Bada Bing Boughta Zing

2 shot

2 shot

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Nov 5, 2010
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I handled a zing a while back and have wanted one since, bought an orange one.

It is stiff and won't flip open without some serious wrist action. I decided to take it down, polish and lube the pivot assembly and adjust it to perform like it should. Unfortunately I have met my first gorilla pivot screw. I tried heating it with a hair dryer but it didn't do the trick.

How much heat does it take? Would a soldering gun produce enough?
 
I would not use a soldering iron. Instead use the correct size torx, push down, and turn. If you use a soldering iron you might end up melting a scale around the pivot or who knows. Sometimes you have to use one of those fold out torx to get enough torque, or use some type of locking plier to help as a last resort.
 
with the knife open, hold the blade down against a counter and while continueing to apply pressure, unscrew the pivot
 
The thread title is so lame, but, I admit it made me chuckle. Well done sir. :thumbup:

I have been looking at the zing for the past couple of days. Its high on my Kershaw list now.
 
Is the back side of the pivot spinning? Did it round out the hexagon in the scale? It shouldn't be that hard to loosen the pivot screw. Its T-8 I believe for the pivot screw, make sure you are using the right size. T-6 for the frame/clip screws.

I have found on a new one you have to flip it open for a few hours straight before it gets nice and worn in. I would try that before you take it apart.

If you do open it up I would suggest checking how it rotates on the pivot and not sanding that much, it will wear with time. It should have teflon washers that should work like butter, try spraying a little lubricant of choice in there.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I again used the hair dryer and got the screw pretty hot to the touch, using the torx driver with vice-grips brought no luck in braking the locktite loose. The hex side of the pivot is turning so (barely with a lot of force) I think I am stuck. The torx screw isn't stripped but it shows sighs of my effort which I am bummed about. Kershwaw must be high quality to not have striped with the amount of force and miss applied pressure I used.

I really wanted to get in there and improve it where I can. All the knives I have disassembled so far have had metal washers and cleaning, polishing and lubing made a big difference. I don't like flooding the area with lubricant to get the washer/blade surfaces lubed.

I don't know if it was the heating or twisting of the pivot but I can now flip it open with the right technique.

Initially I wasn't attracted to the Zing, mostly because of the grooves in the blade. Seeing and holding one in person brought the uniqueness of the design package together. I like it much more than the Skyline. Certainly a Kershaw's collectors must in my opinion.

Thanks again for the help.
 
I too like the Zing more than the Skyline. I like how thick the spine is and that it tapers to a very nice slicing edge.
 
I don't really care for tantos in general, but I only have a Zing tanto and tanto serrated, only striations in the Groove family. The tanto version isn't striated, its a nice smooth pretty deep hollow grind and the 2 cutting edges, mine came Xacto sharp. Look into it. They are gonna have a new slightly bigger overseas version out soon.

You can order new pivot screw set from Kershaw for free; or send it in to them to have them look at, fix or replace it.

Try the leaning on a table method mentioned above, blade on table lean on grip, it will flex the blade enough to lock the pivot screw and twist, it kinda takes 3 hands. I have to do that with my Shallot.
 
I love my Zings!! It's the only knife I have multiples of.

Regular Zing, Zing Tanto and Green/Black Tanto Zing
 
i had the same problem and posted it in the zing thread. a wise man gave me the advice of pushing the blade flat against a counted sideways while the knife is opened. and it worked like a charm. i was very grateful. i too got my zing to over 100 degrees where it would burn my hand when i touched it. after you loosen the pivot it will be very smoothe
 
So I gave it one more shot. Thanks to peeintheshower for that technique although mmkjohnson1 posted it earlier. (my mind only saw knife open on counter in his post so I hadn't put pressure on the blade before today) It did stop the pivot from spinning but the screw won't budge.

I am happy with the action now which I can't imagine getting better and won't try to remove the pivot screw unless someone has another trick to try. My cheap ass won't allow me to spend $5 on a $40 knife to send it in to have Kershaw replace the screw. Looking at it now I realize it isn't bad at all in fact likely would not even be noticed if you didn't know the story.

Here are a couple of pictures one next to a ZT0780 which I did take down and improve the action. I don't do anything to the pivot pin unless it is rough which I have never found to be the case. On this knife I polished the washers and lubed with nano oil which made it smoother.

This 0780 I bought used, oddly it was smoother than another one I have that is NIB. At this point I am going to leave it be as it is my collector piece.

DSCN1945.jpgDSCN1948.jpg
 
Just use it and be happy and or order a free replacement pivot screw set while they are still available and if it needs to be taken apart or sharpened send it to Kershaw then.
 
hahah. i got a dremel ready to cut a flat head slit in the opposite side of the pivot screw. luckily someone replied to my post in BF!
 
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