New to Emerson's and have some questions

[theranch]

Howdy,

For Xmas I bought myself 2 x new Emerson's. I have been carrying a Benchmade Barrage for the past 13 years and am a newbie to more expensive knives and Emerson.

Questions:
1. On the Commander I bought if I use the wave or open it quickly the liner lock is almost all the way to the other side and it takes quite a bit with my thumbnail to push the lock to close the knife. Is this normal? The Kwaiken knife I bought is much smoother in this regard and does not go as far over.

2. If I loosen the pivot so it opens easier the blade is all the way over and rubs on one side. I attempted the blade centering procedure as listed on the forum and that did not seem to work for me. What I noticed when I did this was the bottom screw on the pivot side does not screw in tight it just continues to spin. It feels like it is starting to tighten slightly and then it just keeps turning. Any thoughts on this and I do I need to send it back to Emerson?

3. When I open the blade slowly I can hear it squeaking like a rusty hinge kind of sound. Will this go away once it is broken in?

Overall I really like the knife and I am ok if it breaks in overtime but I wanted to check whether these issues are normal?


Thanks

 

[toker]

1. That's normal in my experience. As long as there isn't blade play when it locks up, I wouldn't worry about it.
2. I usually completely take apart my Emersons when I get them. I clean everything, lube everything and put it back together. I usually fiddle around with the pivot screw until I get the tension I want. As for the spacers, I would make sure to get a quality bit set like Wiha before messing around with screws. You don't want to strip the screws. My Emersons all have backspacers, so I don't know if you have to put a bit on each end of the spacer to keep it from spinning.
3. There's probably some grit in there from the factory. As I mentioned before, I completely take the knives apart to clean and lube them.

 

[theranch]

1. That's normal in my experience. As long as there isn't blade play when it locks up, I wouldn't worry about it.
2. I usually completely take apart my Emersons when I get them. I clean everything, lube everything and put it back together. I usually fiddle around with the pivot screw until I get the tension I want. As for the spacers, I would make sure to get a quality bit set like Wiha before messing around with screws. You don't want to strip the screws. My Emersons all have backspacers, so I don't know if you have to put a bit on each end of the spacer to keep it from spinning.
3. There's probably some grit in there from the factory. As I mentioned before, I completely take the knives apart to clean and lube them.

Ok thank you. What lube do you like to use on these knives?
The screw on the other side opposite is tight it's just the pivot side screw that spins. I also have not been able to get it out to look at the thread on it as it just turns but does not unscrew if that makes sense.

 

[LaserGuidedSock]

Yikes, the linerlock maxes out it's travel when you wave it open?

That's not a major issue but it is a sign that the knife is nearing the end of its life. Ones you wear away more material on the blade lock tang and the linerlock face, it's gonna be difficult. I'd suggest carbidizing the lockface. It will push back some of travel and will eliminate any lockstick.

But as long as their is no blade play that's the important part. As far as knife pivot lube you can find KPL on Amazon, I use Hoppes No.9 because it's multipurpose but it all should be good.

 

[toker]

Yikes, the linerlock maxes out it's travel when you wave it open?

That's not a major issue but it is a sign that the knife is nearing the end of its life. Ones you wear away more material on the blade lock tang and the linerlock face, it's gonna be difficult. I'd suggest carbidizing the lockface. It will push back some of travel and will eliminate any lockstick.

Not necessarily. I have an Emerson Traveler that moves over almost to the end and it's stayed that way for probably 8-9 years.

Ok thank you. What lube do you like to use on these knives?
The screw on the other side opposite is tight it's just the pivot side screw that spins. I also have not been able to get it out to look at the thread on it as it just turns but does not unscrew if that makes sense.

Any quality gun lubricant works well. I bought some Nano-oil many years ago for my knives and there is still a lot in the bottle.

 

[theranch]

Thanks guys I appreciate it.

 

[theranch]

Just wanted to report back. I took the knife apart, cleaned and lubed it, put sharpe on the tang and overall it runs much better. The blade is still not centered if I loosen the pivot where I want and it still has a squeak when I open it slowly lol, but it is much better overall.

I also got a new Emerson sheepdog in the mail today and it has a very smooth action, has a centered blade and does not have any lock sticking issues and the liner lock is only about 20% over. Nice knife, but just a little too small for my hand.

Cheers

 

[TheFactor]

I normally run mine for a few weeks and let them break in before I make any adjustments. Unless the pivot is way to tight then I’ll back it off just a little .
I normally run them a little tight as that’s my preference over blade play .

 

[TheFactor]

Just wanted to report back. I took the knife apart, cleaned and lubed it, put sharpe on the tang and overall it runs much better. The blade is still not centered if I loosen the pivot where I want and it still has a squeak when I open it slowly lol, but it is much better overall.

I also got a new Emerson sheepdog in the mail today and it has a very smooth action, has a centered blade and does not have any lock sticking issues and the liner lock is only about 20% over. Nice knife, but just a little too small for my hand.

Cheers

Sometimes the Squeak will go away and sometimes it won’t from my experience.
Sometimes it will also disappear and then come back again so I’ve just learned to live with it and just turn the tv up a little bit