liner/frame lock ?

clearytja

clearytja

Joined
Oct 17, 2002
Messages
1,235
I have been looking for information pertaining to keeping liner/frame locks open so to keep the memory "fresh". Does anyone have any experience/knowledge to determine if I need/should do this or will it not make a hill of beans difference. Keep in mind I have a few liner/frame locks so potentially they could not be used for years at a time.
T
 
I look at it this way. A knife may sit on a shelf NIB for years before it is purchased and used. The manufacturers know this and build accordingly. I also think of my compound bows that are under constant pressure. And my loaded clips on the EDC gun. That all being said I store many of my knives open but that is purely for convenience. The compound bows get used weekly and the clip springs get stretched at least once a month. I guess what really matters is if you are happy with the performance of your tools and the storage method.
 
SOLEIL said:
That all being said I store many of my knives open but that is purely for convenience.
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Just out of curiosity, how is it a convenience to store the knives open? It seems like they'd take up more space this way and be considerably more dangerous.
 
Psychopomp said:
Just out of curiosity, how is it a convenience to store the knives open? It seems like they'd take up more space this way and be considerably more dangerous.
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I was thinking the same thing when I read that. Besides that, it isn't really much of a task to flip open a folder.
 
TheGame said:
I was thinking the same thing when I read that. Besides that, it isn't really much of a task to flip open a folder.
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Well that and if you store them open, when you get it out to use it, you have to close it first. Seems kinda counterproductive.
 
I'm definitely in the "doesn't make a hill of beans" camp. I store mine open, because they're hanging on the wall, but it's purely a matter of personal preference.
 
Thanks guys just wanted to hear what some other knife nuts thought about it. I actually have a dresser lined with rubber so storage room is not an issue and we don't have any kids so safety is not an issue.
Stay free,
T
 
I don't think it matters either way. There is so little tension in closed position anyway. There was a lot of in the Auto knives forum weather or not switchblades should be stored in open or closed position. I think most of the posters believed it did'nt matter. There is a hell of a lot more tension in an auto coil spring or rocker bar that any frame or liner lock. I would be more concerned with humidity, sunlight, temperture, etc.
 
When the matter of spring compression (I guess you could think of the liner as a type of spring) comes up in discussions about firearms and loaded magazines, it is often pointed that keeping the spring in compression doesn't really harm it. It's the repeated stretchings and compressions that finally kill the spring and it's going to take quite a while too. To me it seems that the "springs go bad if kept loaded" argument is a very persistent urban myth.

I must admit I haven't done any empirical studies covering a period of years myself, so I have no formal authority. But I wouldn't worry about storing any decent liner or frame lock open or closed.
 
ROBB said:
I don't think it matters either way. There is so little tension in closed position anyway. There was a lot of in the Auto knives forum weather or not switchblades should be stored in open or closed position. I think most of the posters believed it did'nt matter. There is a hell of a lot more tension in an auto coil spring or rocker bar that any frame or liner lock. I would be more concerned with humidity, sunlight, temperture, etc.
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I agree, I don't think we could live long enough to find out. I think you would need to know a metallurgist to get a answer on this one.
 
Psychopomp said:
Just out of curiosity, how is it a convenience to store the knives open? It seems like they'd take up more space this way and be considerably more dangerous.
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I should have said my EDC rotation is stored open.:o
I keep about 21 knives (EDC rotation) in a knife block (http://www.vat19.com/dvds/kapoosh-universal-knife-block-utensil-holder.cfm) on my desk in the puter/play room. It makes it very easy to choose which ones I want to carry on any given day. Also all of my AO's are in this block as I like to use the AO systems. All of my other knives, 100 or so mainly fixed blades, are in their boxes on the knife shelf or in the safe. We have no kids so the safety concerns are really no biggie. When we have cookouts or parties the guns are put up (except our EDCs) and the play room is locked and off limits to unsupervised children.
 
A linerlock knife just isn't going to lose its spring and a framelock certainly isn't going to lose its spring. Use your knives as though they will never wear out and you'll be fine.
 
SOLEIL said:
I should have said my EDC rotation is stored open.:o
I keep about 21 knives (EDC rotation) in a knife block (http://www.vat19.com/dvds/kapoosh-universal-knife-block-utensil-holder.cfm) on my desk in the puter/play room. It makes it very easy to choose which ones I want to carry on any given day.
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AH HA... now you don't seem to strange ;). In my mind you had them all open in a drawer somewhere... reach for a pair of socks and come out with a knife through the palm.

Actually, that's a pretty nifty little thing and I could use something like that for my extra kitchen knives. Thanks for the link.
 
You're more than welcome. The wooden one was given to us as a gift but we had no room left in the kitchen. My better half, wonderful woman that she is said "Hey, I bet that would work great for your pocket knives honey". She was right as usual.:). The most I can fit into it are three rows of seven knives without them scratching each other up.
 
Yes, with no problem. The way it works is that there are numerous small plastic rods in the wooden enclosure. The more knives you put into it the more the rods compress gripping the knives tighter. If you put the knives in vertically they will slide toward you unless you have many knives in the block. If you place them in horizontally they will hold their position no matter how many are inserted. The more you put in the tighter it gets and visa versa. I have actually sliced up some of the rods with my knives. Steels like SG2, ZDP189, and S110V especially have no respect for the inserts.:D
 
Go ahead and use your linerlocks and frame locks as though they'd last forever. The springs won't let you down. I'm not a big fan of linerlocks, but I do trust the ones with the Lake and Walker Knife Safety. And for most cutting chores, the plain linerlock is just fine.

To keep any knife in tip top shape, don't sit around snapping it open and shut. I have some knives I practice with, but I don't subject my good knives to that kind of treatment. I have a Smith & Wesson HRT on me now (a frame lock) that cost me less than ten bucks. It's a plain edge knife that is quite good at holding an edge. I'd trust it more for self defense than I would some substantially more expensive linerlocks. It opens quickly, has a very comfortable grip, a pleasing blade shape, one of those little disks on top of the blade for right or left hand opening. Some people wouldn't consider owning one, but I carry it places where I might lose a more expensive knife.
 
Again,

As long as you do not push a metal past its elastic limit, you will be fine. You can store liner/frame locks, automatics, and AOs all closed, it will NOT make a difference.

Same goes for gun magazines. Store them loaded or empty, just do not push more rounds into it than it's stated capacity, and do not take out the spring and pull it longer.
 
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Tripton said:
Again,

As long as you do not push a metal past its elastic limit, you will be fine. You can store liner/frame locks, automatics, and AOs all closed, it will NOT make a difference.

Same goes for gun magazines. Store them loaded or closed, just do not push more rounds into it than it's stated capacity, and do not take out the spring and pull it longer.
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Damn - I was going to say that - you beat me to it :D

But we were instructed by our armourers to not store the mags with loaded rounds - partly for safety but also to allow the springs to rest. Big difference between a framelock and a mag stuffed with 15 or 30 rounds though
 
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