New to me Karambit

freewheeling

freewheeling

Joined
Dec 30, 2012
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I received this today after ordering it about a week ago. My speculation that the production number might be 1066 from the picture below was a little off. It's 1844, which is close but no cigar. (I have a thing about the Norman Conquest.) It was manufactured in 2004. As you can see some of the screws are a bit worn but the G10 and the blade seem to be in pretty good condition. There doesn't seem to be much blade play when it's open, but there is some side-to-side when closed. Furthermore, when closed it's canted so that there's more space on the right in the pivot are (looking down at the blade with the blade pointed towards me) with the blade centered at the point. If I center the point there's a lot of "slop" at the pivot and the point stays on the left (toward the locking bard) until the last instant when the detente drops.

Here is the pic of the knife from the seller:

Emerson Karambit.jpg

Here is the video. Tried to show the lockup and the play when closed as well as the centering:

[video=youtube;MgS9FuGB3ew]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgS9FuGB3ew[/video]

The flat side of the blade has the number "005" in the middle and a logo that says "MARICOPA TACTICAL." The logo includes the state of Arizona and some crossed rifles, and the "O" in MARICOPA has a crosshair through it. Here's a pick of the logo:

Maricopa Tactical.jpg

Before I take it apart, what are the sizes and colors of the washers that *should* be in there. I'm thinking someone might have changed the washers or they might just be very worn, or they may have lost one. I intend to send this in to Emerson for the "spa treatment" so presumably they'll take care of the worn screws and stuff, as well as centering and the appropriate bushings? The lock up seems to be good, and as I said there is a little side-to-side blade play in the open position but not much. I will post more pics/vids later of the lockup, centering, etc..
 
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Thoroughly cleaned it. There were two washers of differing sizes, the largest on the lock side. There appear to be two detentes on this knife, which is something I haven't seen before. There is an additional detente on the non-locking side and this detente doesn't seem to ever engage which may be why I can't get it centered. How does this second detente function? Is it supposed to be calibrated with the first detente?

Update: Actually I'm not sure it's off-center. This is really the first chisel ground bladed folder I've ever used and the point is offset from the center of the blade-thickness does seem to be centered fairly well. The lockup is very late though, which may be because it was more than "lite use," so the guy who sold it was gilding the lily a bit. I imagine the lock is just worn, although the tang looks pretty good. Is there anything that Emerson could do about a worn Ti lock? Or perhaps it's supposed to be late or something? I have a CRKT Eros that's very late, and it's almost brand new.
 
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I guess after playing around with this for awhile I'd say that the guy who told me this had "lite use" wasn't quite telling the truth. On the other hand the price was decent given the fact that they're out of stock and new ones are selling for over $300 on that auction site. There's very little blade play when I get it adjusted correctly, the wave feature works very well. The blade itself has not been sharpened down symmetrically so that there's about an eighth of an inch less material toward the hilt than at the tip, but there's still a fair amount left (I think). The main thing, although it works fine now, is that the Ti lock is extremely worn and after being waved is almost 3/4ths of the way across the tang.

So...

I'm going to call Emerson and see what it costs to get a new Ti liner on the locking side. A couple of questions:

1. Does the trainer come with a Ti lock? I was thinking that I could get a trainer and just swap out the lock, but that's prolly a pipe dream.

2. Is there anything special about the fact that it has that Maricopa Tactical logo on the flat side? Would that be, like, a sought after item?
 
I think that your best bet is to send it in to Emerson and let them sort it out. I don't really think that the logo would bring any added value to the knife, but I may be wrong.
 
Have you adjusted the pivot? that would (should) take care of the blade play..
The lock looks fine in the vid. If its solid it is good to go. If its traveling ALL the way to the other liner then send it in
Cheers
 
BBW said:
Have you adjusted the pivot? that would (should) take care of the blade play..
The lock looks fine in the vid. If its solid it is good to go. If its traveling ALL the way to the other liner then send it in
Cheers
Click to expand...

Yes, there's very little blade play. I was trying to center the point, forgetting that it's not a symmetrical blade so the point shouldn't be centered. With the blade-thickness centered it's just fine. The lockup is about 3/4ths of the way across. I'm thinking of having it carbidized which will probably slow down the wear and might even walk it back a bit. I was also worried about the amount of material sharpened off the blade near the hilt, thinking this would make it less effective as a defensive tool. But I've noticed that many karambits have this blade edge inside the point of the hilt so that's probably fine. I may order some a new pivot bolt and screw or just send it back for the SPA and see what they recommend.
 
Ok also is the play side to side or up/down? I haven't taken my karambit apart but there is a stop pin that you can usually rotate and that would also help with the lock
Cheers
 
BBW said:
Ok also is the play side to side or up/down? I haven't taken my karambit apart but there is a stop pin that you can usually rotate and that would also help with the lock
Cheers
Click to expand...

Well, what little play there is, is probably side-to-side but it's not much. I just took it apart again to send the lock to a friend to get carbidized, figuring that that would at least make what there is last a bit longer and might even walk it back a bit. So I'm looking at the Ti stop pin right now, and it's not ovalized so I don't quite see how rotating it would change very much. I could reverse it maybe, but it might be very slightly cone-shaped. There's a wear band around it but it's just a little shinier and not much material off of it. Anyway, when I get the lock back I'll try reversing the pin to see if that makes it lock up sooner.
 
1066 eh.
I came close today when I received my Horseman #1088 (I'm sure the French were settling nicely by this time)lol
Personally, I am hoping for something with 1415 on there.
Cheers
 
I'll check it out at home and come back at you. I can't visualize it and not home
 
macknife12 said:
1066 eh.
I came close today when I received my Horseman #1088 (I'm sure the French were settling nicely by this time)lol
Personally, I am hoping for something with 1415 on there.
Cheers
Click to expand...

Well, I have a Welsh to English Dictionary that was owned by my great grandfather that has a dedication dated 1844. I think he was about 12 years old and was trying to understand his dad.
 
freewheeling said:
Well, I have a Welsh to English Dictionary that was owned by my great grandfather that has a dedication dated 1844. I think he was about 12 years old and was trying to understand his dad.
Click to expand...

That sounds very interesting indeed. I love anything like that and I am fascinated with history.
All ser.numbers up to 2000 ish. could have some significant meaning.
1415 was the famous battle of Agincourt.
Cheers
 
BBW said:
I think is like a "guide"? for tracking straight and stability perhaps? no sure!!
Click to expand...

Thanks. Was just wondering about that. I couldn't find a trainer available anywhere, so got one of those Chinese ones (the trainer not the karambit). First, it's about a 16th of an inch smaller in both length and width, and it has steel rather than Ti liners, uses torx screws for the scales and the clip, and doesn't have that second detente. I'll get a real Emerson trainer when they're available, but who knows when that will be? I wonder if a genuine Emerson trainer is the same size as the knife or if the Chinese made them smaller so that the weight comes out right with the steel liners and all. I think the scales are micarta rather than G10, but what's the difference?. Everything needs to be radiused, including the clip and the faux blade. Other than that, fit and finish seems acceptable.

Note: The clip is nowhere near the quality of the Emerson clip, and is not interchangeable because the hole geometry is different.
 
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