Knife

Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! LeRoi PRICE

F rom opening SNAP!...to closing CLICK! A
guided tour through the inner guts of folding
knives. The mystery on the inside. How they work.
This book is aimed at the collector. You don’t have
to be a sophisticated collector. But at the end of
the book, you will be.
What makes them tick. And what makes them click.

Mechanisms
My teaching style is informal. It is conversational,
The mechanics and the physics. From the strong to
as if we were engaged in knife talk. Sometimes
the strange. Insight on which to buy, collect, or use.
I lecture. But I just try to communicate. As a
If you want a book that tells you what happens on the concern for formality, I could give damn! I don’t
inside of a folding knife this book might be for you. want a “dry” book, textbook. I attempt a little
humor, throw in some stories, some Bio on a few

just for the fun of it!

If you want a book with a lot of pretty pictures of knife designers or knife makes. Yet I won’t pull
knives, a book that would look good on a coffee any punches on mechanisms. I didn’t exclude any
table, or if you’re a knife collector that seeks knives that are hard to understand or gloss over it or
that are neat looking, then this book is probably short change the explanation. Like the book or not,
not for you. that is one thing that I won’t be embarrassed about.
I wrote this book, basically, for me. That maybe Finally I am sorry to say not every knife mechanism
another reason why it won’t appeal to everybody. is included in this book. That surely is impossible.
Yet some folks have told me they anticipate its But regrettably not even all the major categories
publishing. Although there will always some are included. You won’t find liner locks or out-the-
people who will like the style of BS from any given front automatics, and more. Those, God willing, will
author I did work hard to get across the info on how be in the next edition. People said write an outline.
knife mechanisms work. I try to clearly explain And I said “AW, it’s in my head”. Well I am fallible
them and use as many illustrations as necessary. as a author. But I write spontaneously, and from the
I hope I succeeded. But this stuff can be hard. It heart. Ultimately, I wrote the book for you! I hope

E
gets pretty technical. If you think playing Spider you can appreciate what I could offer. I expect you
Solitaire, Level Three is more fun than watching a
cartoon I think you might enjoy this book.
will learn something about knife mechanisms. Just
for the fun of it!
P L
LeRoi Price

A M
S F
E E P D D
R T O A
F O L
L
PI WN ON
O I
D RS
V E

LeRoi Price
 Knife
Mechanisms
just for the fun of it!
From opening SNAP.....
.....to closing CLICK!
A guided tour through the
inner guts of folding knives
The mystery on the inside of knives
How they work
What makes them tick
And what makes them click
The mechanics and the physics
From the strong to the strange
Insight on which to buy, collect, or use

Champane Pat. No 603847

opener Harvey 1898

...and it’s what I’m

gonna need if this
book ever get’s fin-
ished. MONKEY
WRENCH

A critique on why some mechanisms might not be as strong or reli-

able as others. And fun learning about it!

by LeRoi Price
That is not an arcuate groove. But they will be discussed later. For now this is:

Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it

by LeRoi Price
Published by Heart of Florida
1032 Mann Street, Kissimmee, FL 34742 Contact: [email protected]

Copyright 2011
All rights reserved. And that also means that it cannot be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form
like photocopy, electronic, or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher.

Limitation of liability/disclaimer of warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or war-
ranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and furthermore disclaim all
warranties, including all warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. This is not a “How to do it” book. No
instructions or advice on anything especially shop practice or knife safety is contained herein. Anyone attempt-
ing to open, disassemble, repair, modify, attempted to make or operate a knife or any other device mentioned
in this book shall do so at their own risk and not by any instruction or device implied in this book. The total
content of this book is the opinion of the author and does not represent factual material beyond his personal
opinions, feelings and/or fantasies. Descriptions of knives or products allegedly made by the author and proce-
dures performed by the author are to be considered fiction. Just assume he made all those stories up and knows
nothing about machine shop practice. Therefore no advice is being offered in this book. It’s all make-believe. You
can’t follow the advice. There is none. Any any stuff particularly crazy stuff done by the author or other people
that might be mentioned in this book is not an endorsement by the author nor the publisher. Any time there’s a
statement saying not to read something the reader must read it. The statement that says do not read this section
is only reverse psychology which compels unsophisticated readers to read that section whereas a normal circum-
stances they might have otherwise skipped over it. Due to differing experiences, training, tools, and individual
skills, the publisher cannot be responsible for any injury, losses, and other damages that may result from the
unintended use of the information in this book. I do however recommend that you procure any of the numerous
books out on knife repair and knifemaking and follow their advice. I have no advice to offer, but they do.
The only intended use of this book is for entertainment. And entertainment means fun. Now go have some fun!
2 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!
Dedication
This is dedicated...to the one I love. But she’s just damn knife makers and the knifemaking companies. I know
happy just to have this book over with, for now. You’re a making knives is a business but besides producing a
great wife Nancy! And a fairly good proof reader. product we all collectively share a common enthusiasm.
But this book is mainly dedicated to knife collectors. I hope you guys stay in the business of producing better
You guys, and gals, with your support of individual and neater knives.
knifemakers and the knifemaking industry are the All knives have a certain mystique. Here through
catalyst to keep new ideas and improvements coming. my contribution many of the knife mechanism secrets
All those innovations make this whole mess more fun. shall be revealed. This knowledge will not dampen the
And fun for a collector is what it’s all about. I didn’t just mystique for the knife the collector. It will only heighten
write it for me, but I’m a knife collector too. their interest. Toward that goal of advancing interest in
Also want to dedicate my efforts of this book to those knife collecting is my sincere dedication of this book.

Acknowledgements
Before I start out thanking What to say in appreciation to the contributors to this
all the scraggly bearded book leaves even a blabbermouth like me speechless!
old men who contributed But I want to say thank you so much to everyone who
to this book, including me, helped. I am in awe of the friendliness I encountered in
I’d like to start off with a gathering information to put in here. I hope we all have
pretty face, Ashley Sostaric a good time. If it is at all a half-ass decent book it is only
of F+W Media. You must, because it didn’t just come out of my puny little brain or
you must go to the BLADE my meager experiences. Who are they? All the people
Show in Atlanta at the end in the book. You can figure it out, that’s who. And for
of May. When you do Ashley all the great people who also helped and did make it in
and a lot of her fine friends the first book I will hopefully include everybody else in
are there to help make your the next one. And there will be a next one, God willing.
experience memorable. We’ll all have some fun with that book to!

Housekeeping
The purpose of the book is to have fun. But if you cally the same idea”. I will try and give you a heads-up
get lost and confused that’s gonna spoil the fun. I try about where to find the info if you are skipping ahead
and explain things as clear as I can. Sometimes if it’s and have not read earlier parts of the book.
complicated I try and approach it from more than one There are a lot of drawings and pictures in this book
angle. And then I sometimes will summarize what we and a lot of numbers. Reference numbers to items in
just discussed. I know everybody’s mechanical exper- a drawing are put in bold to make them easier to pick
tise is not on the same level. I’ve got to assume that out. When I talk about an unrelated number like “5
boys who collect knives have some degree of sophisti- inches” for clarity I will spell the number like “five
cation. So I don’t get too elementary or try and beat an inches”. It’s just the dumb little thing but I’m trying to
explanation to death. Furthermore, knowledge that we be consistent, and clear.
have gained in an earlier part of the book is not gone Patent drawings are listed as “Figures.” My own draw-
over again in later parts of the book in order to save ings and photographs are listed as “km”.
time, or book space. Therefore each chapter might not At first I tried to cram in as much info as I could onto
stand on its own. I might say “remember how that coil the pages. Being frugal! But a little bit of white space is
spring in the last mechanism worked, well this is basi- OK. So bigger pictures and bigger font is more fun.
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 3
What the book is about. Knife Mechanisms. What the book is for. Fun!
What I wanted to do was reveal the secrets of knife makers and designers. Put in an unusual story or two.
mechanisms. What’s the secret? Well if you don’t un- And this is what it looks like: Let’s start out with a mug
derstand how it works it’s a secret. When you under- shot. Add a little bio and include some interesting stuff.
stand it, there is no more secret. And discovering it can I always ask how they come up with their ideas. But
be fun. Especially if you don’t have to bust you butt to it’s usual similar to the old expression “You don’t pick
do it. I endeavored to make it clear. And also if learn- the job, the job picks you”. Then there are the drawings
ing isn’t dry but includes a dash of flavor to keep you and knife photo’s and we are done and on to the next
interested. And this is how: I added some of the knife- mechanism

