Lock problems on a military.

S

skcusloa

Joined
May 9, 2005
Messages
209
I bought a 2nd hand military. When I got it someone had loosened the pivot to make the blade flop around a lot. I noticed that the liner would move when you put pressure on the blade, I didn't really think much of it. One day I was using it to push and emergency brake (you know the push on push off) I used it because I only need that much more length to turn it off without getting into the car and getting it all dirty. Well the lock failed on me. No harm done. Yes it was stupid, but that's exactly what happened. I sent it off to spyderco the next day. It did not break, it just slipped. It came back perfect, with a perfect grind, but it was not replaced. Now it's 3 months later the lock is slipping again. It doesn't have the eccentric pivot from what I can tell. What is causing this? what part of the knife is wearing out to cause this? Obviously the tolerance between the tang and the liner have changed, I don't believe the s30v wore away that fast or the liner. Did the G10 stretch or something?

I could tighten the pivot on the old one and the play would go away partially. But it would always loosen up, even if I used loctite. I hated messing with it all the time. It's hard to get it to where the blade can swing freely yet not have blade play.

I would prefer not to send it in, it takes a long time, but the results sure are sweet. When it came back the liner lock would rest on the far edge of the tang, just ready to disengage. This seems odd to me. All of the other liner locks I have rest against the frame of the knife, not on the tang.

I'm not asking how to fix the problem, I'm asking, what is causing the problem? I know I can send it off.

It never failed any spine wack tests I've given it.
 
There is a ton of info here on liner and integral locks and some of the inherant issues to deal with on those style of locks for folders. There are also some posts about failures that occurred with knives that were reliable one day and surprised the owner the next by failing when cutting something as simple as cardboard. Cliff Stamp, Joe Talmedge and others have written extensively on this topic and noted on more than one thread how the spine taps can be passed by a liner lock one day and then the same knife fails for no apparent reason the next only to continue to pass then on.

The liner lock is one of my least favorite locks now. Ironic considering it was one of my favorites before joining this forum. I much prefer a frame lock if I'm going to use one of this style locks.

I suggest using the search function and seeing what you turn up either searching here or using Google.

My guess is that the tang of the blade at the interface where the lock and the blade meet is too sharp of an angle and it allows the lock to be pushed to the side under spine pressure. It can also be that the spring has lost the same tension it had in the past for some reason and that it no longer has enough tension to resist moving under pressure. It may be possible to take the knife apart and bend the spring more so it has more tension pushing to stay locked. There are many variables and it is just hard to really say. Either way it should be looked at again by the company in my opinion to see if it is in fact defective. I'd suggest writing them and explaining what it does and how it failed. See what they say to you about it.

STR
 
i know that the older 2 screw pocket clip millies had some liner issues IIRC, i had to send a couple back for service, all the later ones i have seen were ok in this regard though.
 
I had a 440V Military that slipped when pressing down on the blade, sent it to Spyderco and got a new s30v (in about 2 weeks). It's solid as a rock, absolutly no play in blade, blade is centered, lock is a vault. It's a GREAT design and Spyderco customer service is top notch!
 
It would be difficult for any of us to figure out what’s wrong with the lock without looking at the knife in person and possibly taking it apart. In addition to the issues that STR raised, another problem I’ve seen with liner locks is that the tang can sometimes dent the surface of the liner’s lock bar.

You should definitely send the knife back to Spyderco again. Unfortunately, liner locks are hard to repair, but I would keep at it until Spyderco makes it right.
 
I recommend sending it in, but I solved a similiar issue with one of mine by slightly roughing up the blade portion of the lock with a brown Spyderco stone (it was like a mirror before).

Also emailed them and they sent me a pair of washers (talk about thin). I added one to the side away from the liner-lock and it took up the blade play.

Spyderco has great customer service. A1+
 
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