MY THOUGHTS ON THE SYNERGY

A

AncientSUL

Joined
May 28, 1999
Messages
887
Hi all, this is my first post so here it goes. I recently bought a Speedtech Synergy. I think it is a great knife. The handle is a solid piece of aluminum, that is laser cut and it is egronomic. The blade is upswept point and it is in 154-cm. The lock is a button lock and the pocket clip is on the top most edge of the handle. I think it is a great knife and the design on the handle is a mixture of colors. Mine is burgundy with gold and some black. It is really nice. Now I did have a little bit of a problem with it. The lock being a button lock did fail the spine whack test. I contacted the maker and they ask me to sent it back for them to see what was wrong with it because I am the only one so far with this problem. Well I hope it all goes well because I really like the design. Tell me what you think if you owned one.
 
AncientSUL-

Your SYNERGY is on its way back to you and should arrive Monday.

I was able to repeat your lock failure by the spine whack test. This was due to the lubricating oil coating the engagement surfaces on the blade and lock button. Oil on those areas dramatically decreases the coefficient of friction and allows the button to slip off the blade when subjected to a sharp impact (such as in the wack test).

To maintain a tight lockup, most designs (e.g. liner locks, plunge button locks, etc.) use mating angular engagement surfaces to compensate for manufacturing tolerances and eventual wear. Coefficient of friction between these surfaces is critical. If excess lubrication comes between these surfaces (which, in addition are also usually polished for smooth operation), the lock can slip rather than "bite", which is what happened in the case of your knife.

I completely degreased your knife with aerosol brake cleaner, waited for it to dry and then applied high performance grease to the blade/handle junction at the front of the knife. Being very careful not to get any grease on the engagement surfaces, I worked the blade back & forth till the grease penetrated the blade/handle gap and the action was smooth.

To insure that excess lubrication was indeed the problem, the "beat" test was substituted for the wack test. Your poor SYNERGY took quite a hammering. The lock did not fail, but was peened to the point of having permanent play.

I replaced the damaged parts, repeated the lubrication process and performed a final whack test, which was passed without incident. If you feel the need to repeat it, please use care; excessive whacking on this or any other knife will eventually cause lock damage.

SPEEDTECH is now shipping every knife with the previously mentioned lubrication procedure. We find that using grease has the additional benefits of lasting longer, staying in place and not attracting dust & dirt. Anybody who currently owns a SYNERGY can return it to us where we will perform the process at no charge.

We are glad that you like the design and wish you many years of enjoyment. If there is anything else we can do for you, please don't hesitate to contact us. Thanks again for your support of SPEEDTECH.

Stay sharp,

Jim

------------------
Jim O'Young
http://www.speed-techknives.com
Home of the Speed Tech "SYNERGY" (tm)
1999-2000 BLADE Magazine "Most Innovative American Design"

 
Jim,

Does the fact that that knife failed due lubricating oil getting on the lock parts mean that if someone applies a lubricant such as Rem-Oil or Tuf-Glide to the action on their knife, that it too will fail?
And if so, why wasn't this caught in pre-producyion evaluation?
Hopefully I am wrong because I think these are great looking knives and was planning on obtaining one in the near future.
Just wondering.

------------------
C.O.'s-"It takes balls to work behind the walls "
 
Jailhack-

Use of a low viscosity oil such as those that you mentioned probably will cause a lock failure in a spine whack test.

As you well know, it is very difficult to consistently dispense a small amount of oil to a specific location. Capillary action will migrate the oil and wet the lock engagement surfaces. This is also the case in many other folding knives as well. I have induced spine whack failures immediately after carefully oiling the actions of several well made and well known knives (in all price ranges, with many different types of locking systems). The knives had passed in the dry state.

As I had mentioned in my last post, mating angular engagement surfaces are necessary to allow for manufacturing tolerances and wear from use, if a tight lock is desired for the life of the knife. Less angle would mean less sensitivity to lubricant, but on the other hand would mean less take up for wear and the need for higher precision ($$$) parts.

My partners and I have used our personal SYNERGYs in the "real world" for day to day chores for the last couple of months without failures of any kind. This included hard usage at the gun range, horse ranch and machine shop. Our knives even had wet engaging surfaces from being oiled with FP10 (awesome penetrating firearms lubricant). The only hint of trouble was from Ancient's spine whack test. Granted, our uses for the knife did not include banging the spine on a table to induce lock failures.

But since this is a valid concern to the knife community, we have addressed it by the lubrication method described in my previous post. Here, the lock is more robust, the smoothness of the action is improved and the longevity of the lubrication is increased. It is better; a "win-win" all the way around.

Like any company, SPEEDTECH is continuously learning about our product, our marketplace and our customers. We try to react and continuously improve the way we do things. We know more than we did 6 months ago and less than we will 6 months from now. Decisions can only be based on the information we have at the time and what we foresee the future to be.

