Skiff Bearings, What Is all The Hype About?
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- čas přidán 10. 09. 2024
- Taking a look at why people are upgrading the caged bearings in their knives to Skiff Bearings and an explanation of what to expect if you upgrade to Skiff Bearings. Visit SkiffMade Blades here:
www.skiffmadeb...
Corrections: The J-Cape 3.0 actually does take the 1/4" skiff bearings. Though unconfirmed by me personally I have heard of some people using 5mm skiffs in a J-Cape so I must assume that was on earlier generations prior to 3.0 and 3.5...
Initially I used another brand of ceramic bearings in one of my knives, and it definitely improved the action. I used Skiff bearings on the next knife, and it was even more of an improvement. I will use Skiff bearings from now on.
Update for me after 8 months since my first comment on this video (now June 2022): I have now purchased many, many sets of Skiffs of all sizes. I've put them in American-made, Chinese-made knives, & others. I am SO glad we live in a world where these exist for such a low price! As you say in the video, I will continue to add Skiffs to every knife I get that will fit them moving forward. It's not even up for debate. Just ordered a set for my Nymble X I purchased in the drop yesterday so they'll get here around the same time.
If you have knives that take bearings & want your pivot to be as solid as possible with less likelihood of gunk getting stuck in the bearing cage cups, do yourself a favor & buy some Skiffs for it. You'll be so glad you did!
Really good info I installed Skiffs when I modded my AD20.5 and it was really just for the better quality and stability. The action's always been good, but for $13 silly not to install them. I'll be adding to more of my knives.
thank you for explaining. Now I understand why an upgrade to skiffs can be an improvement.
Hopefully we'll see a video from you soon, how we can adjust the lockbar 😉
I've been installing Skiffs on all my blades as well. I love them for the quality, as you mentioned. The bearings ZT's and Hinderers come with are underwhelming for the price, so Skiffs are a great upgrade
Skiff's "RULE!!!" I highly recommend them! :-) Peace, Stiletto :-)
Enjoyed that detailed description in bearings, definitely looking forward to lock bar adjustment video, keep on keeping on 😎🤙
Just swapped the stock bearings in my protech malibu to 3/16 skiffs. The knife is quieter and smoother overall. It might be in my head but seems like its easier to dial in the action I want thanks to the increased surface contact from the skiffs. Now when I hit that button lock its a smooth velvet-like drop shut instead of the janky guillotine like drop shut with the stock bearings.
Yeah for sure man, Its a nice upgrade in any of the Protech button locks.
@@knifeknerdreviews4609 THEY HAVE A PERFECT FIT FOR GIANTMOUSE ACE REO MAGNACUT?
the quality is better, and it actually does change the action for the better, i imagine especially on a giantmouse,
Personally I've been using Skiff's since 2017. I did notice the popularity in the koenig group really hype up in past two years but people in the forums have been in the know for a while now.
I discovered them in 2020ish, at the time he only had a couple sizes available on the website. It exploded on the scene rapidly from there, steve was asked to make a batch for ZT knives to replace KVT bearings and he did at the time, there was a group buy organized in the ZT fan group on facebook and he made a small batch, that size was never made available by him again but he continued expanding the sizes he offered based on requests until what we have now is a wide selection that covers most sizes... Looks like a few knife makers were using them prior to 2020 but it wasnt common knowledge at the time.
Man I really want to try some in my TiRant, but $12 plus $18 in shipping to Europe is just too steep. Wish they would offer cheaper letter shipping options rather than only posting in a package box.
Hey, i have this old knife, it opens okay but its not smooth.....if I install skiff bearings in my it, will it make it 'drop -shutty' ? Someone said they do one time
Thanks for the info. I was trying to find the correct size for my Evo typhoon and jcape 3.5. It did make a very noticeable difference in my Hoback Kwaiback. There is no play with the bearing in the race and it is very smooth.
As an update skiff now makes bronze washers that will take the place of bearings. This is awesome and gives us even more options. But i disagree that it doesnt make a better action. I have several knives that have gotten significantly better with skiff bearings
Yeah I have some but still prefer bearings.
Do the skiffs keep dirt out better than other bearings ? Or the same?
Thanks for all the info man. Great video!
