My first Emerson!

I just got my Mini Roadhouse today from Emerson! It was a tad dirty on the scale and also the extra clip the black powdercoat was rubbing off. Some water and qtips it looks good now. Ill get photos up soon! Its a badass knife! :)
 
It is machined G10 dust, when mixed with coolant from the CNC mill it gets into the handle texture and dries like white powder, I used a air pressure nozzle and blew them out then oiled with WD 40 and it looked better than new.

Congrats on a beautiful knife
 
Congrats on the new knife and welcome to the Emerson sickness.

I have never used a serrated model, gonna have to try one someday.
 
Ok, so a day later, I have a question.

I know new folding knives are usually stiff. It's just...this one is stiffer than I'm used to, but more importantly, it's unevenly stiff. It's not rough; I don't feel any grinding or anything like that. I'm not sure exactly how to describe what I feel when I'm opening or closing the blade.

I took a video. You can hear the dragging as I open or close the blade. Also, as I get the blade about 3/4 open, you can see the pivot end of the body jump up and down a little bit in my grasp. This is from the action suddenly getting stiffer at that point, causing me to apply more force to the blade to rotate it through opening, thus pushing the end of the body down as the action resists. Then the rest of the bouncing is due to adjusting and compensating for different levels of force needed to complete the opening of the blade as the felt resistance changes. I hope this explanation makes sense. Anyway, I included a different knife at the end of the video, the old S&W I'd been carrying for several months, and in comparison you can hear how quiet it is, as well as see that opening or closing it causes practically no bouncing in my hand. It feels buttery smooth. Not loose, but smooth.

[video=youtube;0rYOIYhxAu8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rYOIYhxAu8[/video]

So basically I'm just wondering if this is all normal and I just need to keep working it to smooth it out, or what?
 
You can either break it in over time as is, or take it apart, clean everything off, reassemble with or without lubricant and it will smooth itself out over time. I've done all three with various Emersons and the end result has been the same.

It is the way it is right now in case you were in the military and might subject it to a saltwater environment. I live in Ohio and will not, so I cycle them through their opening/closing cycle a couple of hundred times while watching tv, then take them apart, clean them and reassemble. Same thing.

To reduce wear, I grasp the scale in one hand, the top of the blade between two fingertips of the other hand, and move the blade through its opening arc very rapidly a couple of hundred times as fast as I can, stopping just shy of totally closing it (fingertips slightly touching the scales) and just shy of it locking the blade open.

I open and close that "V" rapidly for a couple of minutes, then take it apart, wipe everything off, reassemble with a little lube and they are good to go. Mimics breaking them in over a couple of months in an hour or so.
 
From the "Basic Users Guide" sticky thread:

My new Emerson is stiff to open, how do I fix it?
There are many ways to do this, but honestly the easiest way is to use it!
Emerson's were designed as tools and benefit from it. The more you open and close the knife the smoother it will become. If you need to have it smoother in a hurry, you can do this: completely disassemble the knife and wipe down all the components. Place some of your lube of choice on the blade where the washers will contact it. Reassemble the knife. Adjust the pivot to remove side to side blade play. Open and close it and it will be smoother. Trust me, over time it will smooth out. Understand also that most Emersons have two detents where as most other knives have one. This will inherently make the knife a little stiffer to open.
 
Good responses from two experienced Emerson users. I'll add my .02 worth. Your experience seems pretty normal to me from the 9 or 10 Emersons that I've owned. All but 2 were new from dealers so most of my experience is with new Emersons. I admit that the 7A I have came "pre-owned" and so, broken in. It is very smooth now.

I've only d/a, cleaned, and adjusted one model, my mini-15. It did make a noticeable difference in the action. That said, I don't really care how a knife feels when opening as long as it opens fully and locks securely. I'm old... I came from the world of slipjoints (think very stiff backsprings) and Buck 110s. Any Emerson is easy to operate when I remember how those worked.

I'd just recommend using your Emerson for a while. After a month or so, if you still think about the action, take it apart and clean it up. Put a little (I say, a *little*) Blue Lube or CRK grease or Frog Lube or hog fat on the sides of the blade tang and the liners and reassemble it. Adjust the pivot to your likin' and you'll be G-T-G.
 
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Nice job on cleaning up the scales. I like to use a little car wax on stonewashed Emersons as it makes the contrast between the stonewashed flats and the machined grinds really 'pop'.
 
Take a look at the lock while you open the blade like that.

I believe what you are experiencing is just the detent stepping off of the blade.
 
Yeah, just before full open, that 'hump' is the lockbar going over the second detent. It's normal.

Here is how mine get broke in.
New with factory grease, leave it as is from factory, which is tight.
Open and close till your thumb gets sore, then do some more while watching TV. Will toughen up your thumb for your near future Emerson purchases. :-)
After about a week, break it down (really only need to take the screws out of one side to get to all the parts) and clean with paper towel and Qtips.
Use good high quality grease (I use gun lube grease, not oil). Lube up all contact areas and the path on the blade where BOTH detents ride, you should see marks.
Reassemble and get tight again.
Open close for a few days.
Now you can start adjusting the pivot so things are still centered but smoother to open.
By now it should be buttery smooth.
This whole process helps break the lock in too if you get a little sticking, but that usually only takes a day or two.

Keep in mind too that Emersons aren't "flickers", like Benchmades or Spyderco's. They are more like CRK Sebenzas. No need to open fast with a flick on these b/c if you need it open fast, use the wave. First time I had an Emerson years ago I didn't like it b/c I couldn't flick it open. When I got to the point I could, there was no detent and lots of blade play b/c I had the pivot so loose. I've since realized there is no need to flick a knife open and it is just a gimick thing. The wave on the other hand is amazing.

Nice knife brother! Enjoy!
 
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All of these posts are making me enjoy my new emerson more as well. I was surprised how stiff it was but I knew it was going to be stiff since reading about them. I've been just opening it and closing it while watching tv. 2 hands to not put too much wear on it. I've read suggestions on so many different lube types. I'm going to go with frog lube I think after I break it in.
 
Thanks everyone... I figured I was just being overly cautious or paranoid or something.

Officer's Match said:
Nice job on cleaning up the scales. I like to use a little car wax on stonewashed Emersons as it makes the contrast between the stonewashed flats and the machined grinds really 'pop'.
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Does the wax also help protect from rust?
 
If you have toxic sweat like I do the stonewashed models will accumulate some light rust spotting. All I do is use some CLP for firearms and a nylon bristle brush and it comes right off.
 
Silvanus said:
If you have toxic sweat like I do the stonewashed models will accumulate some light rust spotting. All I do is use some CLP for firearms and a nylon bristle brush and it comes right off.
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I have had this happen to me as well, usually when I'm drenched in sweat. Believe it or not an eraser removed the spotting easily
 
I often rust my mill table just from touching it..
great knife, I am a fan of the old school 7.
 
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