Grant and Gavin Hawk (c)A folding knife is much slower to deploy in an
emergency because of the additional and necessary
step of opening the blade before using.”
“A recent trend has been to build folding knives of
heavier stronger components while at the same time
developing mechanisms that allow for very fast open-
ing of the blade.”
“This new trend has generated a new problem in that
a heavier faster opening blade has the effect of greatly
increasing the impact upon the blade stop pin. The
result of this condition is that makers are experiencing
high failure rates for locking mechanisms, blade stops
and the services that locate the blade stop.”
Shock Absorbing Stop Pin
There are two rubber rings, O-rings 12, on the ends of
16a10 which
the stop pin 24 function
12 as shock absorbers. So
when the blade rotates up to the open position and the
shoulder of the tang hits against the stop pin the obvi-
As a miner from Idaho, Grant looks like a miner. Fig- ous thing happens, which is the O-rings absorb some
ures. This creative father and son team is responsible of the impact. There are O-ring grooves 24 which are
for some really neat mechanism designs. They have a cut into the stop pin to hold the O-rings. What keeps
cool YouTube video. Check that out. But for now weBLADE the stop them from flying out of the knife is the middle
are starting simple with the “Shock Absorbing” stop diameter 14 which keeps the pin trapped
enlarged16B
pin. And what’s better the patent starts off with some between the two liners 16a and b.
background statements which fit in pretty well with the 16a 24 12
beginning of this book. And it is my pleasure to share Figure 1
some of them here with you:
“The two main advantages of a folding knife, as op-
posed to a fixed blade knife, are that it can be reduced
to a more compact configuration for comfortable carry BLADE
and it does not require a separate sheath to protect the
16B Pat. No. 6748661
user from the sharp edge. G Hawk 2004
The main disadvantages of a folding knife, as com-
pared to a fixed blade knives, are as follows: Can you think
(a) A folding knife, being constructed of multiple mov- 12 of advantages
ing parts, can never be made quite as strong or quite as 14 and disadvan-
reliable as a fixed blade knife. tages to this
12 10 design? For
(b) A folding knife poses a greater danger to the user
than mere breakage because a mechanical malfunction now, we have
Figure 2 to move on.
may allow the sharp blade to close on the fingers.
6 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!
12
14
Welcome Welcome and speed read this.
There is not much in here worth
reading.
do know many interesting tales. But old farts can have some
delusional idea that everybody wants to hear them spin
yarn after yarn. Well I have picked up some great stories
Knife mechanisms is book that has not been written before. from great knifemakers. These stories need telling. And I
This is a book that, for some of us, needed to be written. have had some personal experiences that, to me at least,
There was a cry out, “Why doesn’t some fool write this seem interesting. Yeah I know what your thinking. “Put that
book?” Stepping up to the plate, for better or worse, here I crap on Facebook, not here!”
am! Every day as more and more mechanisms are designed Part of my stories also have a purpose of letting you know
the purpose of this book increases. What is the purpose of my background. Somewhat as a resume, strong or weak,
this book? First, so we could learn about knife mechanisms. of my credentials but more important as basis for you to
But there are a few spin-off goals as well. Some notable ones understand where I’m coming from in the derivation of my
comprise a list such as: opinions on knives. If I took a formal class on knifemaking
* It is sincerely hoped by me that the hobby of knife from a certain knifemaker that should impart a different
collecting will be expanded. credibility on how I interpret their mechanism. And I have
*For those who enjoy knife collecting, the knowl- as well interviewed some makers trying to get it from the
edge imparted by these pages will enrich their experience. horses mouth. And that is different from me just interpret-
*And I further hope this book provides a cata- ing a knife patent created one hundred years ago. You better
lyst for further discussion and interest on this fascinating take that interpretation with a grain of salt.
subject. I do expect that some creative dude is going to read So, in conclusion, if you like dry cereal, this book probably
this book and come up with his own new mechanism. is not for you. If you like your grits served with strawber-
*And most of all we, you and I, will do one thing ries, brown sugar, and nuts, it just might be to your taste. I
together. We will have a damn good time! just hope I didn’t add too many nuts to the recipe. To define
I think we can have some fun! how I teach I would sum it up as: “Just flat-ass informal”.
But there is an honest effort to be clear, accurate, and rel-
We like knives. We like knife talk. I am having a good time!
Unfortunately there’s no money in writing books. More un- evant. If you can do a better job I wish you success. In fact,
fortunately there are no “knife groupies.” If hot chicks were I like knives, so if the book you write is any kind of good at
hanging out at knife shows for a book signing then some- all, I’ll buy it. I will buy it.
body else would have written this damn book a lot sooner! Some people advised me. They say “Who’s the book for,
I like folding knives. I wrote this book to please me. If I who’s the book for?” “You’ve got to know who you are writ-
were to find this book on a shelf I would buy it. Truthfully, ing for”. I’m like “What?” It’s for people who want to learn
I would love it! You might not even like it. I have no prob- knife mechanisms, Duh! Collectors. Some makers. But it is
lem with that. How could I or anyone have a problem with not a “How to do it” book. I do put a little “How to do it”
that? It’s not just facts and pictures. My interpretation, by stuff in. It makes it more interesting. And some knifemaker
necessity, is included. Part of me therefor gets stuck into comments. Because it’s a fun book. We are all having fun
these pages. It is how I see the knife world. But this book is with it. Shit! Let’s have some fun! But, “You got to have a
not about me. If I have put too much of me into it, I apolo- target”. OK, OK. This book is technical. Technical!? Hah!
gize. Some people told me “Don’t write a book just about It is like a college course in engineering, sophomore level.
knives. Put your personality into it. People want that.” Well But in no way am I pulling any punches on teaching how
I sure as hell know that can be over done! Just look at some a mechanism works. To the best of my ability, you will
of those amateur Youtube videos. I intended for this book understand that mechanism by the end of the chapter. Sorry
not to be dry and sounding like a boring textbook. And I if it gets intense. I try my damndest to make it clear. Torture
admit I enjoyed talking about knife mechanisms in a tone of myself with creating additional drawings when needed.
“casual conversation”. You understand that charming people Burn the midnight oil. Work my fingers to the bone. And
don’t write good knife books. So we’re sort of stuck with what appreciation do I get? And... Where was I? Oh. What
each other. And if I were reading a book like this I would I am myself, is a student. I have studied knives and studied
want all the knife facts and a just little bit of the authors knives. Studied so much I am now capable to teach students
interpretation. There are some people who will like my style as dumb as I used to be. But seriously, you can never know
of bullshit. Hey, I convinced a girl to marry me. And those it all. That is also one of life’s important saying. “You can
will be people who will like this book. And then there will never know it all”. So keep learning. Never stop. Sure, knife
be some people who don’t like, but can tolerate, my style of designers might find this book too weak.
bullshit, and even they, bless their hearts, will get an overall But is this book for you. You. And who are you? That was
positive experience. My wife knows how you feel. the question right? Well? Well... OK, let’s do a pre-course
Like for instance, old men like to tell stories. “Old man evaluation. Are you Poppa Bear, too hard, Momma Bear,
stories” I call them. Old men do have a lot of experience and too soft, or Baby Bear, just right? Take the pre-course test.
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 7
TEST It’s not really a test, but anyway just skip
this. It’s just a bunch of psychobabble.

To really appreciate the knowledge of this book you

km2

must posses three attributes:

1. Comprehension (and a desire to learn)
2. Vision (and ability to think outside the box) FULLY OPENED POSITION
3. Creativity (meaning a sense of humor sure helps!) the fully open position, km2, the rear handle piece is
With these skills, and these skills can be expressed with pivoted counterclockwise to complete the lock up of
many other words, you share a fortitude with us, those the handle piece. There are two prongs or lock-hooks
who are seekers fun stuff about knife guts. on the rear handle piece which engage both right and
Test number one. left small hollow cavities. This works as a catch to keep
My tooth brush. Not just any tooth brush. A travel the handle locked closed while the toothbrush is being
tooth brush. used as its intended purpose of being a tool for brush-
Patent: Unknown. And I could care less. ing the teeth.
Material: Plastic. I could, and I tell you I would like to, keep going on
Function: To fold compact. and on about the parts of this toothbrush and how
Mechanism: Did somebody say mechanism? Let’s talk they function in coordination with each other.
mechanism. I love the neat way the mechanism of this damn thing
Here is a toothbrush made of three parts. There is a functions. It’s like a folding knife.
center piece that has a specialized hollow cavity. This If you think that this short description of this tooth-
center peace is connected by pivots to two other pieces. brush was a waste, than I don’t think this book is for
One piece it is front and is a brush and the other piece you.
at the back end is a top cover. Figure km1. The pivot If you think that talking about toothbrushes is dumb
pins are integral and part of an injected mold manu- but you still really like fully knives then you might be
facturing process. In the closed position the brush OK.
resides in the handle which is formed by the center- And if you think that this toothbrush is one freaking
piece and the rear piece which itself has a specialize neat gadget, Bubba you are in the right place. We are
hollow cavity. To deploy the brush the rear handle gonna have fun!
piece is pivoted upward clockwise, the brush is pivoted km3
FULLY CLOSED POSITION
counterclockwise to the fully open position where
it’s travel is limited by a stop bar. Once the brush is at

HALF OPEN POSITION

km1
Ok, you got comprehension. Now what
about vision? Maybe you need to check
PIVOT
that because there is a bunch of technical
talk you have to follow. So here goes. No
TWO pictures.
REARWARD Test number two.
LOCK- Picture pliers. Picture in your mind four
HOOKS sets. A. One huge set. 15 inches long with
LOCATION OF PIVOT 6 inch jaws B. Another set 10 inches, with
SMALL CAVI-
TIES FOR THE curved jaws that could grab a pipe. C. A
LOCK-HOOKS six-inch pair with squarer jaws and a wire
TWO cutter in the throat of the jaws. D. A 3
FRONT inch pair with rounded jaws that could be
LOCK- used to bend wire to make something like
HOOKS NOTCH FOR STOP-BAR filigree jewelry.
8 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!
The question is: Which pair of pliers is the best one?
You have to consider that all four are different. You can Disclaimer For the most part this could be a
failed attempt at humor.
visualize the function, the utility of each tool. Enter this book at your own risk.
This book is not responsible for paper cuts or any injury incurred during
Well blah blah blah. I’m not gonna beat this to death. It the reading of this material.
is obviously a trick question. Which one is the best tool All characters portrayed in this book are fictional.
depends on what you’re going to use it for. It “depends”. All the information is make believe.
And if the guy who wrote the books calls himself an experienced author
That is the answer. it is one sure fantasy.
And we’re going to discuss attributes of each knife More better, just let the dude who wrote this rag call himself an author.
mechanism. Some mechanisms have good features but Who cares. But if he calls himself an expert, that is one damn sure lie!
Take caution. This book contains bullshit. Lots of it. But I do not advocate
are lacking in others. You can decide which is best. the disassembly of knives nor any unintended use of knives. It’s your risk.
There was a line from the recent Sherlock Holmes This book is provided for entertainment only. That is why the title says
movie where Sherlock was talking to Watson about “Just for the fun of it”. And we hope you get some fun out it.
This book is not meant to be an authority on anything.
the new plot, whatever, and he says something to the The information within is technical. It is presented as clear as possible but
effect: “Do you want to hear about it? It’s deliciously it is hard to explain because it is hard. And in that process the reader may
complicated.” Well when my life gets complicated be misguided by unintentional lack of clarity or actual incorrect explana-
tions or descriptions. Moreover the information has been compiled,
I’m usually frustrated. But when I am relaxing with a interpreted, and presented by an amateur. This lack of expertise would
puzzle, trying to figure it out, the more complicated, be expected to cause errors, faulty interpretation of facts and descrip-
the more “delicious”. If you think “deliciously compli- tions. Please in no way consider any misinformation presented within as
intentional. Do not get railed up. On the contrary. I hope all the mistakes
cated” is not an oxymoron, this book belongs to you. I make in this book spurs further discussion. Not about me, about knives.
Test number three. The more knife talk we do the more fun we can have. I am not out to piss
You may be smart but have you got the creative ability anybody off. So don’t Y’all get in my face about it. Just say “Hey, I disagree
with you on that mechanism”. Or “Man you got it all wrong”. Anyway, it
needed to study knife mechanisms in this format? technically don’t fricken matter anyhow because all the information in
Scene: Hardware store this book is my opinion. There are no facts. It’s all just my opinion. And
Time: Midday. somebodies opinion is never wrong. It might be bullshit, but it can’t be
wrong. (This sounds rather Clintonian.) That is what opinion is. And if I
Characters: Salesman, Housewife. reckon I don’t know something or am guessing at something, I say so.
* * * * * Along the way I have said that I dislike the use of non-standard terminol-
Woman comes into the store and says “I need to ogy. Yet in my search for words I likely has coined some “unusual terms”
to try to get an explanation across. I’m sorry if you disagree with the
sharpen my kitchen knives”. terms I used but I am doing the best job I can with what I know. And I
Salesman says “Perhaps a file will do the trick for you”. am, always am, working for you. Don’t ever forget that.
Woman says “Yes, what have you got?” Patent documents in this book are obtained from the United States patent
and trademark office. These drawings are used by this book only as a
Salesman to woman “How about this little bastard?” teaching tool. No other purpose. They do not have any official capac-
Woman “No, give me that big son of a bitch over there”. ity. The patent number is always displayed so that you will know the
* * * source. These government documents however are often not suitable for
teaching because they were produced solely for the purpose of obtaining
Now you are challenged to think in the abstract. You a patent. Therefore they are just no fun. How can you see was going on
are also challenged with my corny jokes and sexual with a zillion numbers blocking your view? And patent drawings don’t
innuendo. use labels or arrows. Therefore I have painstakingly retraced all these
drawings, cleaned up a lot of the obstructing numbers, and added some
Oh Lord stop me if I destroy the dignity of this book concise labels. All of which are more conducive for us learning how
by kidding around too much. And this book does have mechanisms function. I did not, or did not intend, to fundamentally alter
dignity by the fact of all the great people who have the drawings. At times there might only be partial drawings presented.
Also at times not all the drawings within the patent document were
agreed to contribute. It is just that I hate dry, bland, in- utilized because it did not suit the purpose of learning to use all of them.
formation. I am just trying to do a good job. If you can And if the drawings don’t look right, who gives a crap! Is my interpreta-
put up with some kidding and sarcasm now and then, tion, my opinion, fiction, whatever. Go to USPTO.gov or any of the half
a dozen other places that you could obtain patent drawings online if you
you’ll be fine. If you like to have the seriousness broken need further clarification of what the drawing looks like!!! Go! In that
up every now and then, like I do, then you have passed we suggest you use these patent drawings either directly from the web or
test number three. retraced like I have done when you write your own book on knife mecha-
nisms which is going to be much better than mine. Right?!?
By the way the term “bastard file” describes the coarse- I am deeply humbled by the support I have gotten from many highly
ness of the cutting teeth. respected knifemakers. They contributed in an honest effort to share
Further by the way, I was not going to use this file joke their/the knowledge. They did not intend to offer any more than that.
If I have misquoted them or misrepresented them in any way then it is
here. The one I was going to use was a lot more gross. I my mistake. Sorry. I made a mistake. No harm done. We’re just all out to
do employ some self-discipline, now and then. have a good time. So you have a good time! Now let’s have fun!
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 9
 The roots
-- the Assisted Opener
are ancient and exten-