Tldr: skiff bearings aren't necessarily smoother but they have higher rigidity and tolerances
if your knife has Stainless Steel balls, and you change to ceramic bearings, your knife will be smoother if the adjustment is the SAME......P.S. to adjust your bearings PROPERLY, drop the blade out halfway, push the lockbar so the blade hangs totally LOOSE, and adjust your Pivot to where there is NO SLACK, and NO PRELOAD .... be sure the blade is loose when adjusting.....have fun.... OnWard......
Can you upgrade a washer knife with those bearings and if so how much do they cost?
Sometimes, and they are sub 20 for a set
Late to your video but I found it very informative.
This was very informative, thanks for posting
I'll be ordering those 14 ball multirow for my Evo Typhoon, already love the 3/16 in Skiffs I ordered for my Malibus. Thanks! 😃
Can you really tell a difference between the stock ones vs skiff in the Malibu?
@@TandCEveryDay On my Malibus & Evo Typhoon, yes definitely. But I have them on a few other knives where I can barely tell, like my Smock & Ferrum Forge Exec.
I feel like the more balls that get added compared to stock bearings, the more noticeable the improvement in action. Or at least very least, improvement in lockup eliminating side to side blade play.
For the small amount of money they cost, I feel they're 100% worth it. 😃
@@TandCEveryDay You can't tell much of a difference in action, if at all. Where they really have an advantage is that SKiffs often have more balls than stock bearings. For example, for the AD20.5 the stock bearings have 10 balls each. The Skiffs that fit this knife, though, have 19 balls each. That's 9 additional balls PER SIDE, for a total of 18 extra bearings.
This provides more points of contact on the blade, which equals pressure & force distributed more evenly across the entire bearing race area of the blade & against the scales or washer on the other side. This makes for a more secure hold left & right & ultimately a stronger pivot.
Not only, that, but as he also says in the video, there is no cup on the SKiffs, it is a solid piece. So you're less likely to get foreign material stuck in there.
In a lot of cases stock bearings are totally fine. But for me, I prefer to have more balls & no cup, as well as the sort of enhanced precision that you get with the SKiffs because they really specialize in making not only great bearings, but great custom knives.
Are you going to suffer without Skiffs in your knife? Probably not. But especially for the price, to me it's worth it to pay about $15 shipped for improved bearings when I'm paying $150-$400 on a knife. It's ultimately a personal choice.
Hope this helps! :o)
@@pateralus9 I'm glad you get it... I have gotten mixed emotions about this video, some people angrily commenting nonsense for what reason idk but its quite comical...
How do you properly adjust the tension on the lock bar?
I mean it depends on the knife, every knife is built a little different so it could be done a few different ways but for just a basic tension adjustment I made a video for that.
@@knifeknerdreviews4609 Thanks, I found that video and used to adjust the detent on my Toors XT1 Charlie. The Frame lock was tight I could hardly move it. It's much better now thanks! I emailed them asking for advice a couple weeks ago still waiting for a response. lol.
I have skiffs on my small sebenza 31 and it opens and closes like butter.
I’m a huge fan of knives but I’ve never learned about them in depth I just find knives that feel solid and don’t jiggle I’ve got KaBar Kershaw Gerber Berreta Smith&Wesson those are my favorite solid knives that are not a bunch of money.
Man I don’t remember if I put the multirows in my typhoon.
Are these better then bestech's bearings in the Toucan?
I'm not familiar with that knife but suffice to say Skiff Bearings are better then all Standard generic stock bearings which of course excludes any custom bearings like the Shirogorov MRBS or Sinkevich MRBS... But if you are replacing factory bearings on an average knife, yes the skiffs are an improvement.
Very informative video! Thank you
Is there a specific/preferred lubricant to run in bearings? I’m new to bearings, I have a Kizer Sheepdog XL.
Hey Blake, I personally highly recommend Nano Oil 10 weight. Having been through the knife lube trials for several years I settled on Nano Oil and I have had customers who's knives I tuned comment that it felt way smoother then other popular brands after they got their knives back from me.
Love this video brother!
Will a bearing upgrade give you a better opening action? I have a front flipper that doesn’t work well
No, not likely unless there was something wrong with your current bearings.
Detent is where the most improvement will come from 95% of the time.
what size skiff is that on ur evo typhoon? its the full size typhoon im assuming?
