My first Emerson...the CQC-13

H

hhkang63

Joined
Apr 19, 2009
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51
Hello all, I ordered some knives last week, and they got here today afternoon, one of them being the Emerson CQC-13 in satin plain edge.
And I gotta say, I'm impressed...but have some questions.

The handle is INSANE. Absolutely tank-like, and gigantic. First time handling a textured G-10 handle, and I'm very happy with it.
I love how the handle is contoured, it feels extremely secure. This knife has a rock-solid feeling in your hand.

New Graham included a pack of band-aids that say "You're gonna need 'em!" on the box...funny cuz I never have cut myself with my knives before...but unfortunately, I started playing with the wave feature, and...guess what? That murderous bowie clip point sliced the pad of my middle finger a bit, less than half an inch, and the alcohol swabbing afterward felt real good :D Otherwise I love the wave feature.

I don't know much about the chisel grind yet...I'll see how it works out.

The knife locks out solidly with a nice 'click'. But here is a question/concern...the liner lock is rather...stubborn. sometimes I have to use both hands to disengage it, and the rest of the time I gotta crank it with my thumb a bit. I'm not entirely confident this will clear up with use. Can anybody else explain this to me? Did your Emersons also ship with stubborn liner locks? Is this just a trademark feel of Emersons? I also got a Kershaw Tyrade in Orange today, and the liner lock on that knife is GLORIOUSLY smooth. Too smooth. I wish the Emerson felt like that :(

Also, the blade is not centered AT ALL. Sorta ridiculous. I'm not anal about centered blades, but this one is just WAAAAAY left. Just throwing that out there.

I just feel like the liner should be much smoother and the blade a little closer to center considering its $170 price tag...
I absolutely love the blade shape too...looks dangerous (which it certainly is, considering it drew blood within 10 minutes of me handling it).

Those are my only gripes about this, I'll get some updates on here as I use my brand-spankin'-new knife...

Well thanks for reading, please comment!

-Hunter
p.s. how do i post pics all up in hurr?!
 
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First off it is a good thing to have a liner lock like that. Second thing is figure out a way to not wave the knife all the time when you take it out. It will just promote premature wear on the liner locking up. You know it will end up going way right in a short time. At least this has been my experience with the wave.

Secondly take the 13 apart, it ain't that hard. Clean the internal with a good cleaner like WD40 and then wipe it all off. Then use a good lubricant on the pivot bushings and carefully reassemble. Work the blade back and forth a few times to make sure the grease gets worked in. Then take a #2 pencil and color the back of the tang of the blade. This will take care of the sticky lock. keepem sharp
 
most of my emersons came with a sticky lock. a couple were like yours and really stubborn. but now i have a pretty good callous on my right thumb, so the sticky locks dont bother me so much.

as for the blade centering, could you post a pic?

and how tight is the pivot screw? it could just be a matter of adjusting that screw.
 
MORIMOTOM said:
and how tight is the pivot screw? it could just be a matter of adjusting that screw.
Click to expand...

That was my thought.
I had an off-center Emerson; it turned out to be because the pivot screw was too loose.
Tightened it SLIGHTLY, and all was good!:thumbup:
 
Same problem with one of my Emersons. I adjusted the pivot screw and all was good.
 
my super cqc7 i just bought had to be sent to emerson for warranty work cuz the blade was off. a good blade, like stated above , will be centered when tight, and as the pivot is loosened it will creep away from the locking side because of the spring force of the locking liner. when mine was all the way tightened to still move well and have no paly, as i always set mine, the blade was soo close to the locking liner side that sometimes the blade would scrape the liner near the tip when opened . i took out my back spacer and only used the most forward hole in the spacer on the most rearward hole on the handle, and then my blade was centered. so my spacer was definitely out of spec.

i just sent it off this morning, so it should be on its way back to me this week hopefully. i am anal about blade centering as well.
 
An off center blade is normally the pivot screw needing played with. I find you usually have to let it wear in for a bit
and put up with it being a bit stiffer than you would like for a short while but once its all settled in you will be good to go.
It can sometimes be because of the double detent set up pushing the blade a skew but I have only had that problem on one or two knives.
The spacer throwing things out of shape is a new one to me though ?
 
i mean i am pretty sure. either way, i need emerson to fix it. i just wish i could live near them instead of spending time and money to get it fixed, but it is definitely worth it!
 
