My First EKI: CQC-14 Snubby

Splat

Splat

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Nov 19, 2006
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Solid. Comfortably grippy. That's the first two things that came to mind when I handled my new Snubby pe in black tonight. What an awesome knife! :thumbup::thumbup: There's only two things I'm curious about. (1) The lock only goes over to where the side of the tang is in the middle of the liner. Merely slowly opening the blade by hand seems to not get enough lock on the blade and I'm able to close the blade by hand with a slight metallic "pop!". I figure this'll fix itself in due time. I must remember to open the knife solidly(for lack of a better term). (2) There's something that randomly slides back/forth when I hold the knife (closed) and turn it over, side to side (see-saw it left/right). What the hell is that? I don't see anything actually moving. Could it be a barrel around the pivot pin? It's driving me nuts. I would think this very bad on a tactical knife to exhibit such a noise that could definitely be heard a few feet away.

Gee, other than those two things I'm liking the Snubby. I also like buying American. Methinks more Emersons will be in my future.
 
The 14 has some great ergonomics going for it. Its one of my favorite handles.

Most Emerson's require a break in for the lock and the washers to smooth out and work as they do on a good well used one. Its something I've said that should be in the box taped to the knife to warn folks unsuspecting but most figure it out. I recommend you break it in before fully letting your guard down on any new lock. Its best to get to know it first, watch it under different uses and let it move in further if its a liner lock or frame lock.

As for the movement back and forth. As is often the case with many of the knives made with floppy lose stop pins held in place by the pivot screw tension they often times rattle. Its an issue for some. Some are not a problem and don't seem as bad. Most of my Emerson's rattle and its something I'm fixing now on my own.

Most of the time when you hear this rattle its when the blade is off the stop pin not putting pressure on it but it can move depending on G forces as its maneuvered in the hand. I have replaced one stop pin that fell out on an Emerson CQC10 a few years ago. Honestly seeing as many as I do for other jobs where I note the blade has a lot of side to side play from users either not noticing or doing it on purpose (some have told me this) to make their folder Wave opened easier, its kind of amazing I haven't seen more of it but I've replaced more Kabar liner lock stop pins than any other brand. In fact I just had one in here last week for that same thing where the stop pin just fell out because the owner of the knife didn't notice the pivot loosened over time. Some are not quite as long as others. Emerson's seem to be fairly consistent but apparently some did get out that could move enough to one side to fall out if the pivot screw was left un-attended for too long.

STR
 
I find pretty much all the EKIs I have rattle apart from a few of them.

The rattle is indeed the stop pin, there is no barrel round the stop pin, its a single piece.
The rattle comes from the recesses in the G-10 being too deep for the pin on either side.
If you open up the knife and put a some sort of spacer in one of the holes that will stop it.
Its usually not even a mm so just using a small circle of micropore tape to "soften" up the contact areas will do the trick.
Just make sure it all goes back snug and tight with no visible gaps if you do put something in there.

Having said all that I personaly dont spend much time waving my knife
around with the blade half open so I dont see it as a big problem :p
 
My horseman had the rattle issue also. Noticed it right away.

I called Emerson and they said I could send it in and they'd fix it. So that is a definite option.

My fix, was to put 1 drop of loctite in the small recess, so that it runs into the very small space in the liner. I did it on 1 side, let gravity help and rest for 30 min, and then do the other side. I didn't take the knife apart for this.

No issues after a week, no rattle.

I used the lightest loctite, but I'm sure any strength would work.

For that matter, even elmers glue would work, just enough to get into the small gaps and fill them up.
 
You guys are, of course, right. :) This morning I had enough light to see it is indeed the stop pin. I used a tiny drop of Goop glue onto the pin and let it ooze into the side. She's had a few hours and so far, so good.... no more rattle. Now I gotta get a fresh bottle of Eezox or Militec-1 for her.

BTW, I'm really liking the Wave feature. I thought I wouldn't, though I've not had a knife with it yet. One less step to deployment is nice. I know it's not 100% reliable (not catching on your pocket's lip, etc.) and it's not an EDC requirement but the option is there if needed. I really like this knife. My hat's off to Mr. Emerson on a quality knife. I doubt it'll be my only Emerson.
 
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