Medford Lock Stick

[CcDoubleU]

i have a medford 187f i acquired recently that i believe has a touch of lock stick. i called MKT and they said it may be due to the "break in" period. I have never experienced this with another knife and was curious if this was a common issue. thanks for your response.

 

[ShadyMethods]

It's pretty normal for Medfords, especially the older ones. They're built to break in.

 

[dano]

Shouldn't be, but give it some time, if that's what they recommend. If you do need to send it in, be prepared for their odd, expensive shipping (no USPS, UPS, only), and the 25 bucks or so they charge for return shipping.

 

[Krav]

My Medford took time to break in. Now its is as smooth as butter.

 

[Lapedog]

i have a medford 187f i acquired recently that i believe has a touch of lock stick. i called MKT and they said it may be due to the "break in" period. I have never experienced this with another knife and was curious if this was a common issue. thanks for your response.

It is common on many knives for there to be a period of lockstick while the lockbar settles into its ideal broken in location.

 

[CcDoubleU]

Shouldn't be, but give it some time, if that's what they recommend. If you do need to send it in, be prepared for their odd, expensive shipping (no USPS, UPS, only), and the 25 bucks or so they charge for return shipping.

yeah i noticed their return policy is quite finicky so i didn't want to go that path if possible. ill open and close it a million times and hope that fixes it!

 

[Dadpool]

It is common on many knives for there to be a period of lockstick while the lockbar settles into its ideal broken in location.

+1 for this. All of my Emersons have also needed a break-in period. Knowing it's part of the process, I've found I enjoy it.

 

[Petunia D. Feeble]

i have a medford 187f i acquired recently that i believe has a touch of lock stick. i called MKT and they said it may be due to the "break in" period. I have never experienced this with another knife and was curious if this was a common issue. thanks for your response.

I like a touch of lock stick. It's confidence inspiring. My Spydiechef still "ticks" a little when you release it. As long as it's not uncomfortably difficult to unlock I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[evilgreg]

Shouldn't be, but give it some time, if that's what they recommend. If you do need to send it in, be prepared for their odd, expensive shipping (no USPS, UPS, only), and the 25 bucks or so they charge for return shipping.

On the bright side, they will void your warranty if you use lubricants or tools or modify your knife in any way or disassemble it or look at it directly or use it . . . wait, none of that is good either. Well, at least the owner is a bright, good-natured, well-spoken, stable . . . lol, I can't type that with a straight face.

As far as I can tell there is no bright side with Medford (the company or the man). My 187 has grown on me, though, FWIW.

 

[Lapedog]

+1 for this. All of my Emersons have also needed a break-in period. Knowing it's part of the process, I've found I enjoy it.

I figure it is probably easier to leave the lockbar a little bit long and let it break in naturally rather than trying to get it exactly right so it locks perfectly with no lockstick right out of the box.

If they go the tiniest bit too far shortening the lockbar to try and make a no break in set up the whole lock can be ruined and they might have to start all over again. Why bother when the break in will shorten the lockbar anyway. Especially when the knife is produced by a small company where they can’t just reach into a box and pull out a whole new lockside.

Of course it is always nice to get a knife with no lockstick and perfect lockup but a little lockstick as the knife breaks in is not something to worry about. Plus on the original Michael Walker linerlock design lockstick was considered a feature rather than a flaw.

That said liner/framelocks have since evolved. Really I wouldn’t want to be counting on lockstick to hold a knife locked open anyway.

 

[evilgreg]

I figure it is probably easier to leave the lockbar a little bit long and let it break in naturally rather than trying to get it exactly right so it locks perfectly with no lockstick right out of the box.

If they go the tiniest bit too far shortening the lockbar to try and make a no break in set up the whole lock can be ruined and they might have to start all over again. Why bother when the break in will shorten the lockbar anyway. Especially when the knife is produced by a small company where they can’t just reach into a box and pull out a whole new lockside.

Of course it is always nice to get a knife with no lockstick and perfect lockup but a little lockstick as the knife breaks in is not something to worry about. Plus on the original Michael Walker linerlock design lockstick was considered a feature rather than a flaw.

That said liner/framelocks have since evolved. Really I wouldn’t want to be counting on lockstick to hold a knife locked open anyway.

Agreed, and if my 187 is how they all are, I expect it will wear in quickly as my 187 has the sketchiest looking lockup I've ever seen on a frame lock, with a single point of a sharp corner being the sole contact point (sketchy looking, but rock solid in practice as far as I can tell).

 

[CcDoubleU]

On the bright side, they will void your warranty if you use lubricants or tools or modify your knife in any way or disassemble it or look at it directly or use it . . . wait, none of that is good either. Well, at least the owner is a bright, good-natured, well-spoken, stable . . . lol, I can't type that with a straight face.

