Liner Lock problems

[matt123abc]

I have a spyderco resilience, even though it's their "value" line the liner lock feels strong to me. It has a radiused blade tang to allow wear, and pretty thick liner. I'm not a fan of liner locks but this one feels right, as do all of zero tolerances, Emerson's, and most spydies. I'm going out on a limb here but I'd assume that in non torsional stress the resiliences lock would hold up longer than something like the enduras back lock.

 

[365KV]

I may be in the minority, but I prefer liner locks over just about anything. I've owned quite a few different lock types, too (RIL, back lock, CBBL, axis, arc, ect). A well made liner lock is simple, looks good, doesn't mess up handle feel, and works perfectly. FWIW, I've gotten a few back locks to fail on me, but never a liner lock.

Add another to the minority list...i've only ever bought liner locks and never had issues. Love the liner lock on my Vantage Pro.

 

[ThirdTooth]

I think liner locks are fine, I've only had a liner lock fail once on me, it was my skyline and it was because the custom scales I made did not receive the thumb stud deeply enough when the blade was opened so the lock could not engage to the fullest extent it was intended to, the lock bar only engaged to about 10-20% if at all.
even then it took a good amount of force with both hands to cause a failure of the lock (I was testing it out of curiosity to see how much my mistake compromised its lockup). I dremeled out the thumb stud recess to allow the lock to full engage, but I think that's an indicator to how reliable a liner lock can be, to say that even with a 15% lockup it STILL took considerable force to result in full failure inspires plenty of confidence to use liner locks in any EDC application.

although for hard use I would still consider a fixed blade. a lock bad would wear down from shock force if the knife was used for something like wood processing.

 

[William Dealy]

I sold a Michael Zieba Olstep, Hel Design knife, and the customer is saying that the blade is locking out when it's open. I told him I needed more information; is it dirty, have lent in it, or broken? Has anybody had this problem? How should I tell him to proceed? Thank you up front for all the help you can provide.

 

[evilgreg]

I sold a Michael Zieba Olstep, Hel Design knife, and the customer is saying that the blade is locking out when it's open. I told him I needed more information; is it dirty, have lent in it, or broken? Has anybody had this problem? How should I tell him to proceed? Thank you up front for all the help you can provide.

I'm curious, why did you have to use the black arts of necromancy to ask this question?

 

[William Dealy]

I have no idea what you're speaking of; I needed help and searched Google, this link came up about liner lock problems, and ta da!

 

[benchwarmer380]

I have no idea what you're speaking of; I needed help and searched Google, this link came up about liner lock problems, and ta da!

Welcome to the forums!

What he means is that searching for an answer to your question is a good idea. However, when you dont find it, it is not a very good idea to piggyback your question to a six year old thread. Most will start at the beginning and your question may get over looked. Also, thread necromancy is discouraged.

Its better to start a new thread altogether to ensure your question gets seen and answered.

 

[Pilsner]

Welcome to the forums!

What he means is that searching for an answer to your question is a good idea. However, when you dont find it, it is not a very good idea to piggyback your question to a six year old thread. Most will start at the beginning and your question may get over looked. Also, thread necromancy is discouraged.

Its better to start a new thread altogether to ensure your question gets seen and answered.

This is happening more and more frequently. I guess forum etiquette is rapidly becoming a thing of the past - shame.

 

[benchwarmer380]

This is happening more and more frequently. I guess forum etiquette is rapidly becoming a thing of the past - shame.

Perhaps, yet etiquette is learned and not instinctual. The setting can also determine what is or is not proper.

Most of these types of things would cease if folks read the rules and got a lay of the land before jumping in.

 

[Pilsner]

Perhaps, yet etiquette is learned and not instinctual. The setting can also determine what is or is not proper.

Most of these types of things would cease if folks read the rules and got a lay of the land before jumping in.

Agreed.

An elegant approach is to start a new thread, giving a link to the older thread in the OP for point of reference. It might take, what, one or two minutes more to do? Oh well, such is life.

 

[Peter Hartwig]

I sold a Michael Zieba Olstep, Hel Design knife, and the customer is saying that the blade is locking out when it's open. I told him I needed more information; is it dirty, have lent in it, or broken? Has anybody had this problem? How should I tell him to proceed? Thank you up front for all the help you can provide.

