ZT 0452 lock up

PURPLEDC said:
lockbars with steel inserts and flat lock faces will move over if manipulated to do so. Especially when paired with a composite handle half. To reduce it as much as possible make sure the pivot and handle screws are snug. The small corner being the only area making contact is normal and the preferred way to cut a lock by most tactical folder makers including emerson, hinderer and the vast majority of others. The idea being that a small portion of contact in that front corner is more stable. In a lot of the cases when you have full contact across the length of the lock face the lockbar uses it as a ramp and it causes lock slip.
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Purp with the score on page 1 lol.

:D
 
Again brand new knife, I just never even considered it wasn't ready to go. Live and learn as they say.
 
Now it locks from flipping early and solid. The blade is still centered too. I'm done pushing on the bar too, I'll just flip it and leave it be.
 
jill jackson said:
Again brand new knife, I just never even considered it wasn't ready to go. Live and learn as they say.
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Yes brand new knife. Never cut anything. But its been flipped open has it not? Screws come loose with the opening of the blade. Especially the pivot. Even my OTFs their handle screws loosen and fall out with the opening and closing of the blade. Balisongs do it too. Again Im not trying to lay blame or say you never had a reason for concern. Im just saying that the "use" that effects your issue the most is more on the repeated opening and closing of the knife and not really much to do with cutting.

stabman said:
Yet none of us saw it till now. :D
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Your lack of reading skills is not my fault. :D But to be fair I fully realize that the mere sight of my screen name entices a skip over with most :cool:
 
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I've tightened pivots countless times but the reason was bladeplay. I've never seen lock up, affected by a slightly loose pivot before and not show any bladeplay. Is this some unique characteristics of the bearing system, ZT uses, or all bearings.
 
jill jackson said:
I was trying to center the blade on a Spyderco Fluted Military and noticed the lock-up depended on the pivot tightness. So, I should have checked that but who thinks a NIB over 200 dollar knife, would need it's pivot tightened about a full turn on each side, for the lock up to work correctly.
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Mine needed to be tightened out of the box and it is loose again now. I have been meaning to get the tool and loctite out. I like the blade to stay where I put it and on my 0452 it seems to loosen with minimal use, but I have never added loctite yet. My 0450 which I use way more doesn't seem to need adjustment so far. I know it is a lighter blade to swing, but still.
 
It can happen with any knife but again the trait is exacerbated by the fact of the flat lockface, composite handle, long thin lockbar etc. The loose pivot allows the handle slabs to spread farther apart at that area. The other handle screws are enough to make the issue hard to spot until force was applied to the lockbar. With the handles spreading apart the blade will be able to shift from one side to the other. And since the lockbar puts pressure directly on the blade when you press on it the blade will shift that small amount allowing the lockup to be later as the blade centering has lost the rigidity it provides by a tight pivot. And the sticking is because the lockbar is now jammed with the blade shifted and the scales spread apart past the point it would naturally be allowed to travel. This is kinda why I get a little bent when guys talk about knives being easy to set up and dial in and can be assembled by monkeys. There is a tremendous amount of variables with folders and many times a small change in one area creates a domino effect that effects all the other areas even if the connection isnt immediately apparent. You can actually increase and decrease the percentage of lockup by how you assemble the knife.
 
Wonder if the other folks who said theirs suffer from the same issue can be "fixed" with the pivot tightening?
 
jbmonkey said:
Wonder if the other folks who said theirs suffer from the same issue can be "fixed" with the pivot tightening?
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That would be good. Probably not, but... who knows? It's certainly worth giving the pivot an extra turn if you've got a knife on bearings with a lock-up problem, even if it feels tight already. I'm glad Jill didn't have any real problems with hers :thumbup: .
 
On the 0452 you'd think they'd all have the same tolerances, with CNC machines doing the cutting, so it's very possible this knife needs it's pivot tighter to lock up correctly. If tolerances got off enough to mess just a few up, I'd think quality control would know that and have to make adjustments. Time will tell as people use these knives if the pivot is more critical, than normal. The knife does open pretty damn fast too, so that could be a factor.
 
FWIW, my pivot is tight and although the blade doesn't go all the way over with out two thumbs pushing hard the lock still gets stuck. I run my pivots tighter than most, especially on bearing knives.
 
I
poolhustler said:
Would love to hear if this remedy is successful on other ZT's with similar issues.
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is it possible for you to explain exactly what model you're talking about and put up a picture with an explanation and maybe we can discuss when we know more specifics
 
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