Why Did the Lock Release Move

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me2

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Oct 11, 2003
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I was just wondering if anyone knew why the lock release on lockbacks moved to the middle of the handle on designs such as the Delica. I have an old Buck folder with the lock at the butt end of the handle and a Delica and Cara Cara with the lock in the middle. I havent really found a difference in use.
 
me2 said:
I was just wondering if anyone knew why the lock release on lockbacks moved to the middle of the handle on designs such as the Delica. I have an old Buck folder with the lock at the butt end of the handle and a Delica and Cara Cara with the lock in the middle. I havent really found a difference in use.
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Funny, I was noticing the same thing the other day between some of my older lockbacks and the newer ones. Maybe it's just me being used to the lock being at the end of the knife, but I was thinking that I like it at the end of the handle better than in the middle.

I think that for me it is easier to disengage the lock one-handed when the lock is at the back of the knife.

Thanks for posting this.
 
I figured the move was due to allaowing easier one handed closing and the middle location freeing up the design of the scales (don't need to make room for a full length lock back bar).
 
johnny reb said:
Cheaper to manufacture? Less lock bar material. Just a wild guess.
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I won't have you flogged since it was a guess. :)

The midlock is better due to internal mechanics allowing protection from dulling the knife blade. If that doesn't make sense perhaps this quote from another website paints it clearer.

The Deacon said:
Brian, am not sure what the answer to that is, but one of the benefits of the mid lock and front lock over the back lock is that they place the lockbar pivot ahead of, rather than behind the blade kick, when the blade is closed.

In a back lock pressure on the spine of the blade with the knife closed lifts the front of the lockbar, allowing the edge of blade to contact "something". Depending on the design, this "something" will be either the rear portion of the lockbar itself, the lock spring, or the backspacer/spring carrier. Such contact is never good. At the very least, it will dull the edge and can even roll or chip it depending on what it strikes. This happens because the front portion of the lockbar is free to move upward, and rear portion (behind the pivot) is free to move "downward".

In contrast, with a front or mid lock, because the kick presses the lock bar behind the lockbar pivot, you would bes trying to force the rear of the lockbar upward, and the front downward. This is impossible to do, because the front of the lockbar is resting on the blade tang. So there is no danger of "crashing" the edge against the lock.
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less likely to be accidentally disengaged.
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I doubt that this is the reason because you can actually squeeze the handle hard enough to partially depress the lock-release.
This is why Spyderco later added the "Boye dent" to their lock-release.

The midlock is better due to internal mechanics allowing protection from dulling the knife blade.
Click to expand...
I doubt that this is the reason.....after all, I don't recall the lockbacks from Buck, Case, Schrade, or Camillus having any problems with the blades dulling due to closing the knives.

I think that it was moved to the middle in knives like the Delica because the FRN handles are of one-piece construction.....with the tension spring-bar molded into the handle itself instead of being held by a rear bolster.
And it also makes it safer to close with one hand.
 
I think it' s just for easier one handed closing, like many other people mentioned.
 
I actually like it better with the Boye detent and the lock release in the middle, as you can open and close the knife with one hand without awkwardness.

Funny enough, I have my Cara Cara G-10 in my pocket now. I forgot I had it in these pants and i'm nervous to actually use it in public; it's a bit large.
 
I believe Al Mar was the 1st manufacture to make the mid-lock. I think he got the idea from a custom maker (Harvey McBurnett ?). It made one handed closing much easier,especially when thumb studs and the Spyderco hole came along.
 
allenC said:
I doubt that this is the reason.....after all, I don't recall the lockbacks from Buck, Case, Schrade, or Camillus having any problems with the blades dulling due to closing the knives.
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If you squeeze a closed Buck 110 the blade can hit the handle.
 
allenC said:
I doubt that this is the reason because you can actually squeeze the handle hard enough to partially depress the lock-release.
This is why Spyderco later added the "Boye dent" to their lock-release.


I doubt that this is the reason.....after all, I don't recall the lockbacks from Buck, Case, Schrade, or Camillus having any problems with the blades dulling due to closing the knives.

I think that it was moved to the middle in knives like the Delica because the FRN handles are of one-piece construction.....with the tension spring-bar molded into the handle itself instead of being held by a rear bolster.
And it also makes it safer to close with one hand.
Click to expand...

You are free to doubt, and recall all you want, the accuracy of such endeavors can vary; or you could go to the source...your choice.
 
I don't pretend to know the history of the mid back lock back, but I do know that I have accidentally released the lock on Spydercos and never on the end lock release of the Buck 110.
 
allenC said:
I doubt that this is the reason because you can actually squeeze the handle hard enough to partially depress the lock-release.
This is why Spyderco later added the "Boye dent" to their lock-release.

I doubt that this is the reason.....after all, I don't recall the lockbacks from Buck, Case, Schrade, or Camillus having any problems with the blades dulling due to closing the knives.

Vivi said:
If you squeeze a closed Buck 110 the blade can hit the handle.
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all my schrade LB7's do the same thing, they get a nice ding from the blade contacting the locking bar when you squeeze it, i have seen much older knives with a stop on the tang that prevents that.
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I find if you put a death grip on most rocker locks that the blade will release. This is especially true on knives on on which the locking notch in not cut very deeply. I use to love my Paragons tantos until I read a similar post here and gave them just half-hearted squeezes and watched the blade fall over. Boye's dents only reduce the problem, The only rocker lock knives you can depend on are the ones you can barely unlock with your thumb and leave a depression on your thumb for five minutes or so.
--ho
 
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