Well, I hope the Micarta inlays are as nice as I imagined...

[Medic1210]

Higher tolerances mean that the knife (as built) will work, but also reduces the interchangeability of some pieces, namely the lockbar and blade.

Well see, I would think the case would be the complete opposite. If every part of a knife is manufactured to such tight 0.005" tolerances that CRK claims, then there should be very minimal if any differences between the parts of one knife and the parts of another, and as such, they should fit together just fine. Again, I will update everyone with my findings when my Micarta arrives in about a week.

 

[TUF]

Curious how this worked out?

 

[atony]

My blade swap went extremely well, it looks like they were made for each other.

 

[Medic1210]

I'm still waiting on my Micarta inlay to arrive. For some reason (likely the snow) has really backed up the mail system where I am. Packages that normally take 6-7 days to arrive aren't getting here for 3-4 weeks. It sucks.:grumpy:

 

[cziv]

Isn't switching blades considered a sin?

Of course it is! Say five Hail Marys and then swap the blades,

 

[Ultimate]

Well see, I would think the case would be the complete opposite. If every part of a knife is manufactured to such tight 0.005" tolerances that CRK claims, then there should be very minimal if any differences between the parts of one knife and the parts of another, and as such, they should fit together just fine.

We would have to know exactly how the knives are manufactured to answer this question. CRK probably manufactures the knife parts and when building one knife, specifically tunes each mating part so that it works perfectly with the other parts of the same knife. (Think lock bar face to blade tang). If this is how the knives are put together, the tolerances could be .0000001" and it would mean nothing for interchangeability since each knife has "knife specific" parts. Meaning the parts in one knife only work for that knife.

If instead the knives are manufactured by mass producing the same parts to very tight tolerances, the parts can just be grabbed from the bin and put into a knife without requiring any specific tailoring.

It comes down to interchangeability. Judging from the quality of CRK knives, I'd guess that each knife is specifically adjusted as needed. Which means it is not guaranteed that changing parts between knives will work.

It's late and I'm tired; does any of that make sense? Ha!

 

[Medic1210]

We would have to know exactly how the knives are manufactured to answer this question. CRK probably manufactures the knife parts and when building one knife, specifically tunes each mating part so that it works perfectly with the other parts of the same knife. (Think lock bar face to blade tang). If this is how the knives are put together, the tolerances could be .0000001" and it would mean nothing for interchangeability since each knife has "knife specific" parts. Meaning the parts in one knife only work for that knife.

If instead the knives are manufactured by mass producing the same parts to very tight tolerances, the parts can just be grabbed from the bin and put into a knife without requiring any specific tailoring.

It comes down to interchangeability. Judging from the quality of CRK knives, I'd guess that each knife is specifically adjusted as needed. Which means it is not guaranteed that changing parts between knives will work.

It's late and I'm tired; does any of that make sense? Ha!

I still say if every blade was fitted specifically to the lock side, you wouldn't have some coming at 30-40% lockup while others like mine come 70%+ lockup brand new.

Also, if my logic didn't hold some merit, you wouldn't have comments like this from a couple posts above...

My blade swap went extremely well, it looks like they were made for each other.

At any rate, I'll know when my Micarta Sebbie arrives. I'll be sure to take before and after photos of each knife as well as their lockup to see if or how much anything changed.

 

[Ultimate]

I still say if every blade was fitted specifically to the lock side, you wouldn't have some coming at 30-40% lockup while others like mine come 70%+ lockup brand new.

Also, if my logic didn't hold some merit, you wouldn't have comments like this from a couple posts above...



At any rate, I'll know when my Micarta Sebbie arrives. I'll be sure to take before and after photos of each knife as well as their lockup to see if or how much anything changed.

If the lock bars and blades are not made exactly the same each time, you simply can not guarantee that a swap will work. The reason why you can take basically any blade of a Tenacious and swap it with another Tenacious blade is because the tolerances are NOT extremely tight. It allows room for error.

Think about it like this: A custom knife maker makes two of the same folding knife. Chances are, the blades are not swappable. Why? Because he has tailored each knife so that the components of said knife work perfectly with each other. Being that he is a knife maker and not a machine, he is not able to produce parts with extremely tight tolerances each and every time (without modification). CRK probably DOES produce each part to extremely small tolerances and therefore does not really have to modify anything when putting the knives together. Therefore you should not have a problem switching blades.

 

[Medic1210]

CRK probably DOES produce each part to extremely small tolerances and therefore does not really have to modify anything when putting the knives together. Therefore you should not have a problem switching blades.

That's my line of thinking. CRK cuts his handles and his blades out with CNC machines to a 0.0005" tolerances, they should fit without any issues. At any rate, I'll know whenever my knife arrives. Last time my knife arrived in 7 days, but this time, it's going on 3 weeks.:grumpy:

 

[ThumperACC]

... Last time my knife arrived in 7 days, but this time, it's going on 3 weeks.:grumpy:

Ouch!! That hurts. :thumbdn:

Hope it comes soon...we're all waitin' to see if the transplant is successful.

ThumperACC

 

[Ultimate]

That's my line of thinking. CRK cuts his handles and his blades out with CNC machines to a 0.0005" tolerances, they should fit without any issues. At any rate, I'll know whenever my knife arrives. Last time my knife arrived in 7 days, but this time, it's going on 3 weeks.:grumpy:

Post pics when you get it!