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got my buck/mayo tnt

S

shooterpunk

Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
521
hey guys my tnt finally came in the mail. to be completely honest, im a little dissapointed with it. its a beautiful knife but i dunno, i dont think it really does it for me holding it my hand. the main thing i dislike about it is the framelock. its all i can do to disengage it. it is really difficult. after a couple times of disengaging it my thumb is quite sore. is this normal? and of course me being the genius i am, i was smoothing out some of the sharp edges with one of the sharpening stones of my sharpmaker, and i i guess i scratched the blade right under the opening hole. oh well, i just wish it was easier to close. is there anything i could do abou that? thanks for everything guys.
 
There may be something simple you can do. Many times, a tight framelock is really only the lock face galling against the blade tang. Get an ordinary lead pencil and rub the lead on the lock face. The graphite will act as a lubricant and reduce the gripping action. (It won't make it slip off unintentionally!)
 
I don't have any framelocks, but from my experience with an MT Amphibian with a tight microbar, I would recommend just use it a lot and let the lock get broken in naturally. After unlocking it a few dozen more times it should be firm but not painful to unlock.
 
I thought pretty much the same thing about the framelock on my Sng and the integral compression lock on the Spyderco Ti Salsa. Tough framelocks have tough lockbars, that is their beauty. Get tougher thumbs.
 
As with all things we are presented with trade-offs. My TNT is indeed somewhat stiff to close. I'm sure it will get easier with time. However, that rigidity is part of the reason it is such a sturdy folder. I have a spyder almite walker(linerlock) that is a nice knife, but liner locks don't have that stout feeling. IMHO the TNT is not trying to be an easy knife to close, by design. It has some great attributes(light, strong,sharp, etc.) While not perfect, the perfect knife is always my next knife.:D You may develop a differing opinion, or simply be convincing yourself that you need another knife. Your TNT should sell easily as you bought it right. Just my .02. Best regards, Braadley
 
my tnt is a bit tough to close, but the more you play with it, it won't be as tough. personally, I like that it is a solid lock up and tough to close, I don't want that sharp blade meeting my fingers unexpectedly. I am curious that you say it is painful to close, it shouldn't be painful.
 
Take it apart and lube it. Clean it then lube it. Put the graphite on the back of the blade that engages the locking bar. When you put it back together make sure you tighten all the screws in sequence with the screws that hold the stop bar on top of the knife last. You know center the blade with the pivot screws, tighten the back screws, middle screws, and then the stop pin screws. Adjust those to tight or loose depending on how the blade opens. I think mine is as good as any knife I have owned pretty much. I like it that much. I think the heat treat on the S30v is a bit better than most too. I haven't gotten any chipping with it for all manner of media I have cut with it. keepem sharp
 
The couple that I have handled (including mine) are not hard to open or close.
 
I have many titanium frame-locks, and the well built ones are actually like that. The manufacturers that do this have more strict tolerances. I believe they do this to give you as much material as possible so that the lock doesn't wear through quicker.
Also that is the nature of titanium. It is a metal that "sticks" or "grabs" better than other metals such as steel.
If that is your only complaint regarding the knife, keep it. The lock just has to wear some. Just try not to open it so fast.
 
My Buck TNT is a little hard to close as well. I think it is due to the spring tension and not the lock sticking to the tang. I think this because the lock is hard to hold open, even when it is not contacting the tang at all.

The relief cutout on the lockbar is actually very thick. I think there is more material in the cutout than my Sebenza and Skirmish (i.e. the lock bar at its thinnest point is thicker than the thinnest points on the Skirmish and Sebenza). I believe this translates into stiffer action. I do not think it automatically means the lock is stronger, but I do think it does make that link in the chain less weak- the question is whether it is a link that would fail anyways, and I don't think it is common for liner or framelocks to break at the relief, so I don't think any strength gain at that point is as important as other areas such as the lock/tang contact and the pivot. In other words, I think the Sebenza and Skirmish are stronger knives, but that the thicker relief on the TNT does have an advantage (albeit a small one) to go along with its disadvantage of stiffer action.

The edge of the lockbar is fairly sharp as well, so it pokes into my thumb.

Overall, I don't really consider it much of an issue. Many of my Framelocks are hard to unlock. But I do not think you are alone.

Between it wearing in a bit and your thumb getting used to it, I don't think you will be anything but happy with the knife down the line.
 
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