Stop pin or thumb stud stop

B

benjamin2515101

Joined
Oct 1, 2011
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42
Both work, both are solid, which is better? Or is it just cosmetic?

For example, Chris Reeve uses the thumb stud on the Umnumzan, and stop pin on the Sebenza. Kershaw uses lots of thumb stud stops while benchmade uses mostly pins. What's your oPINion?

Cold Steel uses a stop pin on their new lockback design, very interesting.
 
I'm moving this to there General Knife discussion Forum. It will get more interest there.
 
I'd say it depends on the execution. I like Kershaw and CRKT's stop pins on their studless flipper designs. Also, I find that on a lot of flipper knives that use the studs as stops, those thumbstuds are useless or close to useless for opening the knife. I'd rather have usable thumbstuds if they're there, so in most cases I think stop pin designs are superior.

Also, on a design that stops on the thumbstuds, it is possible for your thumb skin to pinch between the fram and the stud, preventing you from locking the knife open until you release pressure a bit.

So, in many cases, I think the stop pin designs are better. It is possible to make a good design that stops on the thumbstuds, but I haven't seen many that are better that way than they would be with a stop pin. The only exception I can think of off the top of my head is the Kershaw Skyline. I think the Skyline stops against the thumbstuds because it works better with the light one-liner design.
 
If I was designing the knife, I would use a stop pin, because in the event that it wears to the point that you have vertical play in the lockup, it may be easier to just replace a floating stop pin than (probably press fit) studs.
 
docbp87 said:
If I was designing the knife, I would use a stop pin, because in the event that it wears to the point that you have vertical play in the lockup, it may be easier to just replace a floating stop pin than (probably press fit) studs.
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Well said! I've seen too many cases of press fit pins cracking blades that it has (almost) turned me off from buying them.
 
SunsetFisherman said:
except that actually using the stud on a skyline is a P.I.T.A. in my opinion.
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It´s not that bad in my opinion. Whenever I want to open my skyline using the studs (to avoid atract attention or scare any bystander) I slightly pull the flipper along the handle axis for a partial opening and then I complete the blade deployment with my thumb on the stud.

I guess it also depends on hand size and grip, but the above method works for me.


Orozcov.
 
Use a stop pin. I've seen vertical play on 2 diff knives I've had with the thumbstud stop pin method. Never had a problem using a 1/8 stop pin.
 
I'd rather the knife have a stop pin. I don't see the point of having studs as the stop if you can't also use them to open the blade easily.
 
Im the one with the different opinion on this one. if a knife is being used where the force applied is perpendicular to the blade, then all the pressure and force is right on the stop pin, you know, that little tiny one???
Since I have never heard of a pin snapping and the blade comes flying around the axis of the main pin holding the blade to the frame, then ok, fine.
But if you want a folder to have the most strenth approaching a fixed blade, then look at the thumbstuds mating up with the frame of the knife as being the absolute strongest stabilizer for the blade.....there's NO chance of a stop pin failing ( as there isn't one ), and there's no way the blade is going to crumple up the frame...
For me, it's designs like the ZT 301 family, et al. as being the toughest. In fact, its my main gripe about the ZT 0200, I wish the thumbstuds mated up with the frame. Talk about an "almost" perfect design. And it was one of my main criteria for purchasing the 0561...
John
 
72jroberts said:
Im the one with the different opinion on this one. if a knife is being used where the force applied is perpendicular to the blade, then all the pressure and force is right on the stop pin, you know, that little tiny one???
Since I have never heard of a pin snapping and the blade comes flying around the axis of the main pin holding the blade to the frame, then ok, fine.
But if you want a folder to have the most strenth approaching a fixed blade, then look at the thumbstuds mating up with the frame of the knife as being the absolute strongest stabilizer for the blade.....there's NO chance of a stop pin failing ( as there isn't one ), and there's no way the blade is going to crumple up the frame...
For me, it's designs like the ZT 301 family, et al. as being the toughest. In fact, its my main gripe about the ZT 0200, I wish the thumbstuds mated up with the frame. Talk about an "almost" perfect design. And it was one of my main criteria for purchasing the 0561...
John
Click to expand...
I think your blade would snap before the stop pin, or thumbstud-stop would fail. It's a question of replacing the stop once it wears to the point that you have play. That, and with a floating stop pin, it can rotate so wear is distributed around the entire circumference of the stop pin, where as with a thumb stud-stop only the one spot takes wear, and wears faster.
 
the thumb studs run through the blade and contact the frame, so the studs are no better off than the pin, which runs through the scales and contacts the blade.
 
Sebenza uses the smartest method IMO. Softer, stout 303 SS pin w/ a heat treated sleeve/standoff. Although it looks like the Sebenza "25" is doing away with it!
 
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