new HD7 owner - difficult to open using thumb disc??

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immaculate

Joined
Apr 11, 2006
Messages
26
hey folks,

saw the Emerson HD7 here last week and immediately knew that i HAD to have one (i've got an original BM CQC7 as well as a BM HK CQC7). i ordered a plain edged satin blade HD7 from New Graham and got it today in the morning.

here's the thing: the knife is IMPOSSIBLE to open using the thumb disc. literally impossible. the Wave opens up the knife with a very authoritative snap, but the detent pin and or frame lock make it downright painful to open using the thumb disc (i have been trying all day and my right thumb is raw from trying to open the HD7 conventionally). this is what i have tried:

adjusted screw for torsion
lubricated using Tuf-Glide
brought to local knife shop and had a couple guys there play with it - none could open it using the thumb disc :confused:

what gives? anyone got any ideas for me? i really don't want to send the knife back. i have an Emerson Specwar-A (no wave) that opens up just fine.

thanks for any input!

aaron
 
wow that sux, other than opening/closing a bunch to break it in ya got me, ya might have to send it back to EKI, i havent ever heard that problem before FWIW, actually have never heard of any probs w/a HD7, at all.

something definitly isnt right imho.
 
SIFU1A said:
wow that sux, other than opening/closing a bunch to break it in ya got me, ya might have to send it back to EKI, i havent ever heard that problem before FWIW, actually have never heard of any probs w/a HD7, at all.

something definitly isnt right imho.
Click to expand...

yea, tell me about it :( was so thrilled to get the knife today (it's still a great knife, would just be more fun if i could open it conventionally), but the rawness of my thumb is putting a stop to any more disc-open attempts for tonight!

i activated the knife via Wave some 50 or so times today hoping that it would "break in" and loosen up, but that hasn't happened yet. still having fun Waving it open, but have no clue whether or not this will break it in and make the knife usable w/thumb disc.

will keep you all posted. i emailed New Graham too to ask for any suggestions as well. i got a nice low serial number so i am pretty keen on keeping my HD7, just have to make sure i can get it to work properly...

aaron
 
I feel for you bro.
what about instead of opening and closing you just grab the back of the blade (carefully) with one hand, and the handle with the other. Move the blade to the point it almost locked open then back closed. Repeat this very fast and you can open and close the knife hundreds of times in a few minutes.
 
You be ableto open that knife using all methods it was designed for. If not, then it calls for an exchange. I have one, but not with any problems. Very happy with the knife in fact. So that means they are not all the same as yours, so let Emerson know.
 
I've had six of these bad boys and finally settled on keeping three. All six were perfect, no problems.

All could be adjusted so they smoothly opened yet locked up tight. There is something wrong with your knife. Send it in to Emerson tomorrow. Turnaround is normally less than two weeks. Follow the instructions on the warranty card.

If you're adventurous you might want to visit EKI in Torrance and take your knife with you.
 
thanks for all the replies, you guys are great! i'm waiting to hear back from Mike Dye at New Graham to see what they suggest. if that doesn't work, then you guys are right, it's going back to EKI for warranty service (it's unfortunate that my brand new knife needs servicing already).

played with the HD7 a bit more this morning and it is still impossible to open using the thumb disc. this is my first Emerson Wave knife and i've been having such a great time using the Wave feature that it's hard to pack the knife up to send away, but you guys are right, it needs to work properly.

will keep you all posted!

aaron
 
On my HD7, the lockbar is EXTREMELY tight.

The tension on it is set WAAAAY past full engagement... maybe 200-300% past full engagement.

It makes the closing detent very very tight.

It also makes the lock incredibly strong. Once it engages, there's no question that it's holding until you get catastrophic failure.

One thing to try is to thumb open the lock, keep it open, and see how the pivot works. If it's smooth, but the action is very tight when it's pushing on the blade, one possibility is that the lockbar is too tight.

If this is the case, you might be able to manually reduce lockbar tension. Disassemble it, put the lockslab on a table, and just take up a little of the slack a TINY bit. You really only need to have its neutral-position offset shifted by about 1/32" to 1/16".

(CMA: I take zero responsibility for anything you might do to your knife that would screw it up. :) )

A more worrying possibility is that the detent hole itself is too big.

This is not easily fixable and would require a new blade. Doesn't happen very often, but it happens.

-j
 
immaculate, sorry about the problems with the HD7. Emersons QC ranks with the best in the business and it is rare we see a problem with his knives.
As suggested, you can send back to Emerson and I am sure the knife you receive back will be flawless. If you prefer, you can send it back to us for an exchange and we will send it back.
Again, my apologies for the problems.
Regards, Mike
 
I'm happy with my HD-7.
p41700035wt.jpg
 
Aye... that's if you're not an incorrigible tinkerer like myself. ;)

Michael @ NewGraham and the Emerson QC dept both are great people.

-j
 
biogon said:
Aye... that's if you're not an incorrigible tinkerer like myself. ;)

Michael @ NewGraham and the Emerson QC dept both are great people.

-j
Click to expand...

thanks for the great suggestion. you are probably right about the lockbar. unfortunately, between cars, electronics, and other toys, there's just too much time tinkering and not enough time taking the girlfriend out (or so she says) ;)

i spoke to Mike Dye @ New Graham this morning and he was pretty stand-up about the whole thing. New Graham is definitely a class act (i've been a customer for 6+ years). They didn't have any other plain edged satin HD7s in stock, so i'm going ahead and shipping the knife back to EKI (luckily i'm in Southern California too, so the turnaround should be quick) for a lookover.

i'll let you guys know what happens! thanks for all the great recommendations. can't wait to get my HD7 back!

aaron
 
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