Need help with Cold Steel AD 15

[rustinxcohle]

Hello,

I got an AD 15 (black, S35vn) a while ago and didn't use it at all until last week. I bought it at a reputable dealer in germany, so I'm sure it is no fake.
Now I carved a few sticks and opened a few packages, so nothing serious. As I closed and opened it again and there was serious side to side
and up and down blade play all out of nowhere. I tightend the axle screw and the screw holding the lock bar. The play is there until I tighten it up
so tight you could only open it with two hands. I took it apart and looked for any defects, everything looks exactly like it looks in my AD 15 lite. I used
threadlocker as I put it back together, the screw stays in place now and the side to side play is gone. The up and down play is still there however.
I can minimize it by pressing realy hard on the lockbar in opened position, but then I get heavy lockstick when closing the knife.

My question is, has anybody else experience something like this? I know there is another thread with similiar problems on here, but he could just
send the knife back, this option is gone. Cold Steel customer service in germany is no option either, from experience.

 

[goldie]

Can you post a picture or two? If the thumb lugs have a large flat front and arent very cone shaped,its a fake; thats how you can tell a real from a fake with any cold steel with those style thumb lugs.Ive never had play in my AD15s,they all lock up solid; i have 3 s35vn versions and the AD15 Lite ,and 1 of them now has aftermarket aluminum scales.Somehow there is an issue not sure what it is.In your situation, i would buy another new one and immediatly return the defective one. Why should you be stuck with a defective knife,let that dealer return it to Cold Steel...

 

[rustinxcohle]

Can you post a picture or two? If the thumb lugs have a large flat front and arent very cone shaped,its a fake; thats how you can tell a real from a fake with any cold steel with those style thumb lugs.Ive never had play in my AD15s,they all lock up solid; i have 3 s35vn versions and the AD15 Lite ,and 1 of them now has aftermarket aluminum scales.Somehow there is an issue not sure what it is.In your situation, i would buy another new one and immediatly return the defective one. Why should you be stuck with a defective knife,let that dealer return it to Cold Steel...

Thank you for the quick reply. I checked everything again, the thumb studs, the jimping, nothing wrong with that. But what is strange is that the ad15 lite has a sharp 90° corner after the jimping where the notch for the lock bar begins, the ad15 s35 (with blade play) has it rounded of a little. Is this a difference from lite to s35 or should it be 90° at both? I try to make a picture.

 

[rustinxcohle]

I hope this works...

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[goldie]

The knives are definitly real,i do see that notch you talk about i dont think that would be an issue.What i do notice is that there is less space between the front of the lockbar and the top of the pivot area on the defective one. That might be the issue .

 

[rustinxcohle]

The knives are definitly real,i do see that notch you talk about i dont think that would be an issue.What i do notice is that there is less space between the front of the lockbar and the top of the pivot area on the defective one. That might be the issue .

Ok, at least they are no fakes. I think I'll buy a new one when they are back in stock in a few weeks.
Thank you for your help

 

[paul brown]

most likely cause of sudden play would be if the female "d" shaped nut wasn't seated properly in the scale , then it rotated and dropped itself into the correct position. Anyway If there is no damage, any up and down play can only be caused by the lockbar being fouled somehow, take it back apart and double check that the collar and spring are correctly installed and aren't jacked up, If the lockbar won't travel freely and smoothly you have damaged/misaligned parts or the pivot is to tight. good luck

 

[rustinxcohle]

most likely cause of sudden play would be if the female "d" shaped nut wasn't seated properly in the scale , then it rotated and dropped itself into the correct position. Anyway If there is no damage, any up and down play can only be caused by the lockbar being fouled somehow, take it back apart and double check that the collar and spring are correctly installed and aren't jacked up, If the lockbar won't travel freely and smoothly you have damaged/misaligned parts or the pivot is to tight. good luck

Thank you for thinking this trough. But I took it apart and couldn't find any damage
or misaligned parts. I think the lockbar doesn't sit deep enough in the notch. When I squeeze the opened knife really hard there is no play anymore. But I miss the knowledge and tools to fix this myself.

