New to BF, first ZT

G

Guest5160

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May 18, 2014
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Hello all. I'm newly registered but I've been lurking this site for years. I almost always google with a bladeforums filter before buying anything.

After more than a year of telling myself I would never spend more than $100 on a knife, a local dealer put an 0550Gen1 in my hand and offered me a pretty good deal. Needless to say, once it was clipped to my pocket I was swiping my card.

The detent on this thing is crazy strong though, or the clip is putting pressure on the lock-bar. Either way, I can't for the life of me reliably get this thing open with one hand. Will this smooth out over time? Should I make some adjustments? Clip strength or pivot?

Sorry if this post is all over the place, just didn't want to run off asking possibly silly questions without first saying hello.
 
Welcome.

Make sure you aren't pressing the lockbar down with your fingers when trying to open it. That is a common mistake a lot of people make when they are new to that style of lock. I assure you the pocket clip is doing nothing to the lockbar except holding it to your pocket.
 
The first gen. ZT0550s had super strong detents. You could send it to ZT and they could probably fix it for you.
 
The thumb-busting detent is a known issue for the first generation ZT 0550. Adjustments to the clip and pivot will probably not solve the problem unfortunately. If you do a few searches here and on Youtube, you can see how people try different methods to address this from lightly filing the detent ball to hammering on it to seat the ball deeper in the frame. Others just worked the action over and over and over to break the knife in.

Your call as to how "invasive" you want to be as some methods may technically void your warranty. And there is the option of sending it in of course. Good luck!
 
My 0550 had the same problem.
As said before make sure you are not applying any pressure to lockbar when opening.

Sit down and listen to some music or watch tv and cycle through the detent a few hundred times.
Once I did that the 0550 became a very smooth opener.
At first I thought is was messed up but it just needed a bit of break in.
These are super knives for the coin and I am sure it will be fine.
 
I used a modified opening technique until mine broke in. Assuming you are right handed, while you put pressure on the right thumb stud with you thumb, use your middle finger to put some pressure on the left thumb stud.
 
I didn't want another flipper and I'm not a fan of the gen 2 0550 changes, I had heard about strong detents on the gen 1, just didn't expect it to be quite so tight. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something or maybe had a problem. I'm not new to frame locks but this is definitely the thickest in my lot. I will be paying attention and cycling it for a while. Thanks a ton for all the input, super quick too.

Also, I had intended to add a photo but decided you all probably didn't need to see another 0550. :-p
 
Don't push the thumbstud to the side, push straight up. It is strong, yes and it will ease over time. Just takes a bit of wearing in.
 
It will take a lot of playing with it but 0550s smooth out really nicely. Excellent choice
 
I recall someone having successfully reduced the detent by leaving it half opened at night. Worth a try give it a few nights of this treatment.

Keep us posted regardless of how you over come the problem.
 
flick it up not out like you are flipping a coin. It takes a while to break in but they smooth out pretty fast. You wont regret getting the 0550 its a great knife.
 
Guest5160 said:
Also, I had intended to add a photo but decided you all probably didn't need to see another 0550. :-p
Click to expand...

You can never have enough photos of 550s ;)

ZT550s.jpg
 
It will smooth out. I have two first generations and a second generation, and they are some of the best thumb stud openers that I have.

Tom
 
2 shot said:
Keep us posted regardless of how you over come the problem.
Click to expand...

Lube, patience, focusing on the up not out push and a sore thumb have it serviceable. Its hanging out half open right now, thumb ended up too sore to manipulate the lock anymore. Lol. Thankfully I have my thumb holes and flippers in the meantime. My stud knives will be in their trunk for a while until this guy is broken in.
 
Welcome, and great choice for a first ZT. I had a similar experience when I first got my 0550 (2nd gen, in my case). For me, I found that I was resting my index finger on the lockbar when trying to open the knife (clip was positioned for tip-up carry). Just shifting my grip slightly so my index finger rested on the pivot rather than the top of the lockbar made a world of difference. Whereas before, I would even have some difficulty trying to open the knife two-handed, once I shifted my grip, I could pop the blade out with a firm flick of the thumb. As for the opening and closing action itself, it does smooth out very nicely. My 0550 is easily on par with my KVT bearing knives in terms of smoothness opening and closing.
 
LastRodeo said:
I used a modified opening technique until mine broke in. Assuming you are right handed, while you put pressure on the right thumb stud with you thumb, use your middle finger to put some pressure on the left thumb stud.
Click to expand...

What he said! For the first few hundred cycles that's how I opened mine. Now it'll pop open with just the thumb.

I also loosened all the screws and then tightened middle, pivot, front body, rear body (in that order) to evenly torque the frame. Then loosened pivot screw 90 degrees. That helped a lot. But just cycling it a lot (breaking it in) does the trick

Mine is gen2 though, with the square relief in the lockbar.
 
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