How Does an OTF Knife Work? | In-Depth Demo
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Here I dissemble an OTF knife to demonstrate how it operates.
Hope y'all enjoy!
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Front and Rear detent
01:25 - Steel plate
01:58 - Thumb Slide
02:25 - Main Spring
03:25 - How it "shoots" out
04:17 - How it "shoots" back in
05:10 - Super Fast Explanation
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* THIS VIDEO WAS CREATED FOR EDUCATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. USE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN USING OR HANDLING ANY OF THE ITEMS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO, YOU TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK OF DOING SO. DO NOT ATTEMPT ANYTHING SEEN IN THIS VIDEO AT HOME.*
I’ve watched 6 videos on this subject today (how does an OTF knife work) but your video has the best explanation, thank you 👍🏼
Thank YOU! I appreciate the comment
I found a microtech OTF knife in bad shape and wanted to fix it. It was different than the knife in your video but your explanation was so thorough I was able to understand the fundamentals of this design. I was able to dismantle, clean and repair the knife. Thanks to you I have a cool EDC knife. Keep up the good work.
Jeeze, lots of videos trying to explain on here but not one is concise enough to make any sense. Yours however was to the point and super informative. Understood the mechanism. Thank you!
Thank you for this comment and I'm glad the video was informative!
Perfect explanation. Objective, straight and detailed.
Easily got my Thumbs Up! Was no stupid or redundant music. Actually narrated by a real person and not the pathetic ai. Provided a lot of details. Thank you
Simple and clear to explain how it works. Good video.
Thanks ! Last video I saw did not explain how the spring works. You have the ability to explain in detail how it works. Thank you.
Great Explanation. Thank You Soooo much. Who ever designed this is a real genius!
Well done! This was the first video that made sense. I am sad that now the magic of dual OTF is gone, but thank you :)
Thank you for posting this well made and understandable video.
Applying years of gun smithing, race engine building and machine shop experience…….it seems only logical that IF one was to mirror polish the contact surfaces on the plate and the detents, the “trigger pull weight” can be dramatically lessened on these which would provide a much lower amount of pressure necessary to be applied to the thumb switch in order to fire the knife! 🤔🤔
So basically the two springs (some OTF knives use only one spring) are under some stretch tension all the time. Moving the thumbswitch adds some more spring stretch tension and releases the little catcher tabs on either end and the blade slides either forward or backward. Pretty smart idea making a spring do work in either direction. I just wonder how much thrusting force an OTF knife can withstand before the blade collapses back into the handle. Seeing the guts of the OTF makes me think of a glorified utility knife for some reason. I guess it is like seeing the sausage being made. Great job on your video here.
Correct, 1 spring is under tension when the blade is in and the other spring goes under tension when the blade is out.
An OTF is not ideal for thrusting or stabbing. It's a slashing knife and it really is a glorified utility knife, no matter how a manufacturer "refines" the innards, utilizes fancy metals like titanium or what-not and raises the price. An OTF knife is a super convenient one-handed utility knife that makes total sense when you only have one free hand. There's some automatic knives with a lockback configuration, necessitating two handed use at least on withdrawing the blade. The king of all automatic knives is a side opening/swing out button-automatic. Even if the deploy spring fails, the blade can still be pulled out manually and locked into place. The archaic Italian switchblade stilettos are just as good and have a very useful swinging bolster release.
@@ACommenterOnRUclipsThat's not how it works. Some designs use one big spring, while this one uses 2 smaller springs to do the same job. Both springs are under tension all the time. When sliding the release backwards, both springs create extra tension in the forward direction. When sliding the release forward, both springs create extra rearward tension.
@ My description is 100% correct, saw the animation on here on YT ...
Thanks dude! This is the best explanation ever
Fantastic explanation bro! Thanks for being detailed about it
I've had mine for years. I love it.
I was curious what this extra spring was for that came with my otf knife so I was an idiot and disassembled my knife and it took me a good 20 minutes before I found this video and was able to put it all back together. This video saved me so much time, thanks!
This is such an amazing explanation video on how the spring action work on a switchblade. Can’t help but notice that your thumb was bandaged, hope you didn’t injured it while making this video. Thanks for the great clip on clarifying how switchblade works!
This was an awesome video , thanks ! I had mine in a drawer for a while. Pulled it out today and tried it. And , it wouldn't work at all. Not sure what happened just sitting there. I took it apart but , wasn't really sure how it worked. Put it back together a couple times. Still wouldn't work. I watched this video , took my time and eased it back together. And , it works as good as new. Thanks again !
Thank you for the easy to follow explanation. The mechanism is actually more simple than I thought.
Thanks. I just got a Lightning OTF, the older version, and I was wondering how that works so easily. I guess it doesn't take a lot of force from your thumb to move a blade in and out, but it does kind of seem like magic.
I'm so happy I found your video. This was an amazing explanation. I had tried other videos first and they didn't explain it that good. This video is the one that actually taught me. Thanks for taking the time to explain this!
What a concise and clear explanation. Bravo!
I just bought my first otf and I love it. Your video is very cool. Thank you.
Great explanation!! Thanks
thank you for the explanation it was very clear and amazing
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the video
Thanks really explanatory. I didn’t want to take mine apart i was worried i wouldn’t be able to put it back together lol. Im not the best mechanically
Awesome vid. Everything is explained really clearly and makes sense 10/10
GREAT vid!! I'm more of a folder guy (just 1 otf) but I've always been curious as to how they work. That was clear, concise, just well explained.. 👍👍🔪
That was a very well done video. Your explanation was spot on a very well done. Great job!
