Don't you just love it once your new Emerson breaks in?

M

MIGUY

Joined
Jun 27, 2014
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I recently got my first Emerson, I bought it used, but it had just sat, was not yet broken in. I had read about how they need to be broken in, so I played with it, and flicked it open, made my thumb sore on that sticky lock bar...

And got discouraged! My thumb was sore, it still stuck... But I told myself I'd stick it out, and make it my edc for two weeks, I'm hallway through week two, and this morning it is so smooth! I am loving this cqc14, and now that its broken in its even better!
 
Yup!
And you really never have to field strip it either. :) I just spray mine with WD40 and shake.
 
I just love em brand new too!

Truthfully i like sticky locks. Means the titanium is doing its job. Many advocate putting graphite on the tang to lubricate.

This makes me nervous. I have seen good liners fail from slippery contact points. Actually, my 7 has the opposite problem. It usually locks tight, but every so often when i test it the lock will slip a bit. Ill take a q tip to the tang and the problem goes away- till it comes back. This is strange because my knives are very clean and i dont use oil on my linerlocks.
 
I love when my Emersons break in, because it's always a mystery as to how long it will take. Some take an hour to break the pivot in, others take weeks, but they all eventually get really really smooth.

Jamesh Bond said:
Truthfully i like sticky locks. Means the titanium is doing its job.
Click to expand...

Same here, even my Chris Reeve framelocks have a slight amount of lock stick, just enough for me to be confident that something other than spring pressure is holding my blade open.
 
Several days ago the lock on my CQC 9 became quite sticky to the point where it was difficult to disengage even with two hands. For the few months I had been using the knife prior to this, the lockup was early and had no stick. It got some light stick as the lock wore approximately a millimeter across the tang, and then developed severe stick a couple of days later.

I was kind of worried, and was considering sending it to EKI for service, but this morning I opened & closed the knife a few hundred times in order to break in the lock, and the liner moved another half-millimeter across the tang. Now there's zero stick again.

I would rather the liner have stayed in its original position and not developed stick, but I'm glad that it broke in like it is supposed to do.
 
dr_fosg8 said:
That's the best part, the washers are nylatron. Won't corrode at all.

I think the oil in WD-40 is just mineral oil.IIRC.
Click to expand...

Good to know its safe. Ill try that out. But I do believe WD-40 is Kerosene (petroleum) based.

So to the other part of the question, do you use any lube after the WD-40?

Thx.

*EDIT*
I became curious and performed some google-fu. WD-40 does not contain kerosene, but is indeed mineral oil. However, mineral oil and some of the other known ingredients in it are petroleum based.
 
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I have started carrying my 14 this week since I didn't have time to research all of the knife laws for the state that I am working in. It was a bit stiff at first but is breaking in nicely. I love it when they get to the point where they are buttery smooth. It takes time but the end result is worth it.
 
I take all my new emersons apart, clean out the grease, relube with flouro grease & reassemble with a drop of blue loctite.

When I'm done (that might take 10 minutes) they are as smooth as any knife made.

~John
 
jmorton10 said:
I take all my new emersons apart, clean out the grease, relube with flouro grease & reassemble with a drop of blue loctite.

When I'm done (that might take 10 minutes) they are as smooth as any knife made.

~John
Click to expand...

I've done exactly this with my 2 new Emersons, but I waited until I had been playing with opening and closing for a few days. I go until they begin to squeak, then another hundred or so opening and closings. Both are smooth as glass now.
 
I learned the hard way about WD40. Back when I lived in the Midwest many years ago, I used to use it on my expensive handguns. One day I took my German-made Walther PPK .380 out to shoot it on a cold day, the thing locked up tighter than Fort Knox. This happened twice. I stopped using WD40, and it never happened again. I also used to use it to spray down tools to protect them from rust. This seemed to protect them from rust, however the WD40 turned into a sticky tough coating that gummed up the tools and had to be cleaned off with solvent so I could hold them comfortably and use them properly again. My understanding and experience has been that WD40 works as a lubricant as long as it is wet. When it dries out, which is sooner than later, it looses most if not all of it's lubricating properties, and turns into what acts like an adhesive. I ain't spraying down any expensive Emerson with WD40, ever. YMMV.
 
I've become a big fan of Balistol when it comes to lubrication. Great stuff. I use it on firearms as well as knives.
 
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