spyderco manix 2. why is the lock so hard? and why is it made out of plastic?

Could be wrong, but have always thought the diameter of the ball bearing was greater than the distance between the liners.
 
The Deacon said:
Could be wrong, but have always thought the diameter of the ball bearing was greater than the distance between the liners.
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Correct, but I want to say not greater than the height of the elongated-hole in the liner (allowing the edges of the bearing to protrude from the liner, but the ball-bearing cannot fall out). I could be wrong about that, but I'm pretty sure that's how the old non-caged ball-bearing was and I thought I remembered the one in my M2 being that way as well.

Crap - this thread is going to make me take mine apart just to satisfy my own curiosity.
 
i have no reason to think the knife i received was anything other than new from amazon. i had opened/closed and used the knife before it broke. i think i cut some paper and a string.

the ball bearing can not fit between the liners. it can fit through the cut out in the liners where the cage is. i didnt know it was going to break so i wasnt paying close attention to where the ball bearing fell out of. however, my guess is that the lock didnt engage correctly when i opened it and while the cage was pushed back the ball somehow became loose and came out of the cutout in the liner. it doesnt seem likely that this will happen often. all i know is i got a knife and a ball bearing and the knife doesnt work properly anymore.
 
Nervedmg said:
i have no reason to think the knife i received was anything other than new from amazon. i had opened/closed and used the knife before it broke. i think i cut some paper and a string.

the ball bearing can not fit between the liners. it can fit through the cut out in the liners where the cage is. i didnt know it was going to break so i wasnt paying close attention to where the ball bearing fell out of. however, my guess is that the lock didnt engage correctly when i opened it and while the cage was pushed back the ball somehow became loose and came out of the cutout in the liner. it doesnt seem likely that this will happen often. all i know is i got a knife and a ball bearing and the knife doesnt work properly anymore.
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Nothing against you, but given the number threads over the past year where new knives with strange problems were purchased from Amazon, I'm inclined to think at least some of them had been previously sold, damaged and returned, only to be resold. Didn't by any chance come in a plain white cardboard box, rather than the normal red and black Spyderco box, did it? I ask because several of the others with issues did.
 
Came in standard spyderco box with paperwork. I still have it all including the plastic sleeve it came in. Looked the same as all my other spydercos. I wouldn't put it past amazon, but I can't think of any reason to believe this knife was tampered with. the knife worked fine up until it broke. Again,I had no reason to think it was anything less than perfect.

I would love to take it apart to see exactly what happened but I'd rather keep my warranty
 
Would it be possible that the cage was put in upside down, allowing the bearing to fall out?
 
While I wouldn't put anything past some Amazon Marketplace sellers, I think it's a heck of an assumption to suggest that Amazon would sell used items as new. I've dealt with Amazon quite a bit, and find it to be a reputable company.
 
Sal Glesser said:
Did you send it in yet? I'd really like to see it.

sal
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I sent it today by priority mail. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. It was not my intention to put spyderco on blast for a busted knife. I didnt realize a broken knife was so sacrilegious. at any rate, i am not disturbed and will probably have several more spydercos before i even get this one back.
 
Nervedmg said:
Hi Sal,

Thanks for responding. I don't actual know how the knife works but a ball bearing fell out of it when I was opening it. I did find and keep the ball bearing. I did contact customer service over the weekend so I am sure they will contact me soon. I wouldn't take it apart unless I know customer service can't help me.

I figured I would post this since this is a thread discussing the quality and sturdiness of the knife's lock. I dont normal post because I dont normally have anything to input.

I have about 10 other spyderco knives that have been opened and used a lot more and all are high quality. I think this is an anomaly.

@everyone else:

Clearly, you are the reason why many people decide not to post. Most logical adults avoid these forums because they are overrun with jackasses. You are discussing the quality of the knife but if someone has first hand experience with it, you jump down their throat. I am just telling you my story. If you read it, you would have learned that it happened during normal operation. Nor did I criticize anyone/thing inappropriately.

specically,

@dorito monk - if you read my post, it broke during normal operation. AKA I opened the knife with my hand. No hydraulic lifts were used. It wasnt smacked on something. I never took it apart or even thought about taking it apart if that would affect it. When i opened it the blast grips appeared loose for the first time and it was extra difficult to disengage. Then I saw a ball bearing had fallen out.

@berserker - i dont know. i dont even know what all the parts are inside the knife. i just know a ball bearing fell out. the grips are lose. the blade can open and lock but it is wiggly. the knife will slide out of the handle when closed if it is jostled.

@hardtripper - you are the only troll I see. why dont you go try to improve yourself (you have a lot of work ahead you), instead of wasting space on the board with useless clutter.
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And in my response I made observations and asked some questions because I could not understand the condition of the knife. There were no insults or accusations, implicit, intended nor implied.

