Why does my Kershaw Shallot "click" when I'm closing it?

J

JarrodS

Joined
Jul 28, 2014
Messages
318
Didn't see a Kershaw forum, not sure where to put this...

I liked my (perfect) regular shallot so much that I ordered one with the damascus blade. It arrived yesterday (really cool blade) and I noticed that on the new one, when I get it about 90% of the way closed, there is a fairly loud "click" that comes from the pivot area. It happens every time, no matter how quickly or slowly I close the knife. It really bugs me.

The other nitpick I have is that the angle of the edge is noticeably shallower on one side of the blade than it is on the other (or either side of the standard shallot that I already own). I'm somewhat new to dealing with modern folding knives and I'm not sure what to do about these things. So I thought I'd ask the forum.

Is the click an easy fix, or something worth returning the knife for (either to the seller or to Kershaw for warranty service)?

How common is it for the edge bevel to be noticeably different on one side of the blade? I'd say the bevel is about 30% wider on the wide side, than it is on the other three shallot bevels that I have to refer to (which are all about the same).
 
The click is probably the detent ball seating into a small hole in the blade. It holds the blade closed and gives that snappy feeling during opening.
 
nickites said:
The click is probably the detent ball seating into a small hole in the blade. It holds the blade closed and gives that snappy feeling during opening.
Click to expand...

I thought the same thing at first, but the shallot doesn't have a detent in the blade. Also, I know what that sounds/feels like, and where that is supposed to occur. This is different, and is not accompanied by any resistance, as one would expect if it were a detent somewhere. And it doesn't occur on closure, but about 20º *before* the blade closes. Can't figure it out and don't want to disassemble the knife and go exploring before I gain some understanding about what the issue is likely to be, and what all my options are. Thanks though!
 
Sounds like something engaging the detent ball. See if you can look closely at the track.

It could also be the ball either falling from or engaging the blade before it locks closed, but I'm not familiar with that knife.

If the knife functions OK other than the click it's probably normal.
 
If I recall correctly, isn't it assisted opening? If so, the torsion bar is probably clicking. May need a little grease on it
 
Yes, it's assisted. I thought about the torsion bar, but not sure I can get to it without disassembly. Hmmm.
 
JarrodS said:
Yes, it's assisted. I thought about the torsion bar, but not sure I can get to it without disassembly. Hmmm.
Click to expand...
My guess is also that it's torsion bar that clicks. My Chive and Cryo do the same thing. You would have to dissemble the entire knife to take a look. You can probably add a dab of grease, but that may not eliminate the click.
 
Yup, it's probably the torsion spring. Try adding some grease to it; without any grease, it'll make noise. If that doesn't work, you can ask Kershaw for some more springs.
 
As has been said, the click is probably the torsion bar. The only way to get at is is to disassemble the knife. A pea-sized drop of grease (I use white lithium grease, but a number of others will also work fine) spread around the torsion bar in that milled out cavity should dampen the sound.

As for an uneven grind, they are sharpened by hand, so there will be imperfections. If you plan to use the knife, you can just reprofile it once it is no longer able to cut as you'd like. Or, you can swap it out with the seller. Or, you could send it in to Kershaw for a re-sharpening and ask that they even out the bevels for you.
 
The torsion bar on my Cryo started clicking and a few weeks later it broke. Maybe you should grease it as mentioned above.
 
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