Yeah full size, 3/16" multi row bearing... Its the only Reate made knife that takes this size bearing, the Micro typhoon is not even the same size.
Great info.
By adjusting the lock bar on a cheaper knife (100-200$ range) could it be fixed to fall shut?
Nothing is guranteed, there is too much variation in knives to say yes or no... So it is a "Maybe" you just have to try it and find out.
@@knifeknerdreviews4609 actually I tried it on my crjb scoria (around 75$) last night after watching this video and it has insane drop shut action now. I’m just waiting on my skiff bearings to make it perfect.
@@tymichaelis9735 Very nice bro, just make sure you check your lockup for up and down play after adjusting the lockbar. if you take it to far it can create play and it will be different with every knife how far you can adjust it.
It's funny or sad with how many do seem to believe the action is the main reason for aftermarket bearings. I can see it does change the action in time, as skiffs keep things clear inside longer. I just hope my halftrack doesn't come stiff, I don't mind a shake or two.
I only have 2 balls... man, do I feel inadequate now...
Unpopular opinion... Skiffs don't make a huge difference, especially when the ball count barely increases (from, say, 11 to 13). The only time I have noticed a SUBSTANTIAL difference (which is still marginal relative to other tweaks that can be made to the knife) was on the rare occasion that I was able to swap from stock SRBS to skiff MRBS.
I have put skiffs in almost every single knife I've owned that they would fit into, and I cannot remember a single instance of the skiffs making such a difference that I ultimately ended up keeping them in the knife. As a matter of fact, I have a pair of 5mm ID skiffs sitting right next to me in their original bag, because they made so little difference on every knife that I put them in that I ended up just keeping the stock bearings in all of the knives.
If anything, I have noticed that skiff bearings are INITIALLY better than stock bearings, but after the track has been worn into the washers and tang, I feel no tangible difference.
I hate a Holt Morpheus with stock bearings right now (stain, standard cage) and the action is as good as I could ever dream. I ordered skiffs to fit it just last night because apparently I'm a glutton for punishment. I'm interested to see if the skiffs will make a substantial difference on a knife that is this high "up there" in the knife world, but I have a feeling they won't because Holt already dialed everything in so well.
...and on the note of Holt dialing everything in so well, I think this is what people tend to forget - 99% of the action comes from the tightness of your pivot combined with the amount of lockbar tension the knife has. Sometimes body screws can make a difference, but I find that they only seem to do so when they're torqued way too hard. If I ever have a knife with an action I don't enjoy, I have always been able to simply adjust the pivot or adjust the lockbar tension and get it to where I needed it to be. Bearings, if anything, are a cherry-on-top of a knife that is already great.
Why would it make a substantial difference in the action? Im not the best speaker, so its hard for me to spit out what Im thinking when Im on camera but what I always tell people is that "Rolling on balls is rolling on balls". They have yet to invent rocket boosters for knife bearings so why would changing to a different set of ceramic balls make a noticeable difference in the action? Thats the whole point I was badly attempting to make in this video... You dont upgrade to skiffs to change the action, you do it for a better quality set of cages and better tolerances. 👊
@@knifeknerdreviews4609 Maybe there's a miscommunication here... I am simply agreeing with you and giving my anecdotal experience!
@@thepracticalblade9013 My reply is mostly for other readers that follow along so they understand what we are talking about. Because trust me there is a lot of dudes that do not get it...lol.
Nice
Funny cause they’re just normal grade 5 SiNi bearings and you can get em cheaper from their supplier Boca Bearings. Been buying from Boca and swapping into knife pivots and detents for 3-4 years.
These bearings are CNC Machined in House at Skiff Made Blades. So no it's not the same thing as Boca... The ceramic balls could come from anywhere as they are pretty much all the same thing. Secondly Boca Bearings are not cheaper then Skiffs, I know because I used to buy them before I discovered Skiffs. Boca only offers one size of caged bearings, skiff offers many sizes to fit most production knives on the market.
Doesnt seem like you watched the video if you think Skiffs are the same thing as the generic bearings sold by Boca... lol... These are custom made, Boca are standard stamped brass caged mass produced bearings, the same thing that comes in most knives from the factory.
