Spartan Harsey Plague Doctor - Thoughts please

I’ve found the lockbar stiffness to vary greatly between knives. The stiff ones also seem to have the most lock stick obviously. I little spring bar tension tweak gets them in line.

My only other suggestion is please Spartan… add a damn choil!
 
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I do love the engraving, they're still tempting.

But I've told myself that I won't spend that much on a folder that isn't a dedicated lefty. For those prices I don't think cutting a few mirror-image parts is too much to ask. Swapping the clip to mar up the engraving ruins the reason to get it.
 
hhmoore said:
I went with a green plague doctor (3.25")...and immediately knew I couldn't bring myself to pocket it. I waited a few weeks and bought a blue one. That arrived today and went right in my pocket. The blue is a lot stiffer, both in opening and lock release. The lockbar stiffness really highlighted the narrow thumb purchase. On other knives, my solution was to take a little off the show side scale to improve access...but that would stand out like a sore thumb on the blue anodization. Guess I'll play wait and see.
Knowing better than to not post a picture, here's one I posted in another thread, taken during daylight.
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Nice! Mine was similar in opening and lock bar release. I'm happy to report it's perfect now. Give it some time and you might experience the same.
 
Peregrin said:
Nice! Mine was similar in opening and lock bar release. I'm happy to report it's perfect now. Give it some time and you might experience the same.
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The green one was perfect out of the box. Kind of a shame to tuck it away...but I figured I'd try the blue for a while. See if I like it enough to carry long-term (I'm only a year into carrying my Cheburkov; so that could be a battle...but the Plague Doctor might stand a chance against my Iron Pup on small knife days) and how the anodization holds up over time. I can always start carrying the green one later.
 
hhmoore said:
I've read that they can require some fussing on reassembly; so I'm going to avoid that if possible. (I usually do okay, except with Spyderco - those I just can't seem to get right once I "fix" them)
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Honestly, extremely simple to reassemble. Two piece pivot, a couple of spacer screws and you're in. Goes back together just as simple. I've taken apart three of my four, and they all were incredibly simple, in some instances the lock up decreased upon reassembly, down to a 30% from a 60%
 
hhmoore said:
I've read that they can require some fussing on reassembly; so I'm going to avoid that if possible. (I usually do okay, except with Spyderco - those I just can't seem to get right once I "fix" them)
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They're actually about as simple as it gets. You do need (2) T15 torx drivers to do the pivot. I haven't seen loctite on any of the few I've disassembled from the factory. The other thing I do is cover the tip of my torx bits with a little plastic wrap before torquing on a fastener. Especially anodized. It helps prevent scratching or marring the finish and gives the working end of the tool a better grip. Also on reassembly, it helps if you half tighten the frame screws, then center the blade with the pivot, then tighten frame. Then final adjustment on the pivot for action and play. Some times a little back and forth, but I've found the SHF's to be far less finicky than other framelocks. And you're right about the spyderco's . PM2's can be miserable and sometimes un-centerable (if that's a word), but its the liners that cause the issues with them.
 
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hhmoore said:
I've read that they can require some fussing on reassembly; so I'm going to avoid that if possible. (I usually do okay, except with Spyderco - those I just can't seem to get right once I "fix" them)
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No fussing in my examples, even easier than reassembling a CRK; very little chance of a pinched washer.

The "hardest" part as mentioned is having two bits for the pivot, but no fuss. Because the pivot is free spinning, I do use a dab of blue loctite on the screw.

I used the CRK grease on mine and it works fantastically.
 
nautiquess said:
They're actually about as simple as it gets. You do need (2) T15 torx drivers to do the pivot. I haven't seen loctite on any of the few I've disassembled from the factory. The other thing I do is cover the tip of my torx bits with a little plastic wrap before torquing on a fastener. Especially anodized. It helps prevent scratching or marring the finish and gives the working end of the tool a better grip. Also on reassembly, it helps if you half tighten the frame screws, then center the blade with the pivot, then tighten frame. Then final adjustment on the pivot for action and play. Some times a little back and forth, but I've found the SHF's to be far less finicky than other framelocks. And you're right about the spyderco's . PM2's can be miserable and sometimes un-centerable (if that's a word), but its the liners that cause the issues with them.
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All good pointers. Thanks! I did make sure to have (2) T15 drivers when I took out the pivot screw in mine. After I applied some Blue Loctite it doesn't loosen anymore. There was no loctite from the factory. I managed to not damage the finish at all, but I'll remember to use some plastic wrap if and when I have it apart again.
 
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I have a both the large and small Harsey. I think they're probably the most aesthetically, ergonomically pleasing knives in my collection. They just feel amazing in-hand to me, and look amazing to boot. They just don't cut that well, likely because they seem a bit thick BTE.
 
Stringjam7 said:
I have a both the large and small Harsey. I think they're probably the most aesthetically, ergonomically pleasing knives in my collection. They just feel amazing in-hand to me, and look amazing to boot. They just don't cut that well, likely because they seem a bit thick BTE.
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I totally agree about the edge. I find myself reaching for a thin bladed stockman or some such if I want to make a detailed cut. I micro beveled and then convexed the edge on mine. It'll hold up to a lot of work now but will also do a decent job slicing for being so thick and heavy. I basically reprofiled it into a pocket khukuri.
 
I've had my SHF 3.25" Plague Doctor for about a week now...and the thumb studs almost fell out today. I felt it move during opening; so I stopped to check it out. Good thing, too, since they were loose to the point of wobbling & another little push with my finger spun the female side off. I can honestly say this is the first time I've had that happen with any knife.
 
hhmoore said:
I've had my SHF 3.25" Plague Doctor for about a week now...and the thumb studs almost fell out today. I felt it move during opening; so I stopped to check it out. Good thing, too, since they were loose to the point of wobbling & another little push with my finger spun the female side off. I can honestly say this is the first time I've had that happen with any knife.
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Sounds like they might have missed putting thread locker in there during assembly, reach out to their CS if needed, they will take very good care of you.
 
I've got some blue here (unless I'm wrong and it's purple)... maybe a trip back is the right option, since the action seems to be worsening (more resistance on closing and slow opening) - if I decide not to keep it, many would prefer fixes having been done officially.
 
hhmoore said:
I've got some blue here (unless I'm wrong and it's purple)... maybe a trip back is the right option, since the action seems to be worsening (more resistance on closing and slow opening) - if I decide not to keep it, many would prefer fixes having been done officially.
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For most of mine that arrived close to new, the action seemed to tighten up a bit after several actuations, once I took them apart, cleaned and greased with either CRK grease or TW25, they where extremely smooth. I bought mine secondhand, so I wasn't going to send it to the mother ship for that, but the thumbstud thing should probably be resolved at the maker. They are very easy to deal with, an email or phone call will have you on the way to resolution.
 
norcalAF said:
Clearly not enough! Their CS is excellent at resolving things, reach out and you will be made whole.
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I finally got around to emailing yesterday, and got a response today. I'll be exhausted in the morning; so I probably won't get it in the mail until Monday.
 
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