Shot Show surprises

[bh49]

So far my money safe. Not impressed.
Give me ATR2 & Rhino and I am all set.

[Surfingringo]

The Mantra raised my interest, along with the Autonomy. Will LC be used in the Autonomy? Would it be presumptuous to assume the Autonomy will be a saltwater use knife? If it salt safe I'll probably be in for one of these.

I would guess that it will be lc200n and be in the Salt line. I think they put a lot of work into engineering the auto mechanism and pivot on the autonomy to be corrosion proof and serviceable so I imagine this knife will use the same pivot.

[swigert]

Guys I’m not seeing the smock. I must be missing something.

[Rpp]

Smoak and Brauwser look great. Big day for new designers.

[xceptnl]

Sorry if I'm a little slow guys. Can someone share a link, I've only seen Knifecenters video with Eric.

[Canazes9]

Sorry if I'm a little slow guys. Can someone share a link, I've only seen Knifecenters video with Eric.

http://knifenews.com/shot-show-2018-knives/

David

[anycal]

Yeah, I'm 100% in on the Mantra. Seeing the video on big screen did me in.

[MacLaren]

Really anxious to see how the new flippers flip, with the recent CQI made to them.
I'm thinking they will be freaking awesome....

[SG89]

Really anxious to see how the new flippers flip, with the recent CQI made to them.
I'm thinking they will be freaking awesome....

Me too

[holeshot]

Gotta say I called the push button compression lock, I think in one of my threads begging for a PE Autonomy or about using the Plunge Lock in other knives. It certainly will solve the whole flipper tab hitting your finger issue. It's cool to see so many new flippers but I see they will all most likely have this issue. I'm really interested in the Autonomy 2 but I really wish they'd just make the Autonomy 1 in PE with the same blade shape.

Yes,yes,yes I do too! :)

[Liquid Cobra]

Really anxious to see how the new flippers flip, with the recent CQI made to them.
I'm thinking they will be freaking awesome....

I’m worried they will flip like my Sliverax.

[anycal]

I’m worried they will flip like my Sliverax.

Good? Great? Which one?

[Liquid Cobra]

I’m worried they will flip like my Sliverax.

Good? Great? Which one?

I’m worried because my Sliverax flips ok, but not great. The detent is too weak and the action isn’t very smooth. It’s gotten better over time, but it’s still nowhere near as good as any other flipper I own from multiple other companies.

[SG89]

I’m worried they will flip like my Sliverax.

does the sliverax have the "larger ball bearings that run on pb washers on a hardened steel interface" like Eric says the mantra 3 uses? I don't have a sliverax but I have had other spyderco flippers and I didn't like them at all

[Mako109]

Amalgam's got my interest. Looks like a great sandwich knife.

Yes, looks like a good $200 sandwich knife. :confused:

Hah, you should see my steak knife. :D

[Liquid Cobra]

I’m worried they will flip like my Sliverax.

does the sliverax have the "larger ball bearings that run on pb washers on a hardened steel interface" like Eric says the mantra 3 uses? I don't have a sliverax but I have had other spyderco flippers and I didn't like them at all

Well that’s sort of misleading. The washers are made from pb, but don’t really touch anything, they simply hold the ball bearings which are larger than they used to be. The balls run on the blade and the steel insert of the liners. Then there are weird circular milling patterns that the balls run over.

See below:

Ok guys so I did some more investigating on this bearing smoothness thing. Part of the issue is the same as any other liner type locking knife that has a detent ball moving across the tang of the knife; the detent ball moves across the grind lines and you feel that texture through the handle and blade.

So, to combat that, I took it apart and polished the detent path:

(this is such a hard spot to sand and polish without screwing up the rest of the tang)

It isn't a perfect mirror polish but it really doesn't have to be, the point is just to remove the deeper grind lines. You have to imagine that the tiny little detent ball moving across those lines is actually much more like a car going over a speed bump than you might guess. The grind lines are very small but so is the detent ball's contact surface.

This alone has resolved a good 90% of the issue, and the pivot is now on par with my Mantra


The other "issue" here, is the machining inside the pivot where the bearings ride....

Doesn't look too hateful from a distance..



But with a little macro you can see those swirls are pretty deep.



Now, you can also see that the bearings have already started to wear a groove through those swirls, and over time they will completely flatten out and create a smooth groove. As it is now with polishing the detent path it would take the most OCD person to be unhappy with the smoothness of this pivot action.



Reassembly....Phil Wood bearing grease. Bearings = grease.



It's kind of odd, when I open the knife slowly with my thumb, it's silky smooth and I can't feel ANY of the grooves. It's only when I drop the blade closed and the blade is moving much faster that I feel any of it.


Oh, I did attempt to polish out the swirl marks inside the tang, but it just wasn't working very well. The only thing I could come up with was a small felt polishing bit loaded at the tip with compound. It needs something more abrasive to really remove those swirls, and ultimately only the little path of the bearings matter and they will wear in on their own.

[SG89]

Thanks LC (and Evil D)

[swigert]

Blade HQ video is live. New Peter Rassenti. Wow wow wow.

[T_MAC686]

https://youtu.be/QMGfJQl6jVc

[ekimox]

That Amalgam defintely has my attention. Looks incredible.