Assisted sive . Every small fiber gives

support to the upward and
outward expansion of this

Opening the most newly developing

knife mechanism. Stand-
ing under this tree is
truly awesome. Better
still, we are going to
dive into it!

20 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!

Blackie Collins For the record, the first assisted opener is sup-
posed to be the Cut n Strut which Blackie fashioned
after the strut of his Ducati motorcycle (in 1995 as
per Wikipedia). But there is no patent application
until 1996. Bernard Levine who is on Blade Forum
and also has a great knife website of his own says
the 1996 patent 5815927 is the Cut n Strut. I’m go-
ing with Bernie on this one. And if anybody bitches
about misinformation in this book, after I rack my
brain on wild goose chases,....well, let’s just say the
bottom line is we’re just, mainly, out to have fun.
Blackie Collins needs a book written just about
him. He was greatly respected, liked by many, may-
be rubbed a few the wrong way. Speaking of which
I’m a bit pissed about his motorcycle crash before we
finished all the stories he started. But he died as he
lived. He was all boy and loved those bikes. And he
was always a gentleman to me.
Walter Blackie Collins, legendary inventor, and cred- These stories have got to be told, and I will. From
ited with the invention of the assisted folder. But no- start to punch line. But there are some missing parts.
toriety has strange way of wandering. Like Jim Batson Later on I spoke to his wife but she didn’t recall the spe-
once said in one of his conferences, “Bob Loveless in- cifics either. So here goes.
vented the drop-point-hunter”. Loveless didn’t invent Blackie and the patent office.
it. But he sure as hell popularized it. I can’t look at a Several years ago he submitted a patent for a folding
drop-point-hunting knife and not think of Bob Love- knife, “And they denied one of my claims”. “They said
less. Likewise Ken Onion has carried a lot of water for that there was a prior knife patent claiming this”. Ok.
the assisted opener. So his name got strongly attached But he went and looked at it. He disagreed. He more
to assisted openers as well. Also pass some credit to the than disagreed. Did he go to court? No. Seek an appeal.
miracle of the reversal of the stupid push-button knife No. He’s a knifemaker. He went into his shop. And, ac-
laws that now allow the carry of a one-hand opening cording to the patent plan, made that knife. Then he
knife. Many inventors have created their own design went to the chief patent examiner and said, “That knife
for the explosively popular new mechanism. This is not won’t work”. “How do you know?”, was the reply. “Be-
such a big deal now since the production of the easy cause I made one, and here it is”. “Wow, you’re right!”
to open liner lock. But back in the day when a stiff-to- The chief examiner was cool. Not only did Blackie get
open slip joint was about the only knife available, an au- his patent but the boss asked for, and was allowed to
tomatic knife or equivalent was needed. What’s the best keep the non functioning folder which became a future
mechanism? You know the answer to that by now. It de- teaching tool for the agents of the knife patent branch.
pends. I recall in the early 60’s in South Jersey a gravity And the patent numbers for Blackies knife and that of
opening stiletto was popular because automatics were the Jerry-enginerred knife? I don’t know. Really really
hard to find and were becoming banned. I didn’t like wish I had the chance to ask.
them because I thought they were a corny imitation of Side note: There are basically three ways to have a
the cool, slick switchblade. I now think these are pretty patent denied. One, if it’s so stupidly obvious the idea
neat. Just a flick of wrist SNAP! and CLICK! before you should not warrant protection. Two, if somebody al-
knew it. What the hell, the state of California banned ready made it. Three, if it won’t work. You can get a pat-
these also. And if your were caught carrying a four inch ent for something that won’t work but eventually the
blade hunting knife as opposed to a four inch folder, secret gets discovered.
you would be perceived more likely to be up to no good. Blackie and the belt knife.
Perception is filtered through the human psyche. And Awhile back Blackie was in his knife shop and in
worst yet it is humans, not computers, that make the walks this English musician and says he wants him to
laws so psychology factors into every aspect of our lives. make him a knife. Specifically a knife to go on a belt.
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 21
Ok, no sweat. But no, not hanging on the belt. He want’s they are. All I can say is that when you cut your finger
it somehow attached to the belt. Blackie didn’t have an on a beer can pull-tab, at least then it’s for a good cause.
idea then but said come back and I’ll think about it. But it’s still dumb.
About six weeks later he came back (six weeks!?), any-
way Blackie made the knife. Blackie says to me, “You What is an assisted opener?
probably heard of this English guy, Elton John”. Elton It is a pocket knife that is opened with a thumbbob
John! or finger flipper in which once the blade is manually
I surmise that Blackie went on to patent that design, moved out of the closed position to approximately thir-
and it was his first patent. Blackie has two belt knife pat- ty degrees then the blade will then be propelled to the
ents so this must be the first one. And lo and behold, full open position. I read a legal definition once and
it is also his first recorded patent. So Blackie Collins couldn’t make sense of it. So that’s my definition.
owes a big start of his knife invention career to inspira- Rule number one: No Buttons! Talk about a turd in
tion from Elton John! He holds dozens of knife patents. the punch bowl. Don’t ever put a button on a knife you
The first is 3823421 July 1974 filed Aug. 1972. We’ll talk want to call an assist. That will freak the lawyers out.
about that one later. (Next edition, sorry.) Rule number two: Can’t be flipped open or open by
Cut n Strut gravity. A gravity knife is a switchblade. What?! Yep. It’s
Several things Blackie told me will always stick with the law. No rule number three, yet. But new inventions
me. When I told him about the book I want to write he come and lawyers opine. Maybe we could better discuss
said, “Oh, you’ll never be able to put all the mechanisms what isn’t an assist by discussing what is a switchblade.
in one book”. That statement scared me. But you and I found this on the Texas District & County Attorneys
I, my ever courageous students, have come a long way Association web site:
together. This is not only not scary, but it’s fun besides.
All you have to do is be ready when a knife mechanism
is thrown at you. Be ready and you’ll catch it. But me, A switchblade is defined as:
sadly at time, I was not ready. Blackie reached into his
pocket, pulls out this black knife, holds it up vertical, “any knife that has a blade that folds, closes, or re-
and pulls his index finger over the notched heal of the tracts into the handle or sheath, and that:
tang. The knife rotates open. “What do you think of
that?” It was very smooth and easy. But I am not im- (A) opens automatically by pressure applied to a but-
pressed. I thought it was just a dumb friction folder! I ton or other device located on the handle; or
said something noncommittal, but I’m void of tact and
social graces. I probably expressed my lack of enthusi- (B) opens or releases a blade from the handle or
asm about it. Looking back, I think what I was shown sheath by the force of gravity or by the application of
was a Cut n Strut He was a proud parent showing me his centrifugal force.”
baby, and I rebuffed him! But forgive me. That weekend
my brain was in sensory overload from all the amazing So, the button needs to be on the handle. This ex-
input of Blackies knife knowledge. cludes thumbobs and flippers. And further discussion
Bernard Levine blogged that you should be careful of the minutia of all this could go on for days but we
when closing this knife, it is dangerous and could cut definitely have more fun things to do.
you finger. Well I think I encountered a Cut n Strut II Blackie told me a knife manufacturer asked him to
several years ago when I was in a store and the sales come up with a new knife design. He said he would.
chick opens a knife and hands it to me. Without know- The manufacturer asked him what would you want for
ing it has a spring loaded opening I proceed to close it it. Blackie said a new motorcycle. Agreed!
when it snaps shut on my fingers and I get a nasty cut. I Well we can see where he gets his motivation. And we
think if I had opened it I would have been forewarned know for the Cut n Strut the strut on his Ducati was the
to be more careful. I blame that girl, damn it! Don’t get inspiration. But where does he get the creativity? Prob-
me wrong. I’m dumb enough to make my own mistakes. ably the “new motorcycle for a new mechanism” deal
I once ran my finger across the serrations of a Spyderco wasn’t for the Cut n Strut but regardless. How does a
Police to see how sharp they were. Ouch! Tip of the day: knife designer just decide to invent something? There
Don’t run your finger over serrations to see how sharp can be only one simple answer. It’s what they do.
22 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!
Folding Knife with Actuatable Safety Locking Mechanism
Blackie named his knife after the safety mechanism. throat that the tang fits into. The tang is held within the
It is a brilliant part of the mechanism but ironically with throat by pin 86 and hole 62. The pin 86 forms a pivot-
this knife he didn’t know he would revolutionize the ing joint with the tang and the depth of the throat of the
auto versus assist controversy. yolk allows portions of the tang to travel through.
VECTORS We have discussed the vector forces be- Note: we will see other mechanisms where an arm
fore and how they are directed around the pivot pin. is attached only to one side if the tang which would be
But nowhere are they more essential than in assisted simpler but perhaps sacrifices some balance.
opening knives. They are the main element for func- Shaft 80 needs to be able to vary it’s length. It could
tion and therefore easiest to understand. The force of telescope but it is designed as a plunger. This is accom-
the spring is directed in one direction to keep the blade plished because collar 92 has a through-hole 94 that the
closed, then is redirected to open the blade. And in this end of the shaft 81 can pass through. Collar 92 is held
particular knife the spring also biases the blade to stay between the handles by pins 95 on either side which al-
in the open position. low it to pivot.
The concept of these force vectors are similar to many There is a conventional stop pin 20 but it is uncon-
of the other knife mechanisms we have studied. The dif- ventionally held within an arcuate groove 58 that has
ference is the opening force is initiated after you begin two stop points 57 and ARROW. This “hidden stop pin”
to open the blade, at about ten to thirty degrees, then is a technique not often used on custom made knives
the force will assist in opening the blade the final seg- because it is more difficult to make as well as adjust. But
ment of rotation. it has an advantage of a cleaner look beauty wise and be
The motive force in this knife is compression spring a little cleaner in keeping pocket lint out of the knife.
90 which sits between two collars 88 and 92, Figure 1.
It is held in position because it is wrapped around shaft
80. Shaft 80 makes the action happen. On one end has Pat. No. 5815927
a yolk, or clevis 82 who’s two arms create an opening Collins 1998

