De-assisted my ZT 0350

solidorange

solidorange

Joined
Aug 30, 2011
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After reading several posts about how much people love their de-assisted 0350's, I had to try it out on mine. It took less than 5 minutes and this thing feels like an entirely different knife. I love speed-safe, but you just can't beat the feel of a well made manual opener. It is a lot like a good manual transmission to me; sure an automatic is arguably faster and easier to use, but it just isn't as satisfying. On a less expensive knife, assisted opening is great, but on a knife as well made as this ZT, i like being able to "feel" it work. The detent and lockup are still plenty strong, and a good flick on the flipper or thumbstud will send the blade flying. I never dreamed that i would like it this much better without the spring, but the manual action truly rivals my 0550. If you own a 0350 and haven't tried this yet, i would highly recommend it. The process couldn't be much simpler and you can always put the spring back in if you decide you like assisted better. :cool:
 
I agree whole heartedly. Taking the torsion bar out of my 0350 turned it from a knife that rarely got carried to a knife that has found a spot in my work knife rotation.
 
Hmmmm - I'm piqued now - even with the slight recurve . . . I may have to give this a thought now :)
 
i did the same to mine and love it , now if the damn blade wasn't so off centered i'd carry it once in awhile...
 
I tried it once and it didn't work at all. The detent ball in my 0350 has worn itself a little flat spot on the part where it comes to contact with the blade. As a result the detent is so weak it's nearly impossible to flick it open. The strange thing is I've never carried/used the 0350 that much, kinda surprised to see so much wear in the ball.
 
done this about a year ago, cleaned it greased it down....and now it flips as smooth as silk.
 
On the 0350, is there a receiver cut into the blade for the liner lock's ball detent? I had removed the Speed Safe on my Packrat, and had to drill in a small bowl for the detent on the blade. You don't have to do this for the ZT0350?
 
sticktodrum said:
On the 0350, is there a receiver cut into the blade for the liner lock's ball detent? I had removed the Speed Safe on my Packrat, and had to drill in a small bowl for the detent on the blade. You don't have to do this for the ZT0350?
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Yup, the 0350 has a small divot for the detent to rest. The detent isn't overly strong, but it is there. When I did mine I also polished the washers and the internals and it made a tremendous difference.
 
Allen R. said:
i did the same to mine and love it , now if the damn blade wasn't so off centered i'd carry it once in awhile...
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That's my biggest concern, taking the arm out will throw the centering off. I guess I'll have to pull it out and see.
 
mkjellgren said:
Yup, the 0350 has a small divot for the detent to rest. The detent isn't overly strong, but it is there. When I did mine I also polished the washers and the internals and it made a tremendous difference.
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it actually has a fully drilled hole for the detent. pic for proof:

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seems like someone thought of de-assisting this thing before it ever left the factory. ;)
 
Mika said:
I tried it once and it didn't work at all. The detent ball in my 0350 has worn itself a little flat spot on the part where it comes to contact with the blade. As a result the detent is so weak it's nearly impossible to flick it open. The strange thing is I've never carried/used the 0350 that much, kinda surprised to see so much wear in the ball.
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The ball does wear a flat spot where it slides on the blade, but the sides of the ball that hold the blade in the detent hole on the blade when closed.
 
Scurvy092 said:
That's my biggest concern, taking the arm out will throw the centering off. I guess I'll have to pull it out and see.
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Mine is slightly off center (the tolerances are so tight on these knives that even a fraction of a mm off center looks like more than it is) but it was off center before I deassisted it. Removing the torsion bar did not change the centering in the least.
 
Wow, that's great to know, thank you guys. I was looking into that, and the process of drilling a detent hole in two of my Kershaws wasn't something I was interested in doing when I got the 0350. Excellent!
 
My 0350CB lacks a detent oddly enough, which is a shame because it flips so smoothly with the torsion bar removed. It was a huge disappointment when I first discovered this, I would love to have a d-assisted 0350.
 
Misanthropia said:
My 0350CB lacks a detent oddly enough, which is a shame because it flips so smoothly with the torsion bar removed. It was a huge disappointment when I first discovered this, I would love to have a d-assisted 0350.
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I wonder if the detent varies from version to version. I know there have been subtle changes between early/late production runs of other models in the ZT lineup, so it is certainly possible. In the interest of full disclosure, the one mentioned/pictured above is a 0350TS, serial #0327. Anybody else wanna pull theirs apart and let us know? :p
 
A question on this. If removing the torsion bar did mess up the centering on my knife.. would putting the torsion bar back in fix this? If it doesn't rub it's not a big deal. But I just don't want to end up with an uncentered/messed up knife.
 
My experience is that centering is typically unaffected by disassembling the knife. And so if disassmbling the knife doesn't mess up the centering then having the torsion bar in or out will have no effect.

BladeChick777 said:
A question on this. If removing the torsion bar did mess up the centering on my knife.. would putting the torsion bar back in fix this? If it doesn't rub it's not a big deal. But I just don't want to end up with an uncentered/messed up knife.
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Bringing back an old thread,
I just tried this today and am pretty pleased with the result. It really does feel like a different knife, like it's been moved up a notch in quality. Mine is an earlier serial number and has a pre existing detent too. One thing though, no matter what I try I just can't get the blade centered.

Now I'm really liking your orange scales too boot. I'd love some in the style of the top and bottom models.

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