Starts at 3:00
Lol... I've been socially distancing from people for 12 years so forgive me if I ramble to the camera a bit. 🤣
I'm going to say this for the people in the back that don't seem to grasp this concept because I've grown bored with clowns coming into the comment section on this video thinking they know something I don't know and running their mouths at warp speed without any facts or science to back up their claims. If you think Skiffs can make your knife drop shut faster please for the love of god, go spend some time on google researching ceramic bearings. Find out who manufactures them, where they are manufactured, The specifications they are made to and understand the difference in bearing grades, "Sphericity" density, hardness, the materials they are made of... All of this knowledge will help you understand why skiff bearings cannot make your knife drop shut faster. Grade 5 bearings are Grade 5 bearings, they are ALL manufactured to the same specifications and quality. They have the same level of roundness and smoothness... Skiff does not manufacture magical ceramic bearings that roll faster, he doesn't manufacture bearings at all, he uses the exact same grade 5 ceramic bearings that came in your knife from the factory. So how do his bearings roll faster then anyone else's? They do not, they cannot because they are literally the same bearings. Lets expand on this explanation shall we. What do skiff bearings actually do? They widen the stance of the bearings by a few thousandths of an inch thus spreading out the footprint of the bearings which makes the pivot slightly more stable under side torsion. They offer a solid cage which repels debris better then a stamped brass cage. These 2 things are an upgrade to your existing generic caged bearings. the balls are not upgraded, they are not better and they cannot roll faster period. If you still don't understand, I cannot help you any further. I don't think anyone can. Thanks for tuning in and I love comments but if you plan on commenting further in a negative way on this exact subject to talk trash about something you don't understand, please know I will just ban you because I have already explained it the best I possibly can.
Genuine question here about something I seen on the website for these bearings and it seemed to actually make sense. It's mentioned about these having more ball bearings in the cage than the stock bearings, it says it decreases the stress on each ball bearing. It also mentions an improved ball pathing around the pivot and having less binding. I'm definitely not insinuating this will make a knife drop shut, I feel like that has more to do with the physics and geometry of the knife design. So my question is, would those mentioned improvements theoretically give the knife action a smother feel? I know the biggest benefit to these skiff bearings is less play in the blade and keeping gunk out but I'm genuinely curious if there is a feel difference between these and a stamped cage bearing with less ball bearings. I just ordered the elementum 2 (translucent ultem) and the appropriate skiff bearings today, this is my first decent quality knife so I don't have a ton of knowledge on this hobby yet, I've spent the last year or so deep into flashlights but I've tried just about everything so I'm ready to jump into knives now. I'm happy I found your channel, you have some beautiful knives and it seems you don't just repeat what everyone else says without logical reason. When I was deep into the audio hobby it was terrible trying to find realistic information, so many people were so easily sold into snake oil and would spread it around like crazy.
@@lumntoob999 Your mileage will vary with every knife, but in many cases yes the Skiffs are smoother. It is always best to install them into a brand new knife rather than one that has been flipped 1000 times and broken in with the factory bearings because the balls on the skiffs may not ride in the exact same path as the old bearings.
@@knifeknerdreviews4609 ok it makes sense that it will vary knife to knife. Thank you for the tip on installing the bearings while my knife is brand new, it’s a really smart thought that I don’t think I would have naturally had on my own. I get that it probably doesn’t make a huge difference but why not try to get every last bit out of expensive bearings, relatively expensive for the actual amount of material and for the knife I’m putting them in. Anyway thanks again, I’ve learned some good info that will stick with me through my dive into knives.
@@lumntoob999 You're welcome bro thanks for tuning in.
More balls than the original bearing. Extremely precise solid cage washer holds the balls in much more precise arc of travel than a crappy stamped brass raceway. You're lucky if the balls don't fall out of the original bearings that literally cost less than a dollar apiece on aliexpress. And lint and dirt and crap is much less likely to work its way into the Skiff bearings, since they're not wide open like the Chinese. I don't want my blades to fall shut, especially on my finger, but I do want the bearings as smooth as hot chicken fat on a stuck doorknob, and the Skiffs definitely provide that. It's a shame if you can't feel the difference like the rest of us. No knife over $100 should come with crap stamped Chinese bearings!!! 😠
I didnt say there wasnt a difference... I said they won't make your knife more drop shut. If you're addressing me here you're preaching to the quire, I was literally the first guy to introduce the rest of the community to skiff bearings.. 🤣
I'd wish there's a bit more science and less myth in all this ceramic bearing craze.. Anyone ever wondered why so many top notch manufacturers dont put ceramic bearings in? Doesnt it strike you as odd? Well here is some science. Ceramic bearings are super hard and they roll often against a much softer metal housing. the result is no wear on the ceramics and tons of much faster wear on the metal housing. Now compare that in contrast with a bearing where balls and housing is of similar metal hardness - they last a lot longer and show a lot less wear because hardness is similar. HERE now you know why ceramic bearings are a bad idea in my opinion and in the opinion of most of the experts. But hey go ahead and spend extra money to make your knife worse...
