Ken Onion speed safe, what makes it tick?

K

kirko

Joined
Dec 4, 2004
Messages
497
i LOVE my Ken Onion blackout... Cant say enough about it. I also cant stop playing with it. I use it everytime i can to cut something, wether it be rope or cardboard. My question is, im afraid thats its gona wear out, like one of my older knives that had soe sort of 'spring' in it to open it. Is the design of the speed safe dependant on a spring that is going to wear out eventually like m other knife? how does the speed safe actually work? What do you guys think about it? i know a lot of questions, but in new to the knife world... any help would be much appreciated.
 
The springs are known to brake after a few years. Just call Kershaw and ask for some new ones. I've heard that they send them to you free of charge.
 
I have more than thirty Kershaw knives with Speed Safe. I've broken a total of one spring.

Don't worry about wearing out or breaking the spring. Enjoy the knife and have fun. :)
 
kirko said:
i LOVE my Ken Onion blackout... Cant say enough about it. I also cant stop playing with it. I use it everytime i can to cut something, wether it be rope or cardboard. My question is, im afraid thats its gona wear out, like one of my older knives that had soe sort of 'spring' in it to open it. Is the design of the speed safe dependant on a spring that is going to wear out eventually like m other knife? how does the speed safe actually work? What do you guys think about it? i know a lot of questions, but in new to the knife world... any help would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Take it apart and you'll see how the spring works. I did this recently with my leek and it's pretty clever. Sidenote: when I put my cleaned and lubed leek back together, the action was a lot slower than before I cleaned it (possibly indicating a half-assed job on my part). After about a week and a dozen openings, it worked just fine again.
 
Maybe this'll help:

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that picture makes a lot of sense. so is it that spring bar 'torsion bar' that snaps if they break? thanks a lot guys!
 
the bar usually doesn't snap cleanly
it just breaks apart at the curve of the torsion bar due to metal fatigue
i've broken 2 so far, but kershaw has been good enough to send me as many as i break :D
 
Hey Kirk, glad you found one that suits you! See what I mean about lots of good advice from lots of good folks? If the people on this forum can't recommend a good one, nobody can! Won't be long til your looking for another, bigger,smaller etc. Once you've got the bug... Stay sharp and keep us posted, Marty. :cool:
 
You might find this interesting. About 6yrs. ago I went to my first knife show in N.Y.C. where I live. I went over to Bob Neal's table and he had about a dozen Ken Onion originals. they were only $500.00 which at that time I thought was outrageous. Who knew.Anyway I purchased only one,which I still have today. Imagine I could of bought them all and I guess Bob Neal could of kept them also.
Larry
 
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