Safety question: position of BB detents

[johnniet]

I have a zytel Cricket which I adore. I noticed a long time ago that just before it actually locks (as you open it), the liner moves a little bit, and the resistance increases, giving the impression that it might be locked already (especially since it looks virtually open).
So I took it apart (thanks for allowing that option on this model! better for cleaning too!) and it looks like there's a simple explanation. The ball bearing in the liner is right in the corner -- the last thing that the back of the blade goes by, just before the liner lock engages. Therefore, as the blade slides into position, the liner moves inward by the height of the bearing. And, if you stop the blade at this point (and it tends to stop there on its own sometimes), the bearing provides some resistance to closing from there -- so if you're not careful, it can feel as though it's locked.

Question: is it feasible to put the bearing in a different position so that this effect will happen partway through opening, instead of just before the lock engages?

With any ball bearing detent system, I think there will always be a bump at some point in the path of opening. If the bearing is in the liner, it's when the end of the blade goes past the bearing. If the bearing is in the blade somewhere, it's when the bearing goes past the liner. But it might be better to have this happen partway through the opening, so that if the motion stops there it is obvious, rather than near the end (where it can appear as though the lock is engaged).

Any ideas?

 

[Sal Glesser]

Johnniet - On each model in which a ball bearing is used, the optimum location for that model is carefully located. For this model, the current location works best. A smaller ball might lessen the effect, but might not lock up as well. This has been a difficult model to create.

sal

 

[johnniet]

Thanks for such a quick reply!

I think the size of the detent is about right actually -- it shouldn't open up in the pocket too easily, after all. The question was just about the location. But if you guys already went over this, then I tend to trust your judgement.

What happens when the ball bearing is placed closer to the middle? Obviously there's a reason why you don't want to do that, but offhand I can't see what would happen. (Or does it cause problems for other parts of the knife somehow?)