My new Talwar is a mess. Absolutely and dangerously unacceptable. **UPDATED***

C

Chris_Texas

Joined
Apr 2, 2020
Messages
538
First the good. The blade is perfectly centered and sharp. The action is smooth. The new G10 texture is very nice.

Now the bad: open the blade forcefully (using the deployment plate for example) and the blade locks open so hard that it simply cannot be released using finger pressure. Putting the disengagement against the edge of my computer desk and pressing as hard as I can is nowhere near enough to release the lock. I was forced to use a pair of channel locks to release the lock. I have never seen a Cold Steel like this. So long as I open it slowly and carefully the lock will not stick, but open it as I normally do (with my other cold steel knives) and it becomes a large and extremely sharp fixed blade with no sheath.

I will be contacting Midway USA tomorrow to see about returning it.
 
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jlauffer said:
Have heard about this numerous times, but have never had one even close to that. Hope they get you squared away.
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I have heard about it as well. Hell, I even saw someone mention lock stick in a review of the Talwar, but I didn't really get it until now. When you open this knife hard it is staying open until you dig out some tools. It opens easily when you open it easily, which suggests to me that there is something fundamentally wrong with the angles in the locking mechanism. If I have time tomorrow maybe I will lock it open, disassemble it, and see if I can spot the defect.
 
I’ve had a very stiff lock on a Recon XL once. I’m no noodle arm and it took a lot of grunt to get it unlocked. A lot. After much lube and a couple weeks of breaking in it worked fine. Sold it off and I wish I kept it.
 
Try rubbing a sharpie on any locking surfaces you can get to or a pencil. Also open the knife but don’t let the lockbar engage. Then slowing drop the lockbar and create a up and down motion to help wear in the surfaces.
Chances are the lockbar and cut out in the blade are fitting together extremely tight, coupled with the stop pin cutout in the blade possible not being deep enough. It could be as little as a hair size bit of metal causing everything to be tight.

The fix is probably simply rubbing the lockup areas with fine grit sandpaper and smoothing everything out. But being a new knife you should probably return it
 
Yeah, I would open and close it 9,000 times while watching ESPN. It will smooth out.

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Would be super easy to check before shipping, maybe the QC Guy is a weigh lifter. Should use an old man like me to check it.
 
I have never had a problem with any CS product. They say they stand behind their products 100%, so I bet they will replace your knife. Let us know what they do.
 
There are lots of old threads about this problem .

Return and hope for a better one . Maybe ask dealer to cherry pick one for you .

Or deal with it yourself .

Lock surfaces need to be finished / polished either by working the lock or actual disassembly and polishing parts .

I've had to do this more than my share because I buy used / returns etc .

They do eventually work in fine , but it's a PITA and shouldn't be necessary .

I have a set of compound action , ring nose pliers with the jaws padded that works great to unjam the lock stick . :cool:
 
AntDog said:
I’ve had a very stiff lock on a Recon XL once. I’m no noodle arm and it took a lot of grunt to get it unlocked. A lot. After much lube and a couple weeks of breaking in it worked fine. Sold it off and I wish I kept it.
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Ya a few slip through. My Recon XL was bought 4-5 years ago. It came with a gritty / slightly grinding feel when opened. The lock itself was never an issue. I figured that it would straighten out with time, and it did, barely a hint now. I really like that relatively flat and thinnish pocket sword.
 
ISHN1117_F9_pic.jpg
get you one of these and work on that weak grip...😆

joking. isnt it annoying when folks assume its your strength and not the knife. no one did that here yet except me as a joke...... not joking part....... good call sending it back to the dealer. messing with the spring and such is a waste of time on one like that. get one that is within proper tolerances. best to deal with the dealer...dealing with gsm is a big waste of time....I know first hand.
 
***UPDATE***

I opened the knife hard to recreate the problem, then disassembled the knife. The issue was quickly apparent. The lock bar was improperly finished where it contacts the blade when the lock is engaged. The angle was visibly off, and as the deeper it set the harder it would lock. It was stuck so hard that even with the side plate off the knife I had to remove the spring to release it. However, it also looked easily fixable with some patience and sandpaper. So I got to sanding. Carefully.

If this is a problem for anyone else on their Talwar, you should be able to fix it yourself. Just be careful, go slow, and use high grit sand paper like 1000 or better to finish up. Go slow, a little at a time, and test it frequently. Or return it, because there is no question that the knife they shipped me was improperly finished.

The end result? As long as it was apart anyway I cleaned it up a bit and greased the action. It is now perfectly centered, buttery smooth action, easy to open and close, and as perfect as any production knife could be. I love it!
 
upnorth said:
Ya a few slip through. My Recon XL was bought 4-5 years ago. It came with a gritty / slightly grinding feel when opened. The lock itself was never an issue. I figured that it would straighten out with time, and it did, barely a hint now. I really like that relatively flat and thinnish pocket sword.
Click to expand...

I always wanted a recon XL.
 
Chris_Texas said:
I always wanted a recon XL.
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That and the 6 inch Hold Out are two the come to mind Immediately, as having roughly the same design and materials philosophy, and still giving satisfaction years later when pulled out of the pile. Classic Cold Steel.
 
Chris_Texas said:
***UPDATE***

I opened the knife hard to recreate the problem, then disassembled the knife. The issue was quickly apparent. The lock bar was improperly finished where it contacts the blade when the lock is engaged. The angle was visibly off, and as the deeper it set the harder it would lock. It was stuck so hard that even with the side plate off the knife I had to remove the spring to release it. However, it also looked easily fixable with some patience and sandpaper. So I got to sanding. Carefully.

If this is a problem for anyone else on their Talwar, you should be able to fix it yourself. Just be careful, go slow, and use high grit sand paper like 1000 or better to finish up. Go slow, a little at a time, and test it frequently. Or return it, because there is no question that the knife they shipped me was improperly finished.

The end result? As long as it was apart anyway I cleaned it up a bit and greased the action. It is now perfectly centered, buttery smooth action, easy to open and close, and as perfect as any production knife could be. I love it!
Click to expand...
Edited for clarity:

Thank you for this. I discovered the exact part causing problems on mine is labeled 2. on the diagram here:

Tri-ad Lock Patented Knife Locking Technology | Cold Steel

The Tri-Ad®Lock Uses A Combination Of Features That Responds Exceptionally To Pressures And Has Been Tested To Hold Up To 800 Pounds Of Hanging Weights.
www.coldsteel.com www.coldsteel.com
 
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I had the same issue with my GSM Talwar it worked fine until I oiled it up and when I pulled it from the pocket fast and hard it locked up. I cleaned it in hot water and dried it off and it stopped but was still a little hard to push in the release button. I've just kept flicking it in front of the Tv which the wife hates.... and it has pretty much gone away. Just keep working it until the problem goes away. I wouldn't use steel on steel though to push in the take down button. I used the edge of my computer desk which is wood to not damage the knife. Good luck it'll work out eventually. Oh it's the only Gsm model I own, and I have quite a few CS models and no problems with any of them.
 
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