Help? Buck Vantage ball bearing sticking?

[recon1s14]

Hey guys, I need some help figuring out what is going on with my Buck Vantage select small. I'm not a noob to knives but this has me practically confuzzled. I first bought it after a few very good recommendations for a high quality value folder comparable to the Spyderco Tenacious and Rat 1 folders, and since I bought it I have been nothing but impressed with this knife and the quality craftsmanship that has gone into making it, even for as little as $17 bucks.

But recently I have been having a problem with the deployment and smoothness of the knife, I have taken it apart, blasted it out with hot water, lubed it, let it sit, cleaned it again. and every time I clean it it becomes smooth as glass. But after say another 15 cycles of opening and closing this puppy there is a loud gritty and grinding feel and sound every time it opens, I have narrowed it down to the lockbar and ball detent because when I hold the lockbar back and open the blade it is still smooth as a babies butt. And as soon as I release it and the ball bearing makes contact with the blade pivot that grinding starts happening again.

Seriously confuzzled by this one, as you can see by the pictures below nothing but the ball bearing is touching the pivot when opening and closing, but even after lubing the grinding keeps coming back. The oddest part is if I let the knife sit out of pocket without touching for about an hour, the smoothness completely returns and it is smooth as glass again.

I would appreciate any opinions and feedback for this problem. I would love to put this little guy back into EDC rotation again but I am afraid of damaging the ball bearing or pivot. Thank you for any help in advance.

Here are the pictures of the knife/pivot:







Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics, again thank you for any feedback regarding this.

 

[KrabbyKakes]

I seem to remember my Vantage feeling the same way when I got it, but I just kept flicking it open and it seemed to have smoothed out any rough surfaces in the pivot. If it doesn't get better than you could always send it back to Buck.

 

[o4tg]

It gets better in time. It was definitely one of the roughest actions I've experienced, and that's with multiple examples. While smooth, mine is still catchy but it's more of a rubbery feeling than gritty at least.

 

[dogstar]

Did you lube the race for the ball detent? It starts to grind if you don't.

 

[recon1s14]

Yes on further inspection, and some stripped screws to take it apart...I found out that the ball bearing is flat, and probably sticking to the race after numerous openings and closings...disappointed but not discouraged. I will upgrade to the better quality version in the future but for now this one is SOL

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I will try some more lube just in case.

 

[Yo Mama]

send to Buck, sure they will take care of you

 

[recon1s14]

Don't know if the price to ship it is even worth the wait unless they replace it. But I would like to carry this beautiful piece of craftsmanship again.