Zero Tolerance 0550/0551 Goodness

I am going to be honest....had this knife for two days. The detente is a deal breaker. Opening it over 500 times, and even leaving the knife in a half open state overnight and it is still impossible to open with the thumb studs. When pulling the blade out (the only way), it has massive resistance. I'll give it till Monday, but if after hundreds more openings, and it is still as is....it is going back.
 
Screwdriver said:
I am going to be honest....had this knife for two days. The detente is a deal breaker. Opening it over 500 times, and even leaving the knife in a half open state overnight and it is still impossible to open with the thumb studs. When pulling the blade out (the only way), it has massive resistance. I'll give it till Monday, but if after hundreds more openings, and it is still as is....it is going back.
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It could be a method thing. Put the top of your thumb directly at the 6 o'clock of the thumbstud and push straight up.
 
Screwdriver said:
I am going to be honest....had this knife for two days. The detente is a deal breaker. Opening it over 500 times, and even leaving the knife in a half open state overnight and it is still impossible to open with the thumb studs. When pulling the blade out (the only way), it has massive resistance. I'll give it till Monday, but if after hundreds more openings, and it is still as is....it is going back.
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Emailed you some suggestions, please let me know if you got it. ;)
 
Switch to lefty and see if it's easier to open. If it is it's technique.
Loosen pivot a little.
Put a drop of oil in the detent hole on the blade and then work it a while.
 
Also, if you find it unbearable you can always take advantage of KAI warranty. Call them and explain what's going on. They'll probably ask you to send it in so the can tweak the detent.

You could also take it apart and bend the lockbar out ever so slightly, but I wouldn't recommend that to an inexperienced user.
 
Rolex John said:
I spruced up my 0550 with some new hardware:

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Looks great! I was thinking of ordering some for myself. Do the screws sit flush tho? From the picture it looks like they stick up a bit. Wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, just curious.
 
Screwdriver said:
I am going to be honest....had this knife for two days. The detente is a deal breaker. Opening it over 500 times, and even leaving the knife in a half open state overnight and it is still impossible to open with the thumb studs. When pulling the blade out (the only way), it has massive resistance. I'll give it till Monday, but if after hundreds more openings, and it is still as is....it is going back.
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Seriously, just send it to zt and get the detent fixed. You will be happy. I sent mine in for having weak detent (It wasn't too bad, I was just being picky), and KAI had it back to me in less then 2 1/2 weeks. It was perfect.

I know it sucks sending a new knife in and being without it. New knives shouldn't have any problems. But the 2-3 week wait will go by fast and give you something to look forward to! :) I wish I would have sent mine sooner.
 
benja510 said:
Looks great! I was thinking of ordering some for myself. Do the screws sit flush tho? From the picture it looks like they stick up a bit. Wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, just curious.
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Looks like they're not quite flush.
 
@Screwdriver---> I would like to echo all the recommended suggestions from @RamZar, @daveb068, and @grownstar. The order in which the suggestions are given above, is actually the process of elimination I took to get my first gen 0550 to absolute perfection (no hundreds of flicks or sore thumb needed) :). I'm talking, "I can't believe it's not butter" smooth.

I do think you should try everything that's stated above first, before doing what I suggested through email. @grownstar, I guess great minds think a like (i.e.) bending the lockbar a "millimeter" slightly outward away from the blade; with emphasis on slightly. That way you leave room for additional adjustment if needed; without having to fully disassembly. Just take your time and it's as easy as pie, because if you overbend it full disassembly will be needed to bend the lockbar back the opposite way. Then that's where your skill level and comfortability takes part and an "inexperienced" user and a fully disassembled knife can be a dangerous combination and the difference between a fixed or ruined knife. This being the main reason I sent my suggestion through email and didn't post publicly, because I didn't want that information to get into the wrong overzealous hands.

I hope you really weigh you options and take every possible action you can to get that beautiful gem of a ZT 0550 to absolute perfection; because if you don't and send it back, I think you're really going to miss out on a great knife that is simply at this stage a "diamond" in the rough.

(P.S.) This goes to show you how wonderful of a ZT family/knife community we have around these parts; full of sages with wisdom, helpful commentary, and overall good looks (I'm talking about the knives of course) :).
 
550 is awesome. Mine has the stiffest detent known to man, if I touch the lock bar at all it will not budge. No problem, I fiqured out how to hold the knife out towards my finger tips and push the stud at the 6 oclock position and when that detent breaks this knife opens so fast it'll blow your hair back. Woosh
 
New to the ZT family, and looking for a slacks-ready alternative to this perfect detent 550.

ZT550_1-L.jpg
 
My 0550BLK got a little facelift... scale is green Kirinite and made by Rival.

ZT0550_20141009_800x352.jpg
 
I've seen ZT 0550s with steel lock-bar inserts, but none of the ones in your collection have them. Is there a new generation of 0550s in the pipeline? I want a 0550, but don't want to buy one now only to have a newer generation come on the market. Nice collection! I'm envious.
 
FTA4evr said:
I've seen ZT 0550s with steel lock-bar inserts, but none of the ones in your collection have them. Is there a new generation of 0550s in the pipeline? I want a 0550, but don't want to buy one now only to have a newer generation come on the market. Nice collection! I'm envious.
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The newer ZT0550s have the steel lockbar insert. They are discontinuing the knife, however, so now is a good time to pull the trigger.
 
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