Hit or Miss Lock-Up

B

Belly

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Joined
May 21, 2000
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206
Hi everyone. This is my first post at Blade Forums, so please bear with me. Is anyone out there extremely picky about the lock-up in there Spyderco, Benchmade, and Microtech knives? I find that about half of the knives from each company (not so much Microtech) have what I would consider poor lock-up, regardless of whether it is a liner lock or an Axis lock. How much inspection of an expensive knife do you feel is necessary? How picky are you?
 
Welcome to the forums.
What exactly do you consider a poor lockup? No folding knife will ever be as solid as a fixed blade. And while some locking mechanisms are stronger than others they will all break under the right amount of stress, or wear over time. As long as there is good fit and finish to the knife, open and closed, and the lock is as solid as can be expected from a folder with extremely minimal or no blade play in any direction, I wouldn't consider it to be a poor lockeup. I've never heard of any one having much trouble with spyderco , benchmade, or michrotech in terms of quality or lockup. If your knives don't seem to be within reasonable tolerances you might want to contact customer service from whatever company made it.

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We got a five dollar fine for whining
We tell you before you come in
So if it ain't on your mind to have a good time
Y'all come back and see us again.- Chris LeDoux

[This message has been edited by Matt Shade (edited 05-21-2000).]
 
It depends on what you consider poor lockup. Its hard to get perfection in a linerlock and for that matter quite a few lockbacks have vertical play. Its best to buy from a shop so you can try them out, but its more expensive also.

If there is no vertical play and the liner has some room to right for play take up from future wear than its OK. Better qualify that some the liner should be fully on the tang.

I have not seen any problems personally with the Axis type lock from Benchmade but I only have two though the ones I have tried at the shop were all OK. As for the other types I think 50% overstates the problem though the numbers are high. I have been asking Internet Sellers to check the lockup before shipping. Most wont. Some say they will but don't and some do.

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Roger Blake
 
Welcome to the forums. That's certainly an interesting post. I've seen quite a few poor liner locks (I won't buy a Camillus CUDA folder until they fix that, despite the fun opening mechanism), but I've never handled an Axis lock that had poor lockup. Of course, a fixed blade will be more solid, but I like to call my BM730 a 'folding fixed-blade,' because it's the closest that I've ever seen a folder come to being as solid as a fixed-blade. One thing with the Axis lock, it is generally so smooth that you don't feel it engage, until you get very used to the knife. After a while, you can feel the tiny 'click' as the Axis bar slides into place, but for the first week or so, I would always glance down at my 705 (first Axis lock I owned) to see if it really locked, but it engaged every time.

I'd certainly be interested in more details about your experience with these AXis locks.

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
It would be interesting to hear you elaborate on what you consider "poor lockup". Speaking generally, the liner lock format in general is plagued with unreliability. Liner locks are relatively easy to make, but difficult to make well. Some companies and makers are much better than others, however. Of the specific companies you mentioned, I've heard about many more liner lock problems on Microtech than on Spyderco or Benchmade.

A number of folks -- myself included -- just don't buy liner locks anymore. Although to some extent, even I think that's a bit of an overreaction -- given a random liner lock from one of the manufacturers who does a good job on them, like Spyderco, if the lock passed the initial tests, it's likely okay.

Joe
 
Basically what I mean concerning "poor lock-up" is vertical play. Before purchasing the knife, ( for this example I will refer to the new Benchmade "Ares" )I pushed the blade open, no "flicking", then check for vertical play. I hold the handle in the left hand, then the blade tip in the right hand. Then I try to close it. I frequently (yes, maybe 50% is exaggerated) find there is some degree of looseness. Even a REKAT Carnivore rolling lock was loose on two of three tested knives. Of course I bought the sloid one, but I have gotten "stung" earlier in my knife purchasing years. Now, I frequently come home from the knife store empty handed and dejected.
 
Well, if you have vertical play in an Axis lock, send it back. There was just a post on this topic over on Benchmade's forum, and they said it was certainly defective, since the Axis mechanism should specifically account for play (the bar should be less than halfway to the 'locked' end of the slot when the knife is new). The tang of the blade was probably ground wrong, so the bar engages on the corner betweem the rounded surface and the sloped surface, not on the sloped surface alone, like it should. Just a guess, since I haven't seen the knife in question.

Just for reference, the Axis lock should be nearly unaffected by flicking, and mine certainly show that, seeing as I almost never even touch the thumbstuds.

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
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