Fig. 1

Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 23

Figures 2,3,4 demonstrate how the mechanism
FIG. 2
works. The spring pushes the shaft forward. The
force is vectored to rotate the blade clockwise, forc-
ing it towards the closed position. Manually opening
the blade will now direct the force from below the
pivot pin to above the pivot pin. SNAP! Now the
force biases the blade to turn counterclockwise to-
ward the open position. Once the blade rotates to the
point of the stop pin hitting against
the stop-point of the arcuate grove the FIG. 3
knife has reached the fully open posi- FIG. 3a
tion. CLICK!
This spring not only exerts a constant
force to keep the knife closed but a
constant force to keep it open as well.
We have seen some automatics that
have an actuating spring to fly the blade
open but then not have any further
bias after about fifty degrees. Yet other
automatics keep a constant force in the
open position also. There are assisted
openers that also stop the bias force at
about sixty to ninety degrees. This knife
could likely have the spring adjusted
to stop the bias prior to the fully
open point but it seems to FIG. 4
be a better idea to have
it than not.
Looking at the angle of
the shaft in the draw-
ings you can see how much
it changes and therefor the
need to have collar 92 be able to pivot. Also
the cutaway drawing shows how the heal of the tang passes FIG. 5
through the throat of the yolk on the end of the shaft.
Safety Lock The lock works so hand-in-glove with the opening mechanism
that it seems that they were destine for each other. The concept is based on
the fact that the shaft 81 plunges in and out of the collar 92 and especially
that the shortest extension is in the closed and open positions. And the
longest is when the knife is being opened and closed, Figure 3a. By prohibit-
ing the rearward movement of the shaft the blade can be locked in the open
position. This is done with a lever 70, Figure 5 locked and Figure 6 un-
locked. Lever 70 has a recess to receive the tip of the shaft 81. The spring will FIG. 6
keep the blade from flopping around when the knife is open. So you can do a
quick task like cut string. But for some extensive cutting you have the option
to lock the blade open for safety against closing and cutting your fingers. Too
bad the safety is located rearward and far from the thumb.

24 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!

Figure 7 shows the preferred way FIG. 7
to open the knife. The ridges 66 are
used to get a hold on the heal of the
tang with the index finger and then
by pulling down, Figure 8 the blade
is rotated open. Of course once you
get the blade rotated this far the
spring and plunger rod will propel
the blade to the open position Figure
9.
Figure 10 shows the profile of the
knife and the location of the safety
lever.
Figure 11 is an alternative open-
ing method with a thumbob. Figure
12 is an alternative with a standard
nail nick. But I don’t know why you
would want that. You would just
be pulling the blade up harder and FIG. 8
harder trying to overcome the spring
tension when Wham! The spring
shoots the blade around. Not a good
idea. But these proposals are usually
only mentioned in a patent to keep
somebody else from trying to get a
scoop on that idea.
Finally pocket clip has a post 52,
Figure 1 which allows the clip to be
mounted to either the right or left
side. FIG. 9

FIG. 10

FIG. 11 FIG. 12

Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 25

Ken Onion say “Why doesn’t somebody make a knife like this?”
Well Great! What have we learned? Anything? Sounds
too simple right? Lets analyze.
First, think about it: The problem, the situation. Sec-
ond: Ask the question. That might not be that easy. You
must frame the question precisely to fit the problem.
And I would normally have to stop there but Ken later
said this which seems to sum it up: (paraphrasing)
“When I design a knife I decide what I want it to do
then work the idea back to it’s starting point”.
So. Third: It sounds like reverse engineering.
And he said a whole lot of other stuff which I am
courageous enough to summarize but first, I’ll share
some: Think in themes, not specifics. Train your head
to think around you, then the patterns come. Don’t
think solely about making a living or you won’t be able
There are many layers to this guy but unlike his name- to dream. What does it all mean? To me, creativity is
sake this Onion is pretty thick skinned. Otherwise not just part of you, it is also, well ..you finish the state-
how could he poke fun at himself by calling his knife ment for yourself. I couldn’t express it any better than
the “chive”. Beyond that you can expect to get noticed you can.
after inventing with one blockbuster mechanism after There is a fourth step. You have to get the idea into the
another. shop. You should then hand it over to a prototyper.
Ken Onion demonstrated a proclivity to knives since Ken wears many hats. Knifemaker, designer, manufac-
age four. He collected hundreds of ordinary cheap turing consultant, and prototyper. He draws from ex-
pocket knives. But these were not regarded as mere perience from life on the farm, Marine Corp., and his
objects in a persons collection. He polished and apprenticeship to Hawaiian knifemaker Stan Fujisaka.
sharpened them. They got his own special care, and Ken spends time consulting with corporate leaders
a connection to him. He would ponder an old knife discussing everything from design, production, to
and think, “If this knife could talk, what kind of story advertising strategy. And still puts time into the shop.
would it tell?” He had once been experimenting with a new process
Well like the Samurai who thinks his sword has a soul involving some volatile chemicals.”I guess it didn’t
Ken thinks a pocket knife has a life. But I’m the “knife realized there wasn’t enough ventilation. I got a bit too
whisper” because I listen to the knives as they tell me much of that stuff. I didn’t feel to good for awhile”. I
their secrets of mechanism function. All us knife lovers know what you’re thinking. All those brains and he’s as
are somewhat similar. crazy as the rest of us. Well like the rest of us he said he
As you might know by now I am always trying to get learned something with that episode and won’t attempt
into the minds of these great innovators. How do they that again.
come up with these ideas!?! I am still clueless. Yet I With his help I tried to take away some part of his
think I got as close to an insight of anybody when I mechanism wisdom. And with his feeling: ”If we don’t
talked to Ken. And the secret is mine!.. No, I’ll tell you. get the information out there about the knife industry
Ken would be thinking about knives and the special we won’t be getting the new blood coming in” it seems
functions they do. Then imagine a new function and Ken Onion has a selfless compassion for knives that
likely he has nurtured since the age of four.
Mel Pardue is the proud owner of this
knife which he says has a fancy pocket
clip designed by Ken. The clip is spring
loaded and can be easily opened with
it’s thumb bob. Mel says he traded with
Kens wife one of his knives. Maybe
some knifemakers do collect knives.

26 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!

