Received my first Case today and have questions

[philw]

I ordered it from knifeworks.com and it came in the mail today. It is an amber bone mid folding hunter (cv). I am going to use it as an EDC and overall I am happy with it except for a concern about the liner lock. The liner engages but goes all the way over to the far side (shield side) and doesn't touch the blade. It has a little play in it, just enough where I can slide a thin piece of paper between the blade and liner. Are the Case liners made this way or is this a problem? I won't be using this for anything a slipjoint couldn't do so the lock isn't my top priority. I wanted a one hand opener with a clip in a traditional style and this fit the bill. It also had a couple of very small scratches on the bolsters on the shield side. I wasn't very concerned about them since it will probably end up with more.
So is it OK or not?

 

[OTguy]

I hope I explain this right, here goes.

The Mid-Hunter is not a "traditional" linerlock like the modern stuff from CRKT or Benchmade where there is no backspring in the knife and the lock is the only thing holding the blade open. The M-H is really just a slipjoint with a safety feature, very similar to several of Schrade's older designs like the 125OT and the knife I'm carrying now, the 194OT. The linerlock safety is also common on the screwdriver blade of all the electricians type pocketknives I've seen. The lock isn't there so much to hold the blade open as it is there to prevent a accidental closure, which explains why on alot of the Schrade models I have there is some play between the bladetang and the lockbar.

I think your knife is probably ok, unless there seems to be ALOT of play when you try to move the blade when the lock is engaged. If the play seems excessive, I would send the knife back, but if there's just a little vertical wiggle, its the way most knives of this type that I've handled seem to be.

 

[philw]

I went and checked my 125 and it does the same thing. I never noticed it because the backspring is so strong. The spring on the Case is much weaker but if it was as strong as my Schrades I would never get it open with one hand.