If you do not own a Leafstorm, do not read

Hear me out, I am not overloading this knife. If I am overdoing this, please tell me. If I want to cut a big rope (for example)_ and I am using alot of pressure, what do I have to say, ohhhhh, I am sorry, this (250 Dollar knife) can not do that without risking the lockup?? Do not tell me I am the only with this issue?? Someone has the same problem? c ,mon. Alittle pressure and the lockup is gone. PLEASE LET ME KNOW I AM NOT ALONE WITH THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
if you are indeed blameless here, and you did not in fact tinker with the stop pin on the knife whose lockup began to fail, then your experience could certainly be a harbinger of a major design flaw in the Leafstorm. any folding knife (locking or not) should be able to sustain a vigorous push cut w/o then ceasing to function properly.

i'm looking forward to seeing if others share your observations.
 
I am no superman or Hulk but a knife at this price should take everything, excuse me. Just apply some hard pressure and the lockup is gone??
Should take years of use getting to a 80/90% lockup???? C; mon. If there is no other way or people who will back me up I am going to Sall, wondering what he has to say. First problem with Spyderco and the last. Never had an issue with Spyderco and now I am telling something and people start talking, you should not use your knife so hard bla,bla,bla.
Give me a break, they were build to do that. 250 Dollars to put it in a cabine?? What would Kevin Wilking say?? Do not stress the lockup because it is not good for the lockup? Maybe a Sebbie would be better after all?? I just want to know a detail about my leaffie, that is all, so please let me know if you have experienced the same problem that I have.







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marcengels said:
Should take years of use getting to a 80/90% lockup???? C; mon. If there is no other way or people who will back me up I am going to Sall, wondering what he has to say.
Click to expand...

Did you read my post?

Of the 4 Leafstorms that have passed through member 65535 and my hands, one of them had the same faulty lockup like yours. The lockbar could be fully compressed to 100% engagement.
 
That's too bad about your Leafstorm, but what exactly were you cutting?

The Leafstorm in my view doesn't seem like an ideal knife to use for heavy-duty cutting but rather something to peel an apple, open a package, stuff like that. It's more suited as an office EDC than something to use for home improvement jobs like cutting carpet - I personally would use something a little more practical like an Endura or a Military for stuff like that.

Other than possibly contacting Spyderco's customer service with the problem I don't know what other advice I, or anyone else here could give.
 
marcengels said:
Today I used my Leafstorm to cut something. I used alot of power, alot. I used my fist, so no thumb on top of the knife. After doing that, the lockup changed dramatically. At first the lockup was about 40/50% and after my heavy use it went to 80/90% lockup. What happened??? I heard therLeafstorm has a adjustable lockup but no success. I tried to adjust it but after using alot of force again the lockup was again 80/90%????

Is there anyone who tried this? If you own one, please try and let me know.
Do not know what to do now.

By the way, I own 2 Leafstorms and they both act like this after using some force.
Click to expand...

Okay, I'm a little confused here. You've stated that you used a lot of power, alot. This sounds to me like you used a lot of pressure holding the knife in a fist grip. Could have got bungled up just from that. Then you tried to adjust it to no avail. I would contact Spyderco customer service and go from there.
 
Well like 5.56 said, I've had a fair few Leafs, 3 total, plus I've handled his.

Of the 4 Leafs, only has has really impressed me with fit and finish. It locks up perfectly, and looks great.

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That is IMO the perfect Leafstorm. Btw, the lock does not slide over with any decent amount of pressure, it is tight where it is.

This is a Leafstorm that came off e-bay about a week ago. Like the first Leaf that came into my hands it has a lockup like described by the OP.

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The first picture is with the lock just nestled in it's spot after a gently slow opening being extra slow right as it clicks in. The second picture is after light pressure was applied the the blade (about what you would do cutting cheese) and the lock was lightly pressed by the tips of my fingers the way I would hold a knife when I was cutting something. (like cheese)

You can see it presses over fairly far relative to the starting position, you'll also notice that it appears as if the right top corner of the lock bar is slightly pushed outwards into a lip, I have noticed that as long as I have owned the knife, it has a tight lockup that is not very smooth. It also exhibits the titanium on sanded S30V sound when the lockbar scrapes across the lock face when pressure is applied to the lock or to the blade. As when gripping or cutting.

The first Leaf I owned had less lockup than the second one pictured, it locked up roughly 10-20% of the lock bar, not even 10% of the lock face was engaged. It also easily slid over with the metallic scraping sound when the blade was pressed or the lock face was pushed lightly.

Here is another little caveat on the eBay Leaf you see in the second picture.

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You can see part of the screw is sheared off the edge of the countersunk type head.

This may be a test of Spyderco CS sometime soon.
 
I don't know exactly what it is, some frame/liner locks (though I don't much care for the latter) lock up and the lock bar will stay in its spot, unless you crush the lock bar it will not engage more unless it starts to wear in more.

Of the better Leaf I own and of my Strider SnG, they both experience the same thing, the lock engages when open to 100% lock bar engagement (roughly 50% lock face engagement) and don't push over. I feel that is a well executed design, and feel that is how they should operate.

Like the OP I have had 2 Leafs that acted like his, the lock bar would slide against the lock face and engage more, this wears the lock bar out more, and makes it quite hard to disengage, the lock isn't failing but it isn't performing properly, it's still very safe.

