Lock up question

M

Macgruber81

Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
145
So I am sort of new to Emerson's and I just got a mini horseman in today. Fit and finish look pretty great. Centering is near perfect and lock up is early. Thing is I am just wondering if it is normal for the lockup to be a little more towards the center (maybe 45-50%) when waved hard out of the pocket. If opened easily or lightly waved open it is early within the first 25%, but a hard wave will put it like I said at about halfway over (midway on the engagement tang). This normal? Also it is really sticky when opened hard upon closing.
 
Engagement sounds normal to me. As for the sticky lock, you can let it wear in some more, or you might try a little graphite from a pencil on the lock face.

Tom
 
Lock up sounds normal to me. You will get tired of the novelty of wave opening and this is a good thing. Your pants pockets will thank you. Yes, a little graphite will help with the break in of the sticky liner lock. Keep the chisel grind sharp with frequent stropping.
 
Waving a knife open exerts a lot of force on the stop pin and it's normal for the lock to slide over a bit more and engage deeper. I tend to keep my Emerson knives a bit on the tighter side so they only open with a purposeful movement. I can still wave them open in an emergency, but I tend to just be low key and don't advertise my uber skills. ;)
 
How does one "tighten" their emerson? Just via the main pivot screw? I also noticed that I can easily shake my blade out. Is this normal? Seems like the detent is weak. How does one fix that?
 
Yes, by turning the pivot screw is the way to tighten an Emerson.
I think it is normal for the most part. The heavier bladed Emersons (CQC 10 and mini Commander) that I've had were more prone to doing this. Lighter bladed Emersons, like the Gentleman Jim, wouldn't do this as much. You can adjust the pivot to try and negate this, but it might not thumb flick out as well. I don't know if there is an actual way to fix this. I've just figure it is par for the course with Emersons. If you're wearing regular jeans, khakis, or other durable or thicker material pants it is not really an issue. Now it can be an issue if you put it in the pocket of some gym shorts and go for a run. It can swing out a little bit. If I do run with an Emerson I just stick it in my waistband at the 3 o'clock position and it doesn't swing anymore. If I run with a knife I usually grab something else tough.
 
Like everyone else said, waving is fun but go easy on it. Personally i think a little bit of sharpie on the blade tang works better than graphite.
 
My 7 locks up about half way after almost 10 years of use. I really can't remember where it was when new though.....
Mine doesn't have the wave, but I know using that often will accelerate wear on your knife. I learned this the hard way by playing with my 10 too much and causing the lock to get loose. That knife went to my brother, and I kept the 7.
 
So I tightened up the pivot some and it is harder to deploy now, but if I shake it semi hard it will still shake the blade out. So this is still normal for Emerson's?
 
How is the lockup when you open it normally? Is the lockbar still sticky if opened that way?
 
Macgruber81 said:
How does one "tighten" their emerson? Just via the main pivot screw? I also noticed that I can easily shake my blade out. Is this normal? Seems like the detent is weak. How does one fix that?
Click to expand...

Yes, tightening the pivot will do it. That would be alternate mechanical function. If you can shake your knife and the blade falls out, then I would say that yes, you may benefit from tightening the pivot. If you have some problems with the detent, then you should be ale to send your knife in for a tune up (return the Emerson). The reason your lockup is so late is because the pivot is too loose. Pretty common occurrence with most liner locks from just about every manufacturer.
 
I tried to tighten the pivot and now it is difficult to deploy, but the lock up is still late like the pic.
 
Hmm, you can tighten it incrementally. What I usually do is try to dial in the pivot so it doesn't move too easily, then I turn it slighhtly back to allow the desired tension. Make sure your handle screws are tight, but not too tight as to strip or break the screws. If you can't tune it to your satisfaction, maybe consider sending it back for service.
 
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