New Flash II Problems with Closing

F

Fishin'

Joined
May 4, 2002
Messages
24
After posting here 4 months ago about excessive blade play in a new Flash II with Zytel handles, I found another related post where someone who said they work or worked for SOG claimed that the aluminum-handled Flash II is a higher quality knife and has much less play.

Well I finally went and ordered my aluminum-handled Flash II and received it today. Two problems: It has even more blade play than my Zytek Flash. And, after opening it for the first time, I couldn't get the doggone closing slide button to work! Finally got it closed and figured I just had to work it a bit. But it's still extremely tough to close. (Thumb's getting pretty sore!!). I've read a few other posts where folks who oiled the mechanism experienced this problem, but mine is brand new out of the box today and hasn't been oiled at all. The closing slide mechanism actually feels like it clicks slightly when I can get it to move; feels like a mechanical problem, maybe a slight burr on the slide. :(

Since I ordered it here from 1SKS I figured it would be replaced, but I notice the website, while allowing returns within seven days if not satisfied, says it won't take back defective knives - they must be sent to SOG for servicing. :confused:

Is this true? For a blade that's defective out of the box? :mad: The site says not to e-mail them but to call, and I can't do that until Monday. I sure hope I don't have to pay to return this baby to SOG and get it back "fixed".

The Blink I received with it today is perfect. A little tight opening, but I'm sure that'll work out with use. And my Twitch II is on the way!!

Anyone have similar problems with the aluminum-handled Flash II? Or do I just always seem to get the rogue of the bunch?

And does anyone know how 1SKS handles an issue like this?

Thanks for any help!
 
I've evaluated a Zytel-handle Flash II for some time as part of an upcoming review for The Martialist and found it to be an excellent knife. There was no play at all in the open blade. The knife doesn't open as quickly as a Kershaw assisted-opener, probably due primarily to the fact that the blade is larger and heavier, but based on my experience with this one knife I'd rate it a top-quality folder. I've not had any problems closing it, either.
 
Hello Fishin', Let me start by saying, sorry for your problem. I would like to make a suggestion to you, and if this does not work, then contact SOG, I had at a twitch 2, it seemed a little tight out of the box, I put a couple drops of ZEBCO reel oil (from wal-mart fishing area in a small pen tube), in the pivot and slide bar and it corrected the problem. This is a guess on my part, but I think the reason for this tightness sometimes is due to the very tight tolerances and mechanical parts that are machined, upon completion and assembly, I think have a certain amount of metal dust left on the finished part, which means the dust is capable of binding some parts sometimes, of course I realize that these parts may be washed, but some particles may get through, I think it is magnafied sometimes by the type of oil you put on these parts, Some oils mix with these particles, and still provides enough friction resistance for the part to move freely, realize I am NOT an oil expert nor a knife expert, and what I am saying is purely from experimenting repeatedly with knife parts (and fishing reel parts) for about 25 years, I have used a few different oils in the past, only to cause a TOTAL lock up of my knife parts because the lube I used DID penetrate and loosen, but in the meantime moved particles into the moving parts, causing friction. I bought a few miracle lubes, only to have to completely flush with warm water and joy soap, to get it out so I could re-lube with light machine oil. It then would work fine. I have many times flushed as described above and let dry and re-lube, and 99.9 % of the time it fixed the problem. I used to do maintenence on knives and reels and this is the way I corrected many problems (including old slipjoints) that others thought were more serious. This is a very touchy subject, many have different opinions, this is my opinion and others may offer you better advice. As for the blade play on SOGS, I would NOT do this unless you know you can tighten the blade, I knew I could tighten the blade play, so I use an allen, hex or star on all my pivots on all brands of knives, I don't reccomend this as it could violate warranty, having said that I "adjust" ALL my knives to my liking, I call it "custom tweaking" I hold my thumb on opposite side of allen or hex, and gently tighten and check until desired tightness is achieved (note: some companies use loc-tite, or equal on srews, may be a little hard to turn, but can be done). Most companies I think tighten to a certain tightness, and it may not as tight as I like to get it, with the assisted openers or autos, there has to be a happy medium, not to tight and not to loose, I have found I prefer to make that decision for myself, so I tweak just about everything to my liking, you could call it picky. Remember, don't mess with it if you don't know for sure you can fix it. Contact the maker.
Robbie Roberson :D
 
Thanks for the advice, Robbie.

I have read several posts here where people got a perfectly good Flash and then applied their usual lubricant, only to have it lock up after the lube job. I think you're probably right on the mark when you say that some oils tend to collect any grit and thicken. I haven't oiled this one at all. It was like this literally right out of the box. It may just be some machining dust, but it feels a little more solid, possibly a small burr. Also the blade rubs pretty hard on one side of the liner when it opens and closes. Seems to be misaligned. That may be related to the blade play, which is pretty significant.

