To Half Stop or not?

[5K Qs]

Almost 99% of traditional folding knives I buy are online...very few exceptions where I purchased them after handling the knife.

I have no idea whether they have half stops before purchasing (unless specific models are discussed for this very reason here). Have never returned a knife because of either...Basically, don't matter to me.

I'm somewhat surprised that sellers' websites don't include this information (about tang shape) when they describe the knife.

- GT

 

[euroken]

Even if they do, they don't describe the whole picture when they have multiple blades. I have jacks with only one of the two blades that have half stops. A lot of sellers (on the auction site) just say the blades have good snaps.

 

[JM2]

I'd be annoyed if only 1 blade had a half stop.

My GEC 62 has half stops, and after getting used to it, it's natural for that knife to me.

 

[black mamba]

Frank, I have a Manly, which I bought for the S90V steel, which is a favorite of mine. It does open in 4 distinct clicks. Here it is, at the third click open,
with the unnameable thingy removed.

 

[dsutton24]

Not really a half stop, but this is an interesting eyesore:

It's a Explorer LocBlok. The button on the top bolster locks the blade closed, at half-cock, and open. The button must be pressed either opening or closing from any position. It's a really unhandy knife...

 

[mrknife]

I'd be annoyed if only 1 blade had a half stop.

My GEC 62 has half stops, and after getting used to it, it's natural for that knife to me.

its funny you say that, the 38 whittler has a happy medium of both! main cam and small pen and coping have half stops

 

[JM2]

its funny you say that, the 38 whittler has a happy medium of both! main cam and small pen and coping have half stops

Yes, I think it's more natural for smaller blades than for larger ones.

 

[failbot]

Interesting topic. A couple of days ago I read about the history of the Barlow, it was said there that initially it was a cheap and reliable knife. It seems that this was before the widespread use of punching presses/dies, that is, only an emery wheel and other hand tools. I thought about it and there is an assumption that the square shank is a way to reduce time costs. As was written earlier, the cam tang requires additional time for processing. And blades with a square shank can be made 2 at a time, which is more convenient to hold in your hands, and then cut with a saw to get 2 finished blades. Last night I drew a proposed scheme


I prefer half stops, although a properly done cam is also very good!
I have several cam tang knives, here are a couple that are done right, these are great German garden knives, they close almost to the handle, and 1 is done very wrong, about halfway through the handle it snaps onto your fingers with great force, you can cut all your extensor tendons if it closes in your hand while you're working. With the half-foots, when they closed, I only got very slight cuts to the skin

I try to sharpen them all so that they cause less damage to the plant capillaries for better fusion

There was also an idea that a half-stop is just a special case of a cam tang. One of my friends is a programmer and is interested in mathematical topology, he sometimes puts forward strange thoughts, for example, that I am a donut with several holes


And I bow before the engineers of Victorinox, they definitely know what they are doing. For example, on the screwdriver in the row opposite the magnifying glass, the shank is made so that in any position of the screwdriver, the magnifying glass opens easily and does not break, it is made of plastic. There is something like the ancient French knives, but with a half stop