Starmate - Has Anyone Tried Addressing the Weak Detent

[ABX2011]

I'm curious if anyone has a new Starmate and thinks the detent is strong enough. If not, did you send it in or try any modification to improve it?
The detent on mine is the weakest of any liner lock I own. I own mostly Spydercos. It reminds me of my old Benchmade Mini AFCK from way back. Super weak detent. The (heavy) blade shakes out easily and I'm worried that when carrying tip up it will bite me.

[ABX2011]

I would just add that the lockbar tension is strong and the ball bearing sticks out plenty far, in my estimation. So I imagine the problem is that the detent isn't large enough or isn't lined up perfectly with the ball bearing.

[jylong_away]

I honestly can't comment on the starmate per se, as I don't have one, but I certsinly have modded the detent on my Domino...made it much stronger, and therefore a more effective flipper. There's a guy on youtube callwd Modifiedz, who demonstrates how to do it on hinderers, but the principle is the same. I used a dremel diamond attachment by hand, rather than a drillbit like he did.

[SpyderNut]

I've never had that problem with my Starmate, but then again, it is the older version.

Having said that, I imagine you could tweak the mechanism on your knife fairly easily. (WARNING: Please note that taking any Spyderco knife apart will void the manufacturer's warranty).

If the detent hole on the blade is too small for the detent ball to fully engage, I would *very carefully* try to ream it out to allow for a closer fit. I use a standard 1/16" drill bit to accomplish this on my handmade folders. (FWIW, when using a 1/16" dia. detent ball, I use a #54 drill bit for the actual detent ball hole in the liner. This allows for a very snug fit). I would personally use a drill press when doing this vs. trying to free-hand with a Dremel. (It can be done, but might be a little risky).

[ABX2011]

Thanks to both of you for the responses. Very helpful.

[Liquid Cobra]

I received a used Starmate in a trade which had the weak detent you are talking about. I sent it to Spyderco to see if they could fix it. They ended up sending me a brand new replacement. Although it had a better detent than the first one it is still incredibly weak. I basically just live with it as is. If you fix yours please let me know how you did it!

[crow2071]

Removed

[gbelleh]

Well, it seems not all Double Bevel detents are weak. My Starmate's detent is definitely weak, but my Double Bevel needs a good hard shake before the blade opens, and I wouldn't say it has a detent issue at all.

[jylong_away]

I've never had that problem with my Starmate, but then again, it is the older version.

Having said that, I imagine you could tweak the mechanism on your knife fairly easily. (WARNING: Please note that taking any Spyderco knife apart will void the manufacturer's warranty).

If the detent hole on the blade is too small for the detent ball to fully engage, I would *very carefully* try to ream it out to allow for a closer fit. I use a standard 1/16" drill bit to accomplish this on my handmade folders. (FWIW, when using a 1/16" dia. detent ball, I use a #54 drill bit for the actual detent ball hole in the liner. This allows for a very snug fit). I would personally use a drill press when doing this vs. trying to free-hand with a Dremel. (It can be done, but might be a little risky).

The video I mentioned describes exactly this method in fact. Worked really well for my Domino, allowing it to flip out much more effectively. The only thing I did differently was use this dremel bit, and did it by hand. The taper allows for very gradual increases in the detent hole size, and a more tapered hole, to fit the curve of the ball bearing. Also, the fact that its diamond seems to allow for good material removal(go slow!) even when rotating by hand...I'd recommend half turns at a time, then reassess.

I should probably re-stress Spydernut's point that this only works if the detent hole is smaller than the ball bearing when you start (ie. if the whole detent bearing doesn't sink into the hole). If the detent already fully engages, as with the PM2 (where the detent hole is much bigger than the bearing) then it won't make any difference.

[ABX2011]

Wow, I surprised that dremel bit removed enough material when using without power. Good to know.