Opening and Closing Assisting Mechanism
This is an assisted opener. The key element to the func- above the pivot pin Figure 3 which biases the tang
tion of this knife is directing the spring force forward to turn counterclockwise and therefor keep the knife
but slightly changing the angle. The force is vectored closed. When the spring is vectored below the pivot
pin the tang is biased to turn clockwise. The blade will
then turn clockwise to the open posi-
tion Figure 4. In the assisted opening
knife the vector is changed of course by
manually rotating the blade with a thumb
bob or flipper. The vectoring concept
is similar to the Collins knife but the
spring is radically different.
Spring: The actuating spring in this
knife is leaf spring. As has been seen
in automatic knives where the spring
is typically located in the back of
the knife a leaf spring has to be
fixed at two points in order to
function. In that example the
back end of the spring is
fixed at two points and
the front end exerts a
lateral bias. The spring
in this assist knife is
essentially not fixed at
all. It is a piece of music
wire with a long arm
on one end and is bent
back on itself at the other
end, 29 Figure 4. Due to
this configuration the bias
on this spring is not lateral
but forward. I would dis-
tinguish this spring as a
“compression leaf spring”.
The drawings accurately
depict the bending of
the spring when loaded,
Figure 3 closed position,
and unloaded, Figure 4 open
position. Figure 3 only shows a
slightly bowed belly to the spring
when it is loaded. This is similar to a “hair-
pin” spring only the length of the spring is much lon-
ger and the bow in the belly is much less pronounced
than a hairpin type spring. The “hairpin” configuration
could be used in either direction for compression or
expansion. In this knife’s configuration it is used for
compression. In a typical hairpin it is used in expan-
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 27
sion and therefore functions as a clamp to hold some- tion hole for the spring located further above the pivot
body’s hair. hole (more to the right on the tang in this drawing).
The spring in this knife should be vectored above the The spring is located in a crowded space within the
pivot pin in the closed position. This bias rotates the handle material. A big space. Because it moves a lot.
blade counterclockwise and keeps a knife close. It is The front tip of the spring gains access to the inside of
very difficult to appreciate this however in Figure 3. In the knife passing through a hole 31 through the liner
fact if you were to draw a line from the back portion of (seen as partially cut away in Figure 4). This arcuate
the slot at 42 to the insertion point of the spring at the hole 31 has no other function then to allow the front
tang in Figure 3 it would seem that this line is aimed tip of the spring to pass through it, but to likewise be
very slightly below the center of the pivot pin. I submit able to travel forward and back as the tang rotates.
to you that the vector force should be aimed from the The rear end of the spring inserts into a hole 30 which
knee on the bent leg portion at the spring’s bottom is actually a groove with a front end 40 and a rear end
arrow to the insertion hole of the forward and of the 42. The end of the spring is thus allowed to travel for-
spring into the tang. The angle of this line is aimed ward and backward within this groove. This is an im-
slightly above the center of the pivot pin. This could portant element of the opening function of this knife
happen if the back end of the spring was fixed in two because the length of the spring would not be sufficient
places but it is not. The only thing fixed is its location to permit the blade to rotate from the closed position
in terms of how far back it could travel and also its to the fully open position. So the tang essentially drags
location is fixed from moving from side to side. the spring forward when it finishes rotating the last
segment to the fully open position.
In an OTF, (out the front) automatic, the blade
Once the blade has rotated to approximately ninety
is thrust out by a powerful spring sitting behind
degrees the entire spring will have been moved for-
it. The vector force is as obvious as a windstorm.
ward causing the end of the spring 29a to lose contact
In an assisted opener the vector force may be as
with the end of the groove 42. As the blade travels to
subtle as a baby’s breath, but no less critical to
its fully open position the end of the spring will even-
the function of the knife as well as the under-
tually travel through the groove to end up at point
standing of the mechanism.
40. This is not used as a stop pin as there is a stop pin
I want to punctuate that point just because this is only 23 that contacts the heel of the tang at the fully open
the beginning. So I wax poetic, a little. position of the knife and also the ricasso area in the
And if I have told you once I’m telling you twice, don’t closed position. It would not be undesirable that spring
believe a word I say. But let’s look at this mechanism. exerted bias all the way up to the fully open position
In Figure 3 the hole for the insertion of the front part but in this knife exerting bias to open the blade up to
of the spring is in a direct line with the pivot pin in ninety degrees or so is sufficient to fly to bade open.
terms of the long axis of the knife. The back end of the Since the front tip of the spring pressures the blade to
spring inserts in a hole on the back spacer or back of the right when the knife is close and then to the left
the knife (to the right in the drawing). I really have my when the knife is being opened the insertion hole for
doubts that this knife would work. So what I am saying the front of the spring cannot be elongated or made
is for all the reasons mentioned this knife won’t work. arcuate. The insertion hole for the rear of the spring
Now I’ll tell you why this knife will work. All the basically only encounters a vector that is forward and
aspects of physics we’ve just discussed are true, but is permitted to be elongated.
like anything else, there is more to the story. The lever Once the blade reaches the fully open position the
created by the location of the spring insertion hole and knife locks up as a standard liner lock.
that distance to the pivot pin is very small. Small lever
and a heavy blade but perhaps more important friction Closing the knife: Rotating the blade to the closed po-
present which prevents the blade from turning. So this sition causes the front end of the spring 12 to return to
knife will work but it will be on a hair trigger. But this being situated above the pivot pin. The rear end of the
is just the patent drawing. No big deal. spring is pushed back until it contacts the end of the
We do know that assisted openers work and work well. slot at 42 and is pushed even further until the spring is
Now I’ll really tell why this knife will work. We shall loaded and attains a bowed belly as in Figure 3.
see that the production knives have the forward inser-
28 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!
Of course the lock mechanism does not need to be
a liner lock. A button lock or even a lock back lever
could be fit into this design, Whatever. But it would Figure 5 is a cross section at 5-5 from Figure 4.
be a shame to turn this “one hand opener” into a “two Figure 6 is a cross section at 6-6 from Figure 5.
hand closer”. Figure 7 is a cross section at 7-7 from Figure 3.
Possible variations to this
design are offered: Figure
8. This uses a push rod 47
passing through a coiled
compression spring 46.
This actuates the tang
similar to the way the
compression leaf spring
29. It is likewise located in
the handle material and
not in the blade cavity like
the Collins knife. Also it will
likely bias the blade all the way to
the fully open position.
Figure 9-10 is a variation us-
ing what looks like a torsion
spring. Looks like? If it
looks like a duck, it’s a
duck?! No. If it don’t walk
like a duck and don’t talk like
a duck, it ain’t no duck. It’s
a turkey. And so are you if
you mess up the nomen-
Pat. No. 6145202
clature. This is not a coiled Onion 2000
torsion spring because it is not
situation around the pivot pin. Or
any pivot pin. Thus, there is no
torsion. This spring functions as
a compression leaf spring. The
same as the first spring.
Sadly Figure 9-10 face the op-
posite as Figure 3-4, but all
elements are the same. No
sweat. You can really see that
the location of the insertion
hole for the forward end of the
spring is well above the pivot
in Figure 9.
The spring 29 could be
made as a straight wire or
with a loop in the middle as
shown. The design calls for 0.062
music wire. It seems this design
biases the all the way to the fully
open position.
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 29
Safety Lock prevents Accidental opening of the Knife
This knife, with obvious exceptions, has all
the similarities of the prior design. The Pat. No. 6591504
Fig. 1
sliding safety catch in the handle, Onion 2003
22, Figure 1, slides forward and
backward and in the “on” position
it obstructs the path of the blade
rotation which keeps the blade closed.
Therefore it can be more safely carried
in the pocket. A liner lock is not a
strong mechanism for keeping a knife
closed. This design is similarly set
up as a frame lock. It is not likely to
be much better in taming a wayward
blade.
The exploded view Figure 2 does much to
show how this knife is constructed. This is a
frame lock. There are thick handles but no
liners. There is an internal cover plate 44 for the
spring 42. This covers the routed-out area that the
spring resides in. The back spacer 38 has an elon-
gated hole that matches the elongated hole in the
cover plate. This slot receives the back end of the
spring for the same purpose as the prior knife. The Fig. 2
front end of the cover plate has an arcuate hole that
functions like the liner does in the last knife.
This knife is opened by a thumb-bob or flipper. It
function easily with one hand to open and close.
It would be nice if the safety was accessible
by the thumb. But the safety is very
simple, easily functions, and those
inclined to do without, it can
be easily removed since
it has a screw
50.

30 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!

Here we have got a “user knife” and boy did the user The spring in these assist knives really do a lot of work.
get it dirty! Figure km5. The inside cavity is loaded If they only assist then they need not be as strong as a
with dirt. But think about it. The cavity is packed with full auto right? Probably a little, but likely not much.
grease. This protects the mechanical function from The spring in this knife is stiff. I "miked" this one at
wear. Even without grease as a binder dirt would col- 0.0540 in or 1.39 mm. This is about what was called
lect inside. Look at how water collected within the for in the patent. A little less than 1/16 of an inch. The
inside of the knife in the chapter on knife disassembly. spring design complies with what spring manufactures
I cleaned out the dirt in km 2-3. It may be hard to ap- suggest for long spring life. That is avoid sharp bends
preciate but that spring really needs to be compressed because they become weak points and the place where
to get to the other side of a spring will fail. The knee-bend in this spring has a
the pivot. gentle curve which is the basis of how it functions.
Just like a freshly mowed It is a rarity to get the patent number printed on the
lawn km2 the cut marks knife but here it is 6145202 Figure km4 "Kershaw
of the router bit reveal made in the USA"! And again see the spring inser-
how the cavity was tion hole which appears offset from the pivot pin hole.
milled out. The left liner Just above is the outside of the left handle scale which
is left off km3 but the shows the safety slide.
back spacer is in posi-
tion and this shows the km 4
relationship of the spring
to the cavity and other
knife parts. The spring is
flat except for the bent up
ends. The back bent-up
end hooks into the back
spacer. The front end
hooks into the tang. This
insertion hole is seen
in km1 and note that
it seems well above the
km 1 km 5
pivot pin with the blade
in the closed position.

km 2

km 3

Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 31

Push or Pull Assisted Opening over the Pivot Pin
A big dilemma with design of assisted opening mecha- I always was a fan having a lot of options to choose
nisms is the hard reality of how to get the levers and/ from. So here’s an option. If you look at the tang in
or springs around the pivot pin. The pivot pin is a vital Figure 2 there is a hole in front of the pivot. This is
necessity to a folding knife. You can’t eliminate it. Or basically one hundred and eighty degrees apart from
can you? I would say I never saw a knife like this the hole for screw 64. A perfect place for the location
but I, almost, have. The KISS knife by Ed of the actuating
Halligan has a one sided pivot. Fig. 1
In this knife Figure 1 everything is
backwards from the prior two knives
of Collins and Onion because the ac-
tuating mechanism 42 works basical-
ly like an extension spring that pulls
the blade open instead of a compres-
sion spring that pushes it open.
Figure 1 is the knife in the
Fig. 2
closed position. The left han-
dle scale has been removed.
The actuating mechanism 42
resembles a piston and has a
forward arm 46 attached to the
tang by a screw 64. The screw
location has a vector aimed PIVOT
below the pivot screw because the Fig. 3
spring is pulling the knife and bias-
ing the knife to remain closed. The
forward arm 46 overlies the
Fig. 4
pivot screw which is possible
because the screw does not go
all the way through the knife. Fig-
ure 3 is a cross section at 5-5 from
Figure 2 and this shows the flathead
pivot screw goes through the tang to the PIVOT
right liner. Cut 5-5 is at an odd angle. You Fig. 4
can see the back end of the piston 65 at-
tached to the back spacer 33. The piston
travels in a space routed out of the liner
36.
Operation of the knife is similar to
the prior knives. The arm 46 will rotate
clockwise with the tang as the knife
is opened. Except it’s start point
is to the pivot and it rotates to Fig. 5
the rear of the pivot as well as
passing through the axis of the
pivot. In the prior knives the
pivot went all the through the
knife.

32 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!

mechanism if it were push the knife to open instead of ing, a pocket clip. Figure 4 and 5 show the back and of
pull it to open. Hmmm. Makes you guess that since the the piston mounted to the handle scale. The front end
piston is attached with screws all some finicky knife of the piston connects to the tang through an arcuate
collector had to do to swap out the piston would be do groove 137. The knife functions the same as if the pis-
a simple transplant operation. ton was located on the inside of the handle scale. This
It is mentioned that the actuating mechanism could configuration however allows the pivot screw to go all
be constructed of many forms such as compression, the way through the knife. The piston on the outside
extension, or leaf spring. Even a fluid mechanism such of the knife is a bit cumbersome yet has an unusual
that the piston would function as a pneumatic cylinder. advantage. The piston is located right near the thumb.
Well I never was the biggest fan of extension springs By pushing down, shown by arrow Fo, the piston could
for fear that they seem more prone to breaking. But if function like a flipper and flip the knife open. A totally
you want to pull instead of push that’s the way you go. new kind of assisted opener! Wow! A checkered thumb
Seems not. pad 168 helps get a grip on the cylinder.
The two forms of the actuating piston are shown, pull This knife could be marketed as in Figure 8 with a
Figure 6 and push Figure 7. push cylinder F1 and a pull cylinder F2 and two sets
In Figure 6 there is a coiled compression spring which of screws 240, in case you lose a set. And you will lose
is wrapped around a shaft. The spring is held between one if not two. Then you can attach the proper piston
the end collar 54 on it’s right and the piston tube on to the proper hole and have a mechanism for pushed
it’s left. If the spring is loaded by pulling the shaft to open or pulled open. Your choice. What is the differ-
the left the spring is compressed and exerts a force Fa ence and which one is better? I don’t know. But it’s
to the right. It pulls. It pulls screw 65 and 64 together your choice.
and whatever they’re attached to. It works like and
extension spring, but the actual function of the Fig. 6 pull
spring is compression.
Figure 7 is a compression spring also. It has
all the same parts as in Figure 6 but the setup
has the spring on the other side of the collar
154. This is looking more familiar since most
knives are pushed open buy an actuating
spring rather than pulled open. A round tube Fig. 7 push
forms a cylinder which takes the shape of a
piston, Within this piston is a sliding shaft
152 which is pushed outward to the left by a
compression spring 150. Loading the spring
by pushing the shaft inward to the left com-
presses the spring and exerts a bias force Fig. 8
outward to the left Fb.
It occurs to me that since the actuating
device looks like a hydraulic piston it
could easily be fitted with a seal and
if not be waterproof at least be dust-
proof. We have seen how much dirt
can get into a knife. This set up for a
spring and actuating arm could be a
real advantage. Pat. No. 7395599
What about putting the piston on Onion 2008
the outside of the knife? I have a
problem with putting anything
on the outside of a knife except
for, but even sometimes includ-
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 33
Leaf Spring Assisted Opening with Roller Cam
This design is a forerunner in the evolution of Fig. 1
many other assisted opening designs, despite an
unusual difference. The spring 50 is underneath
the roller-cam 46 not on top of it where you
would expect it to be, Figure 1-5. But it never-
theless works as an assisted opener. How? Some
call it the force. We call it the vector. (Also looks
like the pivot is only attached to the right handle
scale, not both.)
Knowing as we do that there are changes in the Fig. 2
vector forces of a spring against a knife blade
as the blade moves from the open to the closed
position we surely say these changes can be
counted in the thousands. Well, infinite, to
be technical. But we only need to consider a
change in direction and/or magnitude of force
when the vector reaches a point of significance.
Pat. No. 6308420
Such a significant point would be a point at Moser 2001
which the stability of the knife is changed. That
just simply means that if the knife is in one state Fig. 4
like being “closed” and then you swing the blade all
the way out it is now in a new state. That of being
“open”. Yeah Duh, I know. Like I’m trying to com-
plicate things that are simple. But there are other
“states” to consider. Getting from “SNAP!” to
“CLICK!” happens in a moment. But a lot of
mechanics happen in that moment. Look at
a simple slip joint. It can be open or closed.
That’s it. No! It can be “half stop”. Some slip joint
tangs have a flat area at the back heel and thus
have a very stable “half-stop state”. OK. Try this.
What about a “one-quarter stop” or
a “three-quarter stop”?
Can’t happen
right? Be-
cause at three- Fig. 3
quarters-open
“position” the blade Fig. 5
will snap on it’s own to the fully opened
position. And at one quarter open position if you let go of
the blade it will snap back to the closed position. And cut your finger!
All I’m saying is there is a one-quarter-open “state”. And in this “state” the blade will
swing back to the closed position. The state in this case is not stable. Contrary to
that, the fully-open-position “state” is a situation that is stable.
So we understand how a slip joint spring works. But what if you could teach knife
springs to do other tricks? Exploitation of these physical properties of springs is
what knife designers do.