As far as I can tell there is no bright side with Medford (the company or the man). My 187 has grown on me, though, FWIW.

I didn’t purchase it, got it in a two for one trade, and figured I’d try it out since the 187f is the only Medford that looks remotely attractive.

 

[Lapedog]

Agreed, and if my 187 is how they all are, I expect it will wear in quickly as my 187 has the sketchiest looking lockup I've ever seen on a frame lock, with a single point of a sharp corner being the sole contact point (sketchy looking, but rock solid in practice as far as I can tell).

The lockbar is actually supposed to contact the tang at only a single point. That is how the design is intended. That single point plus the stop pin plus the pivot is supposed to form 3 points of contact.

This is because a triangle is a particularly stable geometry. A 4 legged stool can wobble and rock if one leg is slightly too long or short. A 3 legged stool will not wobble even if all 3 legs are different lengths.

If you take apart any quality frame/linerlock you will see that the lockbar only contacts at one point. Think of the ceramic bb lockbar face of the Umnumzaan or Inkosi; only one point of that ceramic bb is contacting the tang lockface.

 

[Mrgauth]

Nothing makes me sell a knife quicker than lockstick

I envy those of you who get to enjoy certain knives cuz you can tolerate it. Wish I could. Have wanted a Spydie Chef forever but have had 3 and all locksticked their way to the forums for sale.

 

[kylemiller]

I've experienced two kinds of lock stick. What people call "Shiro stick" (every shirogorov does this) has just the slightest "tic" when unlocking. Requires no extra pressure, but you do feel it. Sometimes you get the same little feeling on a axis lock.

Then there's the Brous knife I had that sometimes legitimately required a prying tool to unlock. I sent it in the Brous and got surprisingly good service, came right back in less than 2 weeks with no stick. I ended up selling the knife for other reasons.

 

[kniferbro]

The lockbar is actually supposed to contact the tang at only a single point. That is how the design is intended. That single point plus the stop pin plus the pivot is supposed to form 3 points of contact.

This is because a triangle is a particularly stable geometry. A 4 legged stool can wobble and rock if one leg is slightly too long or short. A 3 legged stool will not wobble even if all 3 legs are different lengths.

If you take apart any quality frame/linerlock you will see that the lockbar only contacts at one point. Think of the ceramic bb lockbar face of the Umnumzaan or Inkosi; only one point of that ceramic bb is contacting the tang lockface.

Yeah but a 3 legged stool with one of the feet twice the size of the others is still a 3 legged stool... So a bigger contact point at the tang/lockbar doesn't change the fact that its still a triangle. No offense to the great innovators who pioneered the liner lock but that info was written decades ago and like you said the lock has evolved. I have many liner/framelocks that do not use a super small contact at the tang that lock up extremely well.

 

[evilgreg]

The lockbar is actually supposed to contact the tang at only a single point. That is how the design is intended. That single point plus the stop pin plus the pivot is supposed to form 3 points of contact.

This is because a triangle is a particularly stable geometry. A 4 legged stool can wobble and rock if one leg is slightly too long or short. A 3 legged stool will not wobble even if all 3 legs are different lengths.

If you take apart any quality frame/linerlock you will see that the lockbar only contacts at one point. Think of the ceramic bb lockbar face of the Umnumzaan or Inkosi; only one point of that ceramic bb is contacting the tang lockface.

It's not that it's a single point of contact that's weird, it's that it's a tiny, itty bitty little point of contact (which is why I'd guess it would wear in quickly and easily, comparatively).

If you look at the lockbar or blade tang for signs of wear on most of my frame lock knives, there is a much larger contact spot that is scratched up. If you hold up the 187 to the light while locked and rotate it a bit, you can see that it's only like the point of a nail that's touching the blade tang. It's hard to catch in a still image, but you can sort of see it here:

As I said in my comment above, though, the lockup is rock solid. It looked sketchy so I screwed around with it to see if I could get it to slip, and it never budged. The knife has grown on me over the years, incidentally. It's too fat to carry well, and too heavy, and the blade is way too thick to ever be great at some cutting tasks, but it's lovable in other ways. Ergos are very nice and the action on mine is at least as smooth as any Sebenza I've owned, if not smoother really. Like the "hydraulic" feel that people describe, but just a little less resistance so it's faster*, enough so that I can middle finger flick mine. Out of my carry knives it's like the fat, mentally deficient kid in the class who gets by on being good natured and fun to be around. I'm carrying it today since this thread had me thinking about it.

* full warranty-voiding disclosure: I did add lubricant to it once, not that it needed it, I just felt like being a lawless rebel after reading the moronic letter that came in the box with my 187

 

[Chuck_Nunface]

I was researching something else and came across this thread. For wat it's worth : https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/lock-stick.1814824/