Before I send it back to ZT... Spinning pivot help?

Kamoe

Kamoe

Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Messages
183
Okay, I got a ZT 0770cf in a trade and this pivot is helplessly stuck. Things I've tried:

Pressure on the blade: Applying pressure to either side of the blade while attempting to unscrew failed. I've applied this to all of the methods listed below.
Boiling it: Tried holding the pivot in boiling hot water for 3 minutes, timed, then attempting to unscrew. Pivot still spun.
Tape: Applied tape to either the male or female pivot screw. Masking tape, duct tape, and tailor's tape all failed.
Dual wrench: Tried using two allen wrenches of T7 torx size, one on each pivot, to attempt unscrewing it. I gave up at a certain point in fear of stripping the screws.

Is there anything else I can try before I'm forced to send it to ZT so I can disassemble it and de-assist this damn thing?
 
I feel like an idiot for not trying that. Time to boil some water, I'll get back on the results.
 
Amazingly, that yielded no result. Still stuck. Starting to fear for this blade. Any other ideas? If not, I'm going to head to the library tomorrow to print out the warranty form, but I'd rather not if I can help it.
 
When dealing with Loctite-ed screws, I apply the tip of a soldering iron to the screw to heat it. This will apply more heat directly to the screw than boiling.

Of course, if the pivot is cross-threaded, then that's a different problem altogether.
 
I don't have immediate access to a soldering iron, unfortunately, otherwise I think that would've solved my issue. I'm not exactly sure of the nature of my problem, this is the first time I've had a pivot do this, and the knife was recieved via trade so whatever the guy might've done to it before it fell into my hands is a mystery. Does ZT usually loctite their pivots out of the factory?
 
I don't own any ZT's, so I don't know if they use Loctite.

Since you got it in a trade, there's no way of knowing what the previous owner did with it. If they did use Loctite, I hope it wasn't anything stronger than red.

I'm out of ideas. Good luck.
 
I'll keep tinkering with it off and on until I can make it to the library, maybe by some stroke of luck I've weakened it's hold and a sudden jerk in the right direction might force it loose before I send it off on the walk of shame to ZT's warranty service. Thanks for the help, guys.
 
I wouldn't apply heat to it. I know heat helps to free loctite but I don't know what that would do to the fiber carbon. And depending on the soldering iron, it might take a long time to heat up the loctite and if it takes a long time to heat up the loctite, that means the heat is going to other places besides where the loctite is.
 
That's a good point, I never thought of that. Luckily I did think about not submerging the entire knife, I simply poured enough of water into a mug to cover only the pivot when using the boiling water trick.
 
Rey HRH said:
I wouldn't apply heat to it. I know heat helps to free loctite but I don't know what that would do to the fiber carbon. And depending on the soldering iron, it might take a long time to heat up the loctite and if it takes a long time to heat up the loctite, that means the heat is going to other places besides where the loctite is.
Click to expand...

In my experience, the heat from a soldering iron will soften the Loctite before it causes damage to the carbon fiber (that is, if it's blue or red Loctite). It doesn't take prolonged heat to soften Loctite. I've been using this method on knives with wood, FRN, CF, G10, and micarta handles for decades without ever damaging a handle. Of course it's all in the technique.

There are only two methods I know of for releasing Loctite- force the parts apart with tools, or use heat.

Sending it to ZT is always an option.
 
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I'm going to have a friend come over tomorrow with a soldering iron. If THAT doesn't ease the loctite up, then there's next to no hope for this blade, I'll go ahead and hand it over to the good folks at ZT, get the pivot fixed, the clip replaced since it's worn out a tad, and probably get it re-sharpened for the hell of it.
 
Send it back, they will sharpen it and fix you up...

For the record, it's a T8 torx, not a T7...
 
I lost the T8 bit I had, the T7 works fine so long as I don't twist too hard.
 
Update! A huge success, I managed to muscle out the pivot in an all or nothing brawl, the perp wasn't loctite, but appeared to be teflon tape. I was able to disassemble the knife completely, remove the spring... and discover that the steel frame which houses the speedsafe spring is bent out of shape. Badly. I wonder if ZT will send me one since it's only one piece... Well, in any case, I was able to de-assist the blade successfully, resulting in a buttery smooth action the likes of which I've never been able to achieve.
 
Boias.John said:
Update! A huge success, I managed to muscle out the pivot in an all or nothing brawl, the perp wasn't loctite, but appeared to be teflon tape. I was able to disassemble the knife completely, remove the spring... and discover that the steel frame which houses the speedsafe spring is bent out of shape. Badly. I wonder if ZT will send me one since it's only one piece... Well, in any case, I was able to de-assist the blade successfully, resulting in a buttery smooth action the likes of which I've never been able to achieve.
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but I believe that part is supposed to be bent
 
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