liner- locks????

I've had always liner-locks and frame-locks folders. They never failed on me . . . :confused:
 
Which reminded me of a certain CRKT KISS Sampson, a framelock which consistently overtravels the ramp and unlocks. At least it can't cut too deeply then.

Maybe I just need to quit buying moderately priced knives, but my Kershaw Vapor II from China just nails a spinewhack no problem. Or the VTech, which I've gone back to for work carry, sloppy teflon liners and all. It's never failed.
Oh well.
 
I have a couple of older Emerson CQC7's (an A and a B model) that with light to moderate finger pressure on blade spine will slightly "pop" off the blade tang towards the unlock position, but so far have not actually unlocked totally that way. On examination, I noticed the mating surface on the blade tang on those two (1999) knives is ground very steeply, which I suspect caused the liner lock to wear prematurely. I have other Emersons (a Commander, a Mini-Com, another CQC7 B) that don't come close to unlocking, and their tang mating surfaces are ground far less steeply.

I haven't had any other liner locks fail or pop off. My BM ones are still very solid, even after many years, though the one on my AFCK now engages about 75-80% across the tang. I have lots of others (Spyderco Military, some Kershaws, CRKT's, Bucks, and thus far no failures...but I haven't used them to the same degree, either. I have an Al Mar SERE 2000 with a faulty ball detent on the liner which has affected almost the entire action on it, but not the lock's engagement on the tang.

I mentioned in another thread that a Kershaw Vapor (smaller version) I examined at Wal-Mart had its frame lock pop completely off the tang of the blade, which closed with almost no pressure on the blade spine; a second one I looked at appeared the same, so I passed on that model. I assume there are some that have very good lockup, too. So even a frame lock, if improperly made or fitted, will fail very easily. I have a few versions of the Kershaw Liner Action model in different sizes, and though the liner appears thin and travels all the way across, they are rock solid and are virtually impossible to disengage unless you consciously choose to. My Victorinox Trailmaster's liner lock is also rock-solid.

That said, I tend to rely more on lockback or Axis-lock knives for my locking EDC's...the only liner/frame lock I use and EDC a lot is my Sebenza.
Jim
 
Had a few fail on me. I don't buy linerlock knives anymore. I don't care what the thing looks like or what it is made of, another knife with a better lock will come along with the same features. No matter what else a folder may offer, it all gets negated by that lock.
 
nothing at all wrong with a properly executed/designed liner lock.

if ya dont like them ya are gonna miss out as some of the best designers around (ie crawford, emerson) pretty much only make LL folders.

a lot of the failures are on cheap knives ie CRKT.

BM, spyderco, emerson, microtech all make great LL.

sure the axis is better, along with the compression and frame lock, maybe even the lockbacks are a bit better but a well made LL is pretty darned good also.
 
hardheart said:
Had a few fail on me. I don't buy linerlock knives anymore. I don't care what the thing looks like or what it is made of, another knife with a better lock will come along with the same features. No matter what else a folder may offer, it all gets negated by that lock.
Click to expand...

I'm the same way. I've only had liner locks fail on me, nothing else. White-knuckling has caused some to disengage, rocking my wrist sideways, spinewhacks or heavy spine pressure etc. I've even had knives that when stabbed into wood or something the liner would compress, slide off the tang or even get lodged in between the tang and far side handle scale.

I'm going to try a framelock soon, but I don't have my hopes high. I avoid liner and framelocks because I have little faith in them. I don't rely much on my lock ever, and whenever I do something stressing the lock I conciously move my fingers to where the kick or choil would hit my index finger instead of the edge when it's possible.

The only advantadge I see to a liner lock is they can be easier to close one-handed and work well with an open backed knife. I never minded opening and closing a folder two handed, but an easy to clean framelock can be nice to have instead of a closed-back lockback at times.
 
I've only had one liner lock fail, it was a buck strider folder. It would easily fail a spine whack. Returned it problem solved...
 
I just tried a light spine whack in my buck strider trarani and it failed, first LL that fails to me but I won't be trusting the buck strider anymore.
 
Buck Tarani's 887's are just the kind of fodder to mod. Wonder if you could send them back and get a real blade of ATS34 in them. Flat ground.
 
I've had liner locks fail from CRKT, Benchmade (titanium liner even) Kershaw, Outdoor Edge.

I've had lockbacks fail too.

Phil
 
Buck/Striders failing is not normal. Both that I own do not fail. If you do a search you'll find plenty of good things about them, all I'm sayng is that it's not normal.
 
Normark said:
I've only seen or had problems with cheap knives and liner locks... I haven't had a problem yet with a quality liner lock folder...
Click to expand...

Well, I did, and it wasn't pretty. I had to pay a trip to the hospital for half a dozen stitches or so a few years ago when a folder closed while I was doing some work in the garden. I didn't do anything outrageous, just cutting back some bushes when the knife got stuck in a branch. When I tried to free it from the wood the lock failed and the knife closed on me. Basically light stuff, and the sort of thing I often do with a slipjoint nowadays, but with a slipjoint you know you've got to be careful because there is no lock. The knife that failed was almost new at that time, and it was a quality folder made by one of the top companies in the market.

I've never trusted linerlocks since then.

Hans
 
Wait until the liner lock gets to the other side then see how well it works. A spine whack is too much abuse and no knife should have to take that.
 
sog said:
Wait until the liner lock gets to the other side then see how well it works. A spine whack is too much abuse and no knife should have to take that.
Click to expand...

My lockbacks can take a spinewhack no problem, all of them, and I've got quite a few. The axis locks I've tried over the years could all take a spinewhack no problem. Even a well-made slipjoint can take a spinewhack without closing.

Why is it that some people claim a spine whack is abusive with a linerlock?

Hans
 
sog said:
Wait until the liner lock gets to the other side then see how well it works.
Click to expand...

This happening will reveal a terrible flaw in many liner lock designs. That the liner is thin enough to wedge in between the knife tang and opposite handle scale. I've had it happen before. Either make a thicker liner or keep the gap tiny like Kershaw does in many of its knives. Kershaw seems to make a nice framelock - thick face and no way it's having this problem with their minute gap.
 
I like and have used dozens of linerlocks since the first BM 800 & 970 models were introduced.

The only failure I have ever experienced was with a very expensive Terzuola custom folder. It would fail with only one finger pressure on the spine,,,,you could watch the liner move and disengage with very light spine pressure. To be fair I owned a total of four Terzuola customs and this was the only one with problems.

Regards,
FK
 
I use my knives pretty lightly and have only had a failure in a lockback.
Greg
 
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