The Wharncliffe Lockback's 3-15" 8Crl3MoV stainless steel blade (sporting a long nail nick) is strong and locks up like a bear trap via a 1/8" thick
backspring. The 3.85" handle has brushed 440 stainless steel bolsters and a "badge" shield gracing brown Jigged Bone scales.
The diminutive NYMPH--just 4.75 inches fully open--doesn't have the ubiquitous
backspring found on typical slipjoints, instead incorporating a fin on the spine of the folder's Titanium frame.
The open blade isn't actually locked in position, but instead is held in place by a strong
backspring that pushes the blade toward the open or closed position.
While there have been many unique and outstanding advances in the world of cutlery, most have centered on mechanical functioning (
backspring blade locks, liner blade locks, etc.), materials (enhanced blade steel formulations, thermoplastic handles, etc.), or heat-treatment (computer controlled furnaces, cryogenic quench).
irreversible hydrolysis, the condensation reaction, polymerization, is prevented because of the elastic
backspring of the chain parts;
This double
backspring, in which painting and sculpture pass each other on the way to becoming each other, makes a very comical narrative: the sculptural painter now may contemplate himself as a painterly sculptor, as in a mirror.
The
backspring blade-kick mechanism is based on a Union Cutlery design from the 1920s, modified to fit the company's Mountain Man Trapper pattern.
He did away with the external release tab and hid it within the frame, ditched the
backspring and replaced it with a blade stop, and added an internal ball bearing detent on the blade tang to keep the blade closed inside the handle.
We just called them "pocketknives"--simple non-locking folding knives you just threw in your pocket with loose change, and when you wanted to close the blade you simply pushed it forward from the backside, overcoming the
backspring and returning it to the handle.
The technology behind the slip joint is simple: the blade has a short, notched tang that cams against a
backspring and once it overcomes the mid-point, the spring tension snaps the blade into the open position, holding it into place with spring pressure.