Longevity of lockbar on military?

[CrimsonTideShooter]

I've flicked open one of my millies probably a couple of thousand times, and I notice that now my lockbar travels about 50% across the tang - but it hasn't gone any further because there is a noticeably steep angle on the rest of the tang, so it will need to wear a lot more to reach the other end.

How long do you guys think it will take? And has anyone ever worn through to the other side on their Millie? Also, can someone who has a fairly old and worn in millie tell me how far their lockbar engages the tang?

 

[RevDevil]

Pretty long time. The Military that I own that has been used the most for 2+ years almost daily carry is in the picture below. I think it's been opened and closed a little more than yours and look at the lockbar. The pic was taken over 3 months ago, it's the second one from the left side.

 

[yablanowitz]

The lockbar on my old 440V Millie is still under 50%. The deeper engagement on yours is probably due more to peening of the stop pin from impact during hard opening than to wear on the lockbar itself.

 

[RevDevil]

I think CTS has been abusing his knife a tad bit. Those hard power flicks will ruin good knives no matter whos name is on the blade.

 

[MikeyD]

my mili lockbar engages at right around 50% i flick it OFTEN. I honestly dont think youll have a problem for a LONG time considering that the blade tang is angled mine has pretty much settled in at 50% and doesnt appear to be moving from there. youll be fine bud......Also i use and abuse this knife every day all day lol.

 

[Jason B.]

My millies lock has never moved, they both sit a 50% and feel just like new. Because its a steel liner I don't think I'll live long enough to wear it out.

 

[JNewell]

Wrist flick or thumb flick?

The locking leaf is steel. It is very durable.

If your are wrist-flicking, sooner or later you're going to peen either the stop pin or the blade tang, or both.

I've flicked open one of my millies probably a couple of thousand times, and I notice that now my lockbar travels about 50% across the tang - but it hasn't gone any further because there is a noticeably steep angle on the rest of the tang, so it will need to wear a lot more to reach the other end.

How long do you guys think it will take? And has anyone ever worn through to the other side on their Millie? Also, can someone who has a fairly old and worn in millie tell me how far their lockbar engages the tang?

 

[pwet]

Is it even possible to wrist flick a milie ???

I can't on my linerlock models, too much detent, and the blade flies open with my thumb alone so there's no point helping with the wrist ...

 

[CrimsonTideShooter]

Wrist flick or thumb flick?

The locking leaf is steel. It is very durable.

If your are wrist-flicking, sooner or later you're going to peen either the stop pin or the blade tang, or both.

I thumb flick, and not very hard either. Also, flicking probably represents 4/10 openings for me.

I will probably stop flicking it altogether now that I know it can damage the stop pin. I'm getting a new camera today so I'll post a picture of my lockup later today.

 

[pwet]

I doubt thumb flicking will wear your knife soon my g10 one is 2yrs+ i never bother to open it slowly and its lockup is still about 30% ... the only one that stays at 50% is my s90v one that has seen some use too but it's stable that way ...

 

[JNewell]

I doubt thumb flicking will wear your knife soon my g10 one is 2yrs+ i never bother to open it slowly and its lockup is still about 30% ... the only one that stays at 50% is my s90v one that has seen some use too but it's stable that way ...

I agree - unless you are really hammering the thing with your thumb, I don't think thumb-flicking is likely to damage or wear out the knife.

I have three steel-lockbar Military versions (CPM-D2, S90V and S30V) and they are all ~50% lockup and haven't really changed since they first were broken in.

 

[CrimsonTideShooter]

Here's the picture I promised. The knife in question is on the far left.

 

[stabman]

Is it even possible to wrist flick a milie ???

It sure is my friend, it sure is.
Of course, I can flick those old Cold Steel Shinobu's (or whatever they were called), so there's not really many knives I cannot flick.

 

[Shadow213]

Is it even possible to wrist flick a milie ???

Flicking the Military is one area where this Spydie shines.....if you grasp the Hole with your thumb while in pocket and pinch with your index finger as the Hole clears your pocket and then flick your wrist when handle clears pocket as well. Sure you have to reposition your hand onto the handle, but after some practice, the Millie can be drawn, opened and ready for work in the blink of an eye.

 

[JNewell]

Here's the picture I promised. The knife in question is on the far left.

Based on my Militarys (ies?), the one on the left is normal, and likely to stay that way for yeeeeeears. :thumbup:

 

[CrimsonTideShooter]

Based on my Militarys (ies?), the one on the left is normal, and likely to stay that way for yeeeeeears. :thumbup:

Ahh that is great to hear!

If there is any peening of my stop pin, is there any way I can rotate it to distribute wear evenly?

 

[Kronos]

Do the newer ones have the eccentric pivot pin? if they still do, then id be absolutely amazed if anyone could ever manage to wear out a millie lock. I thumb flick mine like crazy and can't even begin to introduce vertical blade play. When i look at the knife from above while its locked open, it seems as though the back of the blade curves ever so slightly around the stop pin. This makes me think that it spreads the force of the impact out, though i can't prove it. Anyone else see what i mean?

 

[pwet]

Flicking the Military is one area where this Spydie shines.....if you grasp the Hole with your thumb while in pocket and pinch with your index finger as the Hole clears your pocket and then flick your wrist when handle clears pocket as well. Sure you have to reposition your hand onto the handle, but after some practice, the Millie can be drawn, opened and ready for work in the blink of an eye.

This is à spydie drop its possible with any spyderco, à wrist flick is holding c closed knife by the handle and opening it with inertia without touching the blade. All my g10 and cf milie are way too tight for that. The TI/M4 is no problem but the linerlock ones dont move ... probably because i keep their pivot on the tight side but the detent itself is pretty strong, wich i love, it makes fast thumb flicking à breeze .... any way this kind of inertia opening is really hard on knives.

 

[cerulean]

I have a couple of old 440V Militaries: a serrated one from ’99 and a plain-edge from ’00. The plain-edge one in particular saw a lot of use over the course of six or seven years, including repeated hard inertial openings. IIRC, the lock bar on both knives moved a tiny bit from when they were new, but then stayed at roughly 40% across the tang like the OP’s knife.

I’m not sure when the Military stopped using the eccentric pivot pin. Maybe with the S30V model in ’04 or ’05? My 440V versions have the eccentric pivot and I fooled around with it a bit, but I don’t think I ever had to adjust the lock-up with it.

I remember hearing about some problems with the very first Militaries and the lock bar traveling over to the opposite liner, but I think maybe they solved that with the improved version that came out around ’98. I don’t recall hearing any more about it after that.

The Military does seem to have a really durable design. That thing about the tang being slightly curved to reduce the impact on the stop pin makes sense to me. You also rarely hear about the lock bar deforming in any way.

 

[JNewell]

Do the newer ones have the eccentric pivot pin?

No - see the post just above. I don't remember when they stopped using that. I had a telephone conversation with W&R at one point about this but didn't write down the information. It's been a while, though.