, not a concern for safety because of it). It's a personal thing, all the users and all the tests aren't wrong.
 
I guess right now I'm feeling the framelock; I enjoy the simpliciy. I also enjoy liner locks, lockbacks (and it's variants) and slipjoints. Would love to try a compression lock one of these days.
 
What kind of lock do you normally hear about failing? Not necessarily outright breaking. I have read about maybe 20 people with a broken omega spring out of probably hundreds of thousands that are in use, so statistically about 0%. Other than that I normally read about problems with frame and liner locks. That combined with my high percentage of failures in my personal knives just doesn't make me have a whole lot of faith in the design. I do have some really nice frame locks and I'm about to buy another but I try to minimize their purchase and completely avoid liner locks. There are much better designs available that have proved to be more reliable even with all their springs and parts.
 
I like the axis lock and the William Henry button lock. The axis lock has a slight advantage over the button lock in that it is ambidextrous. I find that with both of these locks that I can flip them open and shut. This hastens the deployment and the undeployment, and all this haste is acheived with one hand without regrasping. The other stuff is fine, it's just slower.
 
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