Steel handle models made better than FRN?

[Carl64]

STR said:

I wasn't suggesting that you would need to get a fixed blade to have a stable knife. Just that some guys seem to think any blade play is a fault.

Got it. I don't think a small amount is anything to cry about, but it can get pretty small on a reasonably priced knife. Lockbacks always seem to have a little more (up-down wise), but I still like that design. The point of the thread is, I have way too many Natives with a pretty big amount of play.

I have noticed that the Salt 1 I bought was much tighter in the pivot area than any of the Delicas or Enduras I've owned in both stainless and FRN. Not sure why. Perhaps a fluke.

My Salt is great too, and I also reserved the possibility that it was by chance. But either way, there's a FRN knife that turned out darn near as perfect as I could expect.

I think what we are talking about here is lateral (side to side) blade movement only and not vertical. Every lock back I've ever had from Spyderco has a slight bit of vertical movement. Some more than others.

The side-to-side (open/close direction) is actually pretty good on most Delicas I have. Only the FRN Natives have noticable movement this way.

All FRN's (except the Salt) have the open-close-direction play which is hard to rid a knife of completely but on average far more present than it should be. I don't see why all Delicas can't be as good as the Salt you and I have.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

On the Pacific Salt I have, there is slight side to side and up and down play, plus the blade doesn't line up with the lock bar, it is about half a mm to the side, and there is a similar gap between the slab and the lock bar. As far as I am concerned though it is all cosmetic as the lock is very secure and strong, and the play doesn't influence use significantly. The Alantic Salt on the other hand is as tight and clean as any metal knife I have seen.

-Cliff

 

[HoB]

I don't know, how much up and down play you are talking about but a small amount of bladeplay in the vertical direction is supposed to be a design parameter. If you disassemble a lockback you can see that the face of the lockbar does not sit flush with the tang (on purpose). So a stronger spring will hardly do you any good.

Oh and also. I am pretty sure that the way stainless steel and G-10 knives are manufactured is by grinding down the spine of the closed assembled knife. On a model with a wide back, you can see that the grindmarks go all the way across the back of the handle. This ensures that the lockbar sits flush with the handle. But due to the camming action of the backlock it is pretty difficult to get the same fit when the knife is open. On the FRN handles the lockbar is not matched to the handle since that would require grinding of the FRN.

 

[JediKnight86]

All I know is that my new FRN Endura snaps open with authority and has no bladeplay whatsoever, in any direction! Love it!

My only complaint is that I wish it had some thumb ridges like the Pacific Salt, just another reason why I think it's time for an Endura/Delica overhaul.