What really makes a smooth pivot? It's not just tolerances, or bearings, or big washers.
I've owned only two brands of knives (no customs included) that I felt truly had "hydraulic" smooth pivots. All the Reeve knives I've owned were that way, and a recent Les George VECP. It's not just $, because I've had lots of BM/Spyderco/ZT's from general and Gold/Sprint/Limited production, Spartan, ZT 0777, Microtech Socom Elite, Hinderer, Strider, Tad Dauntless, and probably some others I can't remember and none of them have been even close in smoothness of my VECP and Reeve examples.
One thing I've noticed is that none of the bearing pivots I've tried have been as smooth as the smoothest washer systems I have handled. On average they were smoother than other washer pivot based production knives, but still can't compare to the VECP and Reeve.
Another thing I've noticed is that it seems most of the lack of smoothness of various knives does not come from the pivot itself, but from the detent ball interface with the blade, or perhaps the lock bar tension on the side of the blade. I wonder if different hardness/quality/roundness/polish on the detent ball itself can greatly impact this felt smoothness during blade opening. The Reeve uses larger washers, but the VECP does not. Perhaps it's the tolerances of all those things adding up to no binding in the system.
Sure that hydraulic fluid feeling smoothness has nothing to really do with the function of the knife during use, but I have to admit it's a feature I really crave in an expensive knife. After all most mid-techs don't have blade steel or lock ups that are any better than many $200 production knives (some you could debate are worse), so I feel a consumer should be getting that extra quality and fit/finish when you spend twice as much.
I've owned only two brands of knives (no customs included) that I felt truly had "hydraulic" smooth pivots. All the Reeve knives I've owned were that way, and a recent Les George VECP. It's not just $, because I've had lots of BM/Spyderco/ZT's from general and Gold/Sprint/Limited production, Spartan, ZT 0777, Microtech Socom Elite, Hinderer, Strider, Tad Dauntless, and probably some others I can't remember and none of them have been even close in smoothness of my VECP and Reeve examples.
One thing I've noticed is that none of the bearing pivots I've tried have been as smooth as the smoothest washer systems I have handled. On average they were smoother than other washer pivot based production knives, but still can't compare to the VECP and Reeve.
Another thing I've noticed is that it seems most of the lack of smoothness of various knives does not come from the pivot itself, but from the detent ball interface with the blade, or perhaps the lock bar tension on the side of the blade. I wonder if different hardness/quality/roundness/polish on the detent ball itself can greatly impact this felt smoothness during blade opening. The Reeve uses larger washers, but the VECP does not. Perhaps it's the tolerances of all those things adding up to no binding in the system.
Sure that hydraulic fluid feeling smoothness has nothing to really do with the function of the knife during use, but I have to admit it's a feature I really crave in an expensive knife. After all most mid-techs don't have blade steel or lock ups that are any better than many $200 production knives (some you could debate are worse), so I feel a consumer should be getting that extra quality and fit/finish when you spend twice as much.
