Spyderco Positron

[UAB89]

I don't mind my liner lock I t is fully engaged which I like and no lock stick ect.. And I don't find it hard to disengage with my thumb however My hands are not huge probably between medium and large glove..

The pointy corners on mine were a little sharp and I believe it was due to bur's from machining I just sanded it down a little it's great now.. Pocket clip is something they could have done a little better.. But not a deal breaker for me I manipulated it a little where it fits in the grove of my palm better and for this knife 3 inch blade liner lock 2.6 oz I don't think I will be doing enough hard use cutting that the clip would cause any problems..

Action was a little rough at first I cleaned all of their Lube out of it rinsed out some of the cf dust and put my own lube in it and action has gotten smoother.. I think after its broken in will be smooth as butter

 

[UAB89]

Yeah I think a clip maybe like the Sothern grind spider monkey clip would have served this knife nicely .. Maybe some nice after market clips will hit the market before to long

 

[Barfly]

I removed the pocket clip, lightly sanded the sharp corners, and opened up the notch to allow for better purchase on the linerlock. Much better.

 

[UAB89]

I removed the pocket clip, lightly sanded the sharp corners, and opened up the notch to allow for better purchase on the linerlock. Much better.

Would be interested to see the notch you made for the liner lock!

 

[Barfly]

Would be interested to see the notch you made for the liner lock!

You really can't tell. I reduced the notch profile on the show-side scale. I smoothed down the sharp corners using sandpaper.

 

[stkh22]

I really wanted to like this knife but I just sold mine, it's not bad but its not great either. I wish the liner wasn't so difficult to get to. I don't have huge/fat fingers but I found it rather hard to release the liner lock. Maybe its just me but I felt the issues with this knife are the access to liner lock, doesn't "push button open" (light switch opens fine), and handles are a tad thick. If those 3 were addressed it would of been a keeper.

 

[dplafoll]

I've handled this knife a couple of times, and I find it to be extremely nice. I like the flipping action. I like the machined handles; the thickness is, to me, a plus on a knife this small because you get a better grip while keeping the knife very slender. It's definitely one I'm going to pick up when I have the funds.

 

[Spinny]

I really wanted to like this knife but I just sold mine, it's not bad but its not great either. I wish the liner wasn't so difficult to get to. I don't have huge/fat fingers but I found it rather hard to release the liner lock. Maybe its just me but I felt the issues with this knife are the access to liner lock, doesn't "push button open" (light switch opens fine), and handles are a tad thick. If those 3 were addressed it would of been a keeper.

I'm kinda with you on the access to the liner lock. If mine becomes a keeper, I'll definitely be opening up the notch on the presentation side to allow easier access. And yeah, I think the handle is overly thick for the size of the blade. Makes the blade seem disproportionately skinny.

One other strike is the way that the liner lock engages the blade tang. From the liner lock extends one little "tooth" that is actually the only thing locking the knife open. The rest of the liner isn't touching the blade tang at all. So if the little tooth breaks, well.....don't go whacking the spine.....

I still think it's a very good knife. Too bad it could've been great.

 

[UAB89]

I'm kinda with you on the access to the liner lock. If mine becomes a keeper, I'll definitely be opening up the notch on the presentation side to allow easier access. And yeah, I think the handle is overly thick for the size of the blade. Makes the blade seem disproportionately skinny.

One other strike is the way that the liner lock engages the blade tang. From the liner lock extends one little "tooth" that is actually the only thing locking the knife open. The rest of the liner isn't touching the blade tang at all. So if the little tooth breaks, well.....don't go whacking the spine.....

I still think it's a very good knife. Too bad it could've been great.

Hugh that is def interesting I can't say that I have seen one lock up like that before.. So since you got that bad boy open is it riding on the same flimsy steel washers as the southard? And it's good to know the pivot is a d shaped pivot.. Was it difficult to get the screws out?
I don't open up to many of my knives with inserts ever since the headache of putting back together my mini grip I am a little gun shy

 

[Spinny]

Hugh that is def interesting I can't say that I have seen one lock up like that before.. So since you got that bad boy open is it riding on the same flimsy steel washers as the southard? And it's good to know the pivot is a d shaped pivot.. Was it difficult to get the screws out?
I don't open up to many of my knives with inserts ever since the headache of putting back together my mini grip I am a little gun shy

Yep, same little washers. I don't really see the point of them in this knife since the liners are steel, not titanium so the bearings aren't going to dig a race into the steel like they would titanium....

