Has Anybody Ever Worn Out a Compression Lock?

[James Y]

... meaning, has anybody ever had the lockbar wear all the way over to the opposite side, as occasionally happens to some heavily worn (or poorly fitted) liner locks?

Just curious.

Jim

[Evil D]

I screwed one up with ferric chloride doing an acid etch. First time doing it, had no idea what I was doing (nothing better than mixing acid and ignorance LOL) and I acid etched ALL of the steel parts trying to make them all match in color. I also didn't mask the lock face and pivot hole. In hindsight this should've be common sense but hey my screw up is your knowledge gain.

The end result was more blade play than you've ever seen. You could hold the knife in one hand and jiggle the blade. The lock bar was totally bottomed out against the opposite scale, but it still locked secure enough that you couldn't force it closed. I even sold it cheap to a guy that wanted a beater knife.

So my thoughts are that even if you do manage to wear one out, it'll still be a functional knife and will continue to lock up safely.

[RugerNurse]

What about the detent? Does that ever wear out?

[Evil D]

What about the detent? Does that ever wear out?

I don't recall there being an issue with mine, but we've seen detent balls wear flat on other models. Apparently it's not all that complicated to change a detent ball if you can find the right size.

[yablanowitz]

... meaning, has anybody ever had the lockbar wear all the way over to the opposite side, as occasionally happens to some heavily worn (or poorly fitted) liner locks?

Just curious.

Jim

I bought a secondhand blue Yojimbo years ago that had been severely abused. The locking tab travelled all the way across and rested against the other liner, and the blade rattled up and down when open. It still locked, and would have been safe enough to use even before I overhauled it.

[James Y]

Thanks for the comments, guys!

As far as the detent ball, that's actually the only part of a comp lock knife that I lube. And even then, only VERY sparingly. I suspect that helps to lessen wear on the detent ball over time, but what do I know?

Jim

[pinchyfisher]

If a detent ball were to wear down I can confirm they are pretty straightforward to replace. I've done two- a tenacious and a para 3 lw. Both had soft detents so I figured why not. It fixed the issue both times. Of course.... warranty probably out the window if you do it.

Old thread I used as a guide-
viewtopic.php?t=96390

[Rob-F]

Where do you get a detent ball?

[ladybug93]

acid and ignorance

good band name

[Coastal]

[pinchyfisher]

Where do you get a detent ball?

I picked up a pack of 2mm silicon nitride/ceramic ball bearings off of the amazon.

Edit to clarify- I don't know if all Spyderco detent balls are this size or not.