Did that really just happen?

Blerv · #21

Hey Hunter. I just assumed they might have had the run already planned and that the timing was ironic. It is the first open-BB know they have done in a while.

Again, you never know until you hear officially. I just assumed timing since their track record if giving props where due.

Welcome back to the boards bud!

The Mastiff · #22

Seems like I would have contacted Sal directly for a question like that. A direct and personal questioning of one's honesty and honor is a serious matter. Not all that long ago people were fighting duels over slights less obvious than that.

The OP would not have approached the matter like that if he truly had the respect he makes claims too.

Sooooo, *SLAP****SLAP*

I believe it's your prerogative to name the time and place.

:eek:
:D

Joe

SolidState · #23

KardinalSyn wrote:Wonder what the stress tolerance levels are with ceramic, the types mentioned above.

It depends on which Alumina ceramic you get from COORS, but they have a variety to say the least. They use different binding materials depending on the application, and the binder really sets the stress tolerance for ceramics. If they went with the high-alumina offered, it's ridiculously tough. I've dropped fourteen ounce crucibles onto cement flooring from 3 ft and damaged the floor.

One thing you don't want to do is melt borate materials or any B2O3 materials in or around the ball though. That will probably destroy it. I'm pretty sure they use a boron-based binder in their high alumina line from my work with their products in my lab.

hunterseeker5 · #24

The Mastiff wrote:Seems like I would have contacted Sal directly for a question like that. A direct and personal questioning of one's honesty and honor is a serious matter. Not all that long ago people were fighting duels over slights less obvious than that.

The OP would not have approached the matter like that if he truly had the respect he makes claims too.

Sooooo, *SLAP****SLAP*

I believe it's your prerogative to name the time and place.

:eek:
:D

Joe

I didn't contact Sal directly because I knew if I posted it here if I was in fact wrong someone like Deacon would show up and set the record straight. What I didn't expect was for everyone to take it personally. :P Ok fine though slap slap I should have put big smiley icons in the OP so people can see its not me going "WTF THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS SPYDERCO STOLE MY RELATIVELY OBVIOUS AND NON-PATENTED MOD" :P At least Blerv noticed the timing though.

And for those people who STILL are wondering how strong a zirconium oxide bearing ball can be (I've obviously not tested spyderco's but this is what I used):

Thats what it did to my anvil when hit with a sledgehammer and thats what it did to my fiberglass reinforced concrete floor when again hit with a sledgehammer. Same bearing was used for both tests, no damage. I had also attempted crushing it in the vice first, and that failed as well. (damaged the jaws though)

@Blake
Yeah I'm kinda back. I've been forbidden from "wasting" any more money on knives, and my better half is keeping a close eye on me because she knows I can't resist, so I've been trying to remove the temptation by not hanging around at the candy shop so to speak.

FLYBYU44 · #25

Wouldn't you want something similar in hardness to the blade for a functional part of the lock? Seems to me a ceramic ball would just wear away at the tang of the blade until the lock reached the end of it's service life prematurely.

Cheddarnut · #26

FLYBYU44 wrote:Wouldn't you want something similar in hardness to the blade for a functional part of the lock? Seems to me a ceramic ball would just wear away at the tang of the blade until the lock reached the end of it's service life prematurely.

Judging by the pics above i'd say the steel would be the softer material. Especially in a spherical configuration, ceramic is very hard.

Edit* upon second glance, i believe u were actually suggesting the steel being weaker. My bad.

Evil D · #27

Man i tell ya what...i came in here ready to THROW DOWN until i saw those smiley icons

w3tnz · #28

FLYBYU44 wrote:Wouldn't you want something similar in hardness to the blade for a functional part of the lock? Seems to me a ceramic ball would just wear away at the tang of the blade until the lock reached the end of it's service life prematurely.

This thought has been bugging me too, if a ceramic sharp maker rod can wear away at steel with a few light strokes what will be the long term effects of the ceramic ball against the tang under spring tension? I would expect the ball to get dirty at least, perhaps a groove would begin wearing along the track over time? Or is the ball so polished / fine that the friction and wear is negligible?

The Deacon · #29

w3tnz wrote:Or is the ball so polished / fine that the friction and wear is negligible?

That's what I'd guess. They are, after all, intended to be used as ball bearings while Sharpmaker rods are intended to be used to abrade hardened steel.

Evil D · #30

The Deacon wrote:That's what I'd guess. They are, after all, intended to be used as ball bearings while Sharpmaker rods are intended to be used to abrade hardened steel.

Correct. Ceramic is to sharpening rods as steel is to files. Both can be used to remove metal, when designed to do so.

hunterseeker5 · #31

Not all ceramics are created equal, and a lot of the abrasiveness of it has to do with surface finish as well.

NOT ALL CERAMIC BEARINGS RUN ARE FULL CERAMIC. A lot of ceramic bearing balls run on steel races. Clearly any sort of abrasiveness would be a highly undesirable feature. Will the steel wear more quickly than the ceramic? Obviously yes. Is the rate of that wear negligible? Well as Blake would describe me I'm one of those buck-toothed, drooling, giggling, mouth-breathing, obsessive knife-flickers. I flick my folders a LOT. (part of why I'm not such a huge fan of ti faced frame locks, and always weld carbide to them) After having a ceramic ball in my Manixes for a year or so now, I see no excessive or undesirable wear. They really survive quite nicely. Nothing to worry about.

Indeed when I carry a spyder folder I flick so obsessively I've gotten bored of doing it with my thumb, and so do it with my middle finger and pinkie as well.

https://youtu.be/5ytdQqxE2J4

Long story short? Trust me, wear isn't an issue.

*edit*
Added more smiley icons just to be safe:
:) :D B)

:P :) :)

Fred Sanford · #32

hunterseeker5 wrote:As some of you may recall quite a while ago I came up with the idea of dropping a zirconium oxide (white ceramic) bearing ball into spyderco's bearing lock mechanism. Being an admittedly logical evolution I spent some time digging around to see if someone had done it before me. The closest I found was vieli's phoenix with a semi-precious stone for the ball iirc. So being apparently the first I coined it the lightning mod, and posted it on this forum. Surprised I was then when I discovered that without so much as a nod spyderco is now using this idea in their new run of carbon fiber dodos. What gives Sal? From a company that usually seems to give credit where its due I would have expected a phone call at least. Was this a simple oversight?

*edit*
To prevent further misinterpretation of the tone of this post, I'm adding a few smiley icons:
:) :o :D :p :D :o

I suggest you do a LOT more reading on this subject before being so accusatory and thinking that "you" came up with the idea. :) There is nothing new under the sun my friend.

Bladekeeper · #33

Wrong tommorow will be a new day and we will be under the sun

My pics were the sun rising and a wink

don't know what happened.
And have you not heard the saying you learn something new everyday :)