34 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!

Rocky Lee Moser has added some vector lines to his
design drawings, and if you will, allow me my own Arcuate Groove and Cul-
boiled down interpretation.
Figure 1 closed position the actuating spring 50 push- de-sac Assisted Opener
es up on roller cam 46 which biases the blade to stay This is the first of three fabulous mechanisms that we
closed. And as you would expect, at a right angle to toe are going to discuss. This is an assisted opener that
long axis of the spring the vector force is depicted as uses an actuating spring that can be set up as compres-
arrow Fa. The spring is fixed at the back at 52. sion or extension spring. The spring 42 is connected
Figure 2 the blade is moved toward open, about eighty to an actuating arm 44 that is free to pivot from its
degrees (which is quite a bit more than the ten-sixty base end 48 in the back of the knife. The front end of
degrees seen in typical assisted openers). With out the actuating arm contains a pin 46 which connects to
me having to explain it, the force vector is drawn Fb. the tang by residing in an elongated hole in the back of
Wow! Don’t take my enthusiasm, Moser has redrawn it the tang 35. The actuating arm resides on the outside
in Figure 4. The spring 50 has bent under the strain of of the left liner plate 16, not within the blade cavity.
cam 48 levering against it. The vector exerted is now Pin 46 gains access to the tang by passing through an
aimed more forward since the tip of the spring is bent arcuate groove 22 in the liner. This arcuate groove is
downward. This does factor into how the opening force not merely a hole but also is a key functioning element
acts upon the blade. More important in this diagram is to this mechanism. There are two integral components
that the vector Fb originates from a point on the for- to the groove. One is cam 52, the other and the elon-
ward side of the pivot center 28. This is a “state”, goal, gated slot 50 which I’ll call a cul-de-sac. Figure 1, open
milestone, cut-point, situation, position of significance, position.
whatever you want to call it. Climax? Stay focused. The arcuate groove 22 travels around the pivot pin as
Now, the spring will compel the blade to travel to the expected. What is not expected is the bump-out 52
full open position. which acts as a cam. In the closed position the round
Try it yourself. Open an assist knife part way until the pin 46 will rest against this little lump which prevents
blade stops and just sits there. It is, somewhat, stable. the pin from smoothly traveling clockwise within the
This position, or state, has no useful purpose but if you arcuate groove. The resistance encountered by pin 46
push the blade just one more fraction of a degree it will against this cam 52 must be overcome by the operator
snap to the open position. The goal of the knife design- manually pushing the blade toward the open position.
er is how, or how best, to get a blade to that situation. Once pin 46 hops over this bump in the road it travels
Figure 3 full open position. The force vector Fc is at freely within the arcuate groove, clockwise, till it gets
ninety degrees, which looks just a bit high. The back of to the other end of arcuate groove 22. At the and of
the tang 34 abuts the stop pin 38. the arcuate groove the pin 46 not only hits a stop point
Figure 5 is a cross section through the roller cam but since the arcuate groove has a cutout portion that
which shows the spring 50 is situated between the extends towards the rear of the knife pin 46 can then
blade and the left handle scale 18. This make for an further travel a little bit in the rearward direction. This
asymmetric knife and I’m less than a fan of the appear- elongated cutout portion is like a cul-de-sac and is
ance of these. where pin 46 will reside when in the open position.
You’ll agree this knife could be locked up in a number
Fig. 1
of ways but the designer says it will stay open by the
bias of the spring alone. That would be pretty weak.
That would be OK for the closed position. Also there
is no mention of a pivot pin. We see in Figure 3 the
spring traveled beyond the center of the pivot pin.
How is this possible? Could be a half-through-pivot
screw as we have learned. But it is a messy concept. It is pivot
fine for the"Kiss" knife that only has one handle scale.
I really like the fact that this mechanism uses a leaf
spring as an assisted opener. It was the start of some- cul-de-sac
thing big.
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 35
Figure 2 shows the knife in the open position. Spring ward and allow pin 46 to start to travel up and around
42 is attached to the back end of the actuating arm at to the left within the arcuate groove. This is done with
pin 48. Spring 42 is an extension spring, so it is pulling a sliding safety button 54 Figure 3. Button 54 is pro-
the end 48 to the right. It could be set up as a compres- vided with a sliding track within the handle material
sion spring by being located to the left of pin 48 and be As seen by the dotted lines 12 in Figure 4 the knife is
pushing it to the right. planned to have handle scales. It is just that the dia-
In the closed position, actuating arm pin 46 is about grams explain a lot better with the scales off
even with the level of the pivot pin or actually a little Simply shown in Figure 3, sliding button 54 forward
bit above it. It pulls against the cam 52 and against the causes it to hit against pin 46 and move it forward to
right side of the bottom of the arcuate groove. It does unlock the knife. I think Figure 2 put button 54 a little
not bias the blade toward the closed position as would out of place. The safety button is located right near the
be typical of a spring. But it does have a hold on the thumb. The knife can be opened with either hand. The
blade and that keeps it from moving. safety is operated by the right-hand only, but this knife
Once the blade is manually rotated (down) in a clock- is a winner!
wise direction by use of the thumbbob, the tang heal And did we fail to mention it is an assist. The moment
will rotate (up) in a clockwise direction. The move- that pin 46 is launched over cam 52 the pull of the ac-
ment of the tang will force pin 46 to rise and be pushed tuating spring will cause the blade to rotate clockwise
over the bump of cam 52. Pin 46 resides in a hole in to the fully open position. The configuration of cam is
the tang which is elongated 35 and this allows pin 46 intended to have the operator open the blade between
to travel slightly in a forward direction (to the left) five and nine degrees to have the actuating pin ride
when it glides over the cam. The arcuate groove is wide over the cam with a preferred arc of rotation of seven
enough to allow some backward and forward move- degrees as in this knife.
ment of pin 46. It is seen in Figure 5 how the spring 42 resides in a slot
You get a much better view of these relationships in the 40 within the backspacer 38. Access to the spring by
exploded drawing Figure 5. pin 48 is accomplished through the liner within slot
When the blade travels to the open position Figure 3 it 24.
carries pin 46 along with it until the pin abuts the bot- Fig. 2
tom of the arcuate groove. At that point the actuating
arm is still being pulled to the right and this causes
pin 46 to be pulled into the cul-de-sac which locks
the blade in the open position. This is accom-
plished because an attempt to rotate the blade in
a counterclockwise direction will simultaneously
force pin 46 upward. But it is no longer in the
circular part of the arcuate groove. It’s
been pulled off into the cul- Fig. 3
de-sac which has
a top edge
which
traps the pin
46 from moving
up.
To release the knife from
the locked-open position the Fig. 4
actuating arm 44 must be
moved for-

36 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!

 Fig. 5 Pat. No. 6079106
Vallotton 2000

km1

So..I did a final dig

through my collection of
knives because I didn't
want to end the assisted
chapter and miss a good
mechanism for us to see.
Then I see this one with a
black button on it's side.
I thought it was just a
km2 "sliding bolt lock" type. I
worked the bolt some and
it seemed strange. It finally
dawned on me. The button
unlocks the knife when
detent you push it forward. That's
hole unusual. When I saw it
was an assist I figured I
better take a look at these
innards. USING EX-
TREME CAUTION AND
SAFETY MEASURES, OF
COURSE, km2 is what I
discovered.
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 37
And legally I don't fricken recommend you disas- of the knife. (Which could be what confused me. But I
semble any knife, because it's dangerous to do, many doubt it. Hah!)
bad things could happen including injury, so at you The inside view of the button km3 shows a small de-
own risk! Ok, and I didn't do that because this knife tent ball, 78 thousands, and it actually does have a tiny
fell apart on it's own. And if I even thought about spring behind it. See the detent hole km2 The locking
doing it, it would not start with it in the closed posi- arm is a "J" hook that holds onto the pin 46 to keep the
tion with the spring loaded. Anyway, so I'm looking at knife closed. It does not hold firmly however because
km2 and now I thought I was dealing with a torsion it has no spring to bias it. The button however does
coil spring because the blade has constant bias all the have to push against the bias of the actuating spring to
way to full open position. Right? So I
quickly get puzzled about why the button
unlocks when pushed forward. There's
this tab or pin that it moves. Coil torsion
spring knives don't have pins running
through them. So I say I better have a
look at the other side of the knife. km5
was now what I saw. I loved what I saw.
It was a neat new mechanism. But it did
look hauntingly familiar. I realized I had
already put this mechanism in the book.
Hah! So I went back and edited this char-
ter just for you. km3 INSIDE OF LEFT
Note how the spring pulls HANDLE SCALE
the arm back which pulls
the blade to open. This
happens once the front
end of the arm, pin end,
is moved in the arcuate
groove from in front of
the pivot pin to a bit more
behind it . Which would
correspond to about
thirty degrees of blade ro-
tation counterclockwise.
Unlike the patent, this km4 CLOSED
arm is on the right side

km5 OPEN
38 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!
unlock the knife when in the open position. km7
The routed area for the sliding parts is seen in km6.
In km7 the pin is being pulled back into the cul-de-sac which
locks the knife open. In km8 the pin has been pushed out of
the cul-de-sac (by the button) and may travel in the arcuate
groove as the blade is rotated closed. The pin 46 also resides in
the elongated tang hole 35.

