IKBS Bearing System - Other Knife Related

IKBS Bearing System Info

Description

IKBS, short for Ikoma Korth Bearing System, is a bearing system that was initially invented to facility smoother operation in balisongs. Since then the IKBS has been used in many different knives by many different makers. The Ikoma Korth Bearing System is named after the two knifemakers that created it, Flavio Ikoma of Ikoma Knives, and Rick Lala of Korth Knives.

Now, knifemakers can pay a licensing fee in order to use the IKBS system and mark on their knives. Some knifemakers using the IKBS system include Michael Burch, Darrel Ralph, Charles Marlowe, Todd Begg, and of course Flavio Ikoma and Korth Knives.

As you can see from the photos below, the IKBS uses small ball bearings that sit in a space around the pivot. There is not ball race, they simply use the pivot as a race, making the system very affordable to implement. Michael Burch told me that the type of ball bearings he uses are 1/16 inch hardened 440C Stainless Steel bearings.

IKBS Bearing System Examples