Is this amount of lockup safe?

B

BryonC

Joined
Dec 26, 2013
Messages
12
Hi -- This is my first post. Today I received a Pohan Leu Bluephin. It is new, purchased from Arizona Custom. It is a beautiful knife with wonderful craftsmanship. I am, however, concerned about the small amount of lockup. This is what it looks like...


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Looking on BladeForums, I found a two pictures of OTHER PL Bluephins, both of which appear to have considerably more lockup. You can see them here...




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There is no blade play in my knife, but I'm concerned that the small amount of lockup might be unsafe. Again, my intent is not to impugn Pohan or his work. I love the knife and want to keep it. I just want to make sure that it's safe.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Bryon
 
Do you intend to do any batoning or spine whacking? No? Excellent, that knife is in perfect condition for use, welcome to the forums by the way. :)

Kirby
 
9blades said:
Do you intend to do any batoning or spine whacking? No? Excellent, that knife is in perfect condition for use, welcome to the forums by the way. :)

Kirby
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Why even get a locking knife if the lock doesn't work as anything but a glorified slip joint?
 
fzla226 said:
Why even get a locking knife if the lock doesn't work as anything but a glorified slip joint?
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True, but in the normal corse of things your aren't cutting with the spine. I know that sounds sarcastic, and I apologize in advance if you take any offense, that isn't my intent.

Edit: let me try that again, while you're right, after that knife gets opened a couple hundred times the lock will probably wear in a bit. Also, I don't own one, for all I know you might be able to baton through a tree with that knife without the lock slipping, I should have stated I don't own one and the fact that I was only making an educated guess.
 
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If I were you I would contact him, politely express your concern and see what he has to say. IMO any good custom knife maker should be willing to make their customer happy, within reason, and for me this is completely within reason.
 
Thank you for the replies and thank you for welcoming me.

I am not a collector. I use the knives I own, sometimes vigorously.

I have no particular expertise with knives, though I own some well built ones from folks like Chris Reeve, etc.. I simply have not owned a knife with this early of a lockup. Hence my concern, which perhaps is needless.

The suggestion to contact Pohan is a good one. I will do that.

Thanks to all,
Bryon
 
That's perfectly fine. My bluephin actually started at about that point but it wore in to about 50% lockup and has stayed there. Normal framelock behavior.
 
I have gotten several frame locks with a lockup that early. In all but one case after some use they moved closer to 50% and stayed there. If you are going to use it see if it will break in. The one knife that I have with an early lock in no way feels unsafe, but I treat my knives with care and cut in the correct direction lol

By the way- welcome!
 
I wouldn't worry I am sure it will wear in with use, I would love if every knife came with lockup like that. By the way is Bryon your first name spelling? if so mine too, pretty rare spelling as far as my experience. Nice knife by the way.
 
Thanks to everybody for your reassurance. Good to know the lockup will increase as I use the knife.

thebrain -- Yes, my first name is spelled "Bryon." I've never met anyone with the same spelling before. To tell you the truth, it's a pain in the a**, because half the people who see it think my name is Byron. I wish my folks had given me the conventional spelling, but c'est la vie.
 
Oh, and one other thing you guys might be able to help with... There is discoloration on the jimping of the blade, which looks like this...


IMAG0143.jpg



Forgive the rookie question, but what is that?

Bryon
 
9blades said:
True, but in the normal corse of things your aren't cutting with the spine. I know that sounds sarcastic, and I apologize in advance if you take any offense, that isn't my intent.

Edit: let me try that again, while you're right, after that knife gets opened a couple hundred times the lock will probably wear in a bit. Also, I don't own one, for all I know you might be able to baton through a tree with that knife without the lock slipping, I should have stated I don't own one and the fact that I was only making an educated guess.
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If you use a folder the way a folder is intended to use, you will be fine. It should wear in like 9blade said.
 
perfect combo of all the good advice here: use it awhile, and if lock-up still isn't to your liking, contact the maker and see what can be done. If possible, you could try to contact whomever posted the pics of the better locking knives and ask if the lock-up was more similar to yours when the knives were brand new.
 
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jobasha11 said:
Early lockup is better than late lockup.
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9blades said:
For a collector yes, but for a user late lock up is safer.
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If it doesn't wear in quickly, that looks like a quick trip to the emergency room unless the knife is a safe queen.

OP, I would cycle it some without using it and see if it wears in. If it doesn't, it looks very questionable in terms of safety. Talking to the maker might be a very good idea.
 
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