As Sal later said, if the ball bearing is gone, the lock is gone. I am curious to know what was causing the locking effect that you were noticing without the ball bearing, because in theory at least, it should not lock at all. Sounds like maybe the cage or spring was getting in there and acting as an ersatz lock.

If you are able to post a follow up reply as to what was causing the problem after Spyderco looks at the knife, it would be much appreciated. Thanks
 
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My guess is the plastic cage is what is acting is a "lock" right now. I use "lock" loosely because the blade is lose but does appear to lock in that I can not close it without disengaging the cage - I haven't applied a lot of downward force to test that because I don't want to break it further. The ball bearing is part of the lock assembly. The knife can't open freely without first disengaging the cage so that adds to my guess. I gave pretty much all the info I possibly can at this point. I don't want to beat a dead horse or make this a bigger deal than it is. Since this is a unique lock, I do find it interesting to see how it all works. I will definitely let you know what spyderco finds.

I was put off at first because the immediate responses were to try to place blame or paint this as a false claim or somehow trying to stir trouble. I didn't bring that in here. Particularly since no one had any real experience with this happened.
 
Nervedmg said:
My guess is the plastic cage is what is acting is a "lock" right now. I use "lock" loosely because the blade is lose but does appear to lock in that I can not close it without disengaging the cage - I haven't applied a lot of downward force to test that because I don't want to break it further. The ball bearing is part of the lock assembly. The knife can't open freely without first disengaging the cage so that adds to my guess. I gave pretty much all the info I possibly can at this point. I don't want to beat a dead horse or make this a bigger deal than it is. Since this is a unique lock, I do find it interesting to see how it all works. I will definitely let you know what spyderco finds.

I was put off at first because the immediate responses were to try to place blame or paint this as a false claim or somehow trying to stir trouble. I didn't bring that in here. Particularly since no one had any real experience with this happened.
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I could see getting defensive about some of the responses. Heck, one guy called you a troll - that would make me mad too. My response was in an effort to understand what was going on as I was both interested and confused by what you had reported, especially when you had indicated that there may have been more than one ball bearing (which would be a very odd problem).

Let us know what Spyderco says about what went on and why. Thanks again.
 
I just received my Manix 2. It was replaced with a new Manix. I dont know anymore than that as to what was wrong. I was told it was about a 3 week turn around and that was very accurate. Possibly to the day. I almost forgot about it but thats probably because I bought 2-3 more while I was waiting. They also sent a product catalog which is reallly well done. Thanks!
 
The Deacon said:
I'm no engineer, but I'd guess the cage needs to be both strong and flexible, so the ball can be "popped" into it. I'd also suspect that a natural lubricity would be something of a plus. The type of polymer Spyderco usess seem better suited to that than metal, or the hard polymer resin used in G-10. Not to mention that the glass fiber component of G-10 might cause wear on the ball bearing. That said, I sure don't think it would hurt sales any to make it an opaque black rather than clear. Might even ease the fears of those who think their friends will laugh at them for carrying a knife with plastic parts.
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I've taken apart almost all of the 10+ Manix 2's I've owned, and not one of them had a ball bearing that was "popped" into the cage, or press fit or anything similar to that.

On each and every one, if you turned the cage upside down then the ball falls out. In fact it's loose enough to rattle around in the cage when not installed on the knife.

I personally don't want a metal cage, but I don't see how/why it would be a problem.
 
I can say I passed over this knife model specifically out of dislike for the translucent release. If it was metal I wouldn't have a problem with the design. Plastic parts on a knife just don't inspire confidence, at least for me.
 
I can say I passed over this knife model specifically out of dislike for the translucent release. If it was metal I wouldn't have a problem with the design. Plastic parts on a knife just don't inspire confidence, at least for me.
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AHHH! It's not plastic, read this entire thread first. What other knives do you like? Come on, don't give me any that are not full metal on metal.
 
Yo Mama said:
AHHH! It's not plastic, read this entire thread first. What other knives do you like? Come on, don't give me any that are not full metal on metal.
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A knife doesn't have to be full metal, I just don't like clear plastic, especially for an important component like the lock. Even if the material they are using is stronger than steel, I don't like the look. I just bought a Native 5 with g10, I dig that one. I have a Sage 1 and a Endura 4 I really like also.
 
Handles aren't a critical moving part. My Endura 4 is mostly plastic, and that's ok. ;)

Not wanting to start an argument, I just chimed in to say I agreed with the original poster and the others that don't dig the blade release. To each his own.
 
Not wanting to start an argument, I just chimed in to say I agreed with the original poster and the others that don't dig the blade release. To each his own.
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Don't worry, I didn't think you had any bad intentions. :)
 
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