Found a Benchmade OTF on the side of the road a while back, and I loved that thing. I basically used it as a glorified box opener, but it was extremely handy and I used it every day. Then it started getting stuck open. Took it apart, thoroughly cleaned it and hit it with dry lube. Still gets stuck out. Thought about buying a new one, then I saw the particular knife I have is like $400. I was hoping to glean some insight as to why it would close normally, but I'm still stumped.
Send it into Benchmade , they will probably fix it no questions asked.
a knife that doesnt even have a tang, is indeed a glorified box opener
@dumbcook42if you don't understand knives I guess thats's a valid claim. Billions of knives aren't full tang son.
Nice vid. I’m trying to fix a microtech otf rn and this helps understanding the internals. Sadly though I think I’m gonna ship it in because I’ve done everything from cleaning it and relubing it
Great video sir
Very nicely explained and easy to follow. Thank you! :)
Defiantly the very best explanation thank you
And definitely as well.
Very good demo! Thanks!
I have one of these knives and it is by far my favorite out of all my knives I now see how it works n is pretty badass thanks for video
Great job explaining the functionality!!
Thanks for this. So well done.
u really explained it very well
Thank you, I glad you found it informative!!
Excellent explanation
Good explanation. Thank you
Thank you man ,im working on making an assassins creed hidden blade and am hoping to use this mechanism
not as complicated as I thought it would be, still whoever figured this out is big brained
They did it without a computer and CAD but probably made a few mockup knives for proof of concept. Just like the big brained guys who developed airplanes without a computer. Staggering intellect.
Nice video you really helped me understand how the knife works. there really hard to get here in canada I was very curious how it works and I don't wanna take mine apart an risk braking it or something
Thanks，I learn it's disassembly
Works on left thumbs, especially
Awesome video
Excellent explanation,thanks.
saved my knife! thank you
I always thought a otf blade looks impossible like its perpetual motion how can a blade open and close automatically with no added force but this shows you how the force from moving the switch is used to transfer engery
Great video. Would love an explanation of how the blade stops if it encounters an obstacle / resistance while opening though. That’s an excellent safety feature of these OTF knives and always perplexing. Is it because it has forward momentum from the spring while opening but doesn’t reach the detent to “lock it open” so it just stops the momentum?
Thank you! I have a short video on explaining just that, it's titled "What happens if an OTF knife OPENS in your POCKET!!" hope you find it informative!
@@ThumbStuds Thanks for responding. I watched your video short on OTF knives opening in your pocket. But it doesn’t explain *why* it stops itself. I’m guessing because the spring launches it forward but it never reaches full lock out at the detent so it is stopped by whatever obstacle it encounters. Seem right?
Yeah, the power of the spring is pretty weak, if it hits an object it doesn’t have the force to keep travelling to engage with the detent to lock it in place. That’s why you can just fix a not fully opened OTF by pulling out the blade and let it engage with the detent and it will work again.
Very useful video! Thank you! : )
Nice. Thanks
Can one in theory create a circular one with transparent cylinders as a blade, complete with lights and speaker?
The Lightning OTF is a great knife for the money. I have a Microtech that is impossible for me to retract so I don't use it. Deploying it is no joy either. Lightning for the win.
Hi, what’s the trick to keep the spring clip on the front side when placing the cover and thumb button back on ?
06:02 That's one word is enough to explain the entire mechanism about how it works
(*anyway I'm a homemade knife too )
The dtents as you called them where can I get the springs for them one of mine broke
How are the detent springs installed? Are they just wedged between the body and the detent or is there some kind of mechanical connection?
thank you.
Where did you get that spring replacement? It's the same one i need but cat find it.
Thanks
thanks ! now i can buy one =}
Can it somehow fly out or is that not possible
Great video, indeed. Now, can we laugh about the bandaid?
My spring on my otf is always derailing/stops working, it’s brand new and I used it once, in and out. Then I go to try it again and it doesn’t come out anymore. I opened it up and “fixed it”. It worked then broke again the Same way. What can I do?
Get a knew knife unfortunately. Sounds like the item is defective.
Ok, now how do we customize it to work like the assassins creed hidden blades?
Now can you demonstrate how resetting the blade works
Assassin's hidden blade mechanism)))
explains why when you get the knife stuck between tabs you just flick it out to reset it
So basically, an OTF knife is just a spring assisted, gravity knife.
I don’t understand how the spring tensions itself when the blade doesn’t get deployed
That’s the point - the sprint isn’t tensioned when not deployed. You start moving the slider and only then it starts tensioning. It won’t deploy because it’s stuck by the detents. Once the detents are depressed by the metal plate the loaded springs fling the blade to the other side.
@@nabins52 that makes sense because I put something in front of my stepdads knife to see what happens when it doesn’t get fully deployed and it wouldn’t retention and I thought it was broken but after a few times redeploying it it was working again. So you are saying that the actual detent holds the tension?
The spring/springs are ALWAYS under some slight tension in either the open or closed position. Moving the thumbswitch adds even more spring tension and releases either the forward locking tab or the rear locking tab and the blade is flung in the right direction. Pretty cool fooling a spring into working both ways by always being under tension.
👍🖖
I get so tired of self proclaimed experts claiming OTFs come will come "off the track" and have a "built in safety mechanism" lol
1:36 "when this slides FORD" 1:43 "blade to move FORD"
He clearly says "Chevy".
Fucking marvelous engineering
You edited out the part where you cut your thumb.
Out the front more like out “tender” front
You cut yourself with the knife? Thats what im worried about...😕
just as I thought. OTF knives are inherently weak
ok cut the bullshit out talke to muh