My Mini Roadhouse makes my thumb hurt!

B

Boomer8404

Joined
Sep 17, 2015
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So I got my Mini Desert Roadhouse in a couple days ago and I love it, it's as awesome as the rest of my Emerson collection. What can I say, I'm a fanboy lol. However, the one and only thing I hate about this knife is the relieve cutout area on the left scale and liner. It is too small. I have been working it a lot to get it broken in and the tip of my thumb is nearly worn raw sore. What was Ernie thinking making the lock cutout area so tiny? I'm thinking of contacting Emerson and inquiring with them to see if they can modify it, and open the thumb cutout are. Maybe something more like the Mini Commanders thumb cutout profile. I'd hate to ditch the warranty, but if Emerson won't, then I may break out my Dremel and do it myself. Any other Mini Roadhouse owners out there feel the same way?
 
I have a mini Roadhouse, it's a bit on the smooth side. I like it. Have you adjusted the pivot at all? As far as the lock cut out being tiny, you have to remember, the knife has a wave on it for a reason, as well as the knife is a "mini" after all. If it's brand new, it may need some break in time, hence the pivot adjustment. A little goes a long way. good luck, whatever you choose to do.
 
Red Devil is spot on, I have a couple mini roadies and like all new eki's once broken in it gets way easier on the fingers. I took both of mine apart and cleaned and lubed with a little gun grease. They are very smooth now and open alot easier. Becareful to only use a little lube as you do not want to get it on the lock face or lock bar. It will make the lock sticky.

You can also have a set of scales made by someone like Rayster357 that has a relief cut into the scale near the thumb disk area of the blade. I would not suggest doing that to the stock scales that would void the warranty I believe. Rayster357 does a fantastic job on scales you can check out his work in the emerson pic stickies here. This would allow you to switch back to stock scales if need be anytime with out causing any warranty issues. Just a thought...
 
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This is a pic of my m-rh and a specwar that I made scales for myself. I am not even close to as good as others like rayster357, however I think it shows what you can have made to give a little relief that your looking for. Your options on scales are almost endless, scale color, material type, contour etc....The scales will cost you a little bit of cash but imho its well worth the cost and gives that personal touch.
 
You could also try a monster thumb disk from gray precision. It will stick out a little more and maybe just enough not to have to modify the scales.
 
Its not the blade opening action, or getting my thumb to the thumb disc that I am referring to. I have not adjusted the pivot screw either. I'm referring to the lock bar and the relief cutout in the scale/liner where you slide you thumb over to disengage the lock bar from the blade. The relief cutout in the Mini Roadhouse is too tiny and not very ergonomic (which is surprising for and Emerson knife), when compared to something like the Mini Commander. The relief cut on the Mini Commander is deeper and allows the user to get their thumb farther down on the lock bar, to put more meat on it for a better purchase. Sorry my explanation wasn't as clear in my first post. What I was thinking was getting with Emerson to see if they would recut the relief on my Mini Roadhouse to match the relief cut of the Mini Commander. I have thought of making my own custom scales, but even if I make a big thumb relief area, the liner will still be in the way. I'd rather not ditch my warranty, but if Emerson won't do the modification I might just do it myself. I like to put some OD green scales on it, but I'll have to grind down the liner a little bit to get what I'm looking for.

Here are a couple of pics, the red circled areas are what I'm talking about. Hope it all makes more sense lol.

 
Ahh i see what your refering to now. Yeah if you cut into the liners the warranty is void. I noticed on the specwar anyway, that having a "thumb" relief on the scale did free up the lock area slightly.
 
All the Roadhouses are like that for some reason, its almost like they forgot to finish it.

I had a Super Roadhouse that was the same way. I never really cared for the thing and have since sold it, but I remember thinking that was strange at the time.

~John
 
As soon as the lock wears/breaks in, it will be much easier to disengage the lock which should make it more easier on your thumbs! In due time...
 
That does seem a little strange since the other models have adequate cutouts. First time I've seen mention of this. but the pic shows it well.

It sounds like others have experienced what you are though....and it worked out for them after break in. Be patient with it for a while and see if you get used to it. I've had a lot of knives where I have wrecked a thumb playing with it when new and they went on to become some of my favorites.

One thing about it: it makes it less likely to disengage during use, and no need for a Boye dent.. :)

I bet it works out for you.
 
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Well I finally have it working pretty nicely. I took it apart cleaned and oiled (w/ Breakfree). Did a little polishing on the lock bar/ blade engagement surfaces with a Dremel. After putting it back together I used a flat screwdriver and lightly put some positive pressure into the in engagement to prewear the parts in (did this 10-12 times). I usually do this with firearms to prewear the sear/hammer engagement to lighten/smooth the trigger pull. I also made myself a tool, a little piece of wood with a dowel rod in it to push the lock bar when it was really stuck. This all coupled with coating the blade engagement surface with some pencil lead and a LOT of opening and closing action and its coming along nicely.

I still have yet to decide if I want to mod this knife, but if I do, I will go for the gusto. OD Green G-10 or Micarta scales, double bevel edge grind, I will definitely deepen the thumb cutout and maybe add a deep carry pocket clip.
 
Depending on the model and knife. Size of the cut out can vary.
For most liner locks . A minimal cutout is preferred. A large cut out can lead to blade play or will let the blade flop around in a tight grip. With a frame lock , this is not much of an issue.
 
jmorton10 said:
How will that make it easier to disengage the liner lock??

~John
Click to expand...

Not supposed to, nevermind. Thing is, everyone has different hands, dexterity, and an opinion of what feels ergonomically good vs bad. ON my MRH, I have no problem with the lock bar cut out, it's just enough to unlock it, you have to press the lockbar into the handle of the knife, then to the left. Some people have thumbs that resemble Harry and David pears (with the rest of the fingers to match) so it might be more difficult for them to unlock a smaller knife like this. If it were truly a large scale problem, like everything else around here, we'd be seeing a deluge of threads proclaiming the design failure.
 
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