Advice please!! on Pohan Leu Bluephin Flipper!! Lockbar issue?!

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Striderco

Striderco

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Please my fellow knife enthusiasts, help me!! I just got a beauty in the mail! A Pohan Leu Bluephin Flippper! If you dont know what it is you can check it out here: Removed link so any bored mod wudnt ding me! So search for the knife if u want to see it!
First impression I love the knife!! It seems very well made and the blade and grinds are wicked cool! And sharp!! The flipper works great! However when you flick her open she locks up so tight you have to use two thumbs and really force it to pop open! And as a former powerlifter I have strong hands! And what makes it worse is it doesnt have any jimping there and the upper scale seems as it should be machined back a little to expose the very edge of the lockbar! Does anyone own one of these and have any input?? Do they need like a break in period? I only have 3 days to return it if I want to! And I dont want to! But I cant live with the way it currently functions, or malfunctions rather! Please chime in!! Thank you!! :D
 
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I tried the pencil trick already! It seemed to work, but only once and then the extreme lockup again!? Don't these makers and dealers test their stuff out before sending it out??!!
 
Adam try getting a hold of the maker maybe he can fix the issue. If not then I would contact ACK and ask for a refund.
 
you might want to remove that link. It does link to a page with price etc on it...could be a rules violation.
 
Yeah I ve emailed both already. I guess I was hoping it would "break in"! But maybe not huh? I just cant believe that for $600 people would send out a knife that doesnt function properly! I am really disappointed as this is a very cool knife besides the issue! I ve always heard good things about Pohan.
 
welcome to the wonderful world of titanium framelocks.

why all makers still don't heat treat or carbidize the lock is puzzling.
 
I own a bunch of them and never had an issue like this! My thumbs are literally sore right now from playing with this knife today!!
 
Striderco said:
I own a bunch of them and never had an issue like this! My thumbs are literally sore right now from playing with this knife today!!
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lol yea, when I get a new knife with a sticky lock my thumb is bruised the next day.

If you keep at it with the pencil on the tang, some eventually lose the stickness. I've had more success on Emerson than others though.
 
So I emailed Pohan and here is his response-
"As the lock is opened several times it will break in.
In the closed position take a pencil and draw where the locks up on the blade. The pencil lead will make it smooth out till it breaks in.
Let me know if that works out. Its easier to disengage by using your right index finger."
I ve got a bunch of lead all in there and it does seem to help but just for like one flip and open. Then back to extreme lockage!! Im kinda on the fence about this one?! I ve never received a brand new knife with the lock in this condition. And the answer I get is it ll break in?? I just dont know?! Still leaning towards sending her back I think. :confused:
 
Hey mate. I have had this issue on a number of higher end custom knifes - and they do eventually break in.

One other trick is black sharpie (and ya it has to be sharpie) on the engage point.

One trick to disengage the lock is to do it blade down with your index finger (figured that out with my WT RYU).

You may need to cycle thought the open/ close 500-1000 times but once broken in it will be perfect - so my suggestion is if you like it - keep it and keep opening closing it!

JD
 
I own a ton of ti framelocks and i ve never had one quite like this! My thumbs are actually sore today from playing around with this thing yesterday! Gonna work at it this weekend but if it doesnt improve i ll prob send her back seeing that the dealer I got her from only gives you 3 days to return an item.
 
I wuld comtact Po Directly - he's an amazingly cool guy, and I can't imagine he wouldn;t want to help you out. I LOVE the knife I had him make me, and he was extremely paient with all my requests.
 
I have been in touch with Pohan! He seems like a really great guy!! He was very prompt at responding to my email! He had a few suggestions to try but i ve already tried them all. The #2 pencil lead, the sharpie. I truly believe its a machining error. He probably needed to remove like a hair more metal and it would probably be ok. I just dont see it "breaking" in from the looks of the lockbar angle. I looked at a bunch of other framelocks i have and they all look similiar where the lockbar meets the tang. But Pohans doesnt seem right. Like I said I think it is just a mistake. Im not knocking Pohan or his work. Everything else on the knife is amazing!! Honestly im really disappointed! I would love to keep this but im not willing to gamble on a $600 knife "breaking" in or not. Not when its hurting my thumbs! All my other framelocks operate like butter! I think it would have been nice if Pohan had offered for me to send it to him rather than return it to the dealer. Oh well, plenty of other killer knives out there to grab!! :(
 
If it's that bad, the geometry is off, and i'd send it back.
 
Yeah thats what im thinking. Everyone makes mistakes! I ll give Pohan another try maybe?! His grinds are wicked! But so is his lockup! It doesnt come with a small pry bar to disengage the lock!
 
That shouldn't happen. If you've tried pencil and sharpie and it hasn't helped, I would return it. I have had several framelocks over the years and a Marty Young framelock is one of my current carry knives and none have jammed up like that before.
 
My Bluephin was pretty much the same when I got it and it was used. Although not much use. Perfect now and wouldn't change a thing on it. Best frame locking folder I think I've owned and I have owned literally hundreds of them. The Bluephin stands alone as a tactical edc. keepem sharp
 
Hey BfloHump I just got a Marty Young too and its as smooth as my Sebenzas! I just dont feel that this Bluephin is right. I ve had framelocks that were a little tight but this is extreme! I am a former powerlifter so I know my hands are strong and i have to use quite a bit of force to eventually pop the lock open! Sliced my thumb on the blade while doing this! And I hate doing that to any framelock! You shouldn't have to! And the Bluephin doesn't have a lockstop device either. Please don't take this all the wrong way. Im not trying to tarnish Pohans reputation, I just think hes an honest guy that maybe made an honest oversight while making this particular knife. Like I ve said before I dont want to get rid of this knife! I think its awesome other than the lockup issue. It seems very well built and is a work of art! I have seen nothing even close to this design! Very cool knife!! But..........it has a problem. I just dont feel like "breaking" it in by opening it and closing it a bunch of times and bruising my fingers and thumbs while doing so! No thanks! I grabbed my Les George Wilson Combat flipper and opened and closed that. Now thats the way its supposed to function!! :thumbup:
 
I agree. No knife should be THAT difficult to close. Especially not a custom knife that costs over $500. Its actually a bit ridiculous. The whole purpose of a folder is that it should be easily opened and closed, otherwise it becomes useless to you really.

Striderco said:
Hey BfloHump I just got a Marty Young too and its as smooth as my Sebenzas! I just dont feel that this Bluephin is right. I ve had framelocks that were a little tight but this is extreme! I am a former powerlifter so I know my hands are strong and i have to use quite a bit of force to eventually pop the lock open! Sliced my thumb on the blade while doing this! And I hate doing that to any framelock! You shouldn't have to! And the Bluephin doesn't have a lockstop device either. Please don't take this all the wrong way. Im not trying to tarnish Pohans reputation, I just think hes an honest guy that maybe made an honest oversight while making this particular knife. Like I ve said before I dont want to get rid of this knife! I think its awesome other than the lockup issue. It seems very well built and is a work of art! I have seen nothing even close to this design! Very cool knife!! But..........it has a problem. I just dont feel like "breaking" it in by opening it and closing it a bunch of times and bruising my fingers and thumbs while doing so! No thanks! I grabbed my Les George Wilson Combat flipper and opened and closed that. Now thats the way its supposed to function!! :thumbup:
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My ZT0560 was sticky (very) like this. I tried the pencil/sharpie trick without success. This knife had ~60% engagement. I bent the locking bar till the engagement went to ~30%. The stickiness went away.

Not sure I would recommend doing the same on a custom knife. It should have come perfect.
 
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