I too am disappointed that the knife acts the way it does. In some cases where there is little lock engagement to begin with the lock bar wears in nicely and acts like my 2 good frame locks, in others it never does.

Hope that helps.
 
Ok, now I'm hearing a slight change in terminology.
My original understanding was that Marcengles Leafstorm started with the lockbar engaging halfway across the tang, and now almost hits the G-10 handle scale.
By 65535's definition of 100% lockup, Marcengles Leafstorm hasn't even fully engaged the blade tang, and is in fact performing exactly as a Reeve Integral Lock should.
In which case there is no problem, and we can all rest assured that the Leafstorm is a heavy duty knife, more than capable of handling hard use.

I think pics of the "faulty" knife would be helpful here.
 
This thread has gone off in too many directions to critique the Leafstorm lock up.

marcengels: Did you disassemble 2nd LS and alter lock up ? When you call Sal for help be sure to tell him you messed up your LS by taking it apart without knowing what you were doing.

Is the LS your first frame lock ? When you make a tight fist and then force blade back with EXCESS pressure you will spring the whole assembly and lock bar will move over. It will stick when you close the knife and return to normal.

65535 and others: I think we have to define what xx% means. On the LS I consider perfect lock up when outside edge of lock bar is lined up with blade edge. Is that 50% or 100%....too many different ways of expressing measurement. When the lock bar slides over under pressure it means the interface has not worn in (it will)

Of the two LS I have had both needed break in to achieve perfect lock up. Lock bar can not move further as it is against tight radius on blade tang as a well designed and built frame lock should be. IMO the Striders have a larger radius on the tang and that is why they always stick and you need the pencil treatment.

I don't believe the Leafstorm's lock up reputation shoud be questioned by some one who messes up his knife by taking it apart and doesn't understand how a frame lock works and looks for support on conflicting threads.
 
I read al the comments you guys wrote but I am not happy about it. Some of you know what I am talking about and thank you for the pictures. As you can see, the liner slides to the right (to the G-10 scale) and mine is touching the G-10 scale. Not so good. It is going to develop bladeplay pretty soon.

This problem could easily be solved by replacing the bladestop by a slightly bigger one. Costs would be 10 cents or so and the Leafstorm would then be a heavy duty knife if needed. Perfect design and beautifull what it's supposed to be. Then it would be my EDC forever. Is there a possibillity to get a bigger bladestop? Anyone who could help me with that? Or contact Mr. Sal Glesser for me and explain the situation? Someone with a bit of influence may be? I hope this is going to work and I am sure it will, that would show how this forum is there for everyone and help eachother....................thanks in advance...........
 
Wally, sorry I writing my last post and I just received yours. My second Leafstorm which I received yesterday had the same problem as the first. To be honest, I did not mess with the one I received yesterday, came out of the box and the lockup was about 40%. In other words perfect. But after using some pressure, which every knife could take, evben my Spin and Crickett, the lockup moved to 80 or 90%. If i then close the knife and open it again, lockup will be again 80/90%. And believe me, even the Spin or Crickett can take that pressure. The lockbar is now touching the G-10 scale. I know how a linerlock works and I am not destroying my knife by taking it apart. What harm can be done by taking it apart?? It is a simple desing and should work even if you take it apart a 100 times. My suggesgtion would be a bigger bladestop as I wrote before and this knife could even compete with a Sebbie, I am sure.........
Do you understand what I mean by all this? I hope this can be solved and that Spyderco will be my brand forever, that's the way it should be (I sincerely hope)................

By the way, maybe I was not 100% clear, if the lockup is 40% in the beginning and I use pressure, it is natural that the lockbar would go to a 80% or so. If you would then close the knife and lockup would be 40% like in the beginning, there would be no problem, perfectly understandable. I know how it works. But lockup does not go back to 40% but 80/90%. That is the problem. I looks like something is shifting, I was thinking the bladestop or so, do not know for sure.
 
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I have a way cheaper frame-lock the Kershaw Storm. It's got steel handles on both sides. If you use it with a really hard twisting motion, the lock-bar will move way over, but it doesn't stay that way when you close and reopen it.
 
You are correct this forum is for help.

You say the lock bar is touching the G10.....is that the one you messed up or the new one you just got...you also said they both were the same.

I've tried to help you on both threads but am having difficulty sorting out the misinformation from the BS. Your asking for a larger blade stop says it all.

You appear to be on a crusade to besmirch the Leafstorm and especially Spyderco.

I have to ask an embarrassing question..... Is this the first folding knife you have ever owned ?
 
Wally, please read my post from 06.37 hours. I own 7 Spydies, my first one I bought in 1993 or so. What do you mean with: besmirch, I do not know that word.
 
It sounds to me like at least some Leafstorms out there in the wild have issues. I don't see why everyone is so quick to blame marcengles. 65535 and 5.56 mention seeing similar issues on other, new Leafstorms. I hope this comes to Sal's attention so Spyderco can attend to this.
 
The "problem" has been made public. Enough is enough. Carrot is correct; Sal will take care of this matter.
 
I'd like to make it clear that I was perfectly happy with my Leafstorm. Yes some of them out there will have issues. But to be honest, I definitely plan on owning another one someday and possibly even a Kevin Wilkins original.
 
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