Opening a 550

Its a bit odd, it is smooth but at the same time stiff. It makes me think it has something to do with the lockbar tension, but I already have a bit of up and down wobble.
 
tuf-glide on the detent ball did not work well, im thinking it might work better if I use the heavy grease on the ball
 
TheAmateur said:
Hmm, so you are saying to take a high grit sandpaper to my pivot area and polish it up a bit?
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Not at all. I use an ultra fine hone and lightly deburr.
I actually do this to every knife I own and am always surprised at how much smoother they open.
 
I dont actually have an ultra fine stone,I will try it tomorrow with a fine sharpmaker rod (it should work as well correct?) Perhaps it could compensate for the inexplicable added stiffness. I also think that some knife specific grease would help, I plan to order some sentry solutions hi-slip grease soon and hopefully that and the deburring will get it hopefully smoother than before...
 
TheAmateur said:
I dont actually have an ultra fine stone,I will try it tomorrow with a fine sharpmaker rod (it should work as well correct?) Perhaps it could compensate for the inexplicable added stiffness. I also think that some knife specific grease would help, I plan to order some sentry solutions hi-slip grease soon and hopefully that and the deburring will get it hopefully smoother than before...
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Be very careful, if it is a diamond stone it may still be too aggressive.

As far as lube goes, everyone has a preference. I use Starrett Instrument oil as it is very light, very pure, and doesn't attract debris.

Best of luck, I surely hope you get your ZT in proper form.
 
cncpro11 said:
Be very careful, if it is a diamond stone it may still be too aggressive.

As far as lube goes, everyone has a preference. I use Starrett Instrument oil as it is very light, very pure, and doesn't attract debris.

Best of luck, I surely hope you get your ZT in proper form.
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Thanks, the stone is ceramic so if I go lightly I think it will be alright. Also I have heard that some knives take grease better and some are better with oil so its worth a shot :p
 
There shouldn't be a need to deburr anything if it wasn't like that initially.
 
Thats what I was thinking but I dont know why it is so stiff, the only thing that I can think of is that I cleaned out the grease and replaced it with tuf-glide, the rest of the knife was put together the same as before and should function at the same level as it did previously.
 
Thanks for all the help. I took it apart, buffed the washers as well as I could with a microfiber cloth, used a bit of heavy grease on the detent path/pivot, put it together, added a few drops of tuf glide and voila. Now its smooth and locks up great :thumbup: Still want to try some of that sentry solutions hi-slip tho :)
 
Try this, put your thumb between the handle and the thumbstud so that the tip of your thumb is touching the blade and your thumbnail is against the stud, and flick it out without any wrist, just your thumb. After about a dozen tries you can flick it open about as fast as a Speedsafe.
 
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