Why so few custom lockback knives

P

PaulS

Joined
May 5, 1999
Messages
6
I notice that the makers have moved away from this style of build to nearly all liner locks. The work of Jim Schmidt and Lake and others were amazing.
 
PaulS said:
I notice that the makers have moved away from this style of build to nearly all liner locks. The work of Jim Schmidt and Lake and others were amazing.
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Agreed.

I am bored with liner locks. Real bored. They make all kinds of sense for tactical knives. For collectible display pieces, not so much.

Don Hanson III said:
Liner locks sell!
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This is the answer.

Don Hanson III said:
I personally prefer slip joints. :cool:
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Me, too.

IMO, they all have their place. Although I generally prefer lock backs to both slip joints and liner locks.
 
Liner locks are easy to design for and simple to make. The lock is also well hidden. And it works well enough.
 
liner locks also show off the smoothness of the one-handed action in a way that slippies or lockbacks can't. So there is that "flickability" appeal.
 
I think we may be swinging back a bit. Linerlocks and lockbacks both have their appeal and strengths and weaknesses, and I think we'll see things equalize a bit over time. I know they've both been around a while, but linerlocks are still kinda riding the "new" wave, while lockbacks fall squarely in the "traditional" category. A few more years and they'll both be old enough to judge them on their individual merits rather than any kind of trendiness.

FWIW, I'm a lockback man by preference and carry a framelock as my EDC. I don't make a lot of folders, but when I do they're lockbacks.
 
One maker told me lockbacks are harder to make correctly. He said lockbacks take more time, more care, but bring in about the same money as a liner lock for the most buyers. The conversation was about why liner locks got so popular so quick.
 
Lock backs are way harder to make than a slip joint or linerlock. As I improve I would like to make some lock backs.
 
My favorite families of folders are the slipjoints and the lockbacks....their children with the seatbelts!
Lockbacks are not more difficult than slipjoints to build, so if you had a nice experience with slippies, go ahead and have fun with the lockbacks!!!
I sincerely hope to see more of both, i am tired of flippers, whose typical designs i can't digest (some remarkable exceptions aside).
 
Dellana makes some really nice Lockbacks. IIRC she'll be doing a workshop at New School of Metalworking this summer.
 
I believe the reason is the lockback makes designing a knife more difficult than many locks and customers view them as old fashioned. Most other locks allow for more freedom of blade shape specifically blade height and how deep the blade can sit in the handle when closed. In my experience lockbacks are also more time consuming and more difficult than slipjoints. I can make a slipjoint using my belt grinder to shape the surfaces that dictate how the knife opens and closes and the flushness of the back spring. To do a functioning lockback requires at least a fairly accurate file jig. Having the spring strong enuf to close the knife but not so strong as to make it hard to unlock can also be challenging. You have the surfaces of a slipjoint that need to be accurate and adding the complication and added accuracy of the lock. Other locks like you can find on Michael Walker, Ron Appleton, the Hawks, and others knive's add appeal because of the novelty and in some cases better function making them to some more desireable. I like lockbacks because opening and closing a good one can be very satisfying, you are not going to get a liner lock to pull the blade closed, there is also something about the click on lockup.
 
I have often wondered this myself... lockbacks to my mind make a lot of sense. I like many slipjoints but I am leery of a knife without a lock. To me the only slipjoint that makes sense is the SAK and I carry a Super Tinker daily along with a regular locking folder. Still, I am very taken with a lot of slipjoints due to the many patterns and variety of materials. A steady diet of 'tactical's' can get boring.

I often dream of a large hunter style folder with a clip point blade profile and green canvas or antique white micarta scales, complete with shield and stainless bolsters and a mid or back lock, carried on the belt in a leather sheath. Classic and cool!
 
I like liner locks but they are inconsistent and unreliable and have caused alot of headache for me. I still prefer them if I find the right one just because they are easy, fast and fun,. :) . Heres my newest and second lockback. Couldnt be more happy with this one.

150512_tim_hancock_001.jpg
 
apart from nostalgia, I see absolutely no benefit, functional or otherwise of a lockback vs. liner or frame lock. Am I blind to something here?
 
I don't always choose I folder, but when I do, I prefer slipjoints and lockbacks. Too many liner locks flop partially open far too easily in my experience, making them dangerous to carry and (in my neck of the woods) illegal to possess. Rapid deployment of the blade is not a big concern for me. If it were, I'd carry a fixed blade. They open real fast. :D
 
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