SOG Flash II Conversion to Assisted + Auto Tutorial

Bill DeShivs said:
Critiquing is not criticism.
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That is how the word is defined, to critique is to perform a critical evaluation. To critize doesn't mean to describe or comment negatively, it simply means to discriminate on the basis of quality. You can perform a critique and make no negative statements, of course that would be rare as it would mean you could see no room for improvement. Obviously in any critique the strength of the assertions are of importance hence the question as to your method.

-Cliff
 
kel_aa said:
Everything else being equal, there would certainly be advantages to not having to do this. But I cannot to use your method if I do not know what it is, can I?
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Not having ever handled one of either conversion, and only having seen these pics and vids, wouldn't it be just as effective to shorten the lockbar by grinding off some of the length from the front (removing metal from the left side in your pics). And then if necessary, adding a spacer to the end of the channel that the spring sits in, such that the spring has the same tension when open/closed as before removing material from the front of the lockbar. EX: if you remove 3mm from the front of the lockbar, add a 3mm spacer that would fit in on the far right end of the spring.

I do not know if this is a possibility, because I do not know how far forward the stud for the lockbar travels in the original slot. If, when the knife is open/closed STOCK, you have plenty of space between the beginning of the slot and the beginning of the stud, this mod would work.

I do NOT know if this would work, because I haven't seen detailed pics of the knife. I could tell you in about a minute if I handled one tough. Also, it's about as elegant as a solution gets. Well, actually....... If you were to add a spacer of the right length between where the lockbar and the lock-stud meet, it would be even more elegant, and would function exactly the same, but would add a little extra compression to the spring.
 
wouldn't it be just as effective to shorten the lockbar by grinding off some of the length from the front

This would preserve the original exterior qualities. I think there was less than 2mm of slack to start with in the front, I took up close to one with the expoxy, and and I'd think you don't want the button rammed up to the front of the slot (to allow for wear and such of the lockbar). If the dimensions matched (I am not positive that it doesn't), it would also be a viable solution. Other than that, filing plastic is a lot easier than grinding metal if all you have are hand tools, plus you don't have to worry about the right curve of the lockbar front.

I gotta test the strength of the lock and the modified lock assembly. Do you want to play around with it some after that, the_mac?
 
kel_aa said:
wouldn't it be just as effective to shorten the lockbar by grinding off some of the length from the front

This would preserve the original exterior qualities. I think there was less than 2mm of slack to start with in the front, I took up close to one with the expoxy, and and I'd think you don't want the button rammed up to the front of the slot (to allow for wear and such of the lockbar). If the dimensions matched (I am not positive that it doesn't), it would also be a viable solution. Other than that, filing plastic is a lot easier than grinding metal if all you have are hand tools, plus you don't have to worry about the right curve of the lockbar front.

I gotta test the strength of the lock and the modified lock assembly. Do you want to play around with it some after that, the_mac?
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I'd love to give it a look and open it up and try to figure out bill's hack. So if you don't mind parting with it for a few days or so, I'd love a look.
 
It's in your mailbox, the_mac. I hope your don't get papers in the morning or if you do don't have a handy paperboy.

I also hope your interest extends beyond trying to figure out Bill's hack. In any case let it be an informal passaround; I won't miss it if you play with it for two weeks or so.

I'd appreciate it if you would be careful with the screws; it threads directly into the FRN.

As for the lock strength, it's questionable. I put it in a vise and tryed to close it. It sure flexes a lot, and I did manage to close it once with rather moderate force. I didn't do more testing as I'm not sure the FRN assembly can handle it without permanant [local] deformation. And it's isn't a simple FRN lockback, there are so many pins and channels and such.

The blade wedges up against a stop pin in the postive direction. In negative blade loading, there appears to be some slack before it hits the lockbar. You can rattle it in fact. It was like this new, and I'm pretty sure it is not a problem with the modification. It sure ain't no Axis lock.
 
Just got it from the mailbox. I really like the colouring that they've got going on with the rainbow finish, and it feels nice in hand. Call me crazy, but I actually prefer using the studs to firing it "auto".