bump-
out 52

km8
tang hole 35

km6 INSIDE OF
LEFT HANDLE
SCALE, PARTS
REMOVED

Rotating Cam, Arcuate Groove with Cul-de-sac Assist (Prior Art)

I love these mechanisms. They’re my babies. Would it
then be unfair to have a favorite? If I did I don’t know
which one it would be. But if I had to pick one, this
would probably be it. All these mechanisms are differ-
ent. But this one is really different! After I studied this
knife I went out and bought one, twice!
Figure 1 and 2 are not this mechanism. Diagrams
like these are often included in a patent to provide an
example what has been going on until now and to say
that “now here’s my new idea and it’s nothing like the
old idea”. These diagrams are referred to as “Prior Art”
and that surely is supposed to exclaim that my idea is
now the “State of the Art”.
Figure 1 closed position, the actuating leaf spring (ten-
sion bar) appears not to be in the blade cavity. It’s end
pushes down on a pin or roller cam which is beyond
the pivot pin. Thus the blade is biased toward the
closed position. Figure 2, once the blade is manually
moved so that the pin is in front of the pivot pin the
downward spring bias now rotates the blade toward
the open position.
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 39
Rotating Cam and Arcuate Groove with Cul-de-sac Assist
I said this mechanism is different. What makes it so km 2 HOLE
different? It is the only one with a rotating cam. What
is a rotating cam? It is a pin that rotates around an
axis, but not in the center of the axis. And because the
pin changes it’s position in a circular path it is used to
make an astonishing assisted-opener lock. It is difficult
to understand this from the drawings alone but the
Thumb-bob
concepts are not hard when taken step by step.
Figure 3 is the cam. Compared to the knife parts we PIVOT
have been looking at it seems a little complex. Not re-
ally. It is a disk 340. Attached to the disk are two pins,
one on each side, 342a and 342b.
km 3

Cam

Figure 3

The thickness of
the disk is the km 3 the cam disk Cam has been dropped into place
same thickness into the HOLE.
as the tang. Figure 4 Pin
km 1
Thumb-bob
Cam

Spring
km1 is a photo of the cam in Figure 3. Figure 3 is a
perspective view. Now we are going to consider a flat In Figure 4 open position, a flat coiled torsion spring
view of the disk in the next photos and figures. Seen in sits around the pivot pin. The outer end of the spring
km2 is the knife in the open position. The left side of makes contact against the left side pin 342. This is the
the tang is seen with a hole, HOLE km2 in the upper point at which the spring and blade meet. The other
back area. The pivot, Pivot and thumb-bob,Thumb- end of the spring, the end on the inside coil, is firmly
bob are seen. connected to the handle.
40 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!
So where are we at? If you stare at Figure 4 it doesn’t groove is the essence of the opening lock mechanism.
take much imagination to see a torsion spring auto- Looking at the Figure 5 closed position, why doesn’t
matic mechanism. The inside end of the spring is con- the knife open? Well maybe because safety latch 304 is
nected to the handle/liner and the outside end abuts push forward! OK, in Figure 6 the liner plate is out-
against the pin 342 instead of typically having a hook lined in dotted lines. The arcuate groove is shown as
which would go into a hole in the tang. The torsion well as the cul-de-sac which is directed down and a
spring 330 has the outside end hitting against the pin little bit to the left, sort of a radial line from the pivot
342 therefore you can appreciate that the spring is bi- pin directed out. Pin 342 resides in that cul-de-sac. All
asing the blade in a clockwise rotation. That is it biases the while the end of the torsion spring is pushing on
the blade toward the open position. the pin. The pin is connected to the disk 340 and the
Now we are going to put a liner on top of the spring, disk is held in a hole in the tang. Therefore the spring
and the blade, and the cam pin. This liner has an arcu- is biasing the blade to turn clockwise and try to open.
ate groove. The arcuate groove serves as a channel for But the blade is held fast. Why? There are three key
the pin to travel in. The arcuate groove only serves as elements.
a channel for the pin to travel in. But the cul-de-sac at First. The left side of the pin is hitting against the left
the beginning end side of the cul-de-sac. They are shoulder to shoulder.
Figure 5 of this Second. The disk 340 can rotate but the pin attached
to the disk rotates in an arc (which is as big as the
circumference as the disk). Third. The spring
biases the disk to rotate clockwise
as well as it biases the
blade.

Figure 6

Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 41

If you got all that the first time around you just aced Figure 7
the course. I had to look at this thing several times to
get it.
Again these movement seem subtle but the effect on
the blade mechanics are profound.
Figure 7 is a repeat of Figure 5. Totally closed position
the BIG ARROW shows the spring bias on the blade
which is clockwise toward opening. LITTLE ARROW
shows the cam-disk biased to turn clockwise. Figure 8
the operator has rotated the blade a few degrees BIG
ARROW. The blade has moved down and clockwise.
The heal of the tang likewise has rotated clockwise and
a little upward and in so doing has caused the cam- Figure 8
disk to move a little to the left. More noticeable is that
the pin has shifted to the right. Why? The pin has been
pushed against the shoulder of the cul-de-sac which
has caused the cam-disk to rotate counterclockwise,
SMALL ARROW. The spring still biases the pin to the
left but this force is overcome by the force of pushing
the thumb-bob down. The pin does not go to the left or
right. The pin travels up. The pin travels upward in the
cul-de-sac until it’s left shoulder clears the edge of the
left shoulder of the cul-de-sac. At that moment the pin
will turn the corner and enter the pathway of the arcu-
ate groove. The the pin being pushed by the torsion
spring will now fly within the arcuate groove.
Figure 9

The pin is pushed along the arcuate groove by the ac-

tuating spring and will drag the heal of the tang along
with it and thus the blade will fly clockwise to the fully
open position. Figure 9 shows the blade about half
way open. The pin roboticly follows the path of the
arcuate groove. The pin, I would think, at this point
would probably be rotated to the twelve o’clock posi-
tion on the disk not be at the six o’clock position as in
the drawing. But that is overintelectualizing because
the disk can’t rotate freely. It can only rotate within the
travel axis of the arcuate path. Well it’s easier to see it
in the drawing than try to explain it.
42 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!
Figure 10

Fully open position Figure 10, the base of the tang has in automatics this spring provides bias all the way to
reached the edge of the liner lock catch-spring 327 and the end of blade rotation.
the blade is locked up in the open position. Pin 342 Exploded view Figure 11 shows how the torsion
has traveled near to the end of the arcuate groove but spring is deployed, as two springs, left 330a and
not fully at the end. The pin and the end of this slot right 330b. One spring is coiled rightward, the other
322 could be used as a stop pin but is does not. The leftward. The end result is that both spring function
thumb-bob (stud) 314 abuts the front of the handle together to bias the blade to rotate toward the open
which halts the blade rotation. This is probably a good position. These springs are
idea. That pin slamming against the arcuate slot in located between the
the liner could spell disaster after not too long. liner and handle
The outer end of the spring is seen still push- scale.
ing on the pin 342. Just like torsion springs

Figure

Pat. No. 7313866

Linn et al. 2008

The outer ends of the

springs both abut against
the pins of the rotating cam
340. This knife mechanism
could function with only one
spring. But I think it is intuitive
that the balanced effect of a spring
on both sides of the cam would pro-
vide for a smoother opening. I took my
Buck Impulse apart and it was such a pain
getting it back together again it destroyed my
child-like curiosity. So you can buy one. Take it
apart. Put together with one spring. And see how it
works, if at all.

Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 43

Figure 12 km 4 COILED FLAT

The actuating spring 330 is seen in drawing Figure 12 into a knife there is usually a deep circular groove that
and 13 and on the right in photograph km 4 This is a it resides in within not only the handle but the tang as
torsion spring. It actuates the knife opening by having well. The flat spring has a routed out recess, RECESS
one end fixed to an immovable part of the knife, and Figure 13 that is shallow but with a radius as large as
the other end acting on the blade. The immovable part the distance from center of the spring out to the tip of
would be the handle or the liner. And the other end of the tail. Also looking at Figure 13 which is an inside
the spring acts (push or pull) on the blade while being view of the left handle scale there is an additional shal-
attached to it or just pushing on it. low routed-out arcuate groove 610 that allows top of
In this knife the coiled torsion spring looks and func- the pin to travel in. This way the tail of the spring can’t
tion very differently from those we have experienced accidently slip over the end of the spring and get past
before. The first obvious difference is it is flat. A flat the pin. This is a great idea for that and also the groove
spiral as opposed to a stacked coil. Flat versus stacked. probably stabilizes the travel of the pin.
There’s some jokes in there somewhere, but never There is a notch in the handle 620 that the bent end of
mind me. the spring hooks into.
Also both springs have a tail and a bent end. The We have looked at many knife designs. I often wonder
stacked spring has the tail attached to handle and the about some of them, “How they expect to get all that
bent end hooked into the tang. The flat spring has the stuff into a knife?” “And go to production?” And this
bent end hooked into the handle and the tail is used one was no different. But we know. They made it, and
to propel the blade. The tail of the flat spring is not it works great! And that, I’m sure, is thanks in some
attached to the pin but it does stay in constant contact part to the design and function of the space saving flat
since it biases the blade all the way to the fully opened spring.
position. Theoretically it could stop it’s contact at some
point prior to that as long as it propelled the blade
sufficiently to the open position.
The coiled spring is
stacked wide
and to fit Figure 13
it

44 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!