If you are basing your knife buying decisions on the ability to use/not use lubricating oils, please try some of the tests I have previously mentioned. The results will probably surprise you as much as they did me.

Sorry for the longwinded answers. Please let me know if there is anything else.

Stay sharp!


Jim

------------------
Jim O'Young
http://www.speed-techknives.com
Home of the Speed Tech "SYNERGY" (tm)
1999-2000 BLADE Magazine "Most Innovative American Design"

 
It's nice to see someone taking responsibility and looking for solutions, rather than using weasel-words and strict construction of the warrantee to duck out. Good going, Jim!

Joe
 
Jim,

Thanks for the reply, and yes I do have other questions if you don't mind.

You say that the grease that you applied made the action smoother. Are you talking about quickness or just easier gliding?
I like a one handed knife with an action that is both smooth and quick, as I tend to deploy my blades very fast(with just a fast hard flick of my thumb).

To me a grease would mean a thicker lubricant which in turn would slow down deployment.

Also, is this lubricant something that can be applied by the user without taking the knife apart? I ask this because when the grease wears off what happens next?

What happens to the grease when the knife is cleaned and does it collect dust,dirt,etc?

And will you recommend that your buyers use this grease and not use any type of oil type lube when the knives are purchased? This may cut down on any future problems.

And don't think that your answers are long winded, I think it is great that you are taking the time to find and fix any manufacturing problems and not hiding in a corner like some other manufacturers are doing.

------------------
C.O.'s-"It takes balls to work behind the walls "


[This message has been edited by Jailhack (edited 17 July 1999).]
 
Jailhack-

Thanks for your words of encouragement.

When someone buys a knife they also buy the commitment of that knife company. SPEEDTECH is the new kid on the block, w/o any fan club or cult following, but is hoping to develop one.

We will be judged not only for our knives, but for the actions of myself and my partners.

We are in this business because we want to be, not because we have to. We love knives and want to make a contribution to the industry.

We don't know everything, but we are learning.

We will make mistakes, but will correct them.

We will be committed to serving our customers, even if it means giving up my Friday night to hang out on Bladeforums (though not a bad way to spend it).

I take SPEEDTECH, its reputation, products and customers VERY personally.


We now return you to regularly scheduled programming, now in progress.

To answer your other questions;

The floating pivot bearing system (machined from oil impregnated bronze) and the blade riding on type 3 hard coat anodization doesn't require very much lubrication. The greases that we have tried (Brownells, Shooters' Choice) give a smooth action w/o significantly slowing the blade down. I have recently taken to carrying my knife completely dry and can still open the blade w/ a thumbstud flick. As the knife is used, all contact surfaces naturally burnish and get smoother.

Grease can be applied to the blade and worked into the blade/handle gap w/o disassembly. The process can be repeated over time as the grease wears out. As it doesn't bleed or run, it doesn't attract dust or dirt, as long as the excess is wiped off. Cleaning is easily done w/ aerosol brake cleaner (also works MAGIC on firearms!).

We will change the warranty cards to reflect this new procedure.

Thank you for your questions and feed back. This will help us to deliver better products, hopefully ones that you will enjoy more. We want to know what's on your mind.


Stay sharp,


Jim

------------------
Jim O'Young
http://www.speed-techknives.com
Home of the Speed Tech "SYNERGY" (tm)
1999-2000 BLADE Magazine "Most Innovative American Design"

 
Just a quick note, some aerosol brake cleaners (especially "brak-cleen") aren't very plastic friendly...

--dan
 
And, fortunately, there is no plastic that I can see in the Synergy I handled.

sing
 
Jim,
Very encouraging. Keep up the good work.
Next time I get a customer who wants that "special" knife, I will be in touch.

------------------
C.O.'s-"It takes balls to work behind the walls "
 
Jailhack-

Thanks for the vote of confidence. We will do everything that we can to keep it

Stay sharp!

Jim

------------------
Jim O'Young
http://www.speed-techknives.com
Home of the Speed Tech "SYNERGY" (tm)
1999-2000 BLADE Magazine "Most Innovative American Design"

 
Thanks Jim for the reply.

I am extremely impress by the your effords to keep your customers happy. I hope I did not cause you too many headaches for this post. Thanks again, I can't wait till my baby arrives.

Ancient
 
Hello All,

The Speedtech Synergy is a "special knife".

Well designed and extremly well made.

I have had mine for about a month now and
iam not the least bit sorry for the purchase.

As you have seen JIM takes his work very serious, and his comitment to keep his customers sastisifed is real. Finaly some one
who cares about their customers!!!!!!

and one who can deliver an excellent product..
 
hey guys,

Jim Thanks, You said the knife would come today and it did. Looks great. Now I couldn't resists to try the test again, and again, and just again. And all three times the Synergy passed the spine whack test. I am extremely happy. Guys this is the knife that when you show your friends they just say WOW where can I get one. And with the service that Jim provides the is no doubt that I will be buying more Speed-tech from now on. Especially, when you can design your own knife.
 
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