Help with a flipper that gets stuck and won't deploy

[cda555]

Hello,

I have a weird situation and after googling could not find an answer. I have a ZT 0450 and it's awesome... when it flips. Most of the time it deploys as smooth as butter, but every once in awhile, it seems to get stuck. I am very careful not to press on the lockbar. I haven't taken it apart yet, but I wanted to get an idea of what to look for when I do. I have taken plenty of knives apart, but never for this reason. My guess is that the detent ball is going really far into the blade hole sometimes.

 

[Ratman79]

Try a drop of your favorite blade lubricant directly on the detent ball. Manually open and close the blade a few times engaging the ball into the hole in the blade tang and then dab any excess lube. Then try flipping it.

Check your pivot--is it too tight?

If that's not it maybe your lockbar tension is too much--you could remove the "lbs" and carefully coax the lockbar away from the blade loosening the pressure against the tang...be gentle!

If all these fail then try asking Kai or maybe sending it in.

that may help you

 

[TROB]

even TOUCHING the lock bar will do it. At least thats what I found when playing with one at the store. I wasnt pushing down, but even resting my thumb there caused it to bind.

Thats the main reason i want a 0452 instead. The 0450 should be a liner lock with how small it is.

Try not to touch the frame lock and you should be ok.

 

[PURPLEDC]

having your fingers on the lockbar can be an issue like stated. But also if it has a strong detent just closing the knife wont have the detent ball seat into the blade as much as it can. Now take that knife that was just closed and put it in your pocket and the compression of you pants and it being pressed up against your body and that detent ball and lockbar can be pushed in even further. This will make the knife harder to flip if it has been carried in your pocket awhile. And if you even touch the lockbar at this point its not going to budge. With the 0450 being such a small knife its hard not to do this. The only thing that I know of that is going to eliminate your problem over time is using and flipping the knife. And while a drop of oil can help now in the long run its going to slow down any break in the knife will experience. The lubricant is going to reduce the friction but it will also reduce and wear the detent hole will experience by the ball moving in and out of the hole. Ideally you would want the detent hole to lose a bit of its acute edge so that some of that snappiness goes away and becomes easier to flip.

 

[cda555]

Try a drop of your favorite blade lubricant directly on the detent ball. Manually open and close the blade a few times engaging the ball into the hole in the blade tang and then dab any excess lube. Then try flipping it.

Check your pivot--is it too tight?

If that's not it maybe your lockbar tension is too much--you could remove the "lbs" and carefully coax the lockbar away from the blade loosening the pressure against the tang...be gentle!

If all these fail then try asking Kai or maybe sending it in.

that may help you

Thanks for the tips. I have class tonight so this will have to wait until tomorrow. I noticed that the clip was loose and traveled a bit over toward the lockbar side. I am going to first oil the detent and screw down the clip. I don't know if Kai will help because it is a franken 0450. It uses parts from a few different models.

even TOUCHING the lock bar will do it. At least thats what I found when playing with one at the store. I wasnt pushing down, but even resting my thumb there caused it to bind.

Thats the main reason i want a 0452 instead. The 0450 should be a liner lock with how small it is.

Try not to touch the frame lock and you should be ok.

Yeah, I noticed the clip was loose and traveled over toward the lockbar. I am going to see if tightening it helps. Thank you.

having your fingers on the lockbar can be an issue like stated. But also if it has a strong detent just closing the knife wont have the detent ball seat into the blade as much as it can. Now take that knife that was just closed and put it in your pocket and the compression of you pants and it being pressed up against your body and that detent ball and lockbar can be pushed in even further. This will make the knife harder to flip if it has been carried in your pocket awhile. And if you even touch the lockbar at this point its not going to budge. With the 0450 being such a small knife its hard not to do this. The only thing that I know of that is going to eliminate your problem over time is using and flipping the knife. And while a drop of oil can help now in the long run its going to slow down any break in the knife will experience. The lubricant is going to reduce the friction but it will also reduce and wear the detent hole will experience by the ball moving in and out of the hole. Ideally you would want the detent hole to lose a bit of its acute edge so that some of that snappiness goes away and becomes easier to flip.

It does seem to happen more often when I pull it out from my pocket. I have heard that it is bad to oil a detent too soon for the very reason you mentioned. Hmmm. So much to know about knife engineering.