John, Frank,
Let me see if I can provide a little more insight on the durability of this knife.....
First off, this is the prototype and I'm still putting the finishing touches on it, in between working on several fixed blades. That's why the only thing I got done on it yesterday was mounting the clip!!!
I'm not going to say that this knife will be indestructable, the end all solution for the Commander woes. It's created around an existing blade and I can only take it so far. I do feel that the heavier frame and lock will be an improvement but only time will tell as far as durability. On the next one, I'll look into a larger stop pin.
Also, as far as the lock side bushing... Several people mentioned a fixed bushing on that side with a cutout for the lock. That would be an improvment but there is still the issue of the ball detent riding in the same area half way around the pivot!! I'm going to make up the largest possible bronze bushing that will clear all of the moving parts and see how it works. I'm VERY confident that just changing bushing material will be an improvement.
As I mentioned, after several VERY hard opennings, I did mangage to make the lock stick. My first thoughts were all about FEEL, that the stock knife must absorb some of the shock, maybe due to the G10 panels. You feel the snap a lot more in the Ti. frame and in makes a louder "THWACK" when it opens!! I could see no reason why anyone would want to open the knife that hard, as you all know the knife opens quite fast with a nice easy draw.....And you want to end up with it in your hand and not flying across the room
I'm sure that if someone were open it as hard as I did repeatedly, the lock would eventually wear out. Ti is much softer than blade steel!!
I'm trying to answer Email inquiries as fast as I can, that's why I'm up this early!! I would like to thank everyone for there kind words, encouragement and enthusiasm. I will respond to everyones Emails throughout the weekend.
Neil
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