MT SOCOM Elite lock problems

C

Commodorefirst

Joined
Dec 30, 2000
Messages
85
Posted this over at MT Forums thought I would get everyones feed back here too:

Well I just got the pi__ scared out of me! Was out in the yard cutting some dried annuals out of the beds and was using firm cutting with the elite and had been working for around 15-20 minutes - no problems. Buried the blade in a thicker stem and was puling it up and out when pop, the lock popped out! (liner lock moved to the side to the closing postion and the blade partially closed) Yikes! Was I ever shocked. First knife I ever had do this to me. Felt the click and immediately relased my grip. I had been using this Elite as a user for the last 3 months and never had a problem. I never had spine tested it, didn't think I had to due since my other Elite I ordered from Phil at 2thehilt passed the test with flying colors. All of my LCC's pass, all of my mini socoms pass, the al mar 2000sere passes, and I didn't bother to test the axis locks I bought. I have been using the good stuff for the last 3 months or so. I thought this would not be a problem with the new socom Elite.

What now? Do I call MT a get a RA number? Will they recognize this as a flaw? Do they consider this normal? The coated blade is scratched/marred from use, but the knife has not been abused. I have only touched up/sharpened it once on a sharpmaker. The edge is still in great shape. The lock fails a moderate spine whack on the 4th-5th rapid whack in a row. Not Good. No blade play or wobble. Just failure of the lock.

Any comments, or suggestions. 9 MT's in three months and this occurs. Bummer.

Wade



[This message has been edited by Commodorefirst (edited 02-18-2001).]
 
If it makes you feel any better, spine-whacking this knife might not have shown the problem. Liner locks are even more susceptible to torquing than they are to spine pressure, and spine whacking only shows spine pressure problems. It sounds like you might have been torquing the knife a bit.

Joe
 
Joe, saw your further thoughts on BM's Forum... thanks for the link, not a member there just a long-term lurker. Haven't had much response from any microholics here or at MT forum. Not registered yet at KF, I probably should register and post there to get more thoughts on this.

Thanks for your input. Maybe I should have been cutting stuff with my 730? Torque shouldn't affect axis locks.

I will call MT on Tuesday,

bttt for more thoughts from anyone.

Wade
 
Torque won't effect a fixed blade. I can understand a folder for convenience, and I've done my share of abusing liner locks and lockbacks in the woods, but it's still not right. I don't care how tough they're supposed to be, when the pressure gets industrial, use a real knife.
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Esav Benyamin:
Torque won't effect a fixed blade. I can understand a folder for convenience, and I've done my share of abusing liner locks and lockbacks in the woods, but it's still not right. I don't care how tough they're supposed to be, when the pressure gets industrial, use a real knife.</font>
Click to expand...

Esav, my friend, you're looking at this the wrong way. An axis lock will take all the torque you can throw at it. Obviously a fixed blade can be stronger than a folder, but a well-done folder can take some pretty serious hard use. If you haven't experienced that personally, maybe the problem isn't that folders aren't "real knives", but that the folders you've played with don't have real locks
smile.gif
I've been seeing a lot of lock discussion recently, and there is a tendency to dismiss lock failures as par for the course. I assure you, they don't have to be. And the advances in folder locks just keep coming.

Joe

 
Wade, in the interest of fairness, I have probably been a bit overly-dramatic in the past few days, in order to make my point. One failure does not a trend make, and no company will get every knife perfect.
 
8 out of 9 MT's have been great. Hoping it is just the fit of the lock to the blade. I have done numerous searches and this is the first I have heard of an SE lock failing.

Esav, couldn't agree more - for serious work I always use a fixed blade, however, part of the convienence of carrying a folder is using it whenever. Went to get the mail, and decided to cut some annuals that had dried up over the winter. Wasn't planning to work in the flower/annual beds, just happened. Much better to carry my LCC, SOCOM E or 730 in the burbs than a fixed folder. Besides, this was not abuse to the knive IMHO. The dried flowers are about like cutting dried corn stalks. Same thickness and consistency. Just got the blade deep into the root, got stuck, and pop, folds the blade partially. I might have even had something push the lock over without me knowing, however, the blade does easily unlock with quick moderate (not pounding) spine whacks. About the same force as pounding a gavel in a meeting, no gloves just gripping the sides bare handed between thumb and fingers.

Not right.

Hmmmm new topic...best fixed blade for cutting/chopping corn stalks? hehe lol

Wade
 
Joe, Wade, I may have overreacted, considering what Wade was cutting
smile.gif
but I wasn't saying only fixed blades are worth using.

My Benchmade 975 Emerson is a liner lock and my Vaquero Grande is a lockback. I've used both of them for years now, slashing weeds and chopping thornbushes, vines, and small branches.

I have never had either lock fail, nor have the blades developed any wobble. I may have gotten lucky with these two pieces, but it does show they can do fairly heavy work.

Still, given a little planning, and the chance to use a heavier blade, I'd probably be better off using the CS Bushman instead, or my SRK.
 
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