whacking it

[tortoise]

Got ya' you dirty spydernuts!

Anyway, my question is about the ubiquitous spine-whack test. Should the test be done like an Al Gore recount, just keep whacking until the blade folds? Or is it one open, one whack, pass/fail? Say you open your knife, whack, lock holds. Then you close, open again, whack, knife folds. Then you repeat as many times as you like. What is (is there) an acceptable failure rate? One fold out of ten separate tests? One out of twenty? None?

[lokelani]

ROL <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle><img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>
One good &quot;wrist flick&quot; whack should be sufficient.
Aloha~
Patti@SFO

[ronybear]

No, I think one whack! Like a Bush Count Dangling Chad is sufficient!!!!

"LOVE DEM SPYDIES!"

[tortoise]

Patti,
Thanks for the reply, but I need more. Say you draw the knife from your pocket, open it (normal thumb opening) and spine whack it one time. It fails. You think, &quot;Whoa, that's not good.&quot; You close the knife. You wonder. You then open the knife again (normal thumb opening) and spine whack it one time. It passes. You wonder. Was the first time a fluke? You close the knife. You open the knife (well, you know), it passes (or fails, take your pick.)You realize two things. One is that you have become obsessed with this ridiculous ritual. Two is that you don't know how to tell if your lock needs adjusting or is normal. Is there an &quot;acceptable&quot; failure rate on this test? Would you expect the lock to fail &quot;once in a while&quot; or never?
Hands calloused from whacking it, I await your reply.

[dsvirsky]

The only acceptable failure rate is ZERO. Fortunately, that's what you can expect with a Spyderco knife.

Dave

[cerulean]

You should really get Joe Talmadge in here to answer. He helped invent the spine whack test and knows a lot about how it works and why.

My understanding is that knives will sometimes fail the test just once, on the first try. That first whack can seat the lock and provide for a solid lockup though, so it passes subsequent tests.

I've heard that knives can also pass the test on a regular basis and suddenly start failing after a few years of use. You'd want to perform the test once or twice every couple of months to be safe.

There probably isn't going to be an exact failure rate that's acceptable. If it fails on a regular basis though, say 1 in every 10 times, then you should look into getting it repaired, or at least keep in mind that it's unreliable when you use it.

If you're whacking it several times a day, you might just go with a different locking mechanism. There are some people out there who won't even use liner locks anymore because they think there's too much of a risk involved.

[tortoise]

Thanks guys, I just sent it in so they could take a look under the hood. Cerulean, you're probably right about picking another lock and I'm generally in the &quot;no liner locks&quot; crowd but I picked up another Military at the NYC show, so... (maybe I shoulda' gotten a Gunting from Bram instead but like the rest of you, there's very little &quot;instead&quot; with me and a lot of &quot;in addition to.&quot;<img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>
edited for spelling

Edited by - tortoise on 11/20/00 2:05:13 PM

[sal]

Hi Tortoise. Spyderco began &quot;Spine wacking&quot; their folders in 1981 and have been ever since.

As Dvirsky said. one failure equals failure, period.

I have seen a lockback fail the test due to a bunch of lint, etc in the lock well, which when removed restored the lock to original &quot;safe&quot; condition. Other than that, if it fails once, IT WILL FAIL AGAIN.

If it failed, send it back to us. We are very serious about lock reliability. We feel that to not do so is not only irresponsible, but it &quot;bites&quot;the hand that feeds you&quot;.

sal

Edited by - sal on 11/20/00 6:36:40 PM

[Joe Talmadge]

If I can engage in some gratuitous back-slapping, the above post by Sal is why Spyderco is one of very few companies that I would even remotely consider buying a liner lock from.

[tortoise]

Thanks Sal and Joe. Like I said, the knife's on its way in for a look-see. Not a big deal, a knife is a cutting machine and all machines can break down. (Not a big deal because its a Spydie.) Wouldn't it be nice if every company instilled this kind of confidence? Other stuff, I'd flip if something went wrong. This, it's like, &quot;no biggie, they'll fix it.&quot; I've said it before, if this company starts making cars or washing machines, whatever, I'm there!