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Thanks for posting those, hardheart. They were informative for a folder rookie like me.
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How Tough are the Tri-Ad Lock Knives Compared to the Usual Suspects?
- Thread starter OrangeJoe
- Start date
Thanks for posting those, hardheart. They were informative for a folder rookie like me.
jackdaripper
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after putting a lot of hard use on CS rajah ii there is no doubt in my mind that the TRI AD is THE strongest locking mech. of today.
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I hope you keep us posted with the progress of your design, Bob. I know you are trying to target a $100 price point or less, but in all honesty, with a good blade steel I would go up to $200 in a blink. Your design has become my 'Grail' knife. :thumbup:
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I will keep you posted, A.P.F..
I was trying for a target of around $100 (just my thought), but in all honesty I won't be the one to set the price point — Becker/KA-BAR will do that.
As far as the steel, I designed it with 440c in mind, simply because it's a good, economical, easy steel to work, despite having been around forever. With a good heat treat, it's still a good steel — not sexy, but still good. Other steels have been suggested, though, and I'm not at all opposed to them. Again, KA-BAR would be the one to actually choose the steel, based on their manufacturing requirements and the price point.
A number of people really want this knife to come to fruition, and they've said some nice things about it, but I think your comment about it becoming your "Grail" knife is about the nicest one yet.
I we can get this thing into production, I'll try not to let you down.
ETA: There was a thread started over on the Becker forum by people wanting this knife. If you want to drop in and add your name and comments, it may help Ethan Becker decide to put it into production. The thread is at: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=735207
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Ankerson
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440C should be fine as long as it's done correctly, that is very important. :thumbup:
It will be interesting to see what they end up doing with it and what steel it is etc.
Really want to check out the Tri-Ad lock, but can't find a Cold Steel design that I would like to buy to EDC.
I hope they will come up with more civil-looking 3" with no coating and Tri-Ad. Lawman is close, but want it smaller and no coating. And mini lawman is just ugly.
I understand that CS has a niche with their huge 4++" knives, but I think now they have a good licensed lock that no one else offers, they really should offer different designs.
If they won't do it, Chinese companies will. Tri-ad is very easy to copy.
I hope they will come up with more civil-looking 3" with no coating and Tri-Ad. Lawman is close, but want it smaller and no coating. And mini lawman is just ugly.
I understand that CS has a niche with their huge 4++" knives, but I think now they have a good licensed lock that no one else offers, they really should offer different designs.
If they won't do it, Chinese companies will. Tri-ad is very easy to copy.
Ankerson
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I think they are coming out with bead blasted blades on a number of their folders for 2011. The American Lawman is one of them on the list.
I do agree they need to come out with some different designs also.
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Have you thought of a lockback with a blade stop pin.
As long as the lockbar doesn't touch the blade stop pin, you should be free to optimize the blade/lockbar engagement.
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Actually, this thread got me thinking about that very thing. A leetle more engineerin' just might be in order.
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I'm working on determining how to make the lock better right now, which involves researching things like that. Fixed blades were a lot easier, but this folder is turning into a lot of fun.
BTW, hardheart, did you ever do anything more with that Kershaw Whiplash thing?
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Not yet, I have the force gauge, just need to figure out where to mount the blade. I don't have a heavy work table here, and the one my dad did have is about a thousand pounds and laying upside down in a field 10 miles away 
Used to work off that when I was a kid, but it's been out to pasture for almost 20 years.
Used to work off that when I was a kid, but it's been out to pasture for almost 20 years.
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Thanks, Steve. I designed this one as stainless only because of the internal mechanism. People just aren't as assiduous as we might like them to be when it come to cleaning and oiling something like this. I would love to use 1095 CroVan, which is my favorite carbon for something like this. IMHO nobody does 1095 as well as KA-BAR.
The knife, as designed, is really simple to take apart for cleaning and oiling, then reassembly, but I have the feeling that people don't like to have to do that with a folder. KA-BAR may, for various reasons, want to do it in 1095, and I'd be happy with that.
And yeah, it will be a really tough folder. After all, you can't make a folder that's a first cousin to a BK-2, and not make it tough.
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Not yet, I have the force gauge, just need to figure out where to mount the blade. I don't have a heavy work table here, and the one my dad did have is about a thousand pounds and laying upside down in a field 10 miles away
I was just curious. No, I don't think a 1,000 pound bench that's been lying in a field for twenty years is going to help you much at all.
The reason I asked is that I ran across the folder of material on that thing the other day, and wondered if anything more had been done.
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A readily available lock that can be strong is the plunger lock you see on most automatics and a few manuals.
As to a modified lockback, I think playing with the blade pivot shape/size may be needed.
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This may have already been mentioned(didn't want to read all 5 pages) so I'll keep it short(ish).
The hanging weight test means NOTHING!
...Well nothing without more information
The strength of a lock/folding knife is a measure of TORQUE or rotating force on the pivot point. Torque is measured by force times the distance from the pivot point. So 500 pounds placed a half inch from the pivot point is 20.83foot-pounds of Torque(1/24 of a foot X 500 pounds), while 25 pounds placed 12 inches from the pivot point is 25 foot-pounds of torque... You get the point, distance is just as big a deal as the actual force. Just like putting a pipe on a ratchet to get the lug nuts off of a wheel, putting weight further out multiplies the force put at the pivot point.
The hanging weight test means NOTHING!
...Well nothing without more information
The strength of a lock/folding knife is a measure of TORQUE or rotating force on the pivot point. Torque is measured by force times the distance from the pivot point. So 500 pounds placed a half inch from the pivot point is 20.83foot-pounds of Torque(1/24 of a foot X 500 pounds), while 25 pounds placed 12 inches from the pivot point is 25 foot-pounds of torque... You get the point, distance is just as big a deal as the actual force. Just like putting a pipe on a ratchet to get the lug nuts off of a wheel, putting weight further out multiplies the force put at the pivot point.
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Let me say this.... My 6-month old American Lawman has been used hard and it's still solid in all respects. The lockup is as tight as the day I received it (new). There is no comparison to my Emerson CQC14 whose lock started failing after about a month of ownership, then again after receiving it back from Emerson. That knife never received anywhere near the amount of use my American Lawman has seen. I will never buy another Emerson knife again. I will buy another Cold Steel knife. A Voyager, actually.
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Don't knock Emerson too quickly. Send your 14 to Reese Weiland for a framelock conversion.