 km 5 The top of the photo in km 5 is a view of the left liner.
The spring is removed and the arcuate groove is seen
with the pin within it at about the 12 o’clock position.
The thumbbob abuts against the liner with the knife
in the fully open position. In the bottom of the photo
is the inside of the left handle scale. The notch for the
spring to hook in can be seen in the pivot hole at the
three o’clock position.
Refer back to Figure 6 to see the safety latch 304. This
can be seen in km 5 on the back of the knife. Just to the
right is the whole for the pivot of the safety latch. And
just to the left of that is the spring for the safety latch.
The positioning of the safety latch can better be seen in
km 6. The patent does not discuss this much but this
safety is itself a thing of beauty! It uses a finger projec-
tion cut into the left liner for it's spring. At the end of
this spring is a punched-in dimple that detents into a
whole in the safety latch. This spring functions just like
that of a liner lock when it is holding the blade in the
closed position. It is not only beautiful but it is cute
RECESS because it looks like a little ducky. Maybe that’s just my
opinion but I call em the way I see em.
The safety latch can be operated with the thumb but
that is a little awkward. It’s easier to use the tip of the
index finger. That is a little unusual but right next to
it is the flipper and once you have your index finger
undoing the safety it’s easy to reach up a little and flip
km 6 the knife open. Overall this makes the location of the
safety fairly convenient.
In km 5 the left washer is in place around the pivot
pin. It comes right up to the pin of the cam disc.
Finally just to express it a little differently let’s recap
the function of the mechanism. The key element is the
“convex extension” to the “arcuate slot”, or as I refer to
it the “cul-de-sac” and “arcuate groove”.
The operator pulls on the flipper or pushes on the
thumbbob which squeezes the pin of the cam disc
against the forward shoulder of the cul-de-sac. The
pushing on this pin causes the cam disc to rotate coun-
terclockwise and this rotation causes the pin to move
upward and subsequently out of the cul-de-sac. Snap!
There must be enough force to overcome the clock-
wise rotation caused by the actuating spring. Once the
blade has been rotated clockwise enough to allow the
pin to freely travel in the arcuate groove the pin will be
pushed along the path of the arcuate groove dragging
the rest of the blade along with it. Once the thumbbob
hits against the front part of the handle the spring of
the liner will engage the back of the blade like that of a
standard liner lock. Click!
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 45
RECESS
 Figure 14 FINAL RUNDOWN
A C F
For a final summa-
tion rundown on
this mechanism are
these somewhat
schematic draw-
ings Figure 14
A-G. Just picture
the plate with the
D arcuate groove 324
330 G as the liner 14A
and the plate with
hole 402 as
the blade 14B.
Figure 14D
340 shows the twist-
ing of the two plates
forces the pin 342 out of the cul-de-sac at about 11
degrees and by the time you get to 14G the twist
B E is 180 degrees to the fully open position. In 14G
the pin hits the end of the groove 324 which thus
acts as the stop point. But we saw in the preferred
design there is use of a stop pin. The rotating cam
disk doesn’t need to rotate much but what rotation
it does is important to how the cam pin 342 works
as a latch.

Drive Pin, Arcuate

F Groove, and Cul-de-sac Assist
Why does this look like a very different mechanism yet with
Figure 15 some similarities to the prior knife? Because that’s what it
is. It is an “alternative embodiment”. If there is more than
one way to skin a cat there must be more than one
way to skin an embodiment.
This knife still has an arcuate groove with a
cul-de-sac. The rotating cam disk, a
key element in the prior design, is
G not present in this knife. But it has
been replaced with an elongated
tang slot ( groove) and the cam
disc pin has been replaced with
a drive pin 6, Figure 15. Once
the opening process has been
initiated the blade will be
Pat, No, 7313866 driven to the fully open posi-
Linn et al. 2008 tion by the torsion spring pushing
the drive pin along the path of the arcuate
groove. That part of the mechanism is very simi-
lar to the last knife. To get the actuating spring to initi-
ate the assisted opening function is different. This involves
46 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!
having the drive pin traveling within two Figure
grooves. One is the arcuate groove that 16
is cut into the liners. The other is the
groove cut into the heel of the tang. But
the drive pin simultaneously travels in
both grooves. Figure 16 shows how the
blade and liner are sandwiched together.
The tang groove and the arcuate grove
overlie each other. But the tang groove
and arcuate groove do not have the same
configuration so they do not overlie each
other perfectly. That is the key. The fact
that the tang groove and arcuate groove
are configured differently is a concept
that is going to be used to put the squeeze
on the drive pin and force it to move in
the direction we want.
Notice that the arcuate groove forms an
arc that has a radius related to the center Figure 17
of the pivot pin. The groove in the heel
of the tang forms a little bit of an arc but
it is not at all in relation to the center of
the pivot pin. If you hold the blade over
the liner you will see that there is a small
space, big enough for the drive pin to
fit in, created by a coincidental opening
or hole from the tang and liner grooves.
Now if you twist the blade over the liner
you’ll still see that there is a hole, but Figure 18
it moves. It moves coincident with the
angle of rotational of the blade. If this
hole moves with the angle of rotation
of the blade, and we stick the drive pin
within that hole, the drive pin will be
moved accordingly. And just to stress
the point, the coincidence, or incidence,
of the hole created by these two grooves
overlie each other is a factor of the angle Figure 19
that the blade is pivoted. The position of
that hole is in relationship to the amount
of pivoting done by the blade.
Figure 17 shows the tail of the torsion
spring 9 biasing the drive pin clockwise.
The pin goes nowhere since it is trapped
within the small groove of the tang. To initi-
ate knife opening Figure 18 the operator can push
on the flipper, top arrow, or pull out the blade, bot-
tom arrow. Figure 19 the blade is pivoted. The drive pin
is now in the bottom of the tang groove. Also it has been
moved out of the cul-de-sac of the arcuate groove.
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 47
Another look at the initiation point of the spring assist
is Figure 21 which is an enlargement of Figure 19.
The drive pin had previously been at the top of the Figure 20
tang groove and to the left. The pivoting of the blade
moved the tang groove up, the pin resides now in the
bottom of the groove, and the drive pin has been slid
to the right out of the cul-de-sac of the arcuate groove.
Note that the left side of the tang groove pushes on the
left side of the pin to cause us to move. Once the pin
clears the left shoulder of the cul-de-sac, SNAP! The
torsion spring pushes the pin along the arcuate groove
Figure 20. I can see how in Figure 21 the right side of
the pin buts against the right side of the tang groove
now that pin is pushing the tang instead of a moment
earlier when the tang was pushing the pin. And would
be the reason how the pin is able to push the tang and
why the pin stays in the bottom of the tang groove Figure 21
hole. The pin, as seen in Figure 20, constantly binds Figure 22
against the right wall of the
tang groove as
it travels in the
arcuate groove. It is
hard to appreciate the end loop
ARROW in Figure 22 at the fully open position is the the end of the arcuate groove. The knife locks-up as a
top of the tang groove. The pin is butting up against liner lock. CLICK!

Angle Doubler, Cantilever (Assist)

This, like the last one, is an “alternative embodiment”.
Figure 23 I don’t see the resemblance but I guess it is some-
where in the family tree. If you can figure out how
this works just by looking at the drawings than your
brain is far superior to mine. But if you’d like my
appraisal, get some coffee, were going in.
There is a cantilever mechanism in this
design called an angle doubler, AD,
Figure 23, 1405. The concept is that
the AD rotates 90 degrees while
causing the blade to rotate 180
degrees. From the closed posi-
tion a spring actuates the AD
Pat, No, 7313866
to rotate 90 degrees and in
Linn et al. 2008
turn the blade is cantile-
vered by the AD 180 de-
This reminds me of the hard- grees to the fully open position.
ware on a cantilever toolbox, This is a really neat mechanism.
so if you will, I named this
I do not know how Linn and his buddies keep
mechanism that. You call it
coming up with these off-the-wall designs! But this
what you like.
is not the “preferred embodiment” but the “third alterna-
tive embodiment” of the main design. So you know the story
48 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!
Figure 24

Figure 25

PIVOT PIN FOR ANGLE DOU-

of the firstborn child that has for photo albums
BLER IS ALSO THE POST THAT
of their baby pictures. And the second child has
THE TORSION SPRING WRAPS
two photo albums. And the third child has a few AROUND. THE TWIST OF THE
snapshots stuck in an envelope. It’s just the way TORSION SPRING TURNS THE
it is. Well this angle doubler has some diagrams ANGLE DOUBLER CLOCKWISE.
we might have to work around a little. But really, Figure 26
they are not only adequate but like the other two
knives there are additional explanatory draw-
ings provided which are a God send in under-
standing this complex mechanism which I am
sincerely grateful for.
Figure 24 is an enlargement of a Figure 23
because I think it’s important you see the crank
pin ARROW which inserts into an elongated
hole, groove, in the tang. This tang groove is im-
portant in that it will allow the crank pin to slip
from one end to the other which is important Figure 27
for how this cantilever mechanism operates. The
crank pin is what connects the AD to the blade.
When the AD pivots then the crank pin of the
AD will subsequently cause the blade to pivot.
In order for the AD to be able to pivot it must
itself have a pivot pin. The pivot pin or post is
connected to the left handle scale. The AD is
biased by a torsion spring. One end of the tor-
sion spring is hooked into the left handle scale. Figure 28
This attachment of the torsion spring allows the
spring to bias the AD in a clockwise direction
therefore the AD can bias the blade in a clock-
wise direction toward the open position. The
spring 1408 acts on the AD 1405, the drive pin
1406 on the AD rotates the blade. If you look
at Figure 24 you will see that there is a small
nub connected to the pivot post for the spring. I
think this is a little glitch in the drawing and they
meant to indicate this as ARROW in Figure 26.
Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it! 49
 And if you look at Figure 25 there is a dashed line that
goes through the pivot pin hole of the blade and pivot
hole of the handle which seems to also be mistakenly
going through the pivot hole for the angle doubler, AD.
You can therefor mistakenly get the impression that
the AD pivot pin fits into the blade pivot hole. This
Figure 29
obviously can’t be the case. The hole for the AD pivot is
located directly below the hole for the blade pivot. And
apparently it is a blind hole on the inside of the left
handle and not seen in any of the drawings. An arcuate
groove within the AD travels around the blade pivot
pin as the AD rotates clockwise and counterclockwise.
Looking at the A.D. going from closed position to the
open position it looks like it does travel 180°. It’s an
optical illusion, because it’s square. It only travels 90°.
That gave my brain fits. Don’t stare at it. I sympathize Figure 30
if it causes anguish. Therefore
I’ve come up with some
lever drawings that I hope
will explain mechanics easier
than trying to look at the actual dia-
grams of the knife. First lets do a quick run Is the torsion spring functioning as a torsion spring,
through of the knifes’ function. or just a leaf spring with a loop in it’s middle? It does
Figure 27 open the blade by either flipper or thumb- twist. It twists the AD around the pivot post of the AD.
bob ARROWS. Figure 28 it is hard to see but the blade So yes, it is a torsion spring. It is just not the typical
A B
has orotated about twice as much as the AD. Figure 29 B
torsion spring configuration around a blade that we are
o we are half way open. Both the blade and the AD haveA
rotated to the half point. Figure 30 the full open posi-
B
so familiar with.
=0
Finally, is this an assisted opener? I get the fact that the
tion. The AD has turned 90 degrees while by use of the
crank pin the blade has been turned 180 degrees.
A
spring helps propel the blade toward the open position.
I don’t see this spring bias starting at thirty degrees. It
One more discussion on this unusual mechanism. looks like it starts at zero.
km 7 This mechanism
km 7 uses two levers work-
ing in unison. There
likely is a name for it,
I don’t know, but I call
it a cantilever. Lever A
represents the Angle
B = 0o B = 180 o Doubler. It rotates 45
+ 45 = 90 degrees. It
rotates and as it does
B B B it causes lever B to
rotate. Lever B is the
blade and rotates 180
degrees. Note the slot
that the black connect-
ing pin slides in. There
obviously needs to be
a slot in lever B like
A = -45 o A A A A = +45 o that in the blade tang
in which the drive pin
travels in.
50 Knife Mechanisms just for the fun of it!