Steel Besides the Blade

Chronovore

Chronovore

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Blade steel is always a hot topic. What about the rest of the steel? I rarely see a steel specified for the liners. What is typical? Do we know what most manufacturers use?
 
I prefer no liners also. While they have their place for added pivot strength etc they are not nessasary most of the time and make for a lightweight package which i prefer in an EDC folder.
 
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marthinus said:
Greatly depends on the maker in my experience.

Some match the blade steel. Others do not. Some use ceramic contact interfaces.
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I suppose that would make sense considering they're already working with a particular blade steel maybe hardened to a lower HRC for the insert?
 
Fun Fact: Emerson knives since around 2014 have a titanium locking bar and a 300 series opposite liner.
My 2002 Microtech Mini Socom has a liner made of 154CM, the same steel as the blade itself.
 
Edgeoflife said:
I suppose that would make sense considering they're already working with a particular blade steel maybe hardened to a lower HRC for the insert?
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Generally you want the blade to wear to the lock not the lock to the blade. That is why most makers grind the lock face to suite the lock. Not the other way around, but this is not always practical in production companies due to the time required.

That is why you get ceramic inserts, that are harder than blade, such as the Chris Reeve Umnumzaan.

The Spyderco Military and original Gayle Bradley folder is a great example of a company getting it all right with a steel liner IMO
 
Interesting, never thought of what kind of steel for the lock and spring, or the liners. I have a Buck 110 Slim Pro, the micarta does not have steel liners, so I was worried about rigidity and strength, but after using it, no worries, it is strong and sturdy without the liners. S30v blade, wonder what the back spring is too?
 
cbach8tw said:
Interesting, never thought of what kind of steel for the lock and spring, or the liners. I have a Buck 110 Slim Pro, the micarta does not have steel liners, so I was worried about rigidity and strength, but after using it, no worries, it is strong and sturdy without the liners. S30v blade, wonder what the back spring is too?
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Probably some type of spring steel. I wouldn't think it would need to be over engineered or anything.
 
IIRC, the Spyderco Caribbean’s liners are LC200N (same as the blade).

Many liners are made from 300 series stainless.

In at least the cellidor-handled SAKs, the liners are aluminum.

I have some older traditional from the ‘70s that (I believe) had brass liners.

Jim
 
In most cases, this thread will be more a curiosity than a practical value. Places where it could matter include things like corrosion resistance of the liners and wear at the interface between lock and blade. I've occasionally seen the former come up when a little rust happens under a scale or something.

I mostly rock budget gear but leading up to Christmas, I considered some nicer knives. (Well, for me, that means on the other side of the hundred-dollar line.) One of them was the Ace Biblio. I really liked the design. What stopped me was a Kevin Cleary review discussing the bead-blasted liners. In my experience, bead-blasting is a major debuff to corrosion resistance. It got me thinking about liner steel in general because we rarely know what gets used.
 
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