how much vertical blade play is acceptable?

bullet08

bullet08

Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
294
ZT0550.. i thought i resolved the issue, but not completely. the lock will engage at about 60-65%. if i put pressure on the blade as if i'm going to cut something, the lock will "pop" out and it will go out to around 55% and there is very slight vertical blade play. if i hold the tip of the blade and move it up and down, i can feel the blade moving and i hear "clicking" noise.

my 3 skylines and shallot all have very solid lock up with no blade play at all. one of the skyline is my edc and it see lot of use and it's been holding up with no issue what so ever.

so, what amout of vertical blade play is acceptable? i read enough to see that some of these issues can not be resolved even with multiple trips to the CS. what can be done so solve it?

pete
 
Mine was a little sticky when i first got it and creaked and popped disengaging it. After a couple days breaking it in its smooth as silk now and flicks open great.
 
bullet08 said:
ZT0550.. i thought i resolved the issue, but not completely. the lock will engage at about 60-65%. if i put pressure on the blade as if i'm going to cut something, the lock will "pop" out and it will go out to around 55% and there is very slight vertical blade play. if i hold the tip of the blade and move it up and down, i can feel the blade moving and i hear "clicking" noise.

my 3 skylines and shallot all have very solid lock up with no blade play at all. one of the skyline is my edc and it see lot of use and it's been holding up with no issue what so ever.

so, what amout of vertical blade play is acceptable? i read enough to see that some of these issues can not be resolved even with multiple trips to the CS. what can be done so solve it?

pete
Click to expand...

For me? Zero. I can't stand it, I don't care how much the knife costs, vertical play isn't acceptable. If you want, you can send it in and they'll probably replace the scale if it's not in spec. Another option is to have the lock face carbidized, a thick enough layer will remove the blade play. Johnathan Mitchell (Mitchell knives is his username) offers this for a good price. I was going to send in my zt 0560 to him for this, but just decided to sell it.
 
I would send it in, their customer service is great and I am sure they will get it squared away for you.
 
i have been in contact with ZT CS. they are great and very helpful.

i took the folder apart and cleaned it again. now the lock up is at 55% consistant. i think it's wearing in to the consistant place. however, when i hold the blade tip and move it, it's moving more than before, and i can hear clicking.

here is the thing.. the blade opens very smoothly, now the lock is at 55% all the time, the lock is not sticking, unless i hold the tip of the blade and move it up and down, i don't notice the blade play. the play is not big enough that i'll notice it when cutting something. since my skyline never had this type of issue, and ZT0550 is my first frame lock, i'm not sure if all this is way it's supposed to be or if this is something that needs to be addressed.

pete
 
it's not normal, my 550 doesn't do it. However I know that if the frame and scales aren't perfectly lined up when assembled it can cause issues, and the fact that it is acting differently makes me wonder. I would disassemble it one more time and carefully reassemble using the folded paper trick for blade centering and if it is still like that shoot another email (or call) to zt. Mine locks up solid as a vault.
 
For me, I believe a little side to side bladeplay is okay but vertical blade-play is the cut off point. I never had any knife with to begin with and would have to do something about it.
 
My thing is I'm hearing multiple instances of people sending in their 056X's multiple times and getting them back the same (mine also has slight up and down play, despite my best efforts). Being a broke student (and this being the first knife I've gotten in a year) I don't exactly have the money or patience to send it in multiple times. The knife shouldn't have left the factory like this to begin with. Can anyone truthfully say they have had this issue and only needed to send it in ONE TIME to have it corrected? I really don't mean to be rude, I love just about everything else about my 0561, but as others have said: vertical play is unacceptable.
 
being a production knife, i can see where there will be few having some issues.

there is no side to side/lateral movement at all. the blade is well centered. so it's not pivot issue or scales not lining up properly. i made sure the screws are well tightened and pivot is just right.

i sent email to ZT CS again. will see what their suggestion is. i know well production folders will have few with issues, but still having read multiple trips to CS with problem not being resolved make me rather hesitant to send in my ZT0550.

pete
 
My 0560 had the same issue, although very slight. I disassembled it, cleaned and lubed it, and gently bent the lock further in. That seemed to do the trick. There is still an almost imperceptible movement, but it is a folding knife. There will always be a little play.
 
My 0550 never had any wiggle at all. It's still currently at ZT for repairs for the lockup, as even with attempts to wear it in, it was too sticky to disengage with one hand. The lockup however, had no play at all.
 
sticktodrum said:
My 0550 never had any wiggle at all. It's still currently at ZT for repairs for the lockup, as even with attempts to wear it in, it was too sticky to disengage with one hand. The lockup however, had no play at all.
Click to expand...

mine had slightly sticky lock at first, but that wore off. as of yesterday, i haven't had any issue with sticky lock. at first, the lock bar will engage at 60-65% or so and it will stick. but it wasn't all that hard to disengage. if i pull back on the blade, the lock will "pop" and go back to 55%.

i read your post.. this is second trip to the ZT? i mean, all my contact with ZT CS has been very possitive. i'm very happy with them. however, as i kept on reading the forum, it seems like this type of issue takes multiple trip to them, and lot of the issue is resolved with replacing the ti side. but i really don't want them to replace my ti side. it's just perfect. if the lock bar is little longer, or of the blade tang is little longer.. it should resolve the issue. i'm assuming peening is an option. and that's one thing i'm not going to do myself.

pete
 
I might have found something. I don't think it's a solution, but I'm not getting vertical blade play any more. I'll use it for next few days... weeks and will update. I just had to work the lock bar in such way that lock face is making full contact with blade tang.

Pete
 
almost gone, but not completely. what i did was work the lock bar more, but i was pushing more on the side where i noticed that contact was little "weaker" with blade tang. that took some vertical blade play away. then i noticed that every time i disassemble and reassemble the folder, the amount of the blade play changes. so i played around with pivot. i noticed that pivot end is hexagon. hard to describe it, but some angle works better than the other. meaning, i rotate the hex pivot head every 60 degrees until i found the best match to the problem apparently, one of the angle works better than the others. so, i worked the lock bar without blade but pushing more on the side that is not making full contact. then rotated the pivot head until i found the better fitting.

the vertial play is almost gone unless i really force the blade. it will move just a hair in this case. not sure if this is lock flex or not.

pete
 
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