Spyderco Ourosboro is not a standard compression lock

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I found one on the bay for a hefty prices and I was pissed when upon closer examination I found that it was not compression lock design but a design closer to a reverse liner lock. I then did what I do with all liner locks give it a spine whack against my bedpost holding the knife with my fingertips and lo and behold just one tap of the brand new knife and it failed in the same manner as most typical liner locks. This lock bar does not slide under the blade between the blade and lock pin squeezing and wedging the lock bar against the pin (compress) and bottom of blade like other compression locks rather the pin acts as some sort of extra support and guide for the lock.bar (leaf spring) which engages the blade in a liner lock manner.

No heads up no warning. I hate this lousy thing and I am sick of manufacturers making whet they know are bad locks which is why a liner or frame lock or anything like it is always a deal breaker for me.

 

[pholder]

Try softer bedposts

 

[StuntDouble]

Can't say I've ever had a liner lock fail. But then again I'm too dumb to use my knives in any way other than edge first. Are you supposed to use the spine to beat on things?

Perhaps contact the seller and initiate a return, or return it to Spyderco under warranty.

 

[yablanowitz]

I found one on the bay for a hefty prices and I was pissed when upon closer examination I found that it was not compression lock design but a design closer to a reverse liner lock. I then did what I do with all liner locks give it a spine whack against my bedpost holding the knife with my fingertips and lo and behold just one tap of the brand new knife and it failed in the same manner as most typical liner locks. This lock bar does not slide under the blade between the blade and lock pin squeezing and wedging the lock bar against the pin (compress) and bottom of blade like other compression locks rather the pin acts as some sort of extra support and guide for the lock.bar (leaf spring) which engages the blade in a liner lock manner.

No heads up no warning. I hate this lousy thing and I am sick of manufacturers making whet they know are bad locks which is why a liner or frame lock or anything like it is always a deal breaker for me.

Frankly, it sounds to me like you got a fake, hefty price tag or not. Send that thing to Spyderco and let them sort it out.

 

[greater]

I am very familiar with a wide variety of liner and frame locks. Lock failure was a common experience whether high end or low end with me. They confused me at times because I have had some of the most garbage knives with really thin liner material hold under whatever I threw at them and high end knives with liner locks that looked precise and solid but would disengage during use very easily.

The compression lock is advertised as a very strong lock but this one is some sort of backward liner lock that directly engages the blade tang vertically rather than horizontally under. The liner on a true compression lock acts as a wedge between the bottom of the blade tang and a pin. It is not a reverse liner lock. This knife however might be properly called a reverse liner lock.

 

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Maybe I will send it to Spyderco. I do not get the impression it's fake but the thieves are getting better at making copies so who knows. I think it's real but I could be wrong. Aside from the lockup problems I don't notice anything cheap or cheesy about it's overall construction.

 

[sgt1372]

Got pics?

 

[Wandering_About]

Pics would help. The lock design sounds quite fishy. Also... if the box says "Ourosboro" that's not good, should be "Ouroboros."

Your description of the lock does not match any "standard" compression lock. Pics of the lock would be helpful.

A quick look at a youtube disassembly of an Ouroboros shows a normal compression lock design.

It sounds like you may have a fake but will take some pictures to actually determine that.

 

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Keep in mind I hate taking Spyderco knives apart. They all seem to be designed to give the unaware tinkerer a slew of nasty surprises and it voids the warranty. Good thing I have some experience with Spydies as well as a good set of German made torx drivers in the uncommon tiny sizes that spyderco loves to use and I don't give a hoot about threats of warranty voids real or not. The pics are crappy but I think they are good enough to get the point across.

OK let's see. I will start with a comparison between the paramilitary and the Ourosboros (yes with an s I stand corrected) blades notice the difference in the lock engagement cutouts. The Paramilitary not at an upward angle (90 deg from back of blade) and the lock contact area of the blade is has much less of an angle although I would prefer almost flat this is probably alright. Notice the lock bar engagement setup on the paramilitary. On the Paramilitary note the shape of the lock bar itself. Note how the Paramilitary engages on the bottom of the blade pivot area.

 

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Now the Ourosboros. Note how the lock engagement area is angled upward and how angled the lock bar engagement area is like on a mass produced liner lock. Notice the shape of the lock bar. It looks like something that works on paper. The teflon washer is fine and I did not change it out. Teflon gets an unfair bad rep. Notice how the blade and lock engage. Eventually I noticed the lock bar was not engaged under the blade but behind it (like a liner lock) and it looked too much like a liner lock type engagement for my comfort. To be honest this looks like a compression lock setup with the angles readjusted and I would think it should work. I am guessing the angle of lock bar engagement combined with the upward angle toward the back of the blade may not be so good or I just got a lemon. I don't know. This also has much earlier lock engagement than the Paramilitary which is something I also hate.

I am convinced this is genuine and the seller on the bay despite the fact that it is the first time (I think ???) that I dealt with him does not have the earmarks of a fraudster (lot's of down to earth reviews generally good.) If it were not for the lock being so dangerous overall the fit and finish is excellent. I was advertised as new and it looks new but the box was not sealed and slightly worn.