Also, do I have to worry about the ball for the safety if I open it up?

Thanks
-Jake

kel_aa said:
It's in your mailbox, the_mac. I hope your don't get papers in the morning or if you do don't have a handy paperboy.

I also hope your interest extends beyond trying to figure out Bill's hack. In any case let it be an informal passaround; I won't miss it if you play with it for two weeks or so.

I'd appreciate it if you would be careful with the screws; it threads directly into the FRN.

As for the lock strength, it's questionable. I put it in a vise and tryed to close it. It sure flexes a lot, and I did manage to close it once with rather moderate force. I didn't do more testing as I'm not sure the FRN assembly can handle it without permanant [local] deformation. And it's isn't a simple FRN lockback, there are so many pins and channels and such.

The blade wedges up against a stop pin in the postive direction. In negative blade loading, there appears to be some slack before it hits the lockbar. You can rattle it in fact. It was like this new, and I'm pretty sure it is not a problem with the modification. It sure ain't no Axis lock.
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The ball is not in there. You can also fire it using your index finger on the thumbstud on the other side. I prefer that and using the auto than using the thumb on the thumbstud for control reasons. Have fun.
 
I have no problem with Mr. Bill DeShv or his views on his work. We all know what the difference is between a "professional" and an "amateur", and rightly so.
 
Follow up? Not really. This has been an "open source" project. I use this knife at home now that my AFCK is perpetually dirty from work. I took off the clip on this knife. Sometimes the lock is a little tight for a while. I suspect that this type of lock carried this way may be sensitive to lent and such.

I will note that during my lock testing in a vise the thumb button and piston separated. I re-epoxyed them together. However the bonding was not good, and the epoxy stuck onto the piston only. That is the condition I gave the knife to the_mac in: two free parts with a "spacer" provided by the epoxy. Shortly after the_mac returned the knife the "spacer" fell off. I re-epoxyed it a third time and it has help up since.

the_mac's comments in an email:

"About the Flash !!. The epoxy stayed attached to the piston for the duration that I had the knife, but it was not attached to the "trigger" or lock release. One way that you could get the knife to work just fine without needing the epoxy would be to grind the front of the piston until the lock release will pull it out of the way. Removing an amount of metal off the front of the piston of equal length to what the epoxy was providing will work just fine.

I really liked the carry clip on the knife, but I wasn't a fan of the blade shape (a little more belly than I normally like) or handle ergos (a little too much like a brick). The mechanism for opening was cool though."
 
kel aa, thanks for posting again. I'm trying to figure out how to convert my SOG Trident (http://sogknives.com/store/TF-6.html). It's a bit different with the "arc-actuator", but virtually the same in piston design/blade lock. I am glad you posted again for this: "grind the front of the piston until the lock release will pull it out of the way".
This is what I've been looking for. I can't see a better way. It would be difficult though, to smooth the edge that makes contact with the choil and only take off whats needed to release the blade. I'm going to do a little more research, then probably try the grinding.
thanks again.
 
I'm not sure if this will be considered too off topic, but I'm getting old and even having loosened the pivot a bit and added a bit of extra lube, is it possible to make the Trident and Flash II easier to open? My old hands aren't what they used to be and some days I can't manage to apply enough pressure to the thumb stud to open them.
 
Tried modding a flash 1 to be auto and I think I discovered the secret. You need to grind the blade tang. And boy is it easy to mess up. In the end I ended up with a knife that won't stay closed all the way and is very sticky opening. think I could do it better next time and I think I will try again but it's defiantly not easy. All I have is hand tools, a portable drill and a belt sander. I would recommend having the right tools and know how, otherwise I would definitely recommend having someone experienced do it if you do not want your knife to be effectively ruined. For me the knife was very cheap and I think my next attempt will be with an Aegis. I got the idea of the blade tang shape from an axis auto I had. Very cool idea but very hard to do right.

-PoppErnie

Bill DeShivs said:
Mac
You may be on to something!
Bill
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