- Joined
- Feb 21, 2001
- Messages
- 1,981
Not sure whether I should ask this on the Shop Talk forum or here. Can always try there, if need be.
One aspect of knives that I don't recall seeing a single thread addressed to is the issue of pivot strength. Lock strength is an every day subject. We discuss the various merits of steels and inappropriate things to do with blades. But, so far as I know, we don't talk about pivots
I just ran a search. Though that wasn't the subject, there was a post from Ken Onion about SpeedSafes that have been cycled 40K times, etc. Ken said that he has seen Speed Safes that have been cycled to the point that the hardened pivot shaft was worn away.
One thing obvious about pivots is the wide range of sizes used for them. Frequently, there seems little correlation between the size of pivots and the size of the blade. I've seen some fairly large folders with pretty small diameter pivots. Have seen others that seem to have real large pivots. I guess that one thing in the world of custom knives stands out in my mind, and that is the size of the pivots Allen Elishewitz uses.
I know Spyderco has begun using eccentric pivots, which I know makes adjustment possible. Why doesn't anyone else -- that I've heard of -- make adjustable pivots? Is it important? Is the size of the pivot shaft important? Does the kind of metal used make a difference? Is there really a need for hardened pivot shafts? Do many knives get by just fine without hardened shafts?
Please help, if you can. I just feel like I'm almost totally ignorant about shafts and the role they play in knife longevity, etc. Thanks,
One aspect of knives that I don't recall seeing a single thread addressed to is the issue of pivot strength. Lock strength is an every day subject. We discuss the various merits of steels and inappropriate things to do with blades. But, so far as I know, we don't talk about pivots
I just ran a search. Though that wasn't the subject, there was a post from Ken Onion about SpeedSafes that have been cycled 40K times, etc. Ken said that he has seen Speed Safes that have been cycled to the point that the hardened pivot shaft was worn away.
One thing obvious about pivots is the wide range of sizes used for them. Frequently, there seems little correlation between the size of pivots and the size of the blade. I've seen some fairly large folders with pretty small diameter pivots. Have seen others that seem to have real large pivots. I guess that one thing in the world of custom knives stands out in my mind, and that is the size of the pivots Allen Elishewitz uses.
I know Spyderco has begun using eccentric pivots, which I know makes adjustment possible. Why doesn't anyone else -- that I've heard of -- make adjustable pivots? Is it important? Is the size of the pivot shaft important? Does the kind of metal used make a difference? Is there really a need for hardened pivot shafts? Do many knives get by just fine without hardened shafts?
Please help, if you can. I just feel like I'm almost totally ignorant about shafts and the role they play in knife longevity, etc. Thanks,
