Kizer 3404A3- Pictures/Observations

Just received the Kizer knife.
Must say massive difference from the 1st I got.

1. Finish is excellent externally. Internally it had a huge mar/gash near the pivot.
2. Gritty action. Using 4 washers...
3. Not centered at all.

Going to mess with it to make it better but I must say Kizer if you want to enter the market get your QC in order.
 
Thanks for that update, Luis. I haven't taken my 3404 apart, so I'm not sure what it looks like internally. And the action was gritty on mine as well. But a couple of drops of Nano-Oil fixed that. The blade is well centered on mine. So it appears as if consistency is an issue.
 
I've had expensive knives come not centered from the factory and I couldn't even GET them centered no matter how I tried, so that doesn't worry me too much. The rest you can usually fix with a little elbow grease. I always love taking apart my knives and tinkering with them so that doesn't bother me at all.

My 3404 should be here from ExtremAddiction on Saturday. The other two I got from Knifecenter and they are held up because the 403 isn't in stock yet.
 
Alright had to grind off the washers and used 3 washers in the end. It originally had 4 washers. 2 thin, 2 thicker. The numbers are not entirely accurate as the calipers I used are not calibrated but should be close enough to understand what happened.

Basically 4 washers meant the front of the scales had more spacing between the scales than the back of the handle around .010-.014" thicker at the front over the back (was .174"~ or just about, the difference in thickness between predicted washers/spacing between the knife could be attributed to the heavy burring of the washers hell if I know). Minuscule difference that translates into a lot of stress to the TI. This means the titanium will likely permanently deform over time. Based on the thickness of the blade stock, and spacing, the washers accumulated about .059". I removed one of the smaller washers which I believe are around .010mm" while the thicker ones are about .020"
So basically it seems the actual spacing between scales should be around .1595" +- .0005"

What ended up happening: Ground approximately .003" from one of the thicker presentation washer, and about .070" from the framelock side (totally .013"~, and around .001" from one of the thinner ones giving me a total of approximately .014"+- .01" from the thinner washer that was removed).
What doesn't seem to make sense is the before/after. I calculated about .06" in washer thickness with all four. Removed a total of around .024" from the washer thickness. If my original guess of .060 was right I should end up with about .036". What I actually ended up with was about a .041" washer thickness.

Where the hell did .005 miscalculation come from? Possible the fact that the measure of the spacing between the scales was likely thrown off by .005" because I can't get it completely perpendicular. This is why 3d laser measurement tools are awesome.

In any case both the front and back now measure a cool .1595"~. I had to take it apart quite a few times.
 
My numbers were completely off.

Managed to get rid of the thin washer. The space between the scales is actually 1.565 not 1.595~. Anyways knife is now running on two washers instead of 3. It's still just a smooth but with even less resistance now.
 
I received my Ki412A2 from KW today. Maybe I'm just lucky, but this knife has as good a QC as did my Ki4401X. Perfectly centered, and it has to be as the tolerances are actually tighter than my Ki4401X. If it were not centered, it would rub. Opens nicely although I wish that it had a flipper, but the thumb studs work OK for that purpose. Sized a bit better for my needs and the design is great. Love the way the lines on the handle continue on the blade. Very cool.

Just like the Ki4401X, my main complaint is that the lanyard hole is opposite the clip and the clip cannot be changed. I find that to be useless for me as I use the lanyard to remove the knife from my pocket when clipped on and that won't work if the lanyard is at the bottom of my pocket. But that is minor, I guess.

IMHO, I am 2-for-2 on Kizer and these won't be my last ones. ;)
 
3404A2 came from ExtremAddiction today. Wow! Blade was perfectly centered, action is a little gritty, I took it apart and lubed everything and it's better but still not glass smooth, but I bet if I polished the washers they would come out super smooth. Lockup is good. Fit and finish is impressive. The only flaw I can see is that the grind on the edge is slightly imperfect, but it's nothing to really complain about. Still crazy sharp. Hard to believe it only cost me $120, it looks and feels like a $400 knife! Only real complaints are the clip positioning and the handle is very slippery, but this style seems more like a gentlemens knife to me than a hard user so that's not a big deal.

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Hi, Lost Cosmonaut:

Glad to hear you are enjoying your new purchase! For a better grip, we have models such as 401A2 which has a G-10 scale on one side to aid in grip retention.

Thanks.

Kizer.
 
Kizer Cutlery said:
Hi, Lost Cosmonaut:

Glad to hear you are enjoying your new purchase! For a better grip, we have models such as 401A2 which has a G-10 scale on one side to aid in grip retention.

Thanks.

Kizer.
Click to expand...

Actually today I just got my 404A2 and 403B2 and I am really enjoying them. The 3404 is amazingly beautiful but it's too small for my tastes, but its great for a gentlemen's folder.

The 404 and 403 are right up my alley though!
 
I received a new 404A3 on this past Friday and I love nearly every aspect of it - Minus a very undesirable trait.

First I'll start off with the Great:

Blade Centering - Absolutely Spot On
Blade Action - Smoother than a babies bottom
General Feel - Spot on; Perfect Balance; Light but not too light
Look - Oozes quality; aggressive
Clip - Great holding power; keeps the knife discreet and deep in the pocket



The Not Great but Expected:
Sharpness - Some touch ups will be necessary to get it razor sharp - Not a big Issue here
Handle Grip - Low, but as noted earlier this is more of a gentleman edc - Non issue
Clip - Cannot be moved - Not a big Issue here as I am a righty and tip down is fine with me


The Great/Bad and why I'll be returning the knife:

Great:
Lockup (side to side) - Like a Rock

The Bad:
Lockup (up and down) - Tons of Blade Play
The knife actually will click as it moves up and down because there is that much room for the blade to move.

After receiving the knife and realizing what was going on, I searched far and wide and could not find anyone else with a Kizer Product with this issue. That said, mine does.

I'll be sending it back to KnifeCenter and I hope all goes well with the return process...
 
Hi, NWright:

As long as the knife has not been dis-assembled or modified, it is absolutely covered under warranty. We do recommend that you contact the dealer first as that way you should be away from the knife for the shortest amount of time, but should you encounter any issues, please feel free to contact us and we'll work it out.

Thanks.

Kizer.
 
It's been a long time since I have purchased the last Kizer knife and have decided to have it remedied after finding it in my drawer. I think I paid close to $120 for it, and have been disappointed that I haven't used it.
I've sent kizer support an email to see if they can have a blade swap, and fix the action/fit.
 
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