De-assist fun

[raymond454]

Last night I decided to remove the spring from a ZT 350KW. When I'm just handling a manual folder for enjoyment, I like to cycle the action. There's something about a smooth sweep engaging a ball detent before locking or closing that is just satisfying to me. An assisted mechanism kind of robs me of that pleasure. I adjusted the pivot screw so the action was as light as possible but without any play. Well, this 350 is my new best friend. With some mild wrist action, I can use either the flipper fin or the thumb studs for fast deployment. At the same time, I can enjoy the sweep of the blade in both directions. The thumb studs on this model are actually stops for the blade to lock in the open position, but now they double as deployment studs.
I don't think it's something that everyone needs to do (why get an assisted action in the first place?). But if you have a few or simply grew tired of the spring assist on a particular model, removing the spring will "make it great again".

 

[115Italian]

Did it to my zt 0566. So much better.

 

[b00n]

I actually want to try it with a Kershaw Grid, the spring broke out of the blue, so I thought about drilling a detent hole and see if it works. *makes a mental note to remember and take the blade to work tomorrow*

 

[Etna]

De-assisted my Leek and the knife became useless.

The torsion bar actually prevented the blade from hitting the backspacers. Sucked it up and put the torsion bar back.

 

[Comeuppance]

The best de-assist experiences I had were with a Benchmade 581 and a Kershaw Echelon. The stock Echelon is garbage - mine was stiff and had bad centering - but once the spring came out, it was a very smooth knife without mechanical problems. I saw it as a budget Strider Baby Huey substitute. Shame the model never got much attention.

The vast majority of knives can't be usefully de-assisted, though, as the spring often acts as the closing detent. I share the OP's dislike for the spring assist, as I have a similar distaste for how it detracts from the feeling of "smoothness" in a knife. The only assisted knife I ever really liked the feel of was the Cold Steel Swift, but, even still, I cannot bring myself to carry a knife that fights me when closing it.