I like a lighter spring level than many of the top slipjoint guys at the moment make personally. It's one of those things, the esoteric aspects, of which the enthusiasts of so many different things, tend to fixate on, and as is typical, at some point, a popular, default "opinion" ends up proliferating, based on what whomever was the most vocal and passionate about the issue, favored.
Much like all the exotic bearing systems in liner/framelocks and flippers, people fixate on some on the most minute mechanical functions, sometimes even ignoring the overall package or primary functions.
I should say though, that as you learn more and more about the deep complex geometrical relationships with slipjoints, you'll figure out there it is possible to make a very snappy, yet very light pull. A heavy pre-load, but thinner spring, is one part of the equation, the other, is the radius of the corners (cams) of your tang. If you have a heavy spring, you can have more radiused corners, and still get good snap, but if your spring is lighter, they need to be sharper, and you need a heavier pre-load.
I make most of mine with what's sometimes referred to as a "progressive" pull, meaning it's easier to open from closed to half, than half to open, this is my profound preference, and IMO, the only real reason to use a half-stop in the first place, is to make the pull function in this way, but that's my opinion, and isn't shared by all.
Another thing, because of the way I design many of my patterns, and my strong preference for hiding the back square, aka "sunken joint" design in all positions, open (obviously), half-stop even, and closed, and the aesthetics of the front of the bolster that flow to my eye without abbreviation (aka interrupting the flow), tends to dictate that my blade attitude at half-stop (half-open) is not, dead 90 degrees. I feel very strongly that the idea it must be dead 90 is simply an assumption that was defaulted to, and there's no mandate for it to be this way, and in many designs is a detriment to the aesthetic flow of the knife. However, I will openly admit, that it makes it near impossible with a progressive, light-ish pull, to avoid a little over-shoot when snapping the blade from open to half-stop. It's not "wobble" per say, they aren't remotely loose, just that it'll shoot a little past half and back to seated when snapping it.
Some collectors/buyers absolute hate this about my knives, they have very specific expectations about exactly how the walk and talk should function. Usually, based on, I presume, the standard set forth by whichever makers they revere as the "best". I disagree, and I'm happy to explain why to anybody that wants to discuss why I do things the way I do them. Ultimately though, it's good that we have different opinions and different makers make things differently, as long as we each know why we make things the way we make them, and don't simply make something because of the reverential/dogmatic excuse of "because that's the way it's supposed to be". If we all made the same knife, the same way though, it'd be pretty miserable for all of us, and our customers. There will always be a contingent of followers pushing for homogeneity, it's unfortunately the predominate flavor of human nature, otherwise society wouldn't be as consistent and dominating as it is. At the same time, there will always be some of us that do things different, or appreciate something that is done differently, with good reason and execution.
Ultimately we all fixate on certain quirks that are important to us, and the process which we come about those fixations is likely very complex. A combination of process, design, luck, complexity, and who knows what else. I think that's a really fundamental part of the organic evolution of each of our personal styles, much more so than us pouring out our artistic insecurities and trying to prove we can do something new for the sake of it, which so often seems to be the only motivation for many design quirks.
In the end, even the 1-10 pull level system we toss about is highly subjective, since we've never really established a baseline at either extreme publicly, we just make assumptions based on what we think the rest of us mean. Is 1 flying open with no spring resistance at all, and 10 locked up completely? I've met nail breakers I couldn't open, that bigger guys than me loved, and would call a 7, to me they were at least 9s.
LOL sorry, some of you guys that have talked to me on the phone know I get pretty philosophical on this subject, and I can talk for hours about it... Sorry if I've digressed too far again.
, but for actual use, prefer a softer spring as well.
