Question to those of you who own large (111mm - 130mm) locking SAK's

[D. Somerset]

I own a Victorinox WorkChamp XL, a Wenger RangerGrip 88 rescue and a RangerGrip 178 and and the blade play in all three varies quite a bit. The WorkChamp XL (side lock) has the most pronounced blade play, the RangerGrip has some as well, though very small in comparison to the Vic, and the Rescue 88 has no blade play whatsoever (very happy with that). I've also used some liner lock Vics with very little or almost no blade play. My question is: How much blade play does yours have? Did I get lucky with my 88 rescue?

[RT1969]

I have a Vic OH Trekker with no sideplay. The play along around the axis amounts to about 1mm at the tip of the blade.

I wonder if there is any way to elimate the play, though?

[dks]

If you are talking about the ability to move the blade a bit, up and down, on e.g. larger Wengers, then this is inherent in their locking mechanism. It is not designed to stay locked like a vault (with self-adjustment) as is common with most linerlock knives. They also have a backspring and the lock is a secondary safety feature.

Side to side play, if new, should not be there in any of the Swiss knives or other makers knives really.

However, with longer blades, you may be able to bend/move the blade tip left to right a bit, getting the impression of side to side play.

[Chako]

I checked many of mine and there is no side to side play at all. There is a very small up down play in some but not all of the examples I have looked at. Nothing major.

[greenbear]

Vic Forester and 2 x Vic rescue knives, no play in any of them sir 

[twiliter]

Also my Trailmaster, no blade play in any direction, even after much use.

[SAK Guy]

No blade play...

[D. Somerset]

I was referring more to the up and down movement (none of the knives I mentioned have side play).


Thanks to those who have given their input so far.

[D. Somerset]

I checked many of mine and there is no side to side play at all. There is a very small up down play in some but not all of the examples I have looked at. Nothing major.

Vics? Wengers? (or both?)

[RT1969]

I was referring more to the up and down movement (none of the knives I mentioned have side play).


Thanks to those who have given their input so far.

I got you. My 111 Linerlock has just a bit of play up and down. You can berely see it, but you feel the blade hitting the liner when you push on the spine, and you can here a 'clack' sound.
But I see the liner more as a safety feature than as retention (and I see no way to fix this on mine).

Congrats to the others for getting perfect linerlocks, I was not so lucky.

Edit:
What I forgot: The large screwdriver has the same play, so maybe the liner is not quite correct. As this is a work knive, I don't really care. But I will have my eyes open if I buy another 111mm.

[bmot]

My liner locking Vics all have some slight up and down play,  I never saw that as a problem really

Sent from somewhere else than behind my computer

[D. Somerset]

Well, I guess after reading the input, I feel a bit better . . . Having just bought my first Wengers, and having owned the large Vic for some time know, I just had to wonder what was the norm, and it seems it goes both ways! Some do and some don't; therefore, I'm happy that my Wenger RangerGrip 88 rescue (priciest SAK, so far) is pretty solid in this department (though the OHO was a [Samuel L. Jackson speak] MOTHER%$#?!?! PAIN in thd GOD^%$ ! A?!? to open at arrival).

[twiliter]

What I forgot: The large screwdriver has the same play, so maybe the liner is not quite correct. As this is a work knive, I don't really care. But I will have my eyes open if I buy another 111mm.

Mine too, the locking screwdriver has a tiny amount of play in both directions, but I've used it hard and often, and it still functions fine. 

[RT1969]

What I forgot: The large screwdriver has the same play, so maybe the liner is not quite correct. As this is a work knive, I don't really care. But I will have my eyes open if I buy another 111mm.

Mine too, the locking screwdriver has a tiny amount of play in both directions, but I've used it hard and often, and it still functions fine. 

This is getting stranger and stranger. I wrote this a bit misleading  , but my large SD only has play around the axis, no side play.

A question to those without bladeplay:
Does the linerlock stop along it's way (pic1, simulated) , or does it touch the next layer like mine does (pic2)?

[RT1969]

Success! I got my camera working again! 

Now I have no excuse not to post some pictures. 

I'm kidding! 

[ducttapetech]

Mine touches the next layer.

live from Nate's mobile

[twiliter]

What I forgot: The large screwdriver has the same play, so maybe the liner is not quite correct. As this is a work knive, I don't really care. But I will have my eyes open if I buy another 111mm.

Mine too, the locking screwdriver has a tiny amount of play in both directions, but I've used it hard and often, and it still functions fine. 

This is getting stranger and stranger. I wrote this a bit misleading  , but my large SD only has play around the axis, no side play.

A question to those without bladeplay:
Does the linerlock stop along it's way (pic1, simulated) , or does it touch the next layer like mine does (pic2)?

My SD has negligible play in both directions, the blade has none, and the lock for the blade snaps almost to the saw tang, but does not touch it, I can move it over a small amount to contact the saw. My camera cannot capture this close up, unfortunately.

(though the OHO was a [Samuel L. Jackson speak] MOTHER%$#?!?! PAIN in thd GOD^%$ ! A?!? to open at arrival).

The OHO improves with age I have found, also keeping clean and oiled helps, and opening and closing a lot. I practiced one hand open and close quite a bit on this knife, both when I needed to use it, and also just to get the operating of it memorized. 

[D. Somerset]

The lock on my rangers sits next to the layer.

As for the OHO, getting smoother with time and use, I totally agree. When my first ranger arrived, I was not very happy about how stiff the OHO was. I did a couple of things to make it smoother, and it helped a bit (not as much as I wanted); however, as time goes by and I use it more and more, it's gotten MUCH better. My second ranger was a different story, this one was smooth from the get go, but I assume this is due to the fact the knife was slightly used (looked totally unused, though) when I got it.