Magnet Assisted Auto Folder

S

sigsauer

Joined
Sep 26, 2000
Messages
342
I am not a knife maker so I will pose this idea to the masses and more gifted in the art of knives than I.
I was playing with a telescoping magnet tonight and while doing so I was wondering if it was possible to make an auto that used a magnet to open it. I would think that this would be a difficult task to accomplish, but I thought it might be a interesting idea.
The benefit I see by doing this would be no springs, thus less mechanism to break.
I know this is probally just my whacked idea, but I wanted to get opinions none the less.
 
Maybe not as whacky as you think. After all, there are now experimental mag-lev trains, and that's moving tons of weight. Granted, the lift comes from a power source in the track. However, it reminds me of the premise for one of my favorite science fiction novels and time travel. One of the scientists opines that "If you can throw a grain of rice back in time a nano-second, you can throw an elephant back a million years. The difference is just hardware..."--OKG
 
You might want to be careful what sort of equipment you put near a magnet powerful enough to pull open a knife blade.
 
Very interesting idea.
It would probably have the same feel as the Ken Onions. If you've handled a Nealy multi carry system, you know how strong tiny magnets can be.
 
I have some (pardon the spellin') samerium cobalt magnets. They are VERY powerful as I have one permenantly stuck to our refrigerator. Any attempt to remove it will result in RUINING the paint on the fridge door
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I bought them to use for sheaths and never liked the results I had using them. I feel that a magnetic auto folder system would work. The crucial part would be a solid pivot that would be very smooth without blade play. The only problem I could see is that one magnet would have to be mounted TO the blade itself?? They are very BRITTLE and chip and break easily. Maybe this could be overcome by "potting" it in epoxy or something.
Good food for thought
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Neil

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Talonite???Stellite!!!
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blackwoodknives.com
 
What you would need is 2 strong magnets of equal polarities- One in the handle & one somewhere in the blade (Spine? Choil area?). The repulsive force created would force the blade from the handle when the button/lever is activated. The release would be a simple blade lock that holds the blade inside the handle. Releasing the blade is simply "unlocking" the blade- no mechanical opening device is present- therefore possibly circumventing the laws regarding "switchblades". You could also make it possible to flip one of the magnets (reversing polarity) making it a "normal" folder. I give this technology freely for the good of mankind & the greater glory of knifedom, etc, etc... as long as I get one of the prototypes
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Cheers,
Mike

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"Never give a sword to a man who can't dance" (Celtic Proverb)
AKTI# A000107
 
Neil, drill a spyderco-style hole in the blade and epoxy the magnet into that, and the surrounding steel will protect it.

Of course, it would actually work better with a non-magnetic blade material.
 
How about a "scale release" magnetic auto? Inlet a very strong magnet into the blade and one in the scale. Moving the scale sideways would repel the blade, forcing it out and pivoting it open.

Or an OTF with a sliding switch on the scale. Moving the switch to the rear expels the blade.

There are the other problems with powerful magnets, but it's an interesting idea.
 
Neat idea. I was just thinking of this (honest!). It would get past the knife laws in my state, I think. If you could keep it from becoming too widespread, they might not pass any laws regarding it.

Rugger, if you reversed one of the magnets, I believe the result would be you couldn't open the blade. So instead of having a release button, and having to store it open, and instead of putting all that strain on the magnets, you could just have one magnet reversed, and it would stay closed. To release, you'd somehow flip the magnet with a lever, making sure it wouldn't flip back in place right away, and it should work.

- Whirlwind

BUSH! BUSH! BUSH! BUSH! BUSH! BUSH! BUSH!

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Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the
right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
 
Whirlwind-
I thought of that sort of after the fact- But there are ways to work around it I think-
Thanks for the heads-up

(_8^(|) DOH!!

Mike

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"Never give a sword to a man who can't dance" (Celtic Proverb)
AKTI# A000107
 
I think that we are getting a possible response from this crowd.
Rugger, I didn't think about the positive of making this knife for the fact of the law. Good thinking. I think this would fall under a legal catagorie by my state law, but being that I am not a lawyer, I'm not positive.
Keep the responses coming.
I am going to email this page to knife maker Paul Fox to see what his response would be. I recently read an article about his electric knife in Knives magazine. I would think that he might be able to make this knife a possibility.
 
Since a magnetic field can be induced by an electrical current, there could easily be an on/off switch involved somehow. But to induce a strong enough magnetic field, there has to be a strong electric field and therefore, some heavy duty batteries. More food for thought...

Daniel D.
 
I posted this in a seperate thread earlier, when I didn't see this one again. I'll put it ehre now.

There was a thread earlier on the possibility of an automatic that was propelled by magnets rather than springs. The idea was brought up about the opposing forces of magnets with equal polarity being strong enough to provide the kick.
My idea is basically a simple liner or frame lock with no detent. Instead, the stop pin should be magnetized as strongly as possible, and fixed in between titanium handle slabs so that it can rotate. Another magnet would be fitted into the tang of the knife in a place that would allow it to come in contact with the stop pin. The tang shape would be very similar to that of a BM750 pinnacle Where the tang hits the stop pin to keep the knife from closing to far and dulling the blade.
The stop pin would have a stud attached to it similar to a Lev R Lock type flipper that would allow you to rotate the stop pin 180 degrees which would switch the direction of the poles. When the knife is closed, the poles are fixed opposite which cause the stop pin to attract the tang of the knife and hold it closed. When you flip the lever and reverse the pole on the stop pin, the two magnets repel each other and force the knife open. The flipper would have to be spring loaded to always bring the stop pin back to the attracting pole for convenience.And to ensure that the knife stays closed when not in use.
You could probably work it out to have the magnet and the stop pin seperate but it would lengthen the tang and give a smaller blade to handle ratio. The strength of the magnets needed would depend on the size of the knife and the smoothness of opening. My guess is that something along the lines of rare earth magnets that are pretty strong and fairly inexpensive would work fine.
Since I don't have the equipment to put one of these together yet anyone can try that wants to. Or you can call it a stupid idea.
If you get rich off it and take all the credit I'll just piss and moan until I'm old and in a nursing home and can devote all my time to planning the perfect murder
Well, its an idea anyway
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I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer... but I've got the sharpest knife in the room.
 
I played with this idea a few years ago. I was able to sucessfully get a mag drive auto to work, but not well enough to really pop. The biggest problem was that it attracted metallic dust in my shop, keys, etc...
 
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