New Emerson CQC-8 + Questions

[taylorjstone]

Hello Bladeforum!,

My name is Taylor and I am a 18 year old student. I spend a lot of time working on my friends cattle ranch, and I have been using knives my whole life. I have always bought cheap knives from sporting goods stores, to cut the hay bales, and for everyday use.
Ive been looking at Emersons for a long time and I finally decided to get the CQC-8.
First off: I love the blade, it looks amazing and the knife itself is by far my favorite one I have ever owned...
Forgive my inexperienced terms, because I'm not very knowledgeable on how knives are built, I just use them a lot.

However, I have experienced one annoying problem (but maybe it isn't a problem?)

First (my main issue): when I fold out the knife in a regular manner using my hands, the blade seems to have a nice "early" lockup.

BUT when I use the "wave" feature to deploy the blade, or when I use my thumb to flip open the blade with a jerk of my wrist, the lock seems to slide very far down on the bottom of the tang (late lockup?) and its almost impossible to unlock the blade using my fingers. I keep a quarter in my back pocket to unlock it now.

-Is this normal, and will I eventually be able to unlock my knife with only my thumb, or is something wrong?

Thank You very much for the replies in advance!

Also Ill post up some pictures as soon as I learn how to upload pictures! ****FIXED****

EARLY lockup, from regular opening without any wrist flick

LATE lockup - this is what I am unable to open unless I use a coin, or something else to assist the lock to open

 

[gooeytek]

are any of the body screws loose? is the blade centered when closed? There might be some misalignment of the liners that's affecting the stop pin.

 

[colubrid]

My first thought is does the blade have any side to side play? if so, just tighten the pivot.


I am sure if I had the knife in hand I could piont out the problem and fix it for you. but without holding and see the knife it is hard to say what is causing this.



Have you taken the knife apart to clean the washers and pivot hole area on the balde yet? Most new Emersons come gritty and dirty NIB. But when cleaned they are smooth as silk and easy to open. Maybe this will help you understand how the knife works better and you can easily fix any problem yourself with a simple adjustment. All you need is a flat head screwdriver and small Phillips head/ Or even a dime and a small Phillips head screwdriver.

 

[taylorjstone]

are any of the body screws loose? is the blade centered when closed? There might be some misalignment of the liners that's affecting the stop pin.

There is a tiny, minuscule amount of blade play, but It feels very solid... If I push relatively firmly then the blade will move a fraction to the right/left

are any of the body screws loose? is the blade centered when closed? There might be some misalignment of the liners that's affecting the stop pin.

Everything looks and feels fine to me except the lock... Have you ever heard of Emerson locks being stuck from a wave deployment?


more pictures:

 

[gooeytek]

Tighten the pivot to eliminate the bladeplay. If there is some side-to-side play, that might be what's causing the lock to engage further when opened with some force. If the blade becomes hard to open when the pivot is tight enough, try taking it apart to clean the pivot and washers, and assemble it dry.

 

[50mmnormal]

There's also a huge difference in velocity (and thus force) between opening with your thumb and waving. Most of mine always engage a little more when waved. Also - not sure if this is the case, but if it's loose enough to "flick" open without thumb contact on the disc at all times, it's probably too loose.

Honestly, the waved pic of lock engagement isn't what I would call late at all, as well...

 

[taylorjstone]

Honestly, the waved pic of lock engagement isn't what I would call late at all, as well...

Okay! Thanks
So you would not be concerned if you can't unlock your knife after a wave open? As I mentioned I just keep a quarter in my pocket if I'm going to wave open the knife

 

[colubrid]

Like I said before. It seems to be there is blade play and that is causing the late lockyup when you wave it. It should not be that much further over from the original picture.

If it is getting stuck is just another sign there is play.

Do you know how to check blade play. You grip the blade near the tip and the other hand on the grip and then wiggle side to side. Any play tighten it up. That should eliminate the late and stuck lockup.

 

[taylorjstone]

Do you know how to check blade play. You grip the blade near the tip and the other hand on the grip and then wiggle side to side. Any play tighten it up. That should eliminate the late and stuck lockup.

Yes, and there is a very small amount of blade play. I took the knife apart, and reassembled it and tightened everything down. When I tightened the pivot screw it made it very tough to open (lots of resistance).
-if I tighten it down to a point with lots of resistance, will it break in?

Thanks for the help!! As I said I'm a newbie to knife maintenance

 

[gooeytek]

Just tighten the pivot to the point where you have zero bladeplay, and that should be it.

 

[colubrid]

When you assemble the knife you want to make sure the liners and blade will remain centered. If you assembled the knife with the blade in the closed position or half open and tightened the small screws in the wrong order you can get it misaligned.

This is how you want to reassemble:

Place the blade into the knife in the open position(lockbar locked). Then put the grips on and then slightly tighten the small Phillips screws from the rear end of the knife and then the ones towards the front. Then tighten the pivot screw and then back off (loosen) 1 1/2 turns. (all this while the blade is in the open and locked postion!!) then tighten the small Phillips screws all the way down..(again from the rear of the grip towards the front-first the two rears and then the middle ones) now tighten the pivot screw 1 1/2 turns to its desired position. Then close the blade and see if the blade is centered. You can then adjust the pivot swhile the blade is closed to perfect it to make sure the blade is centered. The blade may move when doing this.

