Is late lock up a concern?

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colin.p
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Is late lock up a concern?

Post by colin.p »

I have researched this for awhile and found answers both yes and no, but would like to get your opinions on this topic.

I have an Ontario Rat 2 that I bought from an online retailer (biggest in the world?) back in March of this year. Of course, our dollar is rather pathetic compared to the U.S. dollar, so this "budget" knife is not as "budget" up here in Canada.The knife is just fine and easily meets my expectations as to fit and finish, while the blade deployment is very quick and easy.

Now, after “playing” with it for a few weeks I see that the liner lock-bar has migrated over quite close to the other liner when the blade is opened, probably a half a millimeter or so from the right hand liner, 80-90% lock-up maybe? The blade does lock up securely and there is absolutely no side to side or up and down movement and is easy for me to release the lock, as in no lock stick, so it is working fine. However, I am new to this “newfangled” tech of liner locks and frame locks and after reading/watching reviews and what not online essentially telling me that anything over 50% lock up means that the lock life expectancy is greatly reduced and should be sent back to the manufacturer. That of course could be a problem, as I would have to ship it to the States and then have them send it back to me in Canada and I know that the CBSA would be licking their chops at that prospect.

So I would like to be “assured” somewhat that the liner lock will last for a long time as it is (truthfully I really don’t use a knife all that much and I have several anyways) and tell me to stop reading/watching people telling me about the pitfalls of late lock up or is this something that would need to be addressed before the year warranty runs out?
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KnifeSlinger#81
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Re: Is late lock up a concern?

Post by KnifeSlinger#81 »

If all you have done is "played" with this knife and the lockbar has gone over that far I would be contacting ontario's warranty department. There's no acceptable reason it should be that far over (unless the knife has been heavily used/abused- which is not your case) and it leaves very little room for wear.
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colin.p
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Re: Is late lock up a concern?

Post by colin.p »

Thanks for your reply. I will have to contact OKC then.
kootenay joe
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Re: Is late lock up a concern?

Post by kootenay joe »

My take on this is different. I agree it should not have moved over towards the opposite liner, but now having done so, i doubt it will move further.
Part of the 'problem' with knives is that when discussing function there really is not a great amount to say so we have to discuss minutiae as if it were a major issue.
Try the "Whack" test: blade open, knife handle on table edge, blade overhanging table edge, spine up, sharp edge down. Hold handle firmly on table surface and Whack the blade spine with mallet or piece of wood. If the blade holds the fully open position, liner lock is good. If a whack of only mild force knocks the blade off open then liner lock is not working properly.
How about doing a Whack test and posting the results ?
Where in Canada are you ? I'm in B.C. eh.
kj
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jerryd6818
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Re: Is late lock up a concern?

Post by jerryd6818 »

Wouldn't that be more appropriate for "early lock-up"? I don't see the blade folding under any kind of pressure if the issue is "late lock-up".
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colin.p
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Re: Is late lock up a concern?

Post by colin.p »

kootenay joe wrote:My take on this is different. I agree it should not have moved over towards the opposite liner, but now having done so, i doubt it will move further.
Part of the 'problem' with knives is that when discussing function there really is not a great amount to say so we have to discuss minutiae as if it were a major issue.
Try the "Whack" test: blade open, knife handle on table edge, blade overhanging table edge, spine up, sharp edge down. Hold handle firmly on table surface and Whack the blade spine with mallet or piece of wood. If the blade holds the fully open position, liner lock is good. If a whack of only mild force knocks the blade off open then liner lock is not working properly.
How about doing a Whack test and posting the results ?
Where in Canada are you ? I'm in B.C. eh.
kj
Thanks for your input as well. I am around 30 miles south of Ottawa, between Kemptville and Winchester. I sent a message off to OKC (their warranty reporting leaves much to be desired, but it is what it isl) and I'll see what they say. Like I said before, the darned thing works just fine. What I'm going to do is only carry the Rat2 for a few months and see if it gets worse, or until they tell me to send it in.
kootenay joe
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Re: Is late lock up a concern?

Post by kootenay joe »

Good decision i think because my bet is it will work fine and will not close on your hand. If in doubt, do try a gentle Whack test. It does not harm the knife and gives you important information.
kj
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colin.p
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Re: Is late lock up a concern?

Post by colin.p »

The wack test was fine, nothing untoward happened and I am still alive to report such. I did loosen all the screws and then re-tightened them up which gave me a little more lock up as in I am now showing a bit more of the right hand side of the blade tang (the middle of the lock bar is a little past the middle of the blade tang, maybe at 80% lock up), before the edge of the lock bar almost lined up with the edge of the tang at close to 90%. Anyway, I did send the message off to OKC on Friday so I will wait a couple weeks for them to reply and hopefully get the issue resolved one way or the other.

It does make me a little hesitant on liner-locks in general though (I was thinking about getting a Rat 1, but may have to think again), even though all my Bucks (U.S. as well as Chinese) all are less than 50% with lots of tang left, but I do have a SOG Fielder that is right over to the right liner (I probably won't even bother with that one as I really can't justify sending a $30 knife back). All of those knives were bought since January (I went on somewhat of a binge) but the impulse has cooled and will no doubt just play with what I have.

Anyway, if I didn't have that to complain about. then what else could I reasonably complain about?
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