I tweaked the pivot screw just a tiny bit and it looks better now. Opens very quick and smooth, and the blade is better centered.

But still...The linerlock is a pain! I've been playing with it non-stop, and my thumb isn't very happy.

Morimotom, how do I post pics on here? Do non-paying members have pic-posting privileges?

Also...Now I'm just being anal, but, at the top side(spine) of the tip of the blade, there are two spots with some black-ish spots, fresh from the factory. Tried cleaning it, no luck...I think some of the coating is missing. GAH I'm just starting to get second thoughts about spending a huge chunk of money on this just because of several tiny little problems with it.
I definitely dig it though, out of this and the Tyrade I ordered together, the 13 is no doubt getting more play time and admiration. Just...several tiny little issues...

What do y'all think?

-Hunter
 
if the coating is missing, i would think the spots would be unnoticeable, since the bare metal is very similar in color. it might just be some impurities in the "satin" coating.

if you host your pics at photobucket, which is free, then just copy/paste the img code in to the thread.

my newest emerson, a cqc8, had a very sticky lock. it has taken several weeks, but it is now much easier on the thumb. i also recommend the pencil on the tang. the graphite acts as a mild lubricant/abrasive and should wear off any burrs that are there.

the problems you mention are not new to emerson owners. in fact, they are the reasons many choose to avoid the brand altogether.

ive owned many, and most did not need the break in period like my 8. my 13 was smooth right out of the box.
 
Bro...Get that blade centered and remember...this is an Emerson knife. Let the chips fall...don't obsess. As time goes by, you will love your knife more and more.
 
I picked up a CQC-13 last week as well.

The lock is rather tight, and requires a stout force to get it to disengage. The liner lock is nested more than some of the other liner locks I have had, which might be why it seems a little harder to open- just not alot to push against if you get my drift. Its a bit of a annoyance, but it is becoming more natural as I use it.

Mine came centered, but I needed to loosen the pivot slightly to get it to open more smoothly. I am glad Emerson used flat head and philips screws to hold it all together. I am against having to use a specialty tool, like a torx.

Mine has a black spot at the tip on the unground side. If you look at the ground edge, the very tip is ever so slightly discolored. I called Emerson when it arrived, and asked whether I should worry. Mr. Emerson relayed to the woman who answered the phone that its nothing to worry about. Its tempered at 975 degrees, and the straw color I noticed occurs around 350 or so. I am a little disappointed, but not overly so that I want to return the knife.

It feels great in the hand, so overall, I am satisfied.
 
I'm anal about the blade centering thing myself, so I learned a method that works every time with Emersons:

To adjust the blade centering:
Open the knife and hold it with one hand on the blade and one hand on the handle and both your thumbs around the pivot screw. Then FLEX the whole knife - pull down with your hands and push up with your thumbs. Do it in the OPPOSITE direction than your brain tells you to. (Trust me.) You have to do it fairly hard but you'll see. Give it a few pounds of pressure, check and see if it moved anything, then do it a little harder until you see that it did something. I usually hear a bit of a cracking sound. Don't let this worry you; it's just the lock skipping up the ramp as you do this and won't hurt anything. If you go too far (or if you did it the wrong way), flip the knife over and bend the other way. In my experience you can do this an indefinate number of times and never hurt the knife. Users (especially if you pry or use lateral force on your knife when using) need to be adjusted like this sometimes. The older ones without the ball detent on both sides need it more than the newer ones that have that ball detent on the off-lock side that balance the force of the lock.

.
 
I corrected an off-center Commander by taking it apart and reassembling it.

Once you have done that, adjust the pivot screw until you get the desired result.

If that doesn't work, send it back. Its a premium knife, you must be happy with it.

As for the lock, mine was exactly the same. With time it will smooth out.

Congrats on your blade. IMO you now have one of the finest production knives on the market today.
 
I just sent mine in after 4 days could not deal with the lockup needing 2 hands to unlock it just wasn't right. I opened this thing all day for 4 days and still no relief on the lock... Called Emerson and they said "Send it in". It is a weird feeling with Emerson Knives, You absolutely love the knife but you are just disappointed with the fit/finish. I found my self doing the same thing All I can say is its just weird. You love it but you cant stop nitpicking the knife because you just spent ALOT of money on it... and in your mind you expected it to be perfect. I cant wait to get my CQC 7 BW back I just hope it is up to par.
 
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