- Joined
- Sep 11, 2013
- Messages
- 332
This is a very brief review of the Enzo Piili Folder. I'll post photos later.
I purchased an Enzo Piili Folder from a fellow forum member a few weeks ago. Smooth transaction and beautiful knife. I love the thing, but it has some design issues in my opinion.
When I first handled the Piili it became obvious that using the thumb stud was not and easy thing to do. The Piili is a liner lock, and the liner on the stud side has a cut-out for the stud. Unfortunately, the handle scale was not cut out to match the liner profile. The handle scale ran across the liner cut-out as if someone forgot to dish it out during production.
The thumb stud is small, and has a rounded top. It is totally smooth, too, so getting purchase on it with your thumb is hard under the best circumstances. With the blade closed, the thumb stud rests directly against the handle scale, with almost no projection above the top of the scale. The handle scales are thinner at the edges, so there is some difference in height between the stud and the scale, but the part of the stud that your thumb contacts is the rounded knob on top. When I first tried to open the knife it took a fair amount of practice to accomplish it reliably, and even not it sometimes takes a few tries.
Adding to the issue is that the blade is narrow. When you try to open the blade it is easy for your thumb to slip off the stud. Since the knob is small and smooth, it is not difficult to have the blade stall in mid-open position and your thumb slip off the stud. When this happens, since the blade is narrow, the pad of your thumb can quickly come into contact with the edge of the blade. I think the location of the stud and the narrow blade makes the arc the stud travels in much smaller, and it is not a natural movement to swivel the blade open with the stud. It often takes two or three tries with the blade stopping mid-open.
None of this is a big issue. I don't normally flick my blades open, and actually like a nail nick for opening just as much as a thumb stud or spidie-hole. That being said, with a lot of practice I was able to get the blade to flick open with pretty good reliability. It is actually easier to do than open the blade slowly one-handed. The other option is to open the blade with both hands, which is fine as I mentioned above.
I thought that sanding out the handle scale to match the liner scallop notch would give me more purchase on the knob to begin with, so I carefully removed the handle material at the scallop using a small round file. I eased the edge with sandpaper on a dowel, and ended up with a good approximation of what I thought the scallop area should be. Problems solved, right? Wrong!
The stud had originally rested against the handle scale at the scallop, and I assumed that this was a fixed stop location dictated by the blade tang/pivot arrangement. I was wrong. The handle scale was the stop, and with the scale material scalloped like the liner, the blade closed farther into the handle cavity. This meant that the amount of stud exposure caused by the scallop in the scale was a lot less than I had intended it to be. It did help with flicking the blade open, although the pivot/stud geometry still prevented slow one-handed opening from being easy.
Pocketed the knife and went on my way thinking it was good to go, or at least better to go.
One afternoon I pulled out the knife and opened it to slice up some tomatoes for a blt. The blade is a beautiful design and slices like a razor, so when the tomato offered resistance I was confused. I looked at the blade closely and saw a shiny portion on the edge. Oh crap. I hadn't cut anything other than cardboard and some small green saplings with the blade, so I was confused. It had been razor sharp a few days ago.
Looking the knife over closely, I saw a shiny line inside the handle cavity on the face of the metal filler at the back of the cavity. The blade had been resting directly against the back liner filler. Apparently the handle scale served as the blade closed-stop and without the material at the scallop location the blade is able to close more than it should. This is, in my opinion, pathetic. I thought the situation over, and ended up taking a 1/16" thick piece of kydex and cut it to fit tightly into the cavity without inhibiting the liner-lock flex. Pushed firmly to the back of the cavity against the metal back-filler, it provides a non-metallic surface for the blade to close against so that the edge isn't dulled every time the knife is closed. Works great, now, but I can't help feel that the knife was designed by a committee of blind, thumbless amateurs.
Here's the thing. I love the blade and handle feel. When it's open, the Piili is a great knife to use. It's slender, both in thickness and width, so it carries nicely and is great for shirt pocket carry if your shirt is rugged enough to handle the weight. It just seems like it should have been set-up as either a slip-joint with a nail nick for opening, or the stud to pivot geometry reconsidered. I admit I have never paid attention to the stop mechanism or location of other liner-lock knives, but that is largely because it was never a problem on the ones I owned. I currently don't own any other folders, so I can't check to see how they provide a hard-stop. If the handle scale was going to be the stop using the thumb stud, why have the liner scalloped, since the stud can't interact with the liner anyway (due to the handle scale). The rounded, smooth thumb stud is also an odd touch. The whole experience of opening the blade with one hand (slowly) is reminiscent of trying to pick up a dime off of a smooth counter while wearing a pair of snow-machine gloves.
Summary. I like the knife in spite of the issues. Amazing slicer and very nice size/shape. Elmax steel takes and holds an edge very well (when not resting against the metal back-filler). Tight lock-up, centered blade, smooth blade swivel, beautiful fit and finish. It's just that the damn engineering is comical. I'm a huge Enzo fan and I plan on picking up a Borka or Burke folder from them to see if the problems with the Piili are just a fluke. Sad, really, since I had such high expectations based on the Enzo name and Jukka Hankala design reputation.
