TAD Dauntless Bearing Race Problem

[Otto Carpenter]

Recently bought the Dauntless MK4 off BF Exchange. The action deteriorated soon after purchase so I opened it up. The lock side has a nice caged bearing race - but the handle side has an uncaged ball bearing race that came apart (literally the race that holds the loose bearings fell into two pieces - you can see little jagged edges =) and I thought this doesn't seem original to the knife.

Anyone know if there's any way to purchase a new ball bearing race for the G-10 side? Could there be a standard replacement size? I tried cs@tripleaughtdesign.com, but I realize my chances aren't good for replacement parts from them, since they don't directly manufacture the knife. If I can't replace the bearing race, I'm hosed.

Thank you for any help you might offer.

 

[fluid_motion]

whoa, never seen that happen before. Seeing as an OEM company manufactures them, i'd bet that they use a standard bearing race size. My suggestion is to bust out some calipers and take some measurements, then to check out some knifemaking supply stores to see if any of them match. My suggestion would be to check alphaknife supply, usaknifemaker and jantz supply. There is a large selection of various cagged bearing sizes between the three.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

You would need to measure it but Alpha Knife Supply may carry a top notch quality replacement part. I think you could use caged bearings on both sides...

 

[Otto Carpenter]

whoa, never seen that happen before. Seeing as an OEM company manufactures them, i'd bet that they use a standard bearing race size. My suggestion is to bust out some calipers and take some measurements, then to check out some knifemaking supply stores to see if any of them match. My suggestion would be to check alphaknife supply, usaknifemaker and jantz supply. There is a large selection of various cagged bearing sizes between the three.

Thanks - I did go to usaknifemaker and ordered a set that had the same ID (1/4") and appeared identical to the one intact bearing collar in the knife. They come with a set of washers with a race in them for the bearings to ride in. The knife uses a washer only on the G-10 side - the bearings just run along the titanium lock side. They were very inexpensive. Hopefully it'll fit. If not I'll just keep buying and trying - I'm sure you're right that the knife must use a standard bearing race.

 

[Otto Carpenter]

You would need to measure it but Alpha Knife Supply may carry a top notch quality replacement part. I think you could use caged bearings on both sides...

Thanks for the reply. After looking it over some, I realized the "open bearings" were really just a torn-up caged bearing component. I'll look at Alpha Knife Supply also. The replacement caged bearing set from usaknifemaker was very inexpensive - like $3 - which made me wonder about quality. I'd rather spend more for quality components.