 

[rustinxcohle]

While waiting for the AD15 to be back in stock, I ordered another lite. It arrived today and has issues too. First, there is a gap at the and of the knife. I couldn't get it to tighten up, the lockbar screw was already fully screwd down and I couldn't think of another way without taking it apart. I think the tube under the spring wasn't seated properly.
Then I opened the knife and checked for play. If I hold the knife only at the frn scales, then there is up and down play. If I hold it normal including the lockbar and squeeze lightly, no play. I already packed it up and will send it back.

In the end, I think I'm done with this model. I really love the design, especially the blade, but for that kind of money I can not live with these issues. All other cold steels I have feature the tri-ad lock and are flawless, some of them had to work hard for years and, aside from a few scratches, are good as new function wise.

 

[DocJD]

While waiting for the AD15 to be back in stock, I ordered another lite. It arrived today and has issues too. First, there is a gap at the and of the knife. I couldn't get it to tighten up, the lockbar screw was already fully screwd down and I couldn't think of another way without taking it apart. I think the tube under the spring wasn't seated properly.
Then I opened the knife and checked for play. If I hold the knife only at the frn scales, then there is up and down play. If I hold it normal including the lockbar and squeeze lightly, no play. I already packed it up and will send it back.

In the end, I think I'm done with this model. I really love the design, especially the blade, but for that kind of money I can not live with these issues. All other cold steels I have feature the tri-ad lock and are flawless, some of them had to work hard for years and, aside from a few scratches, are good as new function wise.

Sorry to hear of all your trouble with the AD15 !

I have only the Lite version , which I got very cheap on sale .

It has so far worked perfectly and been fun to fiddle / fidget .

Haven't done any hard use , but it certainly SEEMS solid enough ?

Maybe I just got lucky ?

Too bad GSM has no real rep here (or apparently anywhere) to address these kinds of issues .

Very disheartening , compared to the old Cold Steel customer service .

 

[rustinxcohle]

I don't man, it's kinda sad. I love the AD 10, but the little narrower and pointier blade of the 15 is so beatiful. Just wish it had the tri-ad lock or I would have more luck with 'em.

Too bad GSM has no real rep here (or apparently anywhere) to address these kinds of issues .

Yeah, that's a problem, too. Also the customer service over here in germany is a joke on it's own. I live with knowledge that there is no warranty on cold steel products, at least living in germany.

But my sadness vanished yesterday when I finally got my hands on a mackinac hunter, the hand version. Searched for a good year, now I got one in quiet good condition and I'm in love

 

[rustinxcohle]

Ok OCD took over, or maybe it was the whisky. I managed to solve 95% of the problem on the black S35 AD15. I took it apart again and the D-part of the lockbar screw was out of alignment. I think it was like this before and I didn't notice. Put it back together, some harder use to speed up the testing, blade play got really strong again. Took it apart again. This time I used a good amout of loktite one screw and I pressed the nut really hard when putting in the screw. Tighted down as hard as I could without killing the screw head. Let it sit till next evening after work. First of, minimal, rarely noticeable blade play. On to testing, medium chopping, carving, finally some spinewhacks. Blade stayed centered, blade play didn't increase, knife feels solid. I will keep it and use as I stole it, lets see how it will hold up over time.

 

[paul brown]

how it will hold up over time.

ill guess not well since the 15 is less robust than most of their knives.

 

[rustinxcohle]

ill guess not well since the 15 is less robust than most of their knives.

The tri-ad lock models are unbeatable, for sure. But I'll do it anyways, steel performance of the S35vn is top notch like on all my cold steels. Lets see where the locking mechanism and the overall construction is going in the next weeks. I'll post an update, there are not many longer term user reports of the 15 online.