Removing SpeedSafe??? (ZT0300)

einsteinjon

einsteinjon

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Forgive me if this is an ignorant question since I have no idea how SpeedSafe works, but is it possible to remove it from a knife to make it a manual folder instead of an AO? I am not a fan of carrying AOs of any sort, after a close call at one point in time. Anyway, I am specifically looking into the ZT0300 (or 0301 or 0302), if that matters.

Thanks for the insight!
 
Yeah, Take the knife apart, there should be a little metal piece bent at both ends going into the a small cutout, take that out and its now manual. Congratz :D
 
You would want to dremel a detent into the blade after removing the torsion bar, since the bar is what holds the blade closed. Remove the bar without a detent hole, and the knife becomes literally a gravity knife. Good luck!
 
(disclaimer: I haven't done this to a 0300)

In short, it's possible.

There's an easily removable torsion bar inside the scale. Removing it will disable the spring action. Unfortunately the torsion bar also acts to retain the blade when closed. Manual-action knives have a hole in the blade that interlocks with the small ball-bearing on the inside of the lock. To restore proper blade-retention, you need to precisely drill a hole for the detent-ball. Locating the hole isn't too difficult, the ball wears a faint path in the blade. Drilling hardened blade steel requires a specialized bit. Solid-carbide, straight flute bits work well, but are expensive and brittle.

There are downsides to this. First, it is a permanent alteration to the blade. Don't screw up. Second, the flipper was never designed for manual action, and may not provide enough leverage for good flipping action. Third, if you want to go back to AO, there will be extra resistance to opening. Possibly making the thumbstuds very difficult to use.
 
Hmmm...sounds like it may be more trouble than it's worth. Perhaps I should stick with the ZT0200.
 
einsteinjon said:
Hmmm...sounds like it may be more trouble than it's worth. Perhaps I should stick with the ZT0200.
Click to expand...

Most likely. I read the thread title and immediately thought to myself "why not just get a 200".

Save a few bucks at the same time ;)
 
Remove the torsion bar inside the handle, and drill a small shallow hole on the blade where the tiny ball on the liner stopped while closing( there will be a mark on the blade). I think that's how the non-A/O knife works. But I am not sure if it will open as fast as the non-A/O knives, but it should keep the blade close as well as those non-A/O knives.
 
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