Magic!

I recently picked up a Boker Joule. The name interested me. A Joule is a unit of energy or work. What’s a Joule, you ask? It’s the classical physics definition of the work you do when you lift a medium-size apple one meter off the ground. In other words not much. That’s not true of this knife.

Boker Joule

The design is by Michael Reinhold, whose designs are seen in several high-end companies like Boker and Spyderco. Michael is a part-time knife designer set up in Crooked Lake, Indiana. He started making knives from old circular saw blades and fell in love with bladesmithing. 

The 2.4-inch D-2 blade is a flat-grind Wharncliffe blade. The blade sports Michael’s maker’s mark, a stylized hummingbird. Why a hummingbird? I don’t know. Perhaps the mark doesn’t know the words. 

The handle is black G-10 and stainless steel. I like the reinforced lanyard hole and the frame lock. And that’s where the problem lies with my knife. My Joule doesn’t always lock open. It’s not uncommon. The tolerances required to allow the frame lock to come about halfway across the width of the tang square end are tight. Many knives require you to open the blade forcefully so the blade flexes slightly past the fully open position. This allows the frame or liner lock to fully engage.

I'm pointing to the partially engaged frame lock

 I could have sent the knife back, but I always need something to blog about, so let’s try fixing it ourselves. 

 I took the clip off to get it out of my way, removed the pivot screw, and then… It was at that point I noticed the knife was working perfectly. The frame lock slipped nicely across the square tang end like it was designed to. 

Fixed!?!

What could I do? 

I put the Joule back together and called it a day. All I can say is it must have been some tension distortion I relieved when I removed that screw. 

It’s a nice knife. The removable clip lets me carry it the way I like to, tip-up in the right pocket. You might want to get one for yourself. It’s a nice urban/office/going-to-church knife. Boker has it for $59.95, but you can search around and find a better price.