New ZT 0560 problem (Ball detent drags on blade)

T

thestug

Joined
Jul 26, 2015
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2
Hi all,

I'm new to the world of knives and I joined here to ask a few questions and join in some knife discussion. Hopefully this is the correct location to post a question like this.

I recently purchased a ZT 0560. From a little research, I have a newer model of the knife without the milled pockets in the titanium side and steel insert in the lockbar. The knife flipped flawlessly when I first took the knife out of the box. However, after a few hundred or so times after flipping it became harder and harder to flip and started to squeak when it opens. If I open and close the knife quickly just to drag the detent on the blade you can really hear the ball detent squeaking and dragging on the blade. I'm really unsure of what to do at this point, but I do know that this doesn't' seem normal.

The really odd thing is if I let the knife just sit for a while (15-minutes) and pick it up again it will flip nice and smooth again. After a few dozen times of opening and closing the knife the ball detent starts to drag and squeak.

Hopefully some guys more experienced than myself will have an idea on how to fix this.

Thanks. :)
 
Sounds like you need to lube the pivot. Put a drop of oil and work it open and closed.

Whoops forgot that puppy ran on bearings not washers.
 
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Ball bearings may be dry or out of sync. Lube the pivot and if that doesn't work dismantle and inspect the ball bearings.
 
I think dismantling your ZT will void your warranty.

And when they say lube they mean a quarter of a quarter of a drop--like, the smallest amount you can hang from a toothpick.

You probably just have a little piece of micro junk in there somewhere...nothing to worry over. Probably too much lube from the factory and it picked up some pocket lint.

Curious....are you actually differentiating ball squeak from pivot squeak by ear? If you're that sure it's the ball, then that's all I'd lube--sparingly. Then wipe it off the track until the excess is gone.

Anyway, there's always the royal flush of just hitting the pivot with a couple of half-second bursts of WD-40 point-blank, wiping it down and cycling the blade ten or twenty times then letting it dry for two days. :)
 
Gadt said:
Ball bearings may be dry or out of sync. Lube the pivot and if that doesn't work dismantle and inspect the ball bearings.
Click to expand...

I'll have to pick up the torx bit that I need to disassemble it. I have the smaller torx bits, but I need the larger torx that holds the scales on.

EChoil said:
I think dismantling your ZT will void your warranty.

And when they say lube they mean a quarter of a quarter of a drop--like, the smallest amount you can hang from a toothpick.

You probably just have a little piece of micro junk in there somewhere...nothing to worry over. Probably too much lube from the factory and it picked up some pocket lint.

Curious....are you actually differentiating ball squeak from pivot squeak by ear? If you're that sure it's the ball, then that's all I'd lube--sparingly. Then wipe it off the track until the excess is gone.

Anyway, there's always the royal flush of just hitting the pivot with a couple of half-second bursts of WD-40 point-blank, wiping it down and cycling the blade ten or twenty times then letting it dry for two days. :)
Click to expand...

I hope it isn't just some micro junk in there. I've only carried the knife in my pocket for one day. Hopefully taking the knife apart and lubing it doesn't become a regular occurrence. I can't actually tell if it's the bearings in the pivot or if it's the detent. All I know is I'm getting a squeaking/scraping sound when I swing the blade back and forth between the lockup and detent. What kinds of lube are suitable for knives? I'd really rather not use WD-40 since it's slightly hygroscopic and not really a great lubricant.

Scurvy092 said:
Nope.
Click to expand...

After looking through ZT's website. I don't see anything that says you can't take the knives apart unless taking them apart is improper maintenance? :confused:
 
Zero tolerance knives can be disassembled with warranty intact 100%.

echoil is incorrect.
thestug said:
I'll have to pick up the torx bit that I need to disassemble it. I have the smaller torx bits, but I need the larger torx that holds the scales on.



I hope it isn't just some micro junk in there. I've only carried the knife in my pocket for one day. Hopefully taking the knife apart and lubing it doesn't become a regular occurrence. I can't actually tell if it's the bearings in the pivot or if it's the detent. All I know is I'm getting a squeaking/scraping sound when I swing the blade back and forth between the lockup and detent. What kinds of lube are suitable for knives? I'd really rather not use WD-40 since it's slightly hygroscopic and not really a great lubricant.



