The Bears' Den--Shirogorov Showcase

ChazzyP said:
I've owned 10 Shiro's and presently have 8. Out of those only my two 100NS Tabargans (one sadly sold) and my Quantum Ursus NL (not so sadly sold) were drop-shut out of the box. Of course the Tabargans have sliding bar, AXIS-type locks and drop like Benchmades. The QUNL had the best out-of-box action of any Shiro I've handled and was also the sharpest on receipt.

My Hati is old school on washers and never has, nor I expect never will by nature, be drop shut despite considerable work as I bought it well-used in not great shape. I have but one F3, an earlier Gen, that I've also put a lot of work into, successfully solving a lock-up issue, that doesn't want to drop shut though it will shake down with a little wrist.

Of the rest, my four that drop shut are my NeOn UL--obviously a small--the 111 CF (2nd Gen?), and my two F95's. The Turtle is SRBS, probably Gen 2, and the other is an R Series MRBS (what used to be known as a Three Bears). None of those four were drop-shut out of the box and benefitted from tuning and break-in. Tuning includes complete disassembly, soaking all parts in alcohol, getting all the grease out (yuk), polishing all interior surfaces, de-burring the bearing cages, then reassembling with W10 NanoOil for a lube. I never thread-lock pivots unless they constantly loosen, and run my Shiro pivots just thumb-nail tight. That keeps those knives centered and free-dropping and if they drift a little over time I just bring them back with no tool needed.

The 111 is an absolute thumb guillotine and both F95's have a nicely damped, hydraulic free-drop. The pivots stay cleaner run dry but the light lube helps the action and they feel a little smoother in both directions.
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scorpnsnake said:
Fantastic information! Really appreciate it. That 111 keeps rising to the surface for me.
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This is great information, but for what it's worth, my two F95s and two Neons have become drop shut through a short break in, disassembly and cleaning, and re-lubing with KPL Ultralight on the bearings and a tiny drop of KPL Heavy on the detents. No polishing or deburring necessary, though I'm sure it only improves things further. I agree about skipping the thread-lock and running pivots thumbnail tight.
 
Ilikesharpstuff said:
This is great information, but for what it's worth, my two F95s and two Neons have become drop shut through a short break in, disassembly and cleaning, and re-lubing with KPL Ultralight on the bearings and a tiny drop of KPL Heavy on the detents. No polishing or deburring necessary, though I'm sure it only improves things further. I agree about skipping the thread-lock and running pivots thumbnail tight.
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Awesome, thank you guys. I feel like I can probably get them there. I had read some junk that made it sound like all of them had a slow closing action. Probably just a few owners that don't know how to tune.
 
Ilikesharpstuff said:
This is great information, but for what it's worth, my two F95s and two Neons have become drop shut through a short break in, disassembly and cleaning, and re-lubing with KPL Ultralight on the bearings and a tiny drop of KPL Heavy on the detents. No polishing or deburring necessary, though I'm sure it only improves things further. I agree about skipping the thread-lock and running pivots thumbnail tight.
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Oh yeah, I forgot to mention adding a touch of Finish Line Fluoro Grease to the detent ball. The tip of the syringe-type applicator will fit into a reassembled knife well enough, but, if I remember to do it, filling the detent hole as I put things back together works great. It's the one spot in a knife that I'm good with having grease as it really slickens the action and won't lead to any lock stick issues as oil would.
 
ChazzyP said:
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention adding a touch of Finish Line Fluoro Grease to the detent ball. The tip of the syringe-type applicator will fit into a reassembled knife well enough, but, if I remember to do it, filling the detent hole as I put things back together works great. It's the one spot in a knife that I'm good with having grease as it really slickens the action and won't lead to any lock stick issues as oil would.
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I go back and forth between KPL Heavy and OCD4EDC Slick'Em All on my detents. When I use the KPL I use a tiny drop near the hole and spread it along the track with a PCB cleaning swab like this, I've never had any issues with it running onto the lock face doing it that way.
 
Ilikesharpstuff said:
I go back and forth between KPL Heavy and OCD4EDC Slick'Em All on my detents. When I use the KPL I use a tiny drop near the hole and spread it along the track with a PCB cleaning swab like this, I've never had any issues with it running onto the lock face doing it that way.
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Good add to the discussion. Anything heavy that won't migrate should work well and it's good to know of other products that fit the bill. I've had my Finish Line for a long time and I expect I've got a way more than lifetime supply for the use I put it to.
 
ChazzyP said:
Good add to the discussion. Anything heavy that won't migrate should work well and it's good to know of other products that fit the bill. I've had my Finish Line for a long time and I expect I've got a way more than lifetime supply for the use I put it to.
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Just to provide a frame of reference, you said you use 10WT Nano Oil on the bearings....KPL Heavy is 75WT. It's almost like a gel.
 
Ilikesharpstuff said:
Just to provide a frame of reference, you said you use 10WT Nano Oil on the bearings....KPL Heavy is 75WT. It's almost like a gel.
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I've got NanoOil in W05, W10, and W85. The 85 is likely similar your KPL Heavy--I can barely get it out of its needle applicator. A few years back I read about putting the heavy stuff on a pivot's central axis which I tried, but I didn't notice any particular difference in the action.
 
DocJekl said:
I don't know if the seller wants to remain a secret or not, so I'll stay silent for now; but this purple F3 NS arrived today.

I've had several people tell me here and elsewhere that their F3 NS detent is a weaker than other F3's and Shiros. In this case, the detent is definitely weaker than my F3 Aquatic, Terrus, Ignis and Aerum, as well as my Emerald Micarta F3 (or my F95 R18). But it still feels nice and smooth, and just grabbing the knife and flipping it without a thought will always see it open.

While I can gently pushbutton it so lightly that I'm intentionally trying to force it to fail deployment; I have to actually think about it and purposefully be trying to get it to fail. Failing to lock open is NOT the default when operating the knife, which is good news, and I'm happy with it!

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I love mine in that colorway great choice!
 
crk1984 said:
Hey, when im wrong, i admit it. On my purchases, this has NOT been the case, (including the lottery i won today!) but your screenshot clearly proves me wrong.
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No sweat. I wouldn’t have believed a legitimate online dealer would do it either haha. I think they do it on higher price points for whatever reason because it hasn’t been on all my purchases.
 
Sagandavis said:
No sweat. I wouldn’t have believed a legitimate online dealer would do it either haha. I think they do it on higher price points for whatever reason because it hasn’t been on all my purchases.
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Ya, youre likely right. Mine have been below 1500, which is still a lot, but not at that level! That's uber shitty of them. I can say they have been stellar to me, but i have read mixed reviews
 
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