Zytel blowout

johntmeche3

johntmeche3

Joined
Sep 30, 2011
Messages
168
When I bought the BK-14 handle set, I installed the orange set and put up the black for when my next BK-14 arrived. Yesterday I went to put the handles on the new BK-14. The rear screw went in just fine and snugged down. I started driving the front screw in, and it just kept turning and turning. I pulled off the handles to reveal that the plastic had blown out. It didn't even give any resistance when I was screwing it in, so I don't think I tightened it to much.

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Do you think this is something Ka-Bar will cover?
 
I wouldnt bother kabar unless you got it straight from them. The company you ordered from should help you out.
 
johntmeche3 said:
it just kept turning and turning
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I think I found your problem. Sounds like operator error to me, but feel free to check with Ka-Bar. Worst they can say is no.
Zytel is fairly soft stuff to begin with, so you definitely don't want to keep turning.
 
we've had a few people get a little overzealous with the other handle materials.

snug is good, not ratcheted down to 9000 foot/lbs :)
 
Air wrenches are a bad idea when it comes to plastics.
 
Ha! I really wasn't putting any force behind it. I hadn't even gripped the handle of the driver to snug it down. I was turning with about the force you would turn a screw with your fingers. Maybe I'm Superman, and I don't know it...
 
interesting...i have an eskabar and those zytels coming in soon. i'll keep an eye on it.


Bladite said:
we've had a few people get a little overzealous with the other handle materials.

snug is good, not ratcheted down to 9000 foot/lbs :)
Click to expand...

that reminds me of a friend of mine who confused ft/lbs with inch/lbs :eek:
 
Sounds like you torced one side down too much before starting the other side. My suggestion is to tighten both finger tight so that they're evenly snug then tighten up accordingly. If you tighten one side down completely and then start the other threes gonna be alot of pressure on the zytel.
 
Please forgive me if it is inappropriate to post here, if this thread is too old etc, but I just wanted to say the same thing happened to me. I had even read this thread before trying to instal the handles and wasn't even using the long side of the Allen wrench, just spinning it with my fingers. I managed to notice something didnt feel right before it blew out quite as bad. I put small o-rings inside to space the sides apart after I took it back apart to check on it, but the threads stick into the handle now. I have emailed Kabar as well, and can let folks know if I get any response.

I have enjoyed reading this forum for sometime. Sorry for a bummer first post:( Hope to have something more positive to contribute to the forum in the future.
 
Bladite said:
we've had a few people get a little overzealous with the other handle materials.
snug is good, not ratcheted down to 9000 foot/lbs :)
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When I first bought a Becker, I had heard about the fasteners coming loose so when I put micarta scales on it, I ended up stripping the threads from too much force... Live and learn.
 
To the Op: did your orange set not have the same trouble? I put my orange set on first and it seemed to go on okay. I'm wondering if it's a bad batch of something in the black scales?:confused:

Really though, I think it may just be that there is very little difference between the size of the head and the threads. Combine that with a wide stable nut on the other side and a small gap between the scales, and the head just pulls straight through the soft material. I'm thinking about just drilling the holes a little bigger to clean up the blowout and getting new fasteners with a wide head on the bolt side and countersinking it slightly to keep a nice smooth feel.

If i put the orange back on i will put small o-rings between the scales to prevent over tightening while still keeping the fasteners snug. Or I may just give up on the zytel and try to find some g10 or other stronger scales.

Still no word from kabar and frankly I'm not too hopefull on that front:(. There is a reviewer on amazon that had the same thing happen too though and lowered his rating, so lots of people are going to read about this problem there:thumbdn: . (Mods; hope it's okay to mention amazon, not advertising for them, but it happens to be where I got mine so I noticed the review while I was there)
 
This is one of the reasons I'm glad I went with Izula micarta instead of waiting a bit for the Zytel.
ChromeMolly- There might have been a bad black batch. There seems to be a few too many failures around the same time frame to be a coincidence.
 
Just a small update to the op or anyone who may be interested. I managed to get the black scales mounted by stacking a small o-rings (body jewelry type o-rings actually, about 4 gauge) under the head and two between the scales inside to fill the gap and prevent over tightening. My scale wasn't blown out as bad as the op, but it feels firm and the threads don't project too far out. The whole assembly feels sturdy and I'd recommend the o-rings between the scales for anyone who buys the zytel scales to keep blowouts from happening in the first place.
 
One more update. Now I just got and email from Kabar stating that they have a limited lifetime warranty against manufacturers defects and giving me an address to ship to.

Should I bother? They said I can ship it to them for "consideration" which I guess means if they decide it was over tightened they'll ship it back to me and then I'm out of luck. I assume I'd have to cover shipping and I'm not sure it's worth it to me with a partial fix working for me and the low cost of the original item. On the other hand it would be interesting to see if they think there is anything wrong with the composition of the plastic or the design (if they consider a small head that pulls though a manufacturers defect)

And to the op: did you get a similar response and if so what did you do?
 
Chrome Molly said:
One more update. Now I just got and email from Kabar stating that they have a limited lifetime warranty against manufacturers defects and giving me an address to ship to.

Should I bother?
Click to expand...
Bother. Yes. Ka-Bar has great CS, and I'm sure they'll fix you up.
 
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