Rusted KVT Bearings

huelsdonk

huelsdonk

Joined
May 2, 2016
Messages
746
Good Afternoon BF,

So I have a ZT 562CF that I purchased on the exchange a while back. (To be clear, it was in fantastic condition when I received it from my fellow BF member. The issue has developed since I've had it.) Anyway, I picked it up earlier this week, and the flipping action was awful - gritty, slow, and it sounded really bad. I'm not much of a tinkerer and hoped it would free up after some use, but it didn't improve at all. So, I took the knife apart and found that both caged sets of bearings were significantly rusted, and one was so bad that half the bearings had completely seized up. I have a notion of how this happened, but that doesn't really matter now.

The point is, the bearings on my knife are significantly boogered up. I washed and scrubbed them enough to at least get them all moving, but there's still a bunch of corrosion on them. I can't seem to polish them enough to remove the rust because, well, they're bearings and they spin around in the cage. I could just oil the heck out of them and put the knife back together, but I'm not especially confident that the action will be acceptable. Maybe it would just improve over time? Otherwise, I could see about getting some new bearings from ZT (probably need to send the knife to Oregon) or maybe go for ceramics or some other about aftermarket solution.

If anyone has any suggestions or advice, I would really appreciate it.

John
 
I might try applying Flitz and then manually rolling them around in a rag or paper towel to smooth them out. Clean with WD-40 and then lube.
If that doesn't work I might check out an aftermarket option. Or send in for warranty.
 
Fill them with whitening/tartar control toothpaste, spin them up to a few thousand revs (carefully), clean out the toothpaste and relube.

Or just replace them.
 
Yes, they will send you more for free probably... Super good customer service
 
Pocketknives don't need bearings- that is completely over-engineering a very basic machine.
 
Hi All,

I just wanted to post a follow up in case anyone else has the same issue and winds up finding this thread.

Thanks to Blade Forums and ZT's excellent customer service, my problem is now fixed twice over:

Fix #1: A fellow BF member (thanks again, @1SHOT1KILL) suggested a bronze/ceramic bearing solution that I picked up and have in the knife now. It works great - the knife feels really smooth and solid. If anyone is interested in the system I used, just shoot me a PM. I'll send you a link.

Fix #2: I emailed ZT with my issue but didn't hear back. I didn't hear anything back from them and assumed the email went nowhere. I was wrong. Yesterday, I received a package from ZT with shiny new KVT bearings. Easy as pie.

Big thanks to everyone who helped me out. This place is awesome. Thanks to ZT as well for their great support.
 
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