After looking through ZT's website. I don't see anything that says you can't take the knives apart unless taking them apart is improper maintenance? :confused:
Click to expand...
 
Gadt said:
Ball bearings may be dry or out of sync. Lube the pivot and if that doesn't work dismantle and inspect the ball bearings.
Click to expand...

Not when they are inside a nylon carrier they aren't. Lube in the pivot isn't going to do anything, that specific knife flips smooth sopping wet with oil or dry as a bone. When in doubt, send it in for evaluation.
 
thestug said:
I hope it isn't just some micro junk in there. I've only carried the knife in my pocket for one day. Hopefully taking the knife apart and lubing it doesn't become a regular occurrence. I can't actually tell if it's the bearings in the pivot or if it's the detent. All I know is I'm getting a squeaking/scraping sound when I swing the blade back and forth between the lockup and detent. What kinds of lube are suitable for knives? I'd really rather not use WD-40 since it's slightly hygroscopic and not really a great lubricant. After looking through ZT's website. I don't see anything that says you can't take the knives apart unless taking them apart is improper maintenance? :confused:
Click to expand...

I was wrong about that. I thought ZT had a restriction against disassembly. I never had to take mine apart or use the warranty, but that's good to know.

I think you're probably just hearing normal noise from a new pivot/bearing. The balkiness of the blade isn't unusual for break-in....esp. when it appears then disappears like that. Your knife will become smoother over time. No, taking a knife apart and lubing it shouldn't become a regular occurrence unless it's just something you like to do.

I rarely lube my folders. I think it causes more problems than it solves. When I do lube I use a dry lubricant with PTFE and only in trace amounts.

The WD-40 thing is kind of last resort for flushing or water removal. It has enough lubricating property for a knife pivot. It's all gone in a day or two anyway.

I think what you are experiencing is a flash in the pan and the knife will break in fine.
 
I've never heard of ZT caring whether a knife was taken apart or not unless maybe taking the knife apart negligently caused the failure. I'd talk to a customer service rep before you send it in and reference their name on the warranty form so they don't send the knife back with nothing fixed. If you talk to a rep first they're better at getting it fixed right the first time. You don't want to have to hassle with sending it in multiple times just to get a satisfactory knife.
 
bodog said:
I've never heard of ZT caring whether a knife was taken apart or not unless maybe taking the knife apart negligently caused the failure. I'd talk to a customer service rep before you send it in and reference their name on the warranty form so they don't send the knife back with nothing fixed. If you talk to a rep first they're better at getting it fixed right the first time. You don't want to have to hassle with sending it in multiple times just to get a satisfactory knife.
Click to expand...

And no, that knife should not require lube first thing out of the box, or really at all. That's kind of the point of bearings. There is the possibility that you got some grit into the bearings and if that's the case then you should be able to take it apart, rinse/wash the bearings, put it together and have it function well again without the need for lube. And if you do use lube, don't use lube that'll gum up later. A thin gun oil should work pretty well. Don't use grease, that'll attract all kinds of debris into the open bearings.
 
Certainly sounds like the detent and not the bearings. A quick way to check is to take the lock bar pressure off the blade and see how it swings then (I bet it swings freely). As others have said the bearings will run smooth with or without lube really. IME any ball detent is subject to this "roughness" happening, just takes a drop of oil to fix.

Here's a video by John Grimsmo talking about that exact problem. You can hear it in the video. OP, is this the problem you're having?

[video=youtube_share;Bt0FAHDc4gQ]http://youtu.be/Bt0FAHDc4gQ[/video]
 
thestug said:
I'll have to pick up the torx bit that I need to disassemble it. I have the smaller torx bits, but I need the larger torx that holds the scales on.



I hope it isn't just some micro junk in there. I've only carried the knife in my pocket for one day. Hopefully taking the knife apart and lubing it doesn't become a regular occurrence. I can't actually tell if it's the bearings in the pivot or if it's the detent. All I know is I'm getting a squeaking/scraping sound when I swing the blade back and forth between the lockup and detent. What kinds of lube are suitable for knives? I'd really rather not use WD-40 since it's slightly hygroscopic and not really a great lubricant.



After looking through ZT's website. I don't see anything that says you can't take the knives apart unless taking them apart is improper maintenance? :confused:
Click to expand...

I suggest a dry film Teflon based lube. I
 
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