Odd bit of wear on Kershaw Leek.

I

Iaidoka

Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
2
Greetings,
My Kershaw Leek failed to open properly the other day, springing only three quarters of the way open. It occurred right after I sharpened the blade, so I thought maybe some grit from the stone had worked it's way into the action.

I disassembled, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled it, but it still failed to deploy.

I thought the torsion bar might have worn, so I took it apart again. The bar looked okay though, then I noticed the wear in the side panel near the hole for the pivit screw. A small hole has actually been worn into the frame, clear through to the pivit hole.

[img=http://img226.imagevenue.com/loc462/th_91734_Picture_002b_122_462lo.JPG]


Before this photo was taken, I had never cleaned out any of the factory grease. I think this is the cause of the opening failure. Has anyone else had this problem?
 
I can't say I've seen that type of wear before, but tnt-user is right. Kershaw's warranty dept. is top notch - I'm sure they'll have a solution for you.
 
ive had the same wear on a leek. i used it for a couple of years and the opening slowed down so i took it apart for cleaning. had the same hole. i thought it was made like that.
 
This has got me curious - I'm going to go disassemble mine and see what mine looks like...

EDIT: Okay, mine has the exact same wear. Exactly the same place, shape, depth...

My guess is that it's not wear at all, but part of the design.
 
Last edited:
Dorito Monk said:
This has got me curious - I'm going to go disassemble mine and see what mine looks like...

EDIT: Okay, mine has the exact same wear. Exactly the same place, shape, depth...

My guess is that it's not wear at all, but part of the design.
Click to expand...

Could it be that Kershaw has a connecting passage built into the Leek to facilitate the sharing of lubricant from the larger chamber into the pivot joint? It seems that would make sense.
 
Bill1170 said:
Could it be that Kershaw has a connecting passage built into the Leek to facilitate the sharing of lubricant from the larger chamber into the pivot joint? It seems that would make sense.
Click to expand...

That'd be pretty nifty - that's some attention to fine detail! It could just be a bit of extra clearance for the torsion bar or something, too...
 
Greetings and welcome to the forums!

I can't comment on the CNC design of the Leek handles, but I can tell you a little about why the grease is in the torsion bar cavity. 2 reasons: 1) the bar will slide along the inside of the cavity, so it provides some lubrication, and 2) without a small dab of grease in there, the torsion bar may rattle a bit when the blade is open and the tension is off the bar. The grease will not interfere with the opening action of the torsion bar in any way.

From the sounds of it, I'd say its one of 2 problems: a weak torsion bar, or an improperly adjusted pivot. You have 2 options. Send it back, but call first 1-800-325-2891 and ask for Customer Service, or call Customer Service and ask for a new torsion bar. I would also suggest asking for new PB washers and all the screws. Don't be surprised if they send you two or three sets.

Let us know how it goes, and if you need help adjusting the pivot, send me an email.
 
Iaidoka,

I took apart a used Leek I recently got... it looks the same.

P1020257a.jpg


As you can see, although a bit dirty, the knife would open without issue. Also, you can see in the dirt/grease, the torsion bar doesn't come close to the hole, so it doesn't appear to be a wear issue.

I think following SPXTrader's advice... first relube and readjust everything, if that doesn't work, get a new torsion bar. (They also have a form on their website... just change 'Subject' to 'Warranty Service', fill out your shipping info and what you need). Contact Kershaw. It doesn't appear to be an issue where the knife needs to be returned.

cbw
 
That little hole is apparent on many speedsafe Kershaws (my MC has it). I've broken though the pivot hole myself when milling torsion bar slots. The geometries are very close together. I don't think it's the cause of your slow-opening problem.

Looks like it's time to take advantage of Kershaw's great CS.
 
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