Ok now let me explain the science of why you are wrong. First of all the entire asian continent of knife manufacturers which have been dominating the knife scene for the past 10 years all use ceramic bearings because they started making knives after ceramics became popular. The very few American companies that still use steel bearings started making knives much earlier before ceramic was popular and they have refused to adapt to the modern world. Also Steel bearings are cheaper so they save money in production. Secondly yes ceramic is way harder then the 440c typically used in steel bearings so it retains its shape over the life of the product, does not deform or corrode. As for Ceramic bearings causing wear to the metal surfaces in a knife, this only happens if the pivot is over tightened which is either user error or factory error. If the pivot is tensioned correctly no wear will happen. Steel Bearings last longer? lmao! False... But now lets talk bearing grades and why that matters. The standard today is a grade 5 ceramic which has a sphericity (Roundness) 50% more consistent then the closest graded steel bearing which is a grade 10... In other words Ceramic bearings are all nearly perfectly round and steel bearings are not, thus they provide a smoother action in knives. So to recap, Ceramics are rounder, smoother, stronger and do not corrode. The only negative to ceramics is that rookie knife users aka people that have no clue what they are doing or talking about sometimes end up damaging their pivots by over tightening the pivot because the ceramic bearings do not flex like steel. Let me know how else I can help, 🙂 Aloha
@@knifeknerdreviews4609 sorry dont think you know why other knife mfgt not use steel bearings. I think your suspected reason is wrong. Let me give you a reason. If someone overtightens or has wear, with ceramic beraing you'll replace half the knife. If your bearings are same or softer if someone misuses overtightens or whatever the knife, you just replace the bearing. And even if not oversight - the wear will be 100% NOT on the bearing when you use ceramic. So my guess is the following. The long old school knife manufacturers want to build a better product and use steel. The new ones dont have that much experience yet of ther long time used knifes coming back for repairs - they just follow the craze and succumb to the marketing spin and use ceramic. Someone should do a thorough analysis on ceramic vs steel. Two same knifes, same tightness, I bet you there is zero difference how much time it takes to open the knife etc..
@@DroneChannelUSA Which oldschool manufacturers are you specifically talking about? Because there are only a few that I can think of that still use steel bearings and hold any relevance in the industry. I'm just wondering whom it is you think is smarter than everybody else... In case I wanna invest in stocks in the steel bearing industry before they surge back to the top and rise above all this "marketing hype" that has made ceramic bearings far more popular and widely used...
6:56 The word is "Unequivocally," not "Unequivocably." Other than that, GREAT VIDEO!!!
Totally... I no speak or spell good but I can shotgun a whole coors light.
@@knifeknerdreviews4609 The only way I could shotgun a Coors Light is with an actual shotgun.
I do not hold liquor well. I'm talking one mixed drink and I'm lecturing the room on how rat meat could feed the world forever and why Howard Cosell would have made the best President of the United States EVER -- and all of this wearing nothing but my underwear.
Not a pretty sight.
@Adam Churvis Honestly I think you could be onto something there. Maybe you should drink more often. 👍
@@jdisdetermined You know, you're right. I'm going to take your advice this weekend. Got plenty of freshly-laundered underwear at the ready, too.
You're a good man, Keith Olsen. Perhaps the very best of men.
informative, but a lot of rehashing... felt you coulda squeezed in the same amount of facts and an explainer on how to adjust the tension. Don't mean to be overcritical tho. You make great videos man, keep up the good work.
Aint no thing brutha. Appreciate the input and yeah I ramble incoherently on video 🤣 truth be told I am an absolute anti social loaner so the fact I spoke on these videos at all is damned impressive.
