New knife/first Emerson

I think that is a great story. I will never forget my first Emerson cqc14. I loved that thing, still do but replaced it with a CQC 15 and havent been able to carry anything else since. I love the brand, I love the knives, And like these guys said, try them out yourself. They are not for everyone. Im sure you will love yours as much as I love mine.
 
My mini 7 finally came!

First impressions: seems solid, can't see any of the things people complain about. The whole liner is under the tang when opened with the disc, but travels to about 50-60% when waved hard. When waved "casually" (hard enough for locking the blade, but not harder) it stops when the liner is just fully behind the tang, like with the disc.

The handles are so coarse it feels like sandpaper. My jeans don't like it at all (but I do!).

My next Emerson is going to be bigger, but this one is perfect for the office or patrol (i usually have a fixed blade not to far away when out)!

Great stuff, no regrets!


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Some more: the blade is sentered, and sharp.

The action is not exactly gritty, I think I will describe it as thight. When I hold the knife straight, and disengage the lock the blade don't fall down on its own, I have to push it in. Guess this will smooth out with use!





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Pr3inar said:
Some more: the blade is sentered, and sharp.

The action is not exactly gritty, I think I will describe it as thight. When I hold the knife straight, and disengage the lock the blade don't fall down on its own, I have to push it in. Guess this will smooth out with use!
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I don't think it'll ever fall closed on its own unless you loosen the pivot enough to make that happen. Then I think you'll run into blade play. Older Emerson models like the CQC-7s aren't intended to be like other brands that easily flick open and fall shut. The new flipper & bearing models probably do that but the traditional Emersons want you to DIY when you want them to open or close.

Personally, I adjust all my knives to "sit" and "stay" until I make them move. Don't want that blade going anywhere unless I'm making it happen.
 
^^^^^^ I'll back Dale on this....as I had told you, it's not a fastflipper. It won't fall free like an Axis lock, etc. Oh you can loosen the pivot at some point in the future, and try it, but it likely won't operate well if it's so loose it just falls by gravity.

The Emerson G-10 and its grippiness may be my favorite thing about the knives....feels great to me; just perfect. Some others here will probably have some tips on saving your pants if it's that bad. You can always loosen it slightly but be very careful when you bend it up, do it gradually. See how it goes.

You know you have a good knife. Right now the thing to do is just use it and leave it alone adjustment-wise--it will loosen some and the lock will eventually settle. Also, I wouldn't hard-wave or wrist-whip it open, especially now while it's breaking in. Use it normally, open and close it normally for a while, several hundred openings. After a month or so tweak it up as much as you want and go crazy with it if you still wish to. Didn't I cover all of this on page 1 ??? :D

Glad you are liking it.
 
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Everything is normal with the knife . All mine lockup a little later the harder they open etc. Glad you like it . The action will smooth up.

As far as the g10 if it bothers you you can take a higher grit sandpaper to it . If you don't want to sand the g10 just bend your pocket clip out a bit and loosen thentension
 
I like it, and won't touch it (adjustment wise, I will use it), as adviced from Echoil :). I have noticed that after I have opened the knife, the lockbar travels a littlebit inwards when I'm cutting into something that offers some resistance, and then the lock is a bit more sticky afterwards. It also makes a clicking sound when I disengage it. The lock is secure, and I'm thinking that this also is a part of the break-in.

As a sidenote:
I'm thinking about taking some comparison pictures next to a SAK, the para 2 and some esee's, in case someone is considering to buy one, but wan't to get a grip of the size of it!
 
That clicking is just a solid lockup . Most of mine do this . Let's me know it has a good lockup.

An emerson will flex when it's locked open. Like I said depending on how hard you opened it you may get a little more or a little less engagement. If you put pressure on the blade to check your lockup you may be able to feel some flex in it . Again seems to be the norm. I'm not an expert on emerson or anything . Just feel like I'm pretty experienced . Been carrying them gah 10 years maybe a little longer and had pretty much the whole lineup . Some models I've had maybe 5 different examples of from buying selling and trading .
 
