Ladybug - blade hitting lock lever thingy???

[quigibo]

I found a small ding on the blade of my SB ladybug. It sure looks like the blade smacked into the bottom of the lock lever (the thing-a-me-bob you press down on to open the lock). With the knife open, I can see a mark on the bottom of the lever, dead center (i.e. where the blade would contact it). The ding in the blade also seems to line up with the position of the mark on the lever.

Is this normal in Ladybugs? I assume the workaround is to carefully close the knife and not just let it snap shut?

 

[Barman1]

That "thing-a-me-bob" is the spring. And no, it shouldn't be contacting the blade. Someone ground down the kick on the blade a little too much.

 

[The Deacon]

Closing it carefully would be your best bet. On most Spyderco midlocks, the kick contacts the lockbar behind its pivot, so pressure from it cannot depress the lockbar and allow the edge to contact the backspring or spring carrier. However, on a few of the smaller models, like the Ladybug, it contact the lockbar ahead of the pivot and can allow the edge to contact the spring/carrier if sufficient pressure is applied. It really shouldn't happen just from letting the blade snap closed, but it's possible.

 

[Fancier]

I wonder if this was from an isolated high impact event? If the knife were sharpened would the mark immediately return?

 

[elrond18]

Same thing happens with my Cento3 as it has no kick. My ladybugs are fine.

 

[Barman1]

I wonder if this was from an isolated high impact event? If the knife were sharpened would the mark immediately return?

I pushed the blade down on mine to try to make contact and it's pretty solid, it didn't touch the spring.
There's not a lot that can be done to remedy the issue of contact other than maybe doing a regrind on the blade to set the edge back until it doesn't contact. Most likely wouldn't take much. A few other ideas come to mind but are a bit of a stretch though.

 

[quigibo]

I wonder if this was from an isolated high impact event? If the knife were sharpened would the mark immediately return?

Possibly, although I don't recall anything I would call "high impact". I've already touched up the blade and so far no new signs of contact. I might see if I can get some tool maker's dye on the bottom of the spring. Even slight contact from the blade would leave a visible mark.

 

[gph]

Possibly, although I don't recall anything I would call "high impact". I've already touched up the blade and so far no new signs of contact. I might see if I can get some tool maker's kdye on the bottom of the spring. Even slight contact from the blade would leave a visible mark.

I was thinking the same thing but with lipstick (I don't know tool makers dye) applied to the blade edge.