Medium Luzon Issues

J

johnnywizzo

Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Messages
421
The sale of CS has sent me on a mission to buy up some of their knives that are still in stock before they are no longer available. So I purchased a Medium Luzon because I have the large version and really like it. The action on the large is buttery-smooth and just a great knife, in spite of some bad press. When I first got it, the liner lock would not engage with violently flicking it open, so I sent it to CS for warranty adjustment. They fixed it for free and covered postage both ways.

Now regarding the new Medium Luzon; hard to impossible to flick open without loosening the pivot to the point of blade wobble, and the liner lock needs two hands to disengage. In a word, clumsy in operation. The blade hits on a pin inside the frame, creating a dull spot on the cutting edge. I'd send it back to CS, but apparently everyone is out of a job (at Christmastime). I could return the knife to the vendor for a refund, but it will cost me postage plus an initial shipping fee. It would make more sense to just keep it, but right now I don't want to even look at the knife, much less carry it. I'm re-thinking my plan to buy more CS products... I'd give it to someone for Christmas, but I don't really know anyone who deserves a bad knife.
 
johnnywizzo said:
The sale of CS has sent me on a mission to buy up some of their knives that are still in stock before they are no longer available. So I purchased a Medium Luzon because I have the large version and really like it. The action on the large is buttery-smooth and just a great knife, in spite of some bad press. When I first got it, the liner lock would not engage with violently flicking it open, so I sent it to CS for warranty adjustment. They fixed it for free and covered postage both ways.

Now regarding the new Medium Luzon; hard to impossible to flick open without loosening the pivot to the point of blade wobble, and the liner lock needs two hands to disengage. In a word, clumsy in operation. The blade hits on a pin inside the frame, creating a dull spot on the cutting edge. I'd send it back to CS, but apparently everyone is out of a job (at Christmastime). I could return the knife to the vendor for a refund, but it will cost me postage plus an initial shipping fee. It would make more sense to just keep it, but right now I don't want to even look at the knife, much less carry it. I'm re-thinking my plan to buy more CS products... I'd give it to someone for Christmas, but I don't really know anyone who deserves a bad knife.
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I’ll just return it and treat the shipping cost as rental for the knife, so at least you get to experience what the knife looks and feel like in hand. Also treat it as a cost of learning not to buy similarly constructed knife going forward.
Other than Tilite, I would generally stay away from Cold Steel latest linerlock knives. I had a few, they are just not built the same as their Triad lock knives.
 
If you cannot just return it, you could try disassembling the knife to see if there is something obviously wrong with it. Clean, polish, oil, that sort of thing.

I really like my large Luzon. I think it is a lot of knife for the price.
 
my large luzon had a lot of loctite stuck in the secondary lock.
 
Chris_Texas said:
If you cannot just return it, you could try disassembling the knife to see if there is something obviously wrong with it. Clean, polish, oil, that sort of thing.

I really like my large Luzon. I think it is a lot of knife for the price.
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I agree, I love my Large Luzon. It is so smooth and easy to open and close. The Medium Luzon, unfortunately, is a different breed of cat. You'd think it would be the same only smaller, but it's not. Everything about it is awkward. I'm trying to come to terms with it, but it's not happening.
 
I had my medium sitting right by my PC. I just flicked it open (it leans toward hard to flick open). And the lock engagement is poor. An Ontario Rat puts it to shame. When I got my medium I figured that it just needed some break in time. I flicked it open literally hundreds of times. I also worked the blade up and down just before engagement in 50 pivot sessions, many times. I really worked this thing. To the point where my flicking it open loosened the screws in the sliding side lock. One screw actually fell out before I noticed this. The result now is a slightly easier opener, but it still takes more effort than I would like, and the liner lock only engages to about 50% of its surface area. I still like its slim profile and feather weight, but after some time, it leans more toward my thinking that if I lost it, I wouldn't really care or replace it.................The large is an entirely different creature, but you get what you pay for. My highest level of trust in C.S. folders goes to the Tri-ad lockers.
 
I just don't think CS does their linerlock well, let alone flipper which isn't really their strong suit. This is what i meant when i mentioned that CS should just stick to their tried and true formula of Triad lock thumbstud knives. Liner locks is just hard to get right, especially when you make it cheap with plastic hand. To do it right, you really need to have very straight, very rigid handle to maintain the consistent lockup, because the nature of liner lock design the knife always has more tension on one side than the others, unlike triad lock where you can have full plastic handle without any issue.

I had the new 1911 with the similar issue, here's my review for one of the biggest wasted opportunity of the year:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/1911-folder-initial-impressions.1721617/
 
It is boxed up and going back, I just hate it too much! Funny, I'm carrying its bigger brother today, and that is one of my favorites. I guess you just don't know until you have a knife in hand.
 
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