Smoothest Custom Folder

B

BlazenGem

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Im sure this has been asked before.

But that was years ago, and lets get an updated oponion on this.


So which maker makes the smoothest opening folder without any assisting spring mechanism (assisted, auto)?

:D
 
I'll give you an example of the way the word can be interpreted different ways.

I consider every Sebenza I've ever handled to be as smooth an opener as any knife out there. But many people point to the damping effect that the tight tolerances produce as a reason to say it does not open smoothly. From my perspective, it really is smooth -- but it's not loose.
 
For me. A Chameleon By Butch Volloton is one of the smoothest ive held. I had one and regret selling it. I ignored the auto feature because manually opening the blade was very satisying. My JWS is pretty smooth but Ive felt better. Im still on the look out for some smooth action. Im not counting the fancy mosaic gents pieces I collect. THose just stay in a case and dont get played with .
 
There are pinned together folders and screw-pivot folders.

Any screw pivot folder can be made smoother by loosening the tension....that presents a problem to answering your question right there.

Blade tension is a matter of purely personal taste...as an example, used by Esav...I find the out of the box Sebenza to not have enough tension on the blade, so it gets taken apart and shave the bushing about 2 thou per side.....when reassembled, it is stiff-ish for about a month of EDC...but then it breaks in perfectly.

Don't like side-to-side play? Well then tuning correctly, and lock titeing becomes crucial, and expect to retune about every three months or so, if you EDC.

That being said, I have EDC'd many custom knives, and Kit Carson, R.J. Martin, Warren Osborne(pinned construction, fwiw), W.D. Pease and J.W. Smith make very, very smooth folders. R.J. uses a bearing system(not IKBS). Korth Cutlery, the Lala Brothers, use IKBS, and the knives are very smooth.

For semi-production, CRK and the Microtech SOCOM Elite are very, very hard to beat(both use bushings)

For production, I really like Kershaw.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I think the Begg Glimpse kknives are some of the smoothest I have handled :)
 
I'm going with Bogi's which are incredble. I once owned a simple lock back by Phil that was as smooth as his latest creations.

I'll add in Scott Sawby, extremely smooth with unique locks, among the best.

Win
 
I've had a few,Dozier,JW Smith,Lee Williams,Matt Cucciara,Kit Carson,David Winston,others too.
Mostly one of each maker,with the exception of Bob Dozier.
But I had a folder from David Mosier once,and out of all the custom liner/framelocks that I have had the opportunity to try,that knife I had of David Mosier's was hands down the smoothest.
But I think action in a knife varies,from particular knife to knife,in customs.
-Vince
 
Out of all the customs that I have, I have to say that my John W. Smith folder IS the smoothest folder I own.
 
I have achieved a smooth action folder with no side play using nylatron washers and nylatron bushing. Best part is there is no lubrication required which tends to pick up dust and dirt.
 
Let me tell you a thing or three about smoothness.

Doing the work I do I get to handle many knives. I see some that strike me as super nice and have bought one for myself only to find that just because the one I had here for a pocket clip was silky smooth doesn't mean the same model I bought for myself will feel the same way. In some cases you would have to carry the knife and use it a good while to get it where it was when I saw it here. In others they are closer.

On most every Emerson I have bought new from the EKI factory they have been anything but smooth. I hear tell some get out there and I finally managed to get one in that HD7 I bought. Until then I thought it was a hype story. None of mine came that way. All had to be carried and used for anywhere from three to 10 months before I'd call it smooth. Most came grainy and gritty feeling and needed lots of work to get them ironed out to where I like em.

Smoothness is attributed to the pivot barrel tension. It is related to the type of thumb stud as well as the placement of the stud on the blade also. On some knives like my Alias II that I had I turned that folder into a much easier smoother feeling folder by simply changing out the thumb stud to one less conical shaped that stuck out a bit farther so my thumb could get a better purchase of it to rotate the blade out. It took the knife from crappy to where I missed the stud with my thumb more often than catching it to being a nice EDC.

Time and wear is also a factor for smoothness. Teflon and nylon washers will be pretty smooth right off the bat, but nylatron and Phosphorus bronze washers tend to get better and better with age. Proprietary pivot mechanisms like those Duncan uses or ones with some other type bushing like the Sebenza also can contribute to the overall feel and interpretation of smoothness or lack of it.

