Will Speedsafe mechanism weaken the handle structure?

E

Eaglestrike

Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
5
After seeing a series of photos showing how the Speedsafe works, I’ve noticed that the system needs quite a big space inside one of handle panels to hold the torsion bar. Obviously a portion of the handle panel has to be thinner than it looks from the outside. Will that unbalance the stiffness of the knife handle? Will the mechanism weaken (by any degrees) the knife structure, because the panels hold the pivot?:confused:
 
Ive never had a problem with any of the leeks I own. The oldest one I have is probably 5 years old and its been used, opened, and closed countless times. The torsion bar itself did wear out at one point but I just called kershaw and they sent a knew one, they have great customer service.
 
Antihero17 said:
Ive never had a problem with any of the leeks I own. The oldest one I have is probably 5 years old and its been used, opened, and closed countless times. The torsion bar itself did wear out at one point but I just called kershaw and they sent a knew one, they have great customer service.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your quick response. However, that doesn’t answer my question. I have no concern about the durability and reliability of the Speedsafe itself.
My question is, if a knife with the Speedsafe feature, will it be as strong as a knife of similar size and design but without the Speedsafe?
I’m an owner of a ZT 301 and a Blur. I’ve just placed an order on an Offset, a Junkyard Dog, and a Ken Onion Storm. Obviously I’m a big fun of Kershaw/ZT.
 
Eaglestrike said:
Thank you for your quick response. However, that doesn’t answer my question. I have no concern about the durability and reliability of the Speedsafe itself.
My question is, if a knife with the Speedsafe feature, will it be as strong as a knife of similar size and design but without the Speedsafe?
I’m an owner of a ZT 301 and a Blur. I’ve just placed an order on an Offset, a Junkyard Dog, and a Ken Onion Storm. Obviously I’m a big fun of Kershaw/ZT.
Click to expand...

I've never had a problem with the handles of a speedsafe knife and they have always held up well in all aspects. I dont see there being a possibility of there being a problem unless you are trying to pry or hammer or something with the handle.
 
This is the first I've ever heard of this problem, and here it's only in the theoretical. On my bump, I have noticed no difference in handle strength between the speedsafe and nonSF sides. And that's with a synthetic grip, I'm sure that any difference would be even less noticeable in models with metal grips.
 
Because these knives were built around the SpeedSafe mechanism, rather than just "added-on", I don't see any problems with the strength of the knife.
 
Well after a decade of making AO's, and hundred's of thousands of knives behind us, I can assuredly say the structure of our assisted opening knives are not compromised by the SpeedSafe pocket.

Welcome to BF's Eaglestrike.
 
Eaglestrike said:
After seeing a series of photos showing how the Speedsafe works, I’ve noticed that the system needs quite a big space inside one of handle panels to hold the torsion bar. Obviously a portion of the handle panel has to be thinner than it looks from the outside. Will that unbalance the stiffness of the knife handle? Will the mechanism weaken (by any degrees) the knife structure, because the panels hold the pivot?:confused:
Click to expand...

On the Kershaws that I've disassembled, this is what I see:

The cavity that holds the torsion bar is only wide and deep enough to just contain it, plus it's held in that cavity by a steel liner that adds additional rigidity. The handle material exterior to the cavity is not that much thinner than the rest of the handle. The handle area immediately surrounding the pivot is of normal thickness...the pivot shaft is still surrounded by handle and liner material and does not sit in the space of the cavity.

On a handle with scales (e.g. the G10 Leek), the liner retaining the torsion bar is the full-length handle liner on that side, with the torsion bar cavity contained in both liner and handle. The solid handles with torsion bars (e.g. the aluminum-handled Blur) have a liner recessed into the solid handle but still longer and wider than the torsion bar cavity itself for extra strength.

Weakness is just not an issue. The only potential problem I see of any kind is loose handle and pivot screws allowing the torsion bar to push the liner away from the handle, which would allow the torsion bar to slip out of position and bind. So, I periodically check for loose screws as a premptive measure. In any event, this would create a SpeedSafe issue if it happened, and no weakness apart from that expected with loose screws.

I haven't run strength tests to verify it, but IMO the frames and handles of Kershaw SpeedSafe-equipped knives are as strong as any.

Ray :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top