As for tightening, the problem (at least on my 6-7 month old Zytel-handled Flash II) isn't toward the back side of the handle, where the screw is. It seems to loosen up toward the front of the handle where the press rivet is. On the older, less expensive Zytel model, if I just squeeze hard toward the front rivet, with my thumb and finger only, it tightens up for several openings, then loosens again. I'm not touching the new one unless someone at SOG tells me to. But I may try a power press on the older knife, since it was cheap enough that I'm not going to send it in for warranty service. I'll post back to say how that worked.

The Blink is great! Tight, quick, and light. The Twitch looks similar, but I haven't received that one yet.

Most folks love the Flash II and have no problems with it. (See Sharp Phil's comment above yours). I think I've just had a small run of bad luck with mine. My other SOGs (Mini-Pentagon and Vision) are perfect. Last night I probably sounded a little frustrated, but that was more due to seeing the "no defective returns allowed" policy. I guess I should have read it more carefully first. Ahh, I would have ordered it anyway! Maybe they'll take care of it after all Monday when I call.

Thanks,

Jim
 
Hold on a minute ! If I understand you correctly, You are calling the pivot pin, a press pin, am I correct ? Forgive me if I am, its hard to understand by reading text, but if I am right, I think I may realize what your problem is with blade play in both models, first, the press pin you may be referring to sounds like to me, in realty is the actual pivot pin, which has a VERY small hex or allen (size- ET-5/64th) screw located right in the center of the machined pivot pin. If this is correct, on the older zytel model, you are squeezing the handles in on the blade, long enough for it to open a couple times and feel tighter, but in reality, you NEED to look very closely at the PIVOT pin, right side,and see the center of pin, (allen) turn clockwize to tighten, while holding thumb on back side of pin for support, the back bone of the knife has 3 allen screws you can see very easily, check for snugness, this is a very simple procedure and I think you may be fixin to mess up if you put it in a vice. Unless I am WAY behind on the flash series, the machined alum. model works exactly the same way. It's as simple as allen wrench and tighten it ! If this does not work, then I don't know what the problem is, you may want to get a magnafier to look at the pivot pin where I said, I had to because I don't see too well up close.;) Robbie Roberson
 
Yes, now that I'm looking at the knife while typing this (better be careful here!), it is the pivot pin.

sog-tfsa-97.jpg


However I thought it was permanently pressed into place. The center of the concentric rings is a hex or allen slot? Man, I'm just getting too darn old! Looked like just a slight dimple or depression, as you would see if it were power-punched into place. But looking closer, while I still can't see the "walls" to support a standard allen wrench, there are some evenly spaced beads or something similar. Possibly a Star tool? Maybe I'll give it a try on the older Zytel knife.

I'm still not touching the new aluminum-handled Flash till I hear from 1SKS or SOG! The closing slide sticking and the misaligned blade wouldn't seem to be caused by the pivot point being loose,and I don't want to void the warranty on a one day old knife!

Thanks again,

Jim
 
Now your talkin ! Find you a small, (about the size of a wood toothpick in the center) Allen wrench, size 5/64th, and try it on your older zytel flash 2, I am sure this will tighten the pivot, turn to the right gently, turn a little and try to open it, keep testing until you get a happy medium between too tight and too loose, don't keep doing it a lot over and over or you will break the bond on the loc-tight, it's very easy to adjust, take my word for it, your not getting too old, they are just making these fittings smaller and smaller, first time I looked at one, I also thought "star", but It is deceptive looking because the bottom of the hole is tapered, and my 5/64th allen works perfect every time on all mine. Try it, I bet you will have it tight in no time. Make it as tight as you can, and it still open "fairly" fast, then sock the machine oil to it and open for the next hour and it will be fast as it can be. Hope this helps.
Robbie Roberson;)
 
Welcome to SOG SAT Adjustment 101...:cool:

Class is now in session, with Professor Roberson...;)

I'll take a look at mine now...:D
 
Originally posted by Robbie Roberson
Now your talkin ! Find you a small, (about the size of a wood toothpick in the center) Allen wrench, size 5/64th, and try it on your older zytel flash 2, I am sure this will tighten the pivot, turn to the right gently, turn a little and try to open it, keep testing until you get a happy medium between too tight and too loose, don't keep doing it a lot over and over or you will break the bond on the loc-tight, it's very easy to adjust, take my word for it, your not getting too old, they are just making these fittings smaller and smaller, first time I looked at one, I also thought "star", but It is deceptive looking because the bottom of the hole is tapered, and my 5/64th allen works perfect every time on all mine. Try it, I bet you will have it tight in no time. Make it as tight as you can, and it still open "fairly" fast, then sock the machine oil to it and open for the next hour and it will be fast as it can be. Hope this helps.
Robbie Roberson;)
Click to expand...

Robbie (Or...Professor? :D ),

Worked perfectly on the Zytel! Wish I knew this months ago!

I'm not going to try it on the new Flash, though, since that won't fix the closing slide problem, and I don't want to touch anything in case I have to return it.

Thanks Robbie!

Jim McGowan
 
This forum is a joint effort forum, So glad we could be of some help to you, sometimes it works ! :eek: , sometimes it don't!:rolleyes: .
Robbie Roberson.
 
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