Military lock-up question

symphonyincminor

symphonyincminor

Joined
Oct 5, 2005
Messages
2,400
I recently broke down my BG-42 Military for a deep cleaning. Everything went fine, but I noticed something on the locking-liner side. The end of the liner (where it meets the blade tang) was only worn on the front 3rd of the actual liner, the rest was unworn. When I look at the knife locked into place with a flashlight (at an angle), the liner indeed only touches the tang of the blade with only about a 3rd of the liner.

Notice, I'm not talking about how far the liner travels across the tang. I'm not worried about that; the lock-up is superb. The liner travels about 40% over, ending just as the tang begins to radius downward.

Here is a very crudely drawn example to illustrate what I'm talking about. Imagine that you're looking at the internals of the knife, with the carbon fiber slab missing on the locking side.

WARNING: Very crappy illustration ahead!



I've carried the knife everyday for the past 6 months and have never encountered a failure with the lock. It has passed routine spine-whack tests and locks up absolutely solid. I trust this knife for my personal safety and for everyday utility jobs that it has performed flawlessly. Now...

The Question

Is this how Spyderco designs their liner lock? I don't have any other from the company to compare this one to. Is the entire length of the liner supposed to engage the blade tang, or is the above the 'norm' for liner lock designs?
 
I think the only competent answer should be given by Sal. As a matter of fact, it would be fair to do so, and avoid possible frustrations.

As far as I can see, my BG-42 Millie doe NOT have that phenomenon. But, it is clear (just physics) that larger contact gives more stability, i.e., more security, IMO.

Let's hear Sal.

Franco
 
Hi Symphony,

That is how it should be.

Walker linerlocks are quite complex in the interface area (lock/tang).

There are many opinions as to what is the "correct" way to make a linerlock. We too have our own "opinions".

sal
 
All my other liner locks are the same way. This is not the first time I have heard that it was part of the design. I trust my liner locks because I trust the makers.
 
Thanks for the input, everyone.

Franco G, I too was of the opinion for a long time that "more metal-to-metal surface contact yields a better, stronger lock." While it's a good general rule of thumb, I revised that belief when I had some cheap (not inexpensive, just cheaply made) liner lock fail under normal usage. The liner completely contacted the surface of the tang. Should be pretty damn strong, right? The lock was so poorly designed, that although it looked like a strong lockup, the radius of the tang allowed the liner to slip with mild pressure put onto the blade spine. Tension between the stop pin and the liner was non-existent.

I guess it depends on the lock style. I prefer having a lot of metal-to-metal contact in my lockbacks. Same with framelocks. In liner locks, I prefer strong tension between the liner and the stop pin. The overall design, I've learned, is far more important that how much metal it contacting. If you design a strong lock and can incorporate plenty of metal-to-metal contact, even better!

Keep up the great work, Sal. :)
 
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