How does the "MattLock" work?

L

lsstaipei

Joined
Jan 28, 2000
Messages
131
hi
Although my lockbacks and Axis lock folders serve me really well,I am
always excited about the newest locks.I had found the WHK ICON feature the MattLock and really curious about it,therefore I did some search,but I got nothing.Now I am wondering how the mechanism works.
Thank you for your help.
 
i'm really just talking out of my ass right now, but i think it might be related to a backspring with a different release, similar to a lockback. don't belive me though :D

- Pete
 
Well, usually that wiley old guy befriends the suspect and makes them think that he's not really on to them. Then, when they least suspect it, he pops the question that blows their cover and they end up in court against him. Ohh, wait, that's Matlock. Sorry. ;)
 
The Matlock has a prominent locking bar that mates with a notch in the blade tang.
 

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It is basically a mid-lock lock back with the lock bar returned by a spring and the release mechanism being similar to a clasp knife.
 
Originally posted by Andrew McLurkin
It is basically a mid-lock lock back with the lock bar returned by a spring and the release mechanism being similar to a clasp knife.
Click to expand...

Ok ... that helped... gets me part-way there.... thanks.

What is a clasp knife?
 
From a technical standpoint, much of the advise here was helpful, but realistically, it was Razor's visual aid that really brought it all home. I shudder to think what the long-term wear characteristics of such a lock might be...

:)

Professor.
 
I saw a cutaway/x-ray shot of it somewhere, maybe the most recent issue of Blade? The actual lock works like a traditional backlock, with, as Razor and Andrew said, a locking bar with a protrusion that catches in a notch on the back of the blade, just like a Buck 110. What's different is the spring - it's not a leaf spring seated under the locking bar, but something shaped a little like an Axis or Arc lock spring. It wraps around from the front of the bolsters, up over the pivot, and down to the top of the locking bar, kind of like an inverted U. I believe it's hidden inside the bolsters, and I don't know if there is one on each side or not. It's released by pulling the thumbstuds on the handle toward the spine of the knife. The most innovative part, I gather, is how it's sprung.
 
Based on the Protos I handled at the Blade Show and the fact that this knife is LONG overdue, my opinion is that it DOESN'T work.

In theory, it is like a lockback, but much shorter in length and you release it via abidexterous thumb studs that pull the locking bar back, as opposed to pushing down on the opposite end.

In reality, they have had a really hard time getting it to work. The problem I saw when I handled it is that you are actually torqing the bar when you try to use a thubm release on one side or the other. A traditional backlock gets pressure right down the center when you push on it. With the MattLock, the pressure is coming from an angle, thus torqing the lock and making it stick.

Good Idea sorta, but I think it's going to be a miss.
 
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