Just finished a spine whack test on my Buck Select.

Hm, testing a locking mechanism by seeing if the blade closes when shock or pressure is applied to the spine.









Yup, seems like crazy talk to me :rolleyes:
 
A whacky group standing or sitting in a circle spine whacking...the first lock to fail has to eat the biscuit!
 
BladeScout said:
Uhhh, my post was meant purely as a humorous comment. The imperative word is 'whacky' (and the smily icon).
I mistankenly believed you to have a sense of humour. Sorry about that
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The "language barrier" comment wasn't about you, you big silly.
 
You erudite posters do realize that a liner locking knife when pressure is applied to the spine of the knife in a downward force that said liner lock when under pressure should move towards the opposite side as in the non locking side when said pressure is applied, correct!? ie) that means that the knife will lock open so it does not close on ones pinkies, as designed by Michael Walker the godfather of the liner lock. sheesh

That also means that if the liner unlocks the blade to where it wants to close that it is not designed correctly and therefore is defective right?
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
Considering the authority Sal Glesser has, I'd go with his opinion any day of the week before even start thinking why you would find such test to be a nonsens...
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So let me get this straight...lightly tapping the spine on the countertop with apx. 5lbs. of force as Sal suggests was meant to duplicate the force of an attacker swinging on you with a bat or 2x4?

Is that what you mean?

Is that what makes Sal an authority on the subject?
 
Lol, I actually just listened to the whole Benny hill theme while reading the latest posts! Perfect!
 
The bottom line is that any well-built locking knife can take a light, but purposeful whack without the lock releasing and without suffering any damage. The tap provides vibrations that will reveal lock weaknesses far better than simple hand pressure.

It should be obvious to all of us on this forum that some poorly built, worn or defective knives will fail this test, and that means they can fail during use, possibly at the most unfortunate time.

I can’t imagine any knifemaker who would argue that it’s perfectly normal for his knives to fail a light spine whack, such as the OP reported.
 
Spine whacking to test lock integrity is like using your head to test window integrity on your car during a crash...:eek:
 
I got whacked in the spine before.
It hurt.

To test locks, I apply steady pressure on the spine of the blade.
 
stabman said:
To test locks, I apply steady pressure on the spine of the blade.
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The tap is more revealing. I bought an AFCK user with a liner lock. Pretty used knife, but I was interested in the M2HS steel. I could see that the knife had a lot of wear, and the lock bar moved around quite a bit under steady pressure, but it held. However, with a very light whack, the lock failed easily. Benchmade agreed that the knife was defective and repaired it for me for free, even though I bought it secondhand.

When I got out of the Army, I took a tech job in the engineering department of my home town. One day, my boss, an engineer, was trying to pry a manhole cover free. He could not budge it. I tried, putting steady, heavy pressure on a pick handle, and the cover would not move.

Then two sewer workers stopped by, each with a big grin on their face. They had the same pick as we did. One guy put light pressure on the pick handle, much less pressure than we had used. The other guy tapped the manhole cover with a hammer. The cover popped right up. I was amused. My boss wasn't. But lesson learned.

Vibrations are more revealing than steady pressure, so the spine whack is a better test than steady pressure.
 
Twindog said:
Vibrations are more revealing than steady pressure, so the spine whack is a better test than steady pressure.
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Not always.
I had a REALLY cheap liner lock I was planning on giving away.
A few "whacks", no movement.
SLIGHT spine pressure, slipped right off.
And I do mean slight pressure.

I threw it in the river.
 
Twindog said:
God forbid you throw it away in the trash.
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I live a block from the Detroit River.
You can throw it in the trash anywhere in the country...why not take advantage of the local features? :)

Besides, chucking it away is more satisfying. :thumbup:
 
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