What I'm saying is that just because one guy says the J.W. Smith folder is the smoothest made or just because another says its a Jonn Connely or an Emerson production doesn't really mean squat. Each knife is unique and while some companies or makers may be more consistant than others the case is usually that you have to accept the fact that no two are exactly alike. You shoot for an ideal and you know where that is. You just hope you hit as close to it as you can with each one you make. Some fall shorter to that ideal than others while others make the grade.

If its that important to you I'd say buying the folder you are that picky about on the net is a crap shoot at best. Go to a show, find the exact knife you like and can live with and buy that very knife. Thats what I'd do.

STR
 
STR said:
Let me tell you a thing or three about smoothness.

Doing the work I do I get to handle many knives. I see some that strike me as super nice and have bought one for myself only to find that just because the one I had here for a pocket clip was silky smooth doesn't mean the same model I bought for myself will feel the same way. In some cases you would have to carry the knife and use it a good while to get it where it was when I saw it here. In others they are closer.

On most every Emerson I have bought new from the EKI factory they have been anything but smooth. I hear tell some get out there and I finally managed to get one in that HD7 I bought. Until then I thought it was a hype story. None of mine came that way. All had to be carried and used for anywhere from three to 10 months before I'd call it smooth. Most came grainy and gritty feeling and needed lots of work to get them ironed out to where I like em.

Smoothness is attributed to the pivot barrel tension. It is related to the type of thumb stud as well as the placement of the stud on the blade also. On some knives like my Alias II that I had I turned that folder into a much easier smoother feeling folder by simply changing out the thumb stud to one less conical shaped that stuck out a bit farther so my thumb could get a better purchase of it to rotate the blade out. It took the knife from crappy to where I missed the stud with my thumb more often than catching it to being a nice EDC.

Time and wear is also a factor for smoothness. Teflon and nylon washers will be pretty smooth right off the bat, but nylatron and Phosphorus bronze washers tend to get better and better with age. Proprietary pivot mechanisms like those Duncan uses or ones with some other type bushing like the Sebenza also can contribute to the overall feel and interpretation of smoothness or lack of it.

What I'm saying is that just because one guy says the J.W. Smith folder is the smoothest made or just because another says its a Jonn Connely or an Emerson production doesn't really mean squat. Each knife is unique and while some companies or makers may be more consistant than others the case is usually that you have to accept the fact that no two are exactly alike. You shoot for an ideal and you know where that is. You just hope you hit as close to it as you can with each one you make. Some fall shorter to that ideal than others while others make the grade.

If its that important to you I'd say buying the folder you are that picky about on the net is a crap shoot at best. Go to a show, find the exact knife you like and can live with and buy that very knife. Thats what I'd do.

STR
Click to expand...

:thumbup: understand now. :):thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
I would imagine that the list could go on and on.

Any accomplished knifemaker should be able to throw his hat in the ring on this one.

Its all about tolerances......not just bushings and washers, but how close the tolerances are on every single aspect of the knife in relation to all the others.

Some knifemakers are a LOT pickier than others, and that results in a near perfect folder.

I will agree that Phil B makes a VERY nice folder..........he also works on watches.......which can tell you something about how picky he is.
 
As many have posted, the variables as to what is smooth are many. That being said, the smoothest I have handled is one of the 12 original button locks that Mel Pardue made. He made others after those first 12, but not with the same mechanism.

Those first 12 were made with a mechanism that was very precise and very time consuming to machine due to the tolerances that Tom emphasized.

The one I have locks up solid and I have yet to handle a knife any smoother.
 
This is a good question, but the answer depends on what your specifications are. If you are including folders that have bearings in their pivots, those folders will always have smoother action than any non-bearing pivot folders. So makers like Flavio Ikoma, Korth, Mike Draper, RJ Martin, Larry Chew, Brad Duncan, and anyone else who uses a properly constructed bearing system in their folder pivots will have smoother action than anyone who doesn't use bearings in their pivots.

If you are not including pivots with bearings in them, then Phil Boguszewski has the smoothest action in his folders.

All of my opinions assume that the blade is not loose and has no-side-to-side play (obviously, a loose blade is the smoothest one of all), and all of them are based on handling at least 5 different folders from each of the makers named.
 
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