JYD2 Opening Action

B

Brodie001

Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
38
Hi, all. I've got a question about the opening action on the JYD2. I recently picked one of these up, and I'm not sure if mine is a little off, or if the action is just different from what I'm expecting.

The "problem" is that the detent ball holding the blade in the handle doesn't hold the blade in place very tightly. A minor shake is all it takes to get the blade open 90 degrees. In fact, I can open the knife with a bottom-to-top C-shaped throwing motion (not using the flipper at all) as easily as I can flip it open.

This concerns me for 2 reasons: 1) Safety - the knife just comes open too easily. 2) The knife doesn't flip open well b/c you don't get that build-up of potential energy prior to the blade releasing from the handle. It takes very little pressure on the flipper to dislodge the blade from the handle.

My question is: Is this normal for this knife? My point of comparison is my Groove, so it may just be the action is different on these 2 knives. But I wanted to ask to make sure there isn't some type of issue with my knife.

Thanks in advance for your responses!
 
It does sound like your JYD is a little loose, however, the action on the JYD and the Groove are quite different. The JYD should be a good bit more loose. The prinicpal I use with my JYD is the looser the better. I polished the washers and tweaked the pivot to the point where it takes almost no pressure to open it and I can inertia open it w/o even touching the flipper. You can try to look on the blade for the indention the detent ball sits in. It may be too shallow to fully engage the detent. If that isn't it you might want to take it apart and reassemble it. As you reassemble try different amounts of tightening on the handle screws and the pivot screw until you get it where you want it.
 
spiralarchitect said:
It does sound like your JYD is a little loose, however, the action on the JYD and the Groove are quite different. The JYD should be a good bit more loose. The prinicpal I use with my JYD is the looser the better. I polished the washers and tweaked the pivot to the point where it takes almost no pressure to open it and I can inertia open it w/o even touching the flipper. You can try to look on the blade for the indention the detent ball sits in. It may be too shallow to fully engage the detent. If that isn't it you might want to take it apart and reassemble it. As you reassemble try different amounts of tightening on the handle screws and the pivot screw until you get it where you want it.
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I disagree with the contention that it should be any looser...both the Groove and the JYDII are manual openers, and the detent ball and blade indentation should hold the knife closed equally well with either. There is also no basic design difference between the JYD and JYDII, and the detent works very well on my JYD, along with all 3 Grooves in my collection, and every other Kershaw manual-opener I have. Obviously it wouldn't be necessary if the knife was SpeedSafe equipped and held closed that way, but it's not. Carrying mine the way it is now would be downright dangerous...the JYDII SG2 blade is just too sharp to find this knife unexpectedly open in one's pocket.

What I see with mine is that the ball appears to be flattened and also doesn't quite engage the indentation in the blade. The blade stop for the JYDII appears to be internal and ride in a slot in the blade itself...that slot would have to be lengthened slightly in the closing direction, allowing the blade to close just a bit farther, for the detent to line up properly and engage. That's something I'm not prepared to attempt.

Because I don't EDC it I haven't bothered sending it in for service yet, but I will. ;)

Ray :)
 
SPXTrader said:
Dump em all and get yourself an ENER-G.
Click to expand...

For some reason the ENER-Gs just haven't grabbed me yet, but I love the JYD and JYDII. The detent issue with my JYDII doesn't detract from my appreciation of the knife...I'm just too lazy to have gotten around to calling CS and sending it in yet...:D

Ray :)
 
reholli said:
I disagree with the contention that it should be any looser...both the Groove and the JYDII are manual openers, and the detent ball and blade indentation should hold the knife closed equally well with either. There is also no basic design difference between the JYD and JYDII, and the detent works very well on my JYD, along with all 3 Grooves in my collection, and every other Kershaw manual-opener I have. Obviously it wouldn't be necessary if the knife was SpeedSafe equipped and held closed that way, but it's not. Carrying mine the way it is now would be downright dangerous...the JYDII SG2 blade is just too sharp to find this knife unexpectedly open in one's pocket.


Ray :)
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IMO there seems to be a difference, or a precieved difference, in the strength of the detent on the 2 knives. The JYD II seems to come off of the detent more easily than the Groove. The flipper geometry and the relative heft of the blades could account for this preception however......I dunno....I could be completely offbase.:confused:
 
spiralarchitect said:
IMO there seems to be a difference, or a precieved difference, in the strength of the detent on the 2 knives. The JYD II seems to come off of the detent more easily than the Groove. The flipper geometry and the relative heft of the blades could account for this preception however......I dunno....I could be completely offbase.:confused:
Click to expand...

I don't think there's any disagreement that it comes off the detent easier, just whether or not it should, and if that's by design. Judging from the way my JYD works, I say no.

Ray :)
 
My JYD 2 holds shut very well yet opens very smooth. It will not open by just flicking the wrist. You must use the finger on mine.
 
reholli said:
I don't think there's any disagreement that it comes off the detent easier, just whether or not it should, and if that's by design. Judging from the way my JYD works, I say no.

Ray :)
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The JYD is a Framelock and the JYD 2 is a liner lock. The JYD has a frame lock thickness similar to the Groove so I would suspect there is little or no difference between those two.
 
There are some significant differences between the Groove and the JYD2 with regards to this issue. Looking at the detent ball on the two knives, the ball on the Groove seems to be bigger, and definitely sticks up higher than the ball on the JYD2. They are positioned differently as well. On the JYD2, the ball is close to the bottom edge of the liner, whereas on the Groove it is more towards the middle. I'm guessing the tension might be greater on the frame-lock Groove than on the liner lock JYD2, too.

My concern is that the detent ball possibly sits lower than it should, and maybe the lock tension isn't as strong as it should be when holding the knife closed. Although, base don the responses so far, it sounds like the loose detent is a common characteristic of this knife. Maybe that is part of why it is only designed for tip-down carry. I definitely wouldn't want to carry it tip up.

I don't want to sound like I'm trashing the knife. I love just about everything else about it, and this isn't enough to make me get rid of it. I just wanted to ask about this to see if it is in need of service.
 
spiralarchitect said:
The JYD is a Framelock and the JYD 2 is a liner lock. The JYD has a frame lock thickness similar to the Groove so I would suspect there is little or no difference between those two.
Click to expand...

When describing my JYDII with detent issues, I was referring to the model with Ti handles and SG2-laminated blade. It's also a framelock, and a fairly massive one at that.

Apparently Brodie001's is a liner lock model, but that wasn't clear before...it now is. Definitely a different animal than the framelock JYDII or framelock Grooves. ;)

I would think a working detent is still important, though, frame or linerlock. :D

Ray :)
 
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