Just a tip : do not touch the bearings with your hand directly . Use a tweezer or something to manipulate.
Why not?
@@knifeknerdreviews4609 , the greasy and small particles from your hand can contaminate the ball bearings and scratch internally . It is a recommendation from most of bearing suppliers . Cheers and thanks for sharing the video .
Negative. These are ceramic bearings. Any oils from your hand aren't going to effect them at all. And once the knife is back together they're not sealed, pocket crud and whatever else can still get in them and none of that will affect them. There's absolutely circumstances where this would be true, however when it comes to knives and ceramic bearings, no. You can jam your hands down the back of your pants, dig for gold and then install these bearings and it will have zero effect on their performance.
@@TacticalPlaytime well , I would prefer to use a glove or tweezer anyway.
@@TacticalPlaytime 🤣
Clearly you have no clue on mechanical engineering aspects ceramic bearings are 10 to 20 times harder not allowing the ball to deform so they absolutely will make the blade more smooth, will you be able to feel the difference only marginally but you can have less preload on the actual pivot because the bearing is harder and it will create a higher torsional and side load stability with the bearings being of a much higher hardness and obviously they will last pretty much forever and they are self lubricating so yes they absolutely will make the knife smoother to a measurable degree probably not to the normal human but it absolutely will make the knife smoother with less preload which will allow the knife to drop shot easier so most of what you were saying in the video is incorrect.. and ceramic balls are a massive percentage higher and overall roundness creating a more level and even rolling surface than steel balls so they’re just better in every way…. So yes it absolutely does matter between the grade of balls from steel to ceramic here in the superbike world we say a full horsepower gain basically in losing friction so we don’t actually gain horsepower but we’re allowed to make a horsepower more because of the reduction in friction same applies to any ceramic upgrade option less energy will be lost in the friction allowing whatever component to function much easier quicker with less drag.
If you had done any actual research on this instead of just parroting what you heard "in the super bike world" you wouldnt have needed to type that bible on yt to find out how wrong you are... First of all Ceramics are 15% to 20% harder then Steel, not 15 to 20X....Which you would know if you had found out what the HRC is of each material.. Secondly the sphericity of bearings are graded 1000 to 3, the lower number being the roundest. Knives typically run Grade 5 Bearings in either steel or ceramic... Grade 3 isnt used in knives at all and it would be such a nominal difference not even machines benefit from it. Lastly Knives are not high speed instruments... The reason higher hardness and roundness matters in high speed applications such as super bikes is because of Heat... Since your knife bearings do not even spin at 1 rpm let alone 10,000 rpm heat is not a factor... So before you spout off about something you dont actually know, have the facts. 😉
Boys! Boys! Hehehe!
Skiffs definetely make your knife smoother and much closer to drop shutty. To say the quality of the bearing doesnt matter when it comes to drop shutty is the dumbest $hit ive ever heard. Just look at the comments. Everyone will say the action is noticeably improved.
You misinterpreted literally everything I said but... Rolling on balls is rolling on balls. You cannot change the level of friction by changing balls to different balls that are literally the exact same balls... 🤣 That's just not how it works. Any perceived improvement in the level of "Drop shuttiness" comes from the act of disassembling, cleaning and tuning the knife differently then it was before the bearing swap. Skiffs will spread the stance of the balls out and increase rigidity, that is what they do... What they do not do is add turbo boost to your drop shutiness... If you think they do, thats called a placebo effect my dude.
Knives on bearings have almost no friction as it is, the level of friction in the action is determined by 2 things... How tight the pivot is and how much spring tension the lockbar is putting on the blade... If you remove the lockbar from the equation the blade is free spinning on the bearings with literally nothing holding it back unless the pivot has been over tightened... So the drop shuttiness is quite literally determined 99% by how much tension the lockbar is putting on the blade... A clean and or lubed detent track increases smoothness and drop shuttiness... Different bearings do not.
@Knife Knerd Reviews You really have no clue do you? Google ”friction” when you get a chance. Why don't we use just bushings instead of bearings? Much better lateral stability... oh wait it's because it has exponentially less friction under load.... once again google ”friction”. You can thank me later.
@@Arthur-kq7qr You just got schooled by somebody who actually knows what the fk they are talking about but you're too dense to know it... Its fkn hilarious honestly, you just got memed boyeee.. 🤣