If I remove the "ball" (i.e. neuter!) from a liner lock...

[Savman]

If I remove the ball from the liner lock in a knive, does that knife come under the definition of a "gravity knife"? You know that if the ball is removed, that the blade can FLY out as fast as you can flick your wrist. I've seen manual knives become faster than automatics, especially if they have teflon bushings! The knife loses its safety mechanism when the ball is removed, so you have to be careful, of course. I wouldn't know about any of this from personal experience , just heard it from a friend. I want to know about the legal aspects, though.

 

[Jim March]

It could certainly be argued that way, if they can prove you did it deliberately. HinthintNUDGE. See also my dremel mods recipe for the Cols Steel Vaquero Grande.

In California there's a specific clause that says basically "thumbstuds=good, if present cop can go blow themselves". Penal Code 653k. If there's a SPRING in there that ain't gonna fly, but failing that...we're in decent shape because of a bust years ago where they tried to show a Spyderco was a "switchblade" because you could grab the blade and snap the grip open.

Bad cops, no pastries for a YEAR you idiots!

That led to specific "cop control bills" on knives. They've got a whole lot less latitude now.

Jim March

 

[Dan Hibiki]

Since I put a drop of oil on my mini-socom's pivot, I've fond that with the proper technique, you can flick it open with the detent intact. It's safer if you leave the detent. Just practice a bit, that's all

.

=- Craig (does this make it a gravity knife?)

 

[Yekim]

Man, I've been flicking open my knives for years. And except for times when the pivot pin is too tight from the factory, I haven't met a detent-held-closes knife that I couldn't flick open. Even my girlfriend can snap open her new Goddard lightweight. Ditching the detent on your linerlock sounds a little too dangerous becuse there will be nothing to hold the knife closed. A better bet would be to smooth the detent hole in the blade a little bit, making it easier to release. But I have yet to meet a linerlock that held closed so well that it needed such a treatment.


YeK

 

[Brian C]

Jim,
I'd like to hear about your "dremel mods recipe" for the Vaquero. I have a CS Gunsite that I'd like a whole lot better if it were easier to open. Thanks.

Brian

 

[A T Barr]

Removing the detent ball, will allow the Titanium lock to rub against the tang of your knife and scratch it.

A.T.

 

[Savman]

OK, OK, I'll admit it! I'm a Dremel surgeon myself. In another post someone said that they sharpened their knife so keenly, that the hair on his arm jumped off at the sight of his blade. Well, I have a mini-AFCK that I neutered as a project. I also drilled and tapped the non-pivot end of the knife to mount the clip there (as I prefer the clip on the non-pivot end). That knife is so fast now, that the blade leaps out of the handle as soon as the knife sees me reach for it! I didn't neuter my large AFCK because the weight of the blade and the correct type of motion deploys the blade fast. Loosening the pivot and lubricating it helps also. But, smaller blade knives don't have the blade weight to deploy their blades with a flick of the wrist sometimes. I just wanted to see if I could change that, and it worked. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, and you have to be careful and conscientious about the location of where the knife is clipped on your pocket. If the knife's clip is on the non-pivot end (tip-up), you have the knife clipped as far over to the right of your pocket as possible (for right-handers), then you shouldn't have a problem with the blade trying to de-bone you. I carried mine for a month as a test , and was never bitten by the blade. I was bored at that time...