Flipper disease Anyone?

TinyDog

TinyDog

Joined
Feb 28, 2015
Messages
1,153
Hey guys,

Still can't stop flipping my XM18. It I go for a walk every day around noon and all I do is flip it for the entire duration of 2 miles. :eek: Anyway, It seems I unconsciously looking for the perfect deployment. It is much the same as my knife buying, it always gets better, but not good enough....

Anyway I do have a question about the knifes action and see if any of you have noticed the same. But before I mention it I want to preface it by saying the knife has been apart, cleaned, inspected, and lubricated. It has a free dropping play with no side to side no rock lock issues..... I have tried to use the thumb stub to deploy the play and it is next to impossible. I am right handed so I thought this would be an option. Nope, its is like trying to push a tank with 2 arms. The weird thing is I throw it over to my non dominant hand and I can deploy the thing with the thumb stud faster than the flipper? So being an engineer by trade I studied it. I thought the angle perhaps was different. I tried several different ways and still No way.

The only thing I could come up with is that trying to deploy in the right hand is the small force toward the lock bar, or specifically the detent. Where the opposite exists deploying in my left hand making it easy. The detent is strong, but then again not a trace of play?

This really doesn't bother me I am just interested in everyone's experience.

TD
 
My guess would be pressure applied to the lockbar/detent while trying to deploy via thumbstud. All my xm's have strong detents and the pivots are set tightly, yet I've never had a problem with thumbstud deployment. Just keep playing with it....
 
dtmbinb said:
My guess would be pressure applied to the lockbar/detent while trying to deploy via thumbstud. All my xm's have strong detents and the pivots are set tightly, yet I've never had a problem with thumbstud deployment. Just keep playing with it....
Click to expand...

That is what I originally thought. I was sure not to have any part of my fingers even close to the lock bar... I actually turned the knife around in my right hand to verify that they were not touching. I will keep working it though...

TD
 
I don't have a hinderer but I have two ZT560 hinderer models. I use to have the same problem in deploying with my right thumb against the thumb stud.

What I noticed is this: my right thumb is trying to push down and out. The problem in pushing down is that it presses the blade into the lock bar with the detent ball. It's the same result as if you were pushing the lock bar against the blade.

Here's how I open mine now: I put the tip of my thumb in the 5 o'clock position of the thumb stud. I push out and UP at the same time. I can also just push it straight out from the 5 o'clock position, I'm just mindful to not put any downward pressure with my thumb.

And I don't have any blade play in mine either. I think just the miniscule clearance / tolerance required to open the blade is sufficient for the force to be in play.
 
I don't have any difficulty deploying the blade with the thumbstuds on any of my XMs........but I don't own any new Gen 4's.......I understand that RHK recently "strengthened" the detent and that may apply to your new Skinner......which might make it more difficult to deploy the blade with the thumbstuds.......

Best source of info might be from someone else with a new Skinner........
 
You are applying pressure to the lockbar.
The tiniest amount and that blade ain't going' nowhere.
 
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