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The lock on my Emerson.
- Thread starter NRG
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2004
- Messages
- 18,850
the lock on one of my Persians goes all the way to the "back" edge of the lock face but i dont think it can jump off the other side, there is a denent on that side as well that seems to stop it. Iv had that blade for a while so its well worn in by now. I wouldnt expect that in a new knife though.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,955
If its in the middle of the contact area it should be more reliable than if it was barely engaging the blade like many are when new. And when I say middle I mean the middle looking down like looking straight down on the edge for how far out the lock comes when you open the folder.
I would not worry about it just yet if that is the case unless it seems to be wearing in super fast and the lock is all the way across the interface contact in seemingly record time. By all the way, I mean where its just shy or already contacting the opposite non locking side washer or liner when you open it.
Besides the Wave feature that may or may not increase the rate of wear on an Emerson there may be other factors behind why one lock wears and moves out quicker than another. This is true of more than just Emerson liner locks though and is even true of frame locks as well.
Follow me I'll try to illustrate for you. If we look at the attached picture you can hopefully see some tracings I cut out to make a folder down the road. If I were to make it a frame lock or liner lock and wanted to shoot for as much surface area contact as I could get for my total contact area I'd try idealy to do it along the lines of how Chris Reeve does his. This allows more surface area of the lock to come into contact with the blade and thus reduces wear since its a bigger area to abraid, and also its still as far from the center line of the pivot barrel as possible without allowing blade rock.
Looking at the top tracing where I have drawn in three arrows imagine the lock is contacting the blade on the darker highlighted area of your lock. This should optimize the wear rate. Now suppose I missed by a bit and the lock didn't contact quite that well but instead only one arrow and the area it points to was my contact surface area. So you have to take off two arrows worth of that wonderful contact foot print. Obviously the lock still connects solidly. Its still considered correct. Its just less surface area connecting to the blade and it wears faster as a result. I have seen it a thousand times.
With some locks that have very little surface area connecting you can peen the lock face to squish out a bit more contact but with a frame lock it may wear quite well even when its only a one arrow type contact just because its thicker. When its a thin lock though it will usually show up as a very quick wear rate that is pretty much evident from what most would consider light use.
Looking at the bottom picture if you have a lock contacting there where I've drawn my one arrow you can note its very close to the mid or center line of the pivot. This is a bad contact. It usually shows up as a "rocking blade contact" where you can slightly move the blade and note vertical movement when locked open by literally rocking it on the lock. This is not really play but there is movement of the blade so it gives and you can feel it readily. Many of the Buck Strider 880 and 881 knives I got for evaluation had this going on and folks always wanted to know what it was. Thats what it was. The lock contacted, but in the wrong spot. Make it contact in the right spot the blade quit rocking.
I would not worry about it just yet if that is the case unless it seems to be wearing in super fast and the lock is all the way across the interface contact in seemingly record time. By all the way, I mean where its just shy or already contacting the opposite non locking side washer or liner when you open it.
Besides the Wave feature that may or may not increase the rate of wear on an Emerson there may be other factors behind why one lock wears and moves out quicker than another. This is true of more than just Emerson liner locks though and is even true of frame locks as well.
Follow me I'll try to illustrate for you. If we look at the attached picture you can hopefully see some tracings I cut out to make a folder down the road. If I were to make it a frame lock or liner lock and wanted to shoot for as much surface area contact as I could get for my total contact area I'd try idealy to do it along the lines of how Chris Reeve does his. This allows more surface area of the lock to come into contact with the blade and thus reduces wear since its a bigger area to abraid, and also its still as far from the center line of the pivot barrel as possible without allowing blade rock.
Looking at the top tracing where I have drawn in three arrows imagine the lock is contacting the blade on the darker highlighted area of your lock. This should optimize the wear rate. Now suppose I missed by a bit and the lock didn't contact quite that well but instead only one arrow and the area it points to was my contact surface area. So you have to take off two arrows worth of that wonderful contact foot print. Obviously the lock still connects solidly. Its still considered correct. Its just less surface area connecting to the blade and it wears faster as a result. I have seen it a thousand times.
With some locks that have very little surface area connecting you can peen the lock face to squish out a bit more contact but with a frame lock it may wear quite well even when its only a one arrow type contact just because its thicker. When its a thin lock though it will usually show up as a very quick wear rate that is pretty much evident from what most would consider light use.
Looking at the bottom picture if you have a lock contacting there where I've drawn my one arrow you can note its very close to the mid or center line of the pivot. This is a bad contact. It usually shows up as a "rocking blade contact" where you can slightly move the blade and note vertical movement when locked open by literally rocking it on the lock. This is not really play but there is movement of the blade so it gives and you can feel it readily. Many of the Buck Strider 880 and 881 knives I got for evaluation had this going on and folks always wanted to know what it was. Thats what it was. The lock contacted, but in the wrong spot. Make it contact in the right spot the blade quit rocking.