New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

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Bill DeShivs
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New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by Bill DeShivs »

Post by Bill DeShivs » Wed Dec 30, 2020 5:42 pm

Thanks to a very good customer, I have been able to dissect one of the new Hubertus 11 CM lever locks (made by Otter Messer) beside an older Hubertus-made 11 CM.

The Otter knife works properly, although the opening force is rather weak. While they look similar, there are quite a few differences. At first glance, you notice the smooth, well-polished bolsters on the Otter knife. Then, you see there is no "threading" (lines) on the bolsters. The liners are nickel silver, rather than brass. The lever is not the usual German-style lever with the hole.

The blade/backspring stock is thinner on the Otter Messer knife.Taking the knife apart, the first thing I noticed was the waterjet-cut backspring/kickspring combination. It's all one piece, and it is completely over cut. There is no reason to have all the cut out spaces. It will also be difficult, if not impossible to replace the kickspring if it breaks.
Upon further disassembly, I found that the lever spring is riveted into the liner in two places. Only one of these rivets is visible on the lever spring cover. The other rivet is under the cover. Also, the lever spring cover is longer than the original, and is slipped into a milled-out space under the rear bolster. This is also unnecessary, but it does no harm.

The bolsters are actually soldered to the liners, rather than spot welded as on the later Hubertus-made knives. This is an improvement, as the spot welding was not a secure method of attachment.

Over all, the new knives are OK. Quality control seems better than the latest Hubertus made knives. Other than the lever, the new knives look very good.I will attempt converting one of these to shell-puller configuration. I'm sure it can be done, but extra work will be required over the older knives.
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by hearandgone »

I’m obviously behind the times about about this. When did Otter Messer start making knives for Hubertus? Are the 11cm knives the only ones they are making for Hubertus? Are the visual differences between the Otter Messer knives and the older Hubertus knives enough to be seen in photos on online sale sites? Sorry for all the questions, but any info would be helpful.
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by Bill DeShivs »

Recently.
I don't know.
Look at the above pictures to spot the difference-especially the bolsters.
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by jim d, »

Thank You for posting the photos and commentary. Is there a good technical reason for replacing the brass liners with n/s? My understanding was that brass was used for cosmetic appeal, but of course is softer than steel. Isn't n/s softer and more expensive than steel?

Thanks,

Jim
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by Bill DeShivs »

Brass is used because it is self-lubricating, and doesn't rust.
Nickel silver has the same properties, as it is a copper alloy. The NS that Otter is using is apparently annealed dead soft, as it is easy to bend (disassembled.)
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by jim d, »

Thanks again for the information Bill.

Given the relatively high rate of kickspring breakage on Hubertus knives, do you seen any design reason that the Otter Messer knives would be better, other than that they wouldn't slide forward?

Jim
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by Bill DeShivs »

Jim-none.
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by Panzerfaust »

Here is some interesting info from German Knife Shop.
https://german-knife-shop.com/product-c ... /springer/
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by TazmanTom »

Great read, thanks. Taz
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by Bill DeShivs »

Tonight I finished a shell puller conversion on the new Otter/Hubertus.
It was considerably different than converting the originals. The kickspring is problematic-they are weak, and not much can be done about it.
I was going to do it without threading the bolsters, but that just looked too plain, so I did some minimal threading. The plain lever just looked wrong to me, so I drilled it.
Added a swedge to the blade.
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by JulesVane »

Love to see it Bill, if possible.
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by sammy the blade »

JulesVane wrote: Tue Jan 19, 2021 12:29 am Love to see it Bill, if possible.
Thinkin most of would.
2024 candidate for president
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by Bill DeShivs »

OK.
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Bill DeShivs, Master Cutler
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Factory authorized repairs for:
Latama, Mauro Mario, LePre, Colonial, Kabar, Flylock, Schrade Cut Co., Presto, Press Button, Hubertus, Grafrath, Kuno Ritter knives, Puma, Burrell Cutlery.
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by JulesVane »

Oh yeah! That came out beautiful Bill!
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Re: New Hubertus/Otter lever lock dissected.

Post by whippersnapper »

Awesome!
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