As already noted it is better to start your own thread, but since we're here
As to your ? We also could use more info. I am not even positive what you mean by locking out-is the lock not holding or not engaging in the 1st place or something else entirely?
Also are you a dealer(you called him or her customer) or is this a knife you sold on an exchange? In the end if it isn't a simple solution like lint or cleaning the lockface you should take the knife back-presuming it was just sold and has not been taken apart or modified in any way by the buyer-since any problem it has was not described in the sales ad..

 

[MSchott]

This is happening more and more frequently. I guess forum etiquette is rapidly becoming a thing of the past - shame.

There are various ways new members come to a forum. In this case he did an internet search and Bladeforums came up in response. He joined and made his post. In retrospect he should have read the rules first but I do not think his thoughts were to be rude.

 

[Pilsner]

There are various ways new members come to a forum. In this case he did an internet search and Bladeforums came up in response. He joined and made his post. In retrospect he should have read the rules first but I do not think his thoughts were to be rude.

No, for sure. No offence to the chap who necro'd this thread, but it has been happening a lot lately.

 

[midnight flyer]

This is happening more and more frequently. I guess forum etiquette is rapidly becoming a thing of the past - shame.

I think it is a little of that, most younger folks see the entire internet as their resource, their library. It is a holding tank of information. The feel like you will be like they are, and that is they have no sense of ownership simply because the post once in a while to a site, no sense of property when it comes to a website.

These guys grew up with the internet and its resources as just an aspect of their life. It is all part of their lives of Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, their own blogs or web pages, YouTube videos, etc. I don't think there is an affront planned or unplanned, the net is just a different place for them.

No doubt he found this place as he said and never gave posting a second thought. I run into this all the time on a woodworking forum I still participate in on occasion, and the new posters that drag up a thread are usually so severely reprimanded by the old guard (nannies) that they never come back. Those old guys have a sense of ownership usually due to high post count (not value!) that makes them have a real hard time with anyone that doesn't know what they are supposed to do or how to do it. Like I said, after being corrected a few times, the new guys don't bother to come back.

Robert

 

[DocT]

Rise, I say! Rise!

 

[SpySmasher]

I sold a Michael Zieba Olstep, Hel Design knife, and the customer is saying that the blade is locking out when it's open. I told him I needed more information; is it dirty, have lent in it, or broken? Has anybody had this problem? How should I tell him to proceed? Thank you up front for all the help you can provide.

We all need more info. Have your customer take close-up pictures of the lockface/tang interface and the pivot from several angles. Also, ask him to provide video of the action if possible (ie. if the lock still functions somewhat).

 

[Comeuppance]

I used to distrust liner locks and frame locks, but I have grown out of that from experience with well-made knives.

Personal preference and bias play a large part in what lock mechanisms get a bad rap, but almost all of the common types of knife locks can be done so that they have none of the drawbacks that detractors commonly attribute to them. Linerlocks are no exception.

The common gripes with linerlocks include:
- Locking liner being too thin to seem sufficient to endure force
- Wearing of the lock bar or surface where the lock bar meets the blade tang
- Difficulty disengaging the lock
- Accidentally disengaging the lock

My favorite example of a liner lock “done right” is the Gayle Bradley 2 by Spyderco. Thick liners, perfect lockup, durable materials that do not wear with any appreciable speed, and ease of disengaging the lock without much concern with accidental disengagement.

As long as the knife is made decently well, though, most concerns about lock safety or durability are just baseless. A knife without a lock will accomplish the vast majority of cutting tasks, and, realistically, any situation where you would be concerned about the knife failing in some way is a situation where you shouldn’t be using a folding knife in the first place.

I have only had issues with cheaply-made linerlocks, of the off-brand department store / hardware store variety. For the sake of fairness, I should mention that I have had cheap lockbacks and framelocks that were dangerously poorly-made and would fail under moderate pressure on the spine.

The issue is rarely with the type of lock, but instead how well the knife is made. Linerlocks are fine, with the only unquestionable gripe being that they are not inherently ambidexteous like lockbacks or axis-like-locks.