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Tired of sticky lock-up?

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Carbidize those lock faces and go stickless! $20 for a single knife which includes disassembly, cleaning, cabidizing, reassembly, testing and tracked priority retuned shipping. If you are not too particular on the return shipping method and think an untracked padded envelope would suffice then I will perform the same as above for $15. You can also knock $5 off the price if you send me just the lockside.

Carbidizing does not adversely effect the percentage of lock-up. If anything it makes it slightly better! All I would do is add a thin layer of tungsten carbide (about 1/1,000") at a hardness of 78-80 Rc and make disengaging the lockbar smooooth.
 
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It's for steel and titanium but sticky locks aren't typically a problem for steel because the tang and lock face are hard. The problem may come in to play with the softer titanium.
 
What do you think about a Titanium blade against a Titanium lock bar? Do you think carbidizing both is the way to go?
 
Pm sent with a question. Really glad you offer this service! I've been a bit anxious about buying a couple different knives because the lock faces weren't carbidized.
 
Thanks Charr. Replied.

I haven't really seen too many titanium bladed folders. Presumably the maker of such a knife already carbidized the edge to make it usable and, since they already have the equipment, would have carbidized both faces if necessary. I don't see a down side to it though once the lock is broken-in properly.
 
How thick can you possibly make a layer of carbide i have a old mercworx with lockup around 85% and really wish it was earlier. how much of a difference can it make?
 
Sorry, not enough action on this thread and so I don't check here often enough. I'll probably just close it soon.

Thickness can be measured in microns and probably won't make too much of a difference. A couple of questions though, assuming the knife wasn't designed at 85%, what did the percentage use to be? The best course of action to make an earlier lockup may be peening the lock. A few/bunch of light taps on the inside outer edge (if that makes sense) of the lockface by someone who knows what they're doing can "spread" the titanium enough to achieve an earlier lockup. I don't know too much about the knife in question but my go-to answer in a case such as this is always to first contact their customer service. Most quality knife companies would probably take care of it for you.
 
If you close the thread you will still offer the service I hope. I have a steel lock that sticks and may need your service down the road. (Didn't know you could carbidize steel. Very cool.)
 
When I close the thread it will just fade into oblivion but whomever finds it can still PM me their info and I'll take care of their knives as best I can. Believe me, I never intended this to be a money making enterprise but rather to give back to the community that has helped me out so much in my knife making endeavors. The money I'm asking is essentially so my wife doesn't get mad at me for working for free. Most of the time I've ended up just asking to cover postage (don't tell my wife that).

What I have found though, is people often have unrealistic expectations of what the process can do. Yes, it can make lock-up a little earlier and ease unlocking but it won't fix bad lock rock and other issues. What I have found myself doing when I get a knife in is to drop everything and work on a knife until it is as good as I can make it and that often entails a lot more than carbidizing. Nevertheless, I don't mind doing it but what I don't like is leaving people disappointed in results which were beyond my control and that is the part which has me hesitant to keep going. So far so good in that regard but it erks me when I send a knife back that isn't perfect. (((as an aside, a little lockrock isn't necessarily a bad thing from a funtional standpoint)))

Also, I never get enough shop time as it is and currently have at least a dozen knives I need to finish plus I'm desperately trying to get my framelocks launched :).

So, I will keep the offer going because it is something I feel may be of help to other community members so long as expectations are realistic.
 
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