I think it is time spyderco did something about this locking system.

B

baliodude

Joined
Apr 18, 2009
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I got a spyderco white endura. What a beautiful knife. It was so beautiful , I actually sleep with it :D

The problem is that when I started making a notch in a wooden stick I noticed movement in the blade up and down. It is so annoying because You cant do anything about this type of blade play. This got me to try my other spydercos.

All my spydercos have vertical blade play. I put the blade on the table as if I am push cutting something and I detect blade play. All of them, police3, carbon fiber stretch, cali3, ladybug, endura, and deleca.

On the other hand non of my benchmades have any play. There was some side to side play in my kulgara but it was easily fixed.

I think it is time spyderco did something about this locking system.
 
I mentioned spyderco for 2 reasons:
1- I have spydercos
2- The company is so innovative, it might be the only company that can solve this lockback problem.
 
Is it bladeplay from the lockback bending or play that is very easy to detect with your hands?
 
Str can give more input or I can try to find an old thread about this. All the knives you mentioned if I am correct are lockbacks. Vertical play in lockbacks such as spydercos have a little are quite normal and this does not make the lock less trustworthy. In some tests it was found that a lockback with slight play held up better than that of a lockback without play. Even some custom knife makers make lockbacks with slight play.

SO IMO they should not fix this.
 
it's one o fthe reasons i don't buy many spydercos, it really gets on my nerves when you pay for a knife which may be £80 and then there's blade play, if that's inherent in the locking mechanism then they should use different locks
 
hmmm.. I'm in my work van, so only what's in my carry bag is available to me to test

CF/zdp caly3: Not one speck of any movement, side to side or vertical
3 year old D4w: none
fairly new yellow tasman salt se: the SLIGHTest of vertical, and looking I can see the entire lock assembly just barely moving. I have cut lots of stuff with this and not noticed at all, so it's definitely not anything to worry about on that one.

I've never had any major or really even noticable blade play issues, other than some side to side with a para, that was quickly fixed, with any of my spydercos, and I have had a lot. I don't get bothered by a little play in the blade, it's life sometimes. If it was REALLY bad, I'd definitely get a hold of Spyderco W&R :)
 
Roger999 said:
Is it bladeplay from the lockback bending or play that is very easy to detect with your hands?
Click to expand...

It is not easy to detect. I must put some pressure on the knife handle and on the table. I can even hear it clicking when I push rapidly , wiggling and clicking.
 
I am not sure it is actually blade play...... its as if the whole lock bar is moving.....

Any thoughts?
 
Stop trying to feel it.:p
I don't feel any in my lock-back Spydercos, besides a Pacific Salt I use a lot and it's a slight pull back that has gotten less since I stabbed it into trees hard a few times.
I had a Buck 110 I used the same way as the Salt and it got very loose, very fast. It still worked and the lock held.
The best knives I've used that seem to hold up to hard use and stay tight as new have been frame-locks.
 
afaik, Spyderco is the only company to say that the lockback is supposed to have blade movement, that it is actually engineered into the design for reliability. yet, my other lockbacks never had as much noticeable play, and none of them failed. I really don't know why the knives are like this.
 
If you want a cheaper knife that I've used hard and still is tight as new try the Kershaw Storm. It's metal handles and thick frame-lock, have been very impressive for the price. (36.00 or so)
1zgysco.jpg
 
Just tested my
- CS American Lawman (Tri-ad Lock) - no play at all.
- Spyderco Persian - no play at all
- Spyderco Endura - vertical play.
 
My Endura 4 wave and Chinook 1 also have vertical blade play. When I cut an onject placed on a tablw, I can feel the blade moves when I apply a little pressure. I was told that it was to be expected with Chinook 1, and it happened when I bought Endura 4 with wave. Even though there is a little vertical blade play, it's very minimal that it won't affect their overall performance. Still lock up good, and the Endura is still my favorite EDC. I own a pretty large collection of EDCs including ZT0200, 0301, and many more that are more expensive, but the Endura still is my favorite EDC.
 
Nathan Gould said:
it's one o fthe reasons i don't buy many spydercos, it really gets on my nerves when you pay for a knife which may be £80 and then there's blade play, if that's inherent in the locking mechanism then they should use different locks
Click to expand...

Agreed 100%
I am glad I read this thread, won't be buying any lock backs or Spyderco's.
I have several $20-30 knives without blade play, Spyderco's are at least twice that price.
 
Adding a blade stop pin to the traditional lockback - an idea I asked about on this forum years ago - can be used to eliminate such blade movement issues.

It allows the lockback to perform one function, locking, instead of two functions, locking and blade stop.
 
So you really think Spyderco lockbacks don't cost enough already? The play you are referring to is caused by the clearance between the pivot pins and the pivot holes in the blade and lockbar. Yes, the clearances can be reduced, probably to the point you would think they had been eliminated. It shouldn't add more than fifty to a hundred dollars to the cost of the knife to machine everything to those tolerances and assemble the parts that are fitted that closely into a completed knife. That would only run the street price up around Sebenza level.

Why do you think Sebenzas cost so much? Premium materials and precision machining.Why doesn't Chris Reeve make lockbacks? Maybe it's because they would cost twice as much as a framelock to build to his standards.
Spyderco uses materials that are top of the line, but they leave the manufacturing tolerances wide enough to keep their knives at a point where us poor working schmucks can afford them.
 
Spydercos don't have blade play anymore so than any other knife costing the same money and if you want to try to find some blade play, by any means possible in a folder you are gonna get your wish.
He's talking about a liner-less knife made as lightly as possible and you can feel a tiny bit of lock movement, if you hold the end of the handle in one hand and pull the blade back as hard as you can with the other hand.
You can take about any folder apply enough force to it's blade and manage to feel some flex. You want a knife with no blade play ever get a fixed blade. (then it will just snap with enough force, so then step up to a pry bar)
I don't feel any blade play on hardly any of my knives. I sure don't try to force them into showing it by any means I can. In fact if I use one and it holds up and feels solid over time, I'm happy after all it's a piece of metal with a pivot and a locking device. If I don't feel comfortable with using it for a really heavy task, I'll choose a fixed blade.
 
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