I know I have just voided the warranty just by taking it apart and Spyderco makes it somewhat clear they don't like fixing other peoples bungled messes like the little nick on the top of the lock bar from my relatively light spine whack that caused lock failure. I would be willing to pay for a repair if the repair results in a solid lockup but I have my doubts and wonder if this is the best design.

 

[yablanowitz]

Just going by what little I can see in your pictures, it looks like a simple tolerance problem. The Compression lock is rather finicky, and everything has to be just so to make it work. It appears the locking tab is not getting between the stop pin and the blade tang to the depth it should. A little (and I do mean LITTLE) work with a ceramic stone on the tab should get it to work properly. Too much and you get vertical play even though the lock works and is perfectly safe. The amount of difference I'm talking about could be caused by temperature change.

As for it not being the best design, I won't argue that. I'm not a fan of the compression lock.

 

[Danke42]

Potato camera strikes again. Can kinda see the bedpost though.

 

[yablanowitz]

I know I have just voided the warranty just by taking it apart and Spyderco makes it somewhat clear they don't like fixing other peoples bungled messes like the little nick on the top of the lock bar from my relatively light spine whack that caused lock failure.

If there is a nick in the lock bar from your spine whack,
1) It is entirely possible that you released the lock when you struck, since the impact must have come on the lock rather than on the blade, and
2) Your definition of "relatively light" is radically different from mine.

 

[Wandering_About]

I will admit that I did not look closely enough at the lock design while watching a video in the wee hours of the night. Interesting that this lock uses the pivot pin instead of a stop pin for one of the fixed points for the lock tab to seat against.

Probably best to send it in and see what they say.

 

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I basically held it at the butt end with the tips of my thumb and forefinger one light strike and the blade just gave way, the handle didn't even rotate so it can't be that hard. The impact hit the blade spine there is no mistake about that. I suspect it's prone to vibration immediately prior to slippage. I also think you be right about the lock not being fully engaged between the blade and stop pin but only on the blade. I did not look for that before the spine whack.

The nick on the edge of the lock bar is a common side effect that results when a liner slips off the edge of the blade. It doesn't require much force to induce just slipping past the blade tang edge's sharp angle while under tension will do it.

 

[greater]

I will admit that I did not look closely enough at the lock design while watching a video in the wee hours of the night. Interesting that this lock uses the pivot pin instead of a stop pin for one of the fixed points for the lock tab to seat against.

Probably best to send it in and see what they say.

No it uses the the stop pin but from an angle.

 

[Wandering_About]

No it uses the the stop pin but from an angle.

Thanks... eventually I'll figure it out....

 

[craytab]

Now the Ourosboros. Note how the lock engagement area is angled upward and how angled the lock bar engagement area is like on a mass produced liner lock. Notice the shape of the lock bar. It looks like something that works on paper. The teflon washer is fine and I did not change it out. Teflon gets an unfair bad rep. Notice how the blade and lock engage. Eventually I noticed the lock bar was not engaged under the blade but behind it (like a liner lock) and it looked too much like a liner lock type engagement for my comfort. To be honest this looks like a compression lock setup with the angles readjusted and I would think it should work. I am guessing the angle of lock bar engagement combined with the upward angle toward the back of the blade may not be so good or I just got a lemon. I don't know. This also has much earlier lock engagement than the Paramilitary which is something I also hate.

I am convinced this is genuine and the seller on the bay despite the fact that it is the first time (I think ???) that I dealt with him does not have the earmarks of a fraudster (lot's of down to earth reviews generally good.) If it were not for the lock being so dangerous overall the fit and finish is excellent. I was advertised as new and it looks new but the box was not sealed and slightly worn.

I know I have just voided the warranty just by taking it apart and Spyderco makes it somewhat clear they don't like fixing other peoples bungled messes like the little nick on the top of the lock bar from my relatively light spine whack that caused lock failure. I would be willing to pay for a repair if the repair results in a solid lockup but I have my doubts and wonder if this is the best design.

Those are terrible pics my man, lol

You didn't void the warranty by taking it apart. You may have voided the warranty by damaging the knife in a spine whack. That said, Sal does advocate a light spine whack to test lock safety. Old post be here it is: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...iled-a-spine-whack.366883/page-2#post-3306713

If you weren't happy with the knife upon unboxing and inspection you should have immediately sent it back to the dealer. Don't take it apart and don't whack it. After you do spine whack it, IMO the dealer is no longer on the hook since the knife is no longer new (much like using the knife to cut things). This would be a warranty issue. Contact Spyderco, they will want to know their knife failed a spine whack. Now hopefully you didn't actually damage the knife doing an unreasonable spine whack. I think Sal suggests a 5lb tap.

 

[greater]

That sounds like good advice. I would like to send it to Spyderco. I do love the ergonomics of this knife.

 

[craytab]

That sounds like good advice. I would like to send it to Spyderco. I do love the ergonomics of this knife.

Good thinking. Get started here: https://www.spyderco.com/service-support/warranty-repair/