Sam I did not remember but I understand your frustrations with that situation.
I've had some private contacts asking me about the rocking blade thing as well as what I'm talking about with the contact of the lock to the blade differences I've noticed from various knives in the industry.
So without really knowing exactly how to convey it I've drawn a picture for those wondering. Imagine that the blade side is that on the left and the line represents the contact point of the blade to the lock, with the lock obviously being on the right side.
Seen here we have a rough idea only and done free hand at that. Its supposed to represent what I typically see on the locks from the ones in question. On the Striders, and posted on their web site you can read about the theory of the lock contact. From their web site it reads the following:
Why does only the lower section of the lock bar contact the blade on Strider Folders?
Per Mick Strider:
"The reason we only want contact at the lower section of the lock bar is this:
1. For the most solid lock, you need two points of contact, as far apart as possible. (bump stop and lock face)
2. For the most solid lock, your lock contact should be as far away from the center line of the pivot as possible. This keeps your lock from "rolling" off the blade.
3. No matter how far from the pivot center your lock surface is, if its contaminated with crap (sand), it will fail. We send knives into some nasty shit. This is a huge concern for us. By making contact at the lowest section only, it creates a "shit vent" above the lock surface. That is the same reason we make our detent hole go all the way through the blade....its a "shit vent"."
What he is referring to as rolling is another of the features of how the lock under pressure from use can behave.
And while I agree with all the above except for where he mentions a 'shit vent' which is just a clever way to justify lack of tolerance IMO, I see room for improvement. This is what I asked about when I wrote both Mr. Emerson and Mr. Strider asking them why they did not make their locks more like Chris Reeves. The one reply I got back was interesting. Strider never got back to me personally but it was shortly after this that I was given this link to the information they provide on their locks. Emerson wrote me back personally about six weeks later with a reply that was surprisingly lengthy but the real surprise was that he pointed out that he made his locks just like Chris Reeves and that they were friends.
Ok well I don't see that when I compare the locks but I believe Ernie thinks he does make his just the same. However, what I see is that they may indeed do things similar but they sure don't have the same tolerances. I agree with the theory above that the two contacts should be as far apart as possible for the knife they are used in, and that the farther from the mid line of the pivot the better. Thats all well and good but what I see is that when little effort or lack of tolerance to control the amount of surface area contact at the lock is typical the end result is like those two on the left shown in my diagram which can be seen with the naked eye in any comparison of any of the above knives by simply looking at them and comparing them side by side by the way and from looking down on the contact of the blades and comparing the angle of that contact interface or ramp as it is sometimes referrred to. You will note stark differences there also.
Typically what I see is that the wear patterns on both the Hinderer and Reeves knives are sometimes 4 or even 5 times bigger in surface area than a comparable Strider or Emerson knife of the same size and sometimes the same thickness. In other words there is a lot of room for more surface area to contact the blade to support it on some vs others and some do a better job at it. Thats all I was ever referring to. The technique may well be the same but the end result sure isn't.
More surface area on the lock that is wearing into and contacting the blade equals longer life. Thats the bottom line to an end line user period. And please note this is not posted to start a big war. I'm just calling it like I see it and you can verify anything I've pointed out in this post on your own in the time it takes you to pull out your Hinderer or Reeves knife and compare them to your Strider or Emerson. Granted some are better than others. What I'm saying is that I see a higher tolerance in the Reeves knives which I've seen a lot of and also a higher consistancy for these tolerances where they seem to all be within a certain high tolerance with few falling below that if any.
I believe this is probably the same with Rick Hinderers knives but having only seen two examples I reserve judgement there. Its looking good though. Its also worth noting that the knives made to begin with like the Reeves or the Hinderer make it possible to do the stop pin increase in diameter trick to renew a worn contact where the lock has travelled all the way across the tang. One made this way with higher tolerance won't show the gap the Strider or Emerson has in it to begin with even after being adjusted.
Now as to rocking locks. Well that happens when the lock typically is contacting the blade but in the wrong place, like too much in the middle, or at the top instead of being primarily at the bottom for all the contact area like it should be. You can see that on the bottom comparision drawing. I hope that covers it.
EDIT: I've also stuck a pic in here of a small Sebenza I own and my SnG showing how a lay person can compare. Obviously this is the easy way. The other is to simply take two users apart and compare the wear patterns which is the real tell all as to which is going to last longer and which will or can likely develop blade play vertically as well as self correction over time and how soon. For example, its very rare I ever see a Sebenza with indenting but you will see that on every Strider and every Emerson you own. Its just how they are. Again it doesn't mean they won't work. Obviiously they do and obviously it does not keep me from buying either of them. What you are seeing here is just an education and nothing more and a reason behind why the locks have the patterns of behavior repeatedly seen and documented by end line users.
STR
