Half Stop Question?

heatride

heatride

Joined
May 15, 2003
Messages
422
As a folder maker of about 15 years now I have a question on half stops . How important to you as a collector or user of a custom made slip joint is round tang verses square and why you prefer one over the other if you do . When I hold a
slip joint in my right hand by the handle I put my left hand over the top of the
blade and push with the palm of my hand and with a round tang the transition
from open to closed is very smooth with the nice snap we all love to hear . As
with a half stop there is a 2 step action from open then breakover to half then break over to closed. I am really curious about this. Any and all comments are appreciated in advance . Thanks and here are a couple one with round tang and
the other with half stop.


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I like half stops, sometimes more as an indicator of precision than a safety feature, but the presence or absence is not a deal breaker for me in any case. I have some awesome slipjoints both with and without and I'd not have made my decision on whether the knife had that feature or not.
 
I prefer half stops myself. Mostly for the safety feature but also aesthetics. I do, however, have a number of custom slip joints that don't have them and am quite happy with them.
 
HI Glenn,

It was nice talking with you on Saturday. Nice work by the way! It will be interesting to hear from members on the half stop issue. Thanks for starting the tread.

Ken Erickson
 
As A maker I have always added a half stop. It gives the operator a chance to make sure his fingers are out of the way. I also find it more challenging to make a knife where the backspring has to be flush in all three positions, open, half closed and closed.
 
I like them.
Just got a Case Mini Trapper with half stops and I wouldn't mind having them on all my slippies because I like to ease the blade down that last bit to close it.
I had a knife years ago and always let it snap shut, as I expect most people do. Well after a few years of this I found a crack in the blade. I put it down to snapping the blade shut, but I guess it could have been something else. It wasn't an expensive knife but it annoyed me as I was quite fond of it.
Anyway I never snap the blades closed now, so a half stop is useful, guess it's a bit safer too.

Nice looking knives you're making there by the way :thumbup:
 
The half stop is not important to me as overall fit and finish. Most of my knives don't have half stops, and like some others, I like to ease the knife closed if its convienent at the time. Too often the tip of the Knife hits the back spring dinging the edge at the tip.
 
Personally, I prefer half-stops also. I do not like to let the blade snap shut, so this assists me in easing it down. Also, I like very strong slippies. Without half-stops, I would probably suffer more bites than I already do.

Thanks,
Brett
 
You can close a slippy with a half stop one handed.
I made them both ways, and I like the half stop better.

good thread. :thumbup:

TA
 
Wow, never gave it a thought. As long as it walked,and talked, it was fine. I went and opened and closed a few of each out of my collection, and its like I said, As long as it walks and talks, Either way is fine.
 
I prefer them, but not enough to walk away from knives that are not made with them.
 
I like good, crisp half-stops. Like most here, fit, finish, and a good blade mean the most. However, I just really get a strong pleasure when opening and closing a knife that has clean half-stops. It just adds something more for me that makes the knife even more pleasurable.
 
I prefer half stops, but I like a round tang matched with a round bolster. So it is a compromise situation. I will forgo the half stops, for the aesthetically pleasing fit at the end of a round-bolstered knife.
There is no reason to leave them off a square bolstered knife, though! And a punch should have them regardless of the bolster shape, because it is too easy to fold one up in use, if you are not paying enough attention!
I wouldn't do that, of course;-)!
 
I also prefer a half stop. They make me think the maker/designer gave alot of thought to the knife.
 
I agree with Waynorth. A rounded bolster looks better with a rounded tang.

I think people have been told that half stops are better and a sign of quality and believe it. However, I think halfstops are useless from a functional point of view. I have no trouble closing a knife w/o them. With big knives and strong springs, halfstops makes them close even quicker. With my big English Jack, Queen ATS34, I'd prefer it w/o halfstops. Once you clear the half stop that sucker swings shut quickly and has nipped me more than once. That's not a problem with other large Queens with a rounded tang since a round tang does not seem to snap shut as early and quick as with half stops. For example, with my Vintage Knives Swell Center Moose, that has nailbreaker springs (if you're a wuss:) ) and a rounded tang, the strong spring keeps it from snapping until the end. If it had a halfstop, it'd snap shut earlier, harder and probably, for me, be more likely to knick me.
 
Knives with half-stops can be kind of annoying to open when the springs are strong and the tang is really squared off. Sometimes the blade will stop so abruptly in the half-open position that you have to take your fingers off it and do a sort of two-part opening.

I love that "CLUNK-CLANK" sound of closing a knife with half-stops though, especially if it has strong backsprings. :)
 
Another vote for "half stops preferred, but not required." For whatever reason, my preference is much stronger with multiple blade slipjoints, particularly two blade, single backspring patterns, than it is with single blade slipjoints.
 
cerulean said:
Knives with half-stops can be kind of annoying to open when the springs are strong and the tang is really squared off. Sometimes the blade will stop so abruptly in the half-open position that you have to take your fingers off it and do a sort of two-part opening.

I love that "CLUNK-CLANK" sound of closing a knife with half-stops though, especially if it has strong backsprings. :)
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Clunk-clank, nicely put Cerulean. Nothing like a solid snap that has an echo. Half-stops are cool, but a strong snap is more important to me. I prefer the apppearance of rounded bolsters.
 
Just for one reason I like the rounded tangs better, and that is getting em open one handed. My Case 2 blade congress has half stops. I do not have a problem getting the blade open, but it stops halfway and I have to use my other hand to finish the job. On my Queen copperhead it is rounded and I have no problems opening it one handed. Some times I just can not use my other hand to open the knife, so I like the rounded for this one reason. I tend to think it takes more work to make a rounded tang vs. a half stop, but I could be wrong.


John
 
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