Switchblade Storage

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JAGMAN
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Post by JAGMAN »

The Falcon wrote:I have a 1985 Ford 150 pick-up and it's been putting a couple of tons pressure on its' springs for almost 2 decades.
If the steel "fatigues", wouldn't it be quite a bit closer to the ground by now? :wink:

Has the truck bed been loaded for 20 years (knife closed)
or has the truck bed been mainly empty (knife open) :lol:
Jagman
right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think
I've forgotten this before.
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jim d,
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Post by jim d, »

A related question: has the owner been loaded for 20 years?

Jim
floater
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Post by floater »

One reason I like storing mine open is that when I open the drawers where they're kept they are just lookin' so cool laying there in all their switchblade glory. There is the acoustic thwack, shwink, flick, click & snick of the things.... the viseral torque, snap & wrist-twist of the things....and then there is the eye-pleasing, line/curve, pointy beauty of their form that is fully realized only when they're open.
Besides, it's bad for the spring to keep it under load, isn't it? :wink:

floater
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That hides among the other lies / They divide and conquer.
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missaman
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Post by missaman »

jim d, wrote:A related question: has the owner been loaded for 20 years?

Jim
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Sam Hotton
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Post by Sam Hotton »

Good evening all,
I've always been told to never leave a box magazine of a semi/or automatic weapon loaded for any extended time. One should rotate magazines as leaving them loaded will weaken the mag spring causing unreliable feeding. If this is possibly true, then the same MIGHT hold true for auto knives. I must confess that I've unloaded many a auto pistol that has been loaded for years and in some cases decades and NEVER found a floppy mag spring. However, I store my spring steel open.

Sam
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natcherly
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Post by natcherly »

Springs should not exhibit fatigue unless subjected to stresses beyond their design limits. Since we are probably not dealing with rigorously engineered devices in most cases, some springs may indeed experience fatigue.

Short answer is if in doubt, keep 'em open.
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Bill DeShivs
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Post by Bill DeShivs »

Open.
Keeps things real simple.
Open.
Bill
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Vagrant
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Post by Vagrant »

Sam Hotton wrote:Good evening all,
I've always been told to never leave a box magazine of a semi/or automatic weapon loaded for any extended time. One should rotate magazines as leaving them loaded will weaken the mag spring causing unreliable feeding. If this is possibly true, then the same MIGHT hold true for auto knives. I must confess that I've unloaded many a auto pistol that has been loaded for years and in some cases decades and NEVER found a floppy mag spring. However, I store my spring steel open.

Sam
A properly hardened and tempered spring should NOT suffer any weakening or deformation when flexed within its design criteria. Removing the load on a spring does NOT "let it recover". I have seen 200 year old agricultural items that had springs that still worked fine. This includes an oxcart that was loaded for 100 years, in a barn. When unloaded it sprang back to a much greater height. [Those old time blacksmiths knew a thing or two about tempering :wink: ] I have seen a box magazine that would "take a set" in less than a minute :shock: rotating magazines would not help this one, it was tempered poorly to begin with. [On modern equipment :roll: ]
IF a spring on a switchblade breaks it will almost always break when closing [on one that is stored open] :!: It will break on opening, [on one that is stored closed]. In either case SOMETHING was wrong with the spring, not the storage method :idea:
BUT whatever method you prefer is the one to use :!: There is NO right way, just the way that's right for you :!:
Roccomo
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Post by Roccomo »

Well said Vagrant.
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The Falcon
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Post by The Falcon »

Vagrant wrote:
There is NO right way, just the way that's right for you :!:
Al, please don't equivocate.
Take a firm stand one way or the other! :wink:
I collect springblades but I carry my "thumbers."
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Doc Rocket
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U

Post by Doc Rocket »

Uh opened, now that is I mean closed I think, that is I'm kind of sure its opened unless that is it could be closed but really it should be opened.

Now damitt here's the straight poop. Store em opened --> reason if you need a blade it's there opened (unless you have rug rats) Close em to -->play or carry.

But then again I could be wrong.... unless someone proves me wrong. Help I'm stuck in a loop. Dam those 60"s flashbacks.
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floater
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Re: U

Post by floater »

Doc Rocket wrote:......Now damitt here's the straight poop. Store em opened --> reason if you need a blade it's there opened (unless you have rug rats) Close em to -->play or carry......
Oh, come on now...... stop makin' so damn much sense!
(Then again, I guess that's why you're a doctor...... and I'm not.) :D
It's all here before your eyes / Safety is a big disguise ....
That hides among the other lies / They divide and conquer.
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Vagrant
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Post by Vagrant »

The Falcon wrote:
Vagrant wrote:
There is NO right way, just the way that's right for you :!:
Al, please don't equivocate.
Take a firm stand one way or the other! :wink:
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Advaced collectors store them closed, so they have room for more :wink:
Forrestanfo
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Re: Switchblade Storage

Post by Forrestanfo »

Switchblade storage. The Spring, will NOT lose any memory, as long as it is closed. Firearms magazines from World War 2, left loaded, functioned perfect. I wrote the Italian makers several times on this, and they concur. The spring will lose NO tension even if stored forever. They mentioned that the position in which the blade swing freely, leaves no spring under pressure. Sort of a 90 degree angle. When open, there is slight use of the back spring. Non the less, open or closed, makes no matter.
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Bill DeShivs
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Re: Switchblade Storage

Post by Bill DeShivs »

I concur- but this is a 14 year old thread.....
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