When dissembling the knife the liners and grips can shift causing the blade to lean or the lock bar interface not to touch the tang properly.

You should not have any problem then.

 

[ElConquistador]

My experience has been the same with the lockup on new Emersons. It will eventually settle in and engage at the later lock up (which I agree is not too late). The lock will eventually loose the stickiness and be easy to disengage whether you wave it or open it slowly. My theory is that it's the contact between the blade tang and the stop pin that settles in and causes the lockup to move. You can see on the back of the blade where it contacts the stop pin, as you open the knife the mark becomes more defined and the lockup moves over.

Everybody has their different ways of breaking them in but I just open/close them until they smooth out, then maybe add a drop of oil and repeat until it smooths out more. Then eventually I'll clean it out with hot tap water and soap.

The CQC-8 is a good choice, I hope you like it.

 

[watertower]

The others have addressed your lockup and blade play "issues." On the sticky lock (tough to close) try putting some pencil lead or sharpie marker on the blade where the lock engages it when open. I've found the sharpie works a little better for me than a pencil. This will help with the sticking, which should eventually let up after use.

ETA: You may have to reapply sharpie every couple days for awhile.

 

[taylorjstone]

When you assemble the knife you want to make sure the liners and blade will remain centered. If you assembled the knife with the blade in the closed position or half open and tightened the small screws in the wrong order you can get it misaligned.
...
You should not have any problem then.

Thanks Colubrid!!! I did everything you said, and tightened everything in order. Now the blade is centered and there is no blade play.

The others have addressed your lockup and blade play "issues." On the sticky lock (tough to close) try putting some pencil lead or sharpie marker on the blade where the lock engages it when open. I've found the sharpie works a little better for me than a pencil. This will help with the sticking, which should eventually let up after use.

ETA: You may have to reapply sharpie every couple days for awhile.

Watertower!!!!!!!!! This works really well especially after I re assembled my knife in the manner mentioned above. I have done a few forceful wave openings and the blade is locking up at a more regular "earlier" spot on the tang. I also am having no troubles unlocking the blade.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me fix my issue! My right thumb has a cut in it from trying to unlock the blade many times a day, and Im glad I wont have to worry anymore!!! Ill post results after a few days of hard use! :thumbup:

 

[colubrid]

Thanks Colubrid!!! I did everything you said, and tightened everything in order. Now the blade is centered and there is no blade play.



Watertower!!!!!!!!! This works really well especially after I re assembled my knife in the manner mentioned above. I have done a few forceful wave openings and the blade is locking up at a more regular "earlier" spot on the tang. I also am having no troubles unlocking the blade.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me fix my issue! My right thumb has a cut in it from trying to unlock the blade many times a day, and Im glad I wont have to worry anymore!!! Ill post results after a few days of hard use! :thumbup:

I use #2 pencil led and have found the grit in the led helps smooth the stickiness after time and then you don't need to apply it any longer..

 

[colubrid]

BTW how do you like the CQC-8? I have a horseman and it is the same as the CQC-8 only smaller. Basically a CQC-8 mini.

I love the ergos of the grip on mine and is really lightweight considering its size for an Emerson.

Now I have a Gentleman Jim on the way and my understanding is it is lighter and has a better blade to grip ratio. Meaning the blade is fairly long for such a short grip. Can't wait to get it into my hands.

 

[colubrid]

Now I have a Gentleman Jim on the way and my understanding is it is lighter and has a better blade to grip ratio. Meaning the blade is fairly long for such a short grip. Can't wait to get it into my hands.

well I am not getting the Gentleman Jim now after all. The seller refunded the money because I paid for it right after someone posted an "I'll take It" on the thread. Gentleman Jim not very befitting a gentleman.

 

[taylorjstone]

BTW how do you like the CQC-8? I have a horseman and it is the same as the CQC-8 only smaller. Basically a CQC-8 mini.

I love the ergos of the grip on mine and is really lightweight considering its size for an Emerson.

Now I have a Gentleman Jim on the way and my understanding is it is lighter and has a better blade to grip ratio. Meaning the blade is fairly long for such a short grip. Can't wait to get it into my hands.

I love the CQC-8! It fits perfectly in my hand and it feels very sturdy. The CQC-8 fits well in my pocket and all of my jeans have signs of wear from wave opening the blade and the G10 grips texture.
I have been thinking about buying a horseman or mini commander to accompany my CQC-8 because when I pull the knife out of my pocket for whatever reason, it looks very menacing. The blade is awesome and looks very intimidating, but I sometimes have to explain why I chose a knife with such aggressive features.

I'm really glad I bought an Emerson!

My only issue that I've had is that the pivot loosens after a few wave opens and I find myself tightening it with a fingernail quite often

 

[gooeytek]

use a little loctite on the pivot.

 

[shqxk]

Real Emerson come with defect. If you by chance to get one with zero issue you better be suspect that it could be a Chinese counterfeit.