Have you ever worn out a liner lock on a high end knife ?

chipdouglas said:
Well, I have to agree he has reasons to be peeved. However, I'll say this : overall email communication sucks--we can't see non-verbal which would have told him how nice I'm to deal with.

What brand do you own the most knives from ?
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currently spyderco, I own a military, a paramilitary and a gayle bradley. if you go and add up historically, I have owned more benchmades than anything else but Im not such a big fan of them anymore and currently own one.

going forward I dont see myself buying many of either as I am shifting my focus to higher end knives. not trying to sound snobbish, rather just being honest. Emersons however, I see being a different case.
 
I will not buy anymore emersons until they change to a SS lock or double the thickness of the current Ti lock. I have two EKI's with busted locks that need to go back for the second time for the same reason making it the 3rd lock to be in these knives. For me emersons last about 8 months of regular use, in this time I have experienced like clock work, sticky locks, liner slippage, and lock failure. This is not acceptable IMO for any $200 knife, simple changes could correct all the problems but they choose to keep fixing knives instead.

Emersons are great knives but my spyderco liners have not moved and I don't expect them to.....and yes I flick open all my knives, been doing it that way for 15 years and emerson knives were the only ones to fail.
 
chipdouglas said:
ddr ?
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Darrel Ralph knives, commonly called DDR. He makes customs as well as high end non-customs. http://www.darrelralph.com/cs/htm_gunhammer_b.html He's also a member of these forums.

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knifenut1013 said:
I will not buy anymore emersons until they change to a SS lock or double the thickness of the current Ti lock. I have two EKI's with busted locks that need to go back for the second time for the same reason making it the 3rd lock to be in these knives. For me emersons last about 8 months of regular use, in this time I have experienced like clock work, sticky locks, liner slippage, and lock failure. This is not acceptable IMO for any $200 knife, simple changes could correct all the problems but they choose to keep fixing knives instead.

Emersons are great knives but my spyderco liners have not moved and I don't expect them to.....and yes I flick open all my knives, been doing it that way for 15 years and emerson knives were the only ones to fail.
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I too own mostly Spyderco's, and yes I love them a heck of a lot. Flawless knives and very good quality for the price point. Nothing to complain about.

I'm glad to hear about your experience with Emerson knives. I think I'll give it second thought before I buy any more until they change.
 
I'm not going to bash Ernie Emerson. The OP asked about liners failing, particularly Spyderco and Emersons. I, unfortunately, have an Emerson whose liner lock fails, even after the maker has "fixed it". I've heard nothing but good things about Spyderco liner locks. FWIW, these days I'm getting away from liners and have a renewed interest in lockbacks.
 
I personally have no experience with this, but a friend of mine has an Emerson Karambit. The liner lock has shifted quite a bit after only about 2 years of light/moderate edc use.
 
What does it mean when a liner lock fails? It will no longer hold the blade open?

I ask because most modern liner/frame locks seems designed to wedge against the blade. The wedge tension is good to keep the blade from wobbling on the pivot axis. But it does not necessarily keep the blade open securely. Some old school linerlocks don't wedge at all, and I'd be hard pressed to see how they'd fail except under extreme conditions. Unless failure is judged by the ability to wedge the blade.
 
Liner lock failure can be defined as, lock slippage, exceeding 80% of lock face, total failure is when the knife will close. I have only ever seen one total failure and that was with a kershaw but the lock was bad from the factory.
 
I have one larger handmade knife with a TI liner lock. I generally do not like liner locks on bigger knives. I would prefer Axis, Lockback or Ball Bearing lock. The knife in question wore out the TI pretty fast and seems to have nested at about 60% lockup. It is a 1mm TI lock.

The nice thing about buying something higher end is that it usually goes hand and hand with better customer service. The maker told me that if I am unhappy with how the lock operates I should send it to him and he will change it to a thicker TI lock for me without any charge.

The blade still locks up solid without any play. If I use it hard it tends to move to 80% lockup operating much like my CRK framelock. I test my liner knives like STR states in an old thread regularly. By holding the knife in both hands (ie one hand holds the blade and other one the handle). Keeping your fingers out of the way apply force to the spine. If the liner slips under pressure it is becoming a danger to operate.

Found the picture!
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I guess that I have had better luck, because I have never had a single problem with any of my Emersons. They lock solid and true, just like the Spydies.
 
I have a left handed military I'v only had for about 8 weeks and noticed the lock moves about 1/16th of an inch toward disengagement and squeeks on top of that.... I'm in the process of contacting waranty and repair at Spyderco but can't seem to catch them in the office and left messages to no avail.....
 
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