Opening Gerber Artifcat Blade?

L

Lock1454

Joined
Jan 4, 2009
Messages
885
Hi all,

Just picked up an Artifact and... I can't get the blade to deploy very well... I was able to open it once, but I had to use my thumb nail to pry it out, and it damn near broke my nail. Is there some release or something?

Also picked up my first Alox SAK, a Cadet. Wow, these things are thin :D
 
The blade on the Artifact is just tough to open. Mine is tight...but not THAT tight. Maybe you just need to loosen the torque a bit. However, I'd rather have it too tight than too loose.
 
Well, tight is always my preference for something that could be hanging from my keyring... But this is a bit ridiculous :(Tried loosening it some, it didn't help with the opening but it did introduce some lovely side-to-side and causing the blade to close outside of it's housing :D How do you typically open this lil bugger? Maybe I'm just approaching it the wrong way :\
 
I love the concept of the Artifact, but not the implementation. It's just an uncomfortable tool.
 
I've been carrying one for a couple of months now. I've use the exacto and bottle opener mostly. The blade will loosen up after a while, don't worry about it opening unexpectedly. The ball detent holds it closed tight.
 
Mine must be exceptionally tight due to it being new or it's defective. This thing is insanely hard to open. Even using two hands trying to pull it apart :(
 
I think I may have figured it out - I think the liner needs to be bent back a bit or the ball on the liner needs to be sanded down some. Think the liner/ball detent is just too much on this particular one.
 
it's insanely tough to get it right but after a few single handed opening tries with the thumb (which btw caused a blustering pain) - i came to the conclusion that it probably wasn't meant to be deployed at lighting speed.
not only did it "feel uncomfortable" but i manage to scratch and scrape raw the beadblasted finish of the linerlock (thanks to the blades's rough angular finish and i don't mean it's fine edge) when the inward pressure was applied by my fat thumb to quick flip the crazy thing open.
Take my word for it, don't count on the artifact ever being a primary quick deployment bladed object, it's an interesting gadget but wasn't quite a user friendly thingy for the physically impaired. You need both hands to make it work right.
 
I can't even budge this little sucker with one one hand. I need to use two use two hands and get a finger nail in on the end of the blade and practically pry it out - and even this way is hit or miss. I sometimes just can't get it (too painful) and end up having to use a key / SAK to pry it out. I've tried bending the lock back a bit thinking it was applying too much pressure while closed - didn't help. Tries loosening the pivot, nada. Some Tuf Glide, nothing. I think I just got a lemon.
 
Sounds like a lemon to me. If you still have the receipt, I'd return it as defective. Mine is tough to open, and the scary sharp xacto blade intimidates me enough to not want to chance sliding my thumb over it. It still opens easily if I hold the tool in my left hand and thumb open the blade with my right.

For me, the Artifact's blade is always going to be a back-up blade to my pocket knife or even the blade on my multi-tool. The Artifact gets EDC pocket time as first and foremost a bottle opener (I end the day with a beer most evenings, and I don't do twist offs). The prying and scraping feature gets a lot of use at work, and the philips head has saved me the trouble of evening digging in my pocket for my multi-tool. 90% of the time, I could go without the blade and still use the tool several times a day.
 
Mine had similar issues,
ended up tightening down the screws that hold the lock section on,
and lightly tapped the ball bearing with a tack hammer as it was set way too far forward.

It probably would be easiest to return it and try another if your uncomfortable with that sorta thing. Good luck
 
Is it just me, or does the "handle" appear to be ergonomically positioned upsidedown when held with the xacto's cutting edge open?
 
GIRLYmann said:
Is it just me, or does the "handle" appear to be ergonomically positioned upsidedown when held with the xacto's cutting edge open?
Click to expand...

Yeah, but that's the only way it could be folded in and not get in the way of the prying hook. It really doesn't feel too bad. I mean, you're not going to do a lot of hard cutting with a flimsy xacto blade.
 
So that's it them?
It's off with the Xacto blade!
Hmm, now isn't there a smaller model from Gerber that's without the Xacto fixture.. called the Shard?
 
there used to be, but I don't see it on the Gerber site anymore.

I'm thinking that they probably just dropped the Shard because...well, you could just take the xacto blade out of your Artifact and have a Shard.

I find the xacto blade a useful scraper or package opener, and really the tool does not feel bad in hand even with the prying tooth against my palm. If you press on the xacto blade hard enough for the prying part to be uncomfortable...you're asking for trouble. That flimsy little blade is either going to slip out and "get ya" or shear off.
 
The Shard, according to Gerber customer service, was a promotional item and not for sale to the public. There is some talk of them changing their mind about that.

Sounds like your Artifact is faulty. Mine was a little stiff at first. I put a drop of oil on the pivot and opened and closed it about a hundred times and now it is perfect. It's not loose but it's not a problem opening it with one hand.

I see several folks have modded their Artifacts to remove the blade but I can't see deleting a function from such a useful tool.

Prybar
bottle opener
blade
screwdriver
1/4" bit driver

Best $10 I've ever spent.

Dave
 
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