Last week I noticed some increased vertical play in my Caly III/SE(it had a hair of play to begin with). I won't send the knife in because this knife is dearer to my than most of my Spydies combined together.
It's about half a mm and you can hear(and feel) a slight tic tac when you put downward pressure on the blade(kind of a "springy"(?) action).
I did a search on this forum and there were many comments about this that this was normal for lock backs.
I decided to inspect the rest of my lock backs and indeed all of them(4 Delica's 3, 3 Endura's III, Scorpius, Golden Native, SS Police) but 5(Navigator II[rock and rock solid], G10 Rookie, G10 Navigator and my 2 Persians) had up and down play.
So my question is: how much play is normal?
Many thanks in advance
Arend(old school Spydie lover)
MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL ORDER OF THE SPYDEREDGE!!!
VERY PROUD OWNER OF A CALY III/SE #043 :D
....AND A FG(PARA) MILITARY/SE IN CPMD2(thanx Sal)
As least as possible I think.
But that said, it is very hard to build them absolutely playfree in large quantaties.
Also because the slightest imperfection or wear in the lock gets magnafied by the length of the blade.
The Spyderco backlocks are made such that if any play occurs, the blade is being pushed tip down by the lockbar so it doesn't become loose or ratling.
So your feeling about the springy action is correct.
I'm sorry to hear this Arend, specialy because I know how you feel about it.
I hope to have overcome this demon in my own knives but time and hard use will tell.
Dear Arend, please check if it occurs when you put your thumb with light to hard pressure on the front of the lockbar. If it doesn´t occur then, it´s no lockplay, that means then the lockbar hardly moves in the blade recess.
A very well-reputed knifemaker told me the play than comes from too small barrels. For example the D4 has D shaped barrels which are laser cut I guess. Eventually this couldn´t be constantly done with the necessary perfection.
None of my :spyder: backlocks shows lockplay. Only some show vertical play that seems to have the mentinoned cause. It seems to be a combination of radial play in the pivot and radial play in the fulcrum barrel of the lockbar or one of both. E.g. my D4 wave has too much vertical play. It shows some radial play in the pivot and has a second drilling that touches the D recess of the fulcrum, which seems to cause some play there as well. One can check radial play best in lockbacks by opening the knife half way, press the release and push and pull the blade carefully to and from the pivot. If it has play you hear a clicking sound with each change of direction.
By the way, my Military has lots of radial play in the pivot too but it shows no vertical play when locked up. I assume the spring pressure of the locking liner in the open position compensate the play.
I wish Spyderco could narrow down the tolerances in the named areas related to backlocks and compression locks where only radial pivot play should be kept to a minimum.
If I´m not wrong with my observations and logical consequences that should eliminate the argument (some) vertical play in Spidies would be necessary for a save lockup. E.g. some of my :spyder: backlocks show no vertical play. Aren´t they save then?
I just ordered a second D4 wave - love that knife - hope it has very little to none vertical play.
Best wishes,
JB
We need locking :spyder: folders, at least a D4, with very small :spyder:holes (no one-hand function, only trademark) for legal carry in Germany!
If I could only keep one of all my knives, it probably would be a D4.
Most if not all lockback knives will show a little vertical play, it's just the way they work. If you can feel the play but can't see it, it's probably ok. Be sure to keep the locking notch free of lint and dirt. This can cause more play than necessary. Just another reason I use a dry lube on all my folding knives. That Caly III is great EDC.
I have to say that lockbacks(if designed properly)should not have any play at all most specially vertically as the lockbar pushes the blade down. I think spring tension comes to play in this area. Tension should be enough to prevent verrtical play. I have modded enough Spyderco lockbacks and the contact surface between the lockbar and the blade groove it locks in are always perfect!
This problem is why I have gone to EDCing liner or framelocks.
The only lockback I have with any up and down play is my Endura 4,it is very slight but still bugs the crap out of me.
I think JB is right about it being from the pivot.
I look at my two Spyderco lockbacks and the lockbar moves with the blade when i check for bladeplay. I then took apart my D4 and yep that was the problem. The pivot hole is drilled too big for the pivot bolt
But hey as much as I hate bladeplay I cant stop carrying my Caly3! :D
"There's always something waiting at the end of the road. If you're not willing to see what it is, you probably shouldn't be out there in the first place."
yes it does. its not as apparent on my Caly3 because the play isnt as bad, but the D4 has a lot and you can see movement at the rearest part of the lockbar.
"There's always something waiting at the end of the road. If you're not willing to see what it is, you probably shouldn't be out there in the first place."
i had a good bit of play in one of my yojimbos. after examination i determined it was loose pivot screws. i did a little minor adjusting and presto....just right. the rest of my spydies were/are great even after a lot of spydie aerobics. i am very impressed with how solid the lockup is on my endura trainer after a lot of inertia openings.
Sorry to hear that Arend. It seemed rock solid to me, but I did not do any cutting with it. As you pointed out, a small amout of vertical play is fairly common on front locks and is considered acceptable from a QC standpoint by Spyderco. Like you, I have knives with it, and knives without it, sometimes within the same model.
Now beste vriend...did you take into consideration your Hulkish size and strength *MIGHT* have *something* to do with this? :eek:
Pretty much all IIRC of my :spyder: 's are like The Deac's in terms of play...however, it is hard to say just how much is "normal". Kinda like weight lifting...some guys I used to train hurt for days after the workout and have aksed if it was "normal" to feel it that long. For me, the answer was yes. Some they asked said no.
You see where i am going with this right?
God bless and take care Knifebro :)
Proverbs 16:3...Commit YOUR works to the LORD, and YOUR plans WILL succeed!
"Where's the best little big knife not designed by Sal or Eric?" ~ thombrogan, WSM
Avatar by my KnifeBrother, DiAlex...C102 Adventura designer, 2005 Spyderco Forum Knife!