None of the screws were locktited, so it was very easy to disassemble. Just make sure you're unscrewing the screw side of the pivot. It always drives me nuts that Spyderco puts a T8 head on the side of the pivot that isn't supposed to unscrew...

And yes, mini grips are a pain in the ass to reassemble. Liner locks are waaaay easier.

 

[Davidfs]

Actually looking at the lock contract point relative to the pivot point, it looks like it's cupping the blade, it's probably a very effective design (then again I might be seeing things wrong on the one picture)

 

[Spinny]

Actually looking at the lock contract point relative to the pivot point, it looks like it's cupping the blade, it's probably a very effective design (then again I might be seeing things wrong on the one picture)

That's what I thought until I disassembled it and saw that there's an approx 1 mm gap everywhere except the tooth. So if the tooth broke or bent, the liner would not engage the blade anywhere else and would end up going all the way across to the other side of the handle....and the blade would then be loose. It would have been great if it was actually cupping the blade but that would have made production very difficult as it would require fitting two contoured surfaces together.

 

[hoimin]

That's what I thought until I disassembled it and saw that there's an approx 1 mm gap everywhere except the tooth. So if the tooth broke or bent, the liner would not engage the blade anywhere else and would end up going all the way across to the other side of the handle....and the blade would then be loose. It would have been great if it was actually cupping the blade but that would have made production very difficult as it would require fitting two contoured surfaces together.

Even if the contact point slipped though, the blade could never accidentally close past the detent ball protrusion in the liner (should anyone ever press their Positron beyond its design parameters). It's a neat, if unheralded, safety feature, a la the compression lock.

Great photo!

 

[Spinny]

Even if the contact point slipped though, the blade could never accidentally close past the detent ball protrusion in the liner (should anyone ever press their Positron beyond its design parameters). It's a neat, if unheralded, safety feature, a la the compression lock.

Great photo!

You are correct in that the blade would not close completely if the tooth broke. But it would not be locked open either. The compression lock is in a whole other leage from this design. When stressed, the compression lock just digs in deeper without failing. If this were stressed the knife would be open but would just be wobbling around.

 

[UAB89]

You are correct in that the blade would not close completely if the tooth broke. But it would not be locked open either. The compression lock is in a whole other leage from this design. When stressed, the compression lock just digs in deeper without failing. If this were stressed the knife would be open but would just be wobbling around.

I agree that I don't think it's compression lock strong however not because of the detention ball I can push mine past detent ball without to much difficulty.. However I do feel that the tab behind the blade tang lock interface adds some slight security to the lockup I believe if the forward pressure on the spine [backward pressure at lock interface] was enough to start to cause the lock to fail that it would push back against that tab which would compress against the pivot thus making the lock a little stronger in my opinion.. Now wether this also reigns true for lateral forward pressure I don't know.. Ha but I also don't intend on using my position in that type of situation haha hope this makes sense.. Just my 2 cents

 

[Spinny]

Took a better picture. The gap between the tab on the lockbar (where the detent ball is) and the blade tang is much larger than you may realize it is.

 

[Davidfs]

That's very interesting, I wonder if it was done in order to fight the typical failure mode for liner locks? It certainly changes the direction of compression on the leaf spring that is the lock...

 

[hoimin]

You are correct in that the blade would not close completely if the tooth broke. But it would not be locked open either. The compression lock is in a whole other leage from this design. When stressed, the compression lock just digs in deeper without failing. If this were stressed the knife would be open but would just be wobbling around.

Thanks for the clarification picture. I understood your initial point that the blade would wobble. I was just saying that it wouldn't outright close on your hand due to the detent tab of the liner, which would not be the case in a traditional liner/frame lock configuration.

 

[RamZar]

In stock at BladeHQ.

 

[Brock O Lee]

One other strike is the way that the liner lock engages the blade tang. From the liner lock extends one little "tooth" that is actually the only thing locking the knife open. The rest of the liner isn't touching the blade tang at all. So if the little tooth breaks, well.....don't go whacking the spine.....

I realise this is a light use knife, but looking at your picture, that lock interface does not inspire confidence at all. There is not a lot material behind that tooth... I am curious about long term reliability.