ZT 0561 brand new, lock disengages, almost cut me severely

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duro

duro

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May 25, 2012
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Well, I received a 0561 knife from Thomas W of Kershaw a few months ago. It was a replacement for my 0560. Initially all was well. I haven't really used it at all, but I sure did test the lock. Today I pulled it out to use and noticed there was a bit of up and down blade play. I adjusted the pivot to no avail. I then started using force to test the up and down play, and low and behold, the lock disengages. Totally catching me off guard. Almost sliced my hand pretty good.

I'm pretty upset. I easily could of had a few stitches...I called kershaw and the customer service rep sounded like she could care less. She wouldn't even agree to send me a shipping label to return this knife back to them. I since told her to give Thomas my contact info and she assured me he would call me back. Thomas did leave his business card with the knife and told me to contact him if I have any problems. Problem is, I lost the card.

Needless to say my Spyderco Southard has been flawless. Rock solid.....This 0561, not so much. I can now easily disengage the lock. I'm uploading a youtube video right now. I'll post the link when it's finished uploading.

[video=youtube;jXi-s7WyF4w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXi-s7WyF4w&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
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Interested to see the video. Mine seems fine, as is my Southard. In fact, the ZT seems to get better the longer I have it. The pivot is now much smoother than my Southard, but the Southard is pretty new. But total lock failure on a brand new knife is pretty serious. Hope Thomas can get it sorted out.
 
Well Thomas is detector of marketing for keshaw and zt so I'd email zt I emailed them a question and the email'd back within three hours.
 
Uh.. All I am seeing in this video is someone purposefully or dimwittedly disengaging the lock by putting their thumb over it.
Do you mind gripping the knife properly with your hand wrapped. Be sure to keep a finger in the "flipper" choil and try that test again.

@ 1:19 you see him try to hold the knife by the scales without his finger pressing the lock bar and it does not disengage.

Honestly I think you know exactly what you are doing.

Poor vid.
 
Luis G. said:
Uh.. All I am seeing in this video is someone purposefully or dimwittedly disengaging the lock by putting their thumb over it.
Do you mind gripping the knife properly with your hand wrapped. Be sure to keep a finger in the "flipper" choil and try that test again.
Click to expand...
- I'm also wondering why you are applying outward pressure to the lock?

You also should wipe the lock surface with alcohol to make sure there isn't some lubricant on it causing it to slip.
 
So I get a call back from Kershaw. Jeremy gives me a sales pitch like a used care salesmen saying based on the length of time I've had it, it's only fair that I pay for shipping to them???? It's been like 3 months, and I haven't even used the knife. At any rate. I'll be sending it back and requesting a full refund.
 
I'm not going to risk cutting myself. There is blade play, the lock is slippery. It's poor mating. If you put any pressure on the knife, you can see the lock bar move. On a proper fitting frame lock, this will not happen.
 
tokerblue said:
- I'm also wondering why you are applying outward pressure to the lock?

You also should wipe the lock surface with alcohol to make sure there isn't some lubricant on it causing it to slip.
Click to expand...


You're completely missing it. On a proper fitting frame lock, it doesn't matter what's on the lock face. The lock bar should not slip with the blade tang.
 
you can clearly see your thumb moving the lock over before the lock disengages, and just because it has a little play it wouldn't make the lock fail too.....
 
Luis G. said:
Uh.. All I am seeing in this video is someone purposefully or dimwittedly disengaging the lock by putting their thumb over it.
Do you mind gripping the knife properly with your hand wrapped. Be sure to keep a finger in the "flipper" choil and try that test again.

@ 1:19 you see him try to hold the knife by the scales without his finger pressing the lock bar and it does not disengage.

Honestly I think you know exactly what you are doing.

Poor vid.
Click to expand...

It does look intentional.
"Oh yeah, really heavy duty knife."

Looks like Drama Flakes were part of breakfast.
 
It still baffles me why people feel compelled to grab the blade of their knives and try to wiggle and rock it as hard as they can to see if there is any "blade play". A knife is used to cut things. If you cut with the blade side there is absolutely ZERO chance for the blade to collapse.

In your video, the lockbar is "disengaging" because you're using your finger to disengage it.
 
I've held back from saying this for a long time, but I think when Thomas showed his extreme (IMO overly) generosity early last year when he would answer complaints by sending the complainers a bunch of new knives.

After that, you see waves of threads where people are now having "issues" with their ZT's. That's some major BS and that's why "good customer service" is dead nowadays. You give people an inch and they try to take a mile.
 
duro said:
I'm not going to risk cutting myself. There is blade play, the lock is slippery. It's poor mating. If you put any pressure on the knife, you can see the lock bar move. On a proper fitting frame lock, this will not happen.
Click to expand...

I don't know. I mean if I apply outward pressure on the lock of my TiLT it also disengages. Maybe I need to send it in. What do you guys think?

Edit: I also see that your other thumb is applying pressure to the frame of the knife. Why would you need to do that if unless you need to give your other thumb leverage.
 
I can't blame Thomas one iota for stepping away from the forums a bit. This kind of ridiculous drama-trolling has got to be stressful and tiring.

How this was a public issue at all, is beyond my understanding. This kind of thing is between the company and the customer. Contact warranty claims, send it in, issue over. Maybe be perfectly clear that the lock seems to disengage when you PUSH THE LOCKBAR OVER WITH YOUR THUMB.




People these days think that because they drop $250 on a luxury item, they should be backed by 100% warranty against all faults, mistakes, accidents, house fires, fishing accidents, polio, defects, misuse, and their wife cheating on them.
 
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