I purchased an Enzo Piili Folder from a fellow forum member a few weeks ago. Smooth transaction and beautiful knife. I love the thing, but it has some design issues in my opinion.
When I first handled the Piili it became obvious that using the thumb stud was not and easy thing to do. The Piili is a liner lock, and the liner on the stud side has a cut-out for the stud. Unfortunately, the handle scale was not cut out to match the liner profile. The handle scale ran across the liner cut-out as if someone forgot to dish it out during production.
The thumb stud is small, and has a rounded top. It is totally smooth, too, so getting purchase on it with your thumb is hard under the best circumstances. With the blade closed, the thumb stud rests directly against the handle scale, with almost no projection above the top of the scale. The handle scales are thinner at the edges, so there is some difference in height between the stud and the scale, but the part of the stud that your thumb contacts is the rounded knob on top. When I first tried to open the knife it took a fair amount of practice to accomplish it reliably, and even not it sometimes takes a few tries.
Adding to the issue is that the blade is narrow. When you try to open the blade it is easy for your thumb to slip off the stud. Since the knob is small and smooth, it is not difficult to have the blade stall in mid-open position and your thumb slip off the stud. When this happens, since the blade is narrow, the pad of your thumb can quickly come into contact with the edge of the blade. I think the location of the stud and the narrow blade makes the arc the stud travels in much smaller, and it is not a natural movement to swivel the blade open with the stud. It often takes two or three tries with the blade stopping mid-open.
None of this is a big issue. I don't normally flick my blades open, and actually like a nail nick for opening just as much as a thumb stud or spidie-hole. That being said, with a lot of practice I was able to get the blade to flick open with pretty good reliability. It is actually easier to do than open the blade slowly one-handed. The other option is to open the blade with both hands, which is fine as I mentioned above.
I thought that sanding out the handle scale to match the liner scallop notch would give me more purchase on the knob to begin with, so I carefully removed the handle material at the scallop using a small round file. I eased the edge with sandpaper on a dowel, and ended up with a good approximation of what I thought the scallop area should be. Problems solved, right? Wrong!
The stud had originally rested against the handle scale at the scallop, and I assumed that this was a fixed stop location dictated by the blade tang/pivot arrangement. I was wrong. The handle scale was the stop, and with the scale material scalloped like the liner, the blade closed farther into the handle cavity. This meant that the amount of stud exposure caused by the scallop in the scale was a lot less than I had intended it to be. It did help with flicking the blade open, although the pivot/stud geometry still prevented slow one-handed opening from being easy.
Pocketed the knife and went on my way thinking it was good to go, or at least better to go.
One afternoon I pulled out the knife and opened it to slice up some tomatoes for a blt. The blade is a beautiful design and slices like a razor, so when the tomato offered resistance I was confused. I looked at the blade closely and saw a shiny portion on the edge. Oh crap. I hadn't cut anything other than cardboard and some small green saplings with the blade, so I was confused. It had been razor sharp a few days ago.
Looking the knife over closely, I saw a shiny line inside the handle cavity on the face of the metal filler at the back of the cavity. The blade had been resting directly against the back liner filler. Apparently the handle scale served as the blade closed-stop and without the material at the scallop location the blade is able to close more than it should. This is, in my opinion, pathetic. I thought the situation over, and ended up taking a 1/16" thick piece of kydex and cut it to fit tightly into the cavity without inhibiting the liner-lock flex. Pushed firmly to the back of the cavity against the metal back-filler, it provides a non-metallic surface for the blade to close against so that the edge isn't dulled every time the knife is closed. Works great, now, but I can't help feel that the knife was designed by a committee of blind, thumbless amateurs.
Here's the thing. I love the blade and handle feel. When it's open, the Piili is a great knife to use. It's slender, both in thickness and width, so it carries nicely and is great for shirt pocket carry if your shirt is rugged enough to handle the weight. It just seems like it should have been set-up as either a slip-joint with a nail nick for opening, or the stud to pivot geometry reconsidered. I admit I have never paid attention to the stop mechanism or location of other liner-lock knives, but that is largely because it was never a problem on the ones I owned. I currently don't own any other folders, so I can't check to see how they provide a hard-stop. If the handle scale was going to be the stop using the thumb stud, why have the liner scalloped, since the stud can't interact with the liner anyway (due to the handle scale). The rounded, smooth thumb stud is also an odd touch. The whole experience of opening the blade with one hand (slowly) is reminiscent of trying to pick up a dime off of a smooth counter while wearing a pair of snow-machine gloves.
Summary. I like the knife in spite of the issues. Amazing slicer and very nice size/shape. Elmax steel takes and holds an edge very well (when not resting against the metal back-filler). Tight lock-up, centered blade, smooth blade swivel, beautiful fit and finish. It's just that the damn engineering is comical. I'm a huge Enzo fan and I plan on picking up a Borka or Burke folder from them to see if the problems with the Piili are just a fluke. Sad, really, since I had such high expectations based on the Enzo name and Jukka Hankala design reputation.
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