I cant feel any flex, it just moves 1 mm or so against the middle. If anything it is locking the blade even more thightly, so it's not a safety issue, rather the opposite! But good to hear its normal :)



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Never sell it and take a look at the Commander, if you want to go bigger.
rolf
 
Is a 50-60% lock up okay on a new knife, as I have been offered a Mini Commander at that ratio too?
The knife was in a collection but never cut with, but opened and closed a good few times.
As with my new CQC-7B Part Serrated, it locks up around 20-30% I would say.
Pr3inar said:
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If the lockup is solid with no h/v blade play, then it's fine. It may never move from that 60% midpoint and I'd consider that to be a very safe lockup. All 12 of my Emersons have broken is and then stayed at that lockup point until today. And they all get carried and used.

If this one has been cycled a lot but not used, all the owner has done is break in the lockup for you.
 
Gulo69 said:
Is a 50-60% lock up okay on a new knife, as I have been offered a Mini Commander at that ratio too?
The knife was in a collection but never cut with, but opened and closed a good few times.
As with my new CQC-7B Part Serrated, it locks up around 20-30% I would say.
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It's not normal for a NEW emerson but normal if the lockup is solid . Never seen a new emerson with that engagement
 
Gulo--To me that looks like an already-broken-in, solid lock position. You say the previous owner had cycled it a lot? A little bit of this can have to do with grind tolerances/angle at the blade kick but it's nothing to worry about. That is a solid lockup.

It may travel some or it may stay there for good. I can't tell how much angle there is on the blade face because the pic is fuzzy but I'd go with it and not worry at all.

If you don't wrist-whip it or wave it hard a lot it'll be fine.
 
Echoil: gulo quoted my picture, thats my brand new mini 7. It opened that whay when I took it out of the box. Cant imagine how it's going to fail, it feels completely solid.
 
Lycosa said:
Never sell it and take a look at the Commander, if you want to go bigger.
rolf
Click to expand...

Allready on it:( I don't think I thought it through when I bought the mini 7. Actually, in hindsight it probably was the dumbest thing I could have done.. This has the potential to get really expensive!
 
Pr3inar said:
Allready on it:( I don't think I thought it through when I bought the mini 7. Actually, in hindsight it probably was the dumbest thing I could have done.. This has the potential to get really expensive!
Click to expand...

Yeah... it will. My second mini-CQC15 arrived Thursday, a day ahead of schedule. That's my 11th or 12th Emerson. It's the only brand that's growing around here. In fact, I've gotta sell or trade some othersoff to make room for more Emersons.

Anyway, what I was gettin' to is... keep the mini-7. It may seem too small for most of your needs, but you might find a time or place where a smaller folder is the best choice and you'll have an Emerson o fill that role. I keep a mini-7A and a micro-Commander around even though they don't get a lot of carry. Sometimes, a smaller folder is just the ticket.
 
Pr3inar said:
Echoil: gulo quoted my picture, thats my brand new mini 7. It opened that whay when I took it out of the box. Cant imagine how it's going to fail, it feels completely solid.
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Hello Pr3inar,

And a very nice knife too.
Yes I quoted with you picture as the Mini Commander I have been offered has the same lock precentage as yours with no blade play.
But this one is a 2011 model with a back spacer.
 
dalefuller said:
Yeah... it will. My second mini-CQC15 arrived Thursday, a day ahead of schedule. That's my 11th or 12th Emerson. It's the only brand that's growing around here. In fact, I've gotta sell or trade some othersoff to make room for more Emersons.

Anyway, what I was gettin' to is... keep the mini-7. It may seem too small for most of your needs, but you might find a time or place where a smaller folder is the best choice and you'll have an Emerson o fill that role. I keep a mini-7A and a micro-Commander around even though they don't get a lot of carry. Sometimes, a smaller folder is just the ticket.
Click to expand...

No, I won't sell it! What I meant to say was that it's the mini 7's fault that I want more Emersons now, and thats why a small part of me (my brain..) is regretting it. My heart just wants more!
 
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