Assisted Opening: how to easily engage?

[MTHall720]

I have had several AO folders all if which opened very easily. I just acquired a CRKT The Natural. Very nice looking knife. For some reason I find that it takes a lot more force to open it than anything I have had before. I have lubed it, and adjusted pivot screw but still having trouble making it open easily with little pressure applied. any suggestions appreciated.

 

[bdmicarta]

I have the same issue with my CRKT knife, the Delegate. Mine has a detent in the liner that locks into the blade when closed and serves as an actual lock. You have to push the liner over with their telescoping thumb button before you can open it. This might not be too bad except that this is a small knife and it takes a lot of force to do this. I would have to disassemble the knife and take off part or all of the detent to make mine easier to open.

I have various unassisted knives, some of which have similar detents to keep the blade closed, but they are all much easier to operate. How much lock and how easy to open seems to vary from knife to knife, but many of them seem to require too much force to open in my opinion.

 

[MTHall720]

Thanks for the info. I had a feeling there was something I just wasn't seeing. Never heard of anything like this before but this is my first Outburst blade.
Right now the only other AO knives I have are very easy to open. One is the Benchmade Barrage and the other is Kershaw Whirlwind.

 

[bdmicarta]

As you close the blade the last few degrees do it slowly and watch the linerlock to see if it moves. It will look like a small knob projecting out of the side of the linerlock drops into a small hole in the side of the blade. With mine I cannot see the hole in the blade but when the blade is partially open I can see the protrusion on the side of the liner lock.

I have a Leaterman Skeletool and it was a bit hard to open for the same reason. The knob on the liner drops into the thumb hold when the blade closes. In this photo you can see an arc on the blade where the little knob rubs as the blade opens and you can see where it would drop into the thumb hole. Since I had access to the back side of the hole I put a tiny little bevel on the edge of the hole with a dremel tool and that helped the blade to open up a little bit easier. It did intruduce a small amount of play in the blade when it is closed but that isn't a problem and is only noticeable if you look for it very carefully.

 

[MTHall720]

I appreciate the advice and the picture. I think I am starting to see now what you mean. I have come to the conclusion that although I love the looks of my Natural, the opening mechanism isn't for me. Looks like I may either put mine in the trade section or move it to the bay area.