Short answer
Case, Kershaw, Buck and Böker name a traditional slip joint's blades, springs, bolsters, liners, pins and rivets, shield and nail nick, while Kershaw's anatomy page names a modern folder's pivot, lock, liners, handle scales, thumb stud or flipper, pocket clip and lanyard hole. Each word is a maker's own, and the makers list different parts for different models.
Slip joint parts, each in its maker's words
A traditional slip joint's part names come from makers writing about their own knives, and Case's January 2019 release for one knife, its Bose Bullnose Trapper, supplies most of them.
- Blades: Case's "flat taper ground drop point and spey blades."
- Springs: Case's "stainless steel springs" and Kershaw's "steel backspacer that acts as a leaf spring."
- Liners: Case's "carefully milled interior liners."
- Bolsters: Case's "nickel-silver end bolsters" on its Canoe page.
- Pins and rivets: Case's "nickel silver pins and rivets."
- Shield: an arrowhead shield on Case's trapper, one of several shield designs Case names.
- Nail nick: the opener Kershaw and Böker call a nail nick and Buck calls "nail notches."
Modern folder parts on Kershaw's anatomy page
Kershaw's page "Correct Terms for the Key Parts of a Pocketknife" names the parts of its own modern folders "from the tip to the butt."
- Pivot: Kershaw's "part of a folding knife where the blade attaches to the handle."
- Lock: Kershaw's lock "Keeps the blade secure in the open position," and on an opened frame lock the lockbar "butts up against the backend of the blade (the tang)."
- Liners: Kershaw's "Flat pieces of metal inside the handle," which also work as the blade lock in a liner lock knife.
- Handle scales: Kershaw's handle scale creates "a surface that users can grip," and the same page's backspacer, "The enclosed area on the spine of the knife handle," differs from the slipjoint backspacer on Kershaw's lock-types page.
- Thumb stud and flipper: each "an opening mechanism" to Kershaw, one pressed with the thumb and the other with the index finger.
- Pocket clip: Kershaw says it lets users "attach the folded knife inside their pant pocket."
- Lanyard hole: Kershaw says it "Allows users to attach a lanyard to the knife."
Kershaw's blade words on that page, point to choil, are read on a fixed blade in the fixed blade parts answer.
What the Sowbelly and Sokoke listings print
The Case Sowbelly Yellow Synthetic prints the traditional words: its description lists "clip, sheepsfoot, and spey blades," a "Yellow smooth synthetic handle," "Nickel silver bolster(s)" and an "Inlay shield," and its spec table gives a 3.88 in closed length.
The Civivi Sokoke Linerlock Black G10 prints the modern ones: its spec table lists the lock as Linerlock, the handle as G10, a 3.38 in blade and a 4.38 in closed length, and its description adds a drop point blade, "Thumb stud," "Lanyard hole" and "Pocket clip."
Frequently asked questions
- Do the makers write the slip joint's spring as one word?
- Not on the maker pages quoted here. Böker's blog writes "back spring," Case and Buck write "spring," and Kershaw writes "backspacer"; the one-word heading belongs to the glossary.
- Does Case publish its own parts diagram?
- Yes. Case's Knowledge Base has a Knife Anatomy page, but its part labels sit inside a diagram image, so the Case words here come from Case's written pages.
- Do the listings name every part a knife has?
- No. A description prints what the product data for its listing states, and the Case Sowbelly Yellow Synthetic description, for one, is silent on springs and liners. For a part a listing leaves out, check the maker's own page for that model.
