Question on the starmate.

[pepoww]

Hi !

I carry a Starmate daily, and during a recent inspection, I noticed some wear on the small ball detent in the liner. When I compared it to a new-in-box Starmate, I saw that the ball on mine (a C55) has a noticeably flat top, whereas the new one still has a fully rounded ball. It almost looks like a piece of the ball has been worn or cut off. (Just to be clear—I definitely didn’t cut it myself! )

So here’s my question:
Is it possible that the blade is actually wearing down the ball over time?

It seems like every time I close the knife, it might be taking off a tiny bit of material.

What is the ball made of? Steel, I assume?

Could it be that the CPM 440V steel of the blade is too hard for the ball material?

I also checked my C15, and while the ball shows some wear after years of use, it’s much less than what I’m seeing on the Starmate.

The detent still functions fine, but should I be concerned about this wear?

Thanks for taking the time to answer all my (admittedly more than one) question!

[yablanowitz]

Yes, the detent ball is steel. Yes, the blade is at least as hard as the detent ball. Yes, 440V has a large volume of very hard vanadium carbides in its makeup, so it is doubtless wearing away the ball a tiny bit with every opening. Yes, eventually the ball will wear away and stop functioning as a detent, making the knife unsafe to carry, at least tip up. And yes, detent balls can be replaced, correcting the problem, or at least starting the cycle over.

[p_atrick]

I carry a Starmate daily...

As somebody who carries a Starmate with regularity, what are your thoughts? What do you like or dislike? Does it perform well with daily, mundane tasks? What are your thoughts on the upcoming sprint?

[KJKeyserSoze]

Has the sprint been out in the wild already ?

[Brock O Lee]

Many people replace their worn-down detent balls with steel or even ceramic balls. They are available to buy on Amazon or elsewhere, and are not expensive. Just make sure you buy the exact same size.

Disassemble, press out the old ball, and press in a new one. It will void your warranty, but you will get many more years of service from the knife.

[sal]

Hi Pepoww,

Welcome to our forum.

sal