Zero Tolerance 566 - hard-use or hard-to-use? UPDATED with PICS and VIIDEO

The only problem I have with my 0566 is that it is heavy. Mine did not not come sharp, but I have got mine very sharp with my diamond rod. My 0566 has to be pushed firmly to open, but I see that as a safety feature that makes sense for an assisted opening knife.
 
My ZT 566 was extremely hard to open at first. I seriously thought about sending it in for repair/replacement. Disassembling & cleaning it only helped a little. But over time, it broke it very nicely & is now my EDC blade.

My ZT 350 was also hard to open at first. But it eventually became the best ZT/Kershaw flipper of my group. And while my 566 opens well now; it still has the WEAKEST AO action of any of the ZT/Kershaw knives (Cryo II, Blur, Turbulence, ZT350).
 
My ZT 566 AO was a bit sluggish out of the box but the lockup was perfect and it was sharp. AO on the 566 is lethargic compared to my 350.
I disassembled the 566 and gave it a good cleaning and reassembled without the AO spring. There was a surprising amount of gunk in the innards, my other ZTs (560, 200 and a 350) were immaculately clean in comparison.
But now that it is clean the flipper is actually pretty smooth and the lockup is still solid! Just out of curiosity i put the AO spring back in, while it worked better than before it still didn't have the oomph of the 350.
I'm not crazy about AO's anyway so i'll keep the spring out.
Honestly though i think the 566 is almost the perfect EDC knife, size wise and ergonomics wise! Its the knife i wanted the 560 to be.
 
BIG UPDATE :)

So, after the teflon lubricant did not really help and only made the knife squeak (LOL!), I got frustrated and poured a big gulp of Ballistol (my favorite stuff, ever) over it. That must have worked wonders, because it suddenly was a lot smoother, and I was getting somewhere. After tweaking a bit more, I had it really snappy and smooth, but with a bit of top-and-bottom-blade play. So I disassembled it again and bent the frame lock a bit towards the inside. Blade-play gone, knife is PERFECT!

[video=youtube;2xc-B-KFToY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xc-B-KFToY[/video]

Yeah, I'm one of those pesky left-handed people, LOL. Bonus points for who can identify the song :p

I have really grown on this knife. the ergonomics and balance are near perfection. The swedge is a really classy feature.

So I took some macro shots, enjoy...

0566-01.jpg


0566-02.jpg


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0566-07.jpg


0566-10.jpg



The full set of 17 pictures is here: http://strongblackcoffee.net/portfolio/macro/zero-tolerance-0566/

Thanks again for your input :)
 
I also had some issues with tightness on the blade "out of box" on the 0566. After I opened and closed it a bunch it loosed up slightly. So I broke the knife down and I was initially going to de-assist it. After fooling around with it I saw the detent ball on the lock bar was rubbing hard on the blade. When I held the lock open it seemed to free the blade up to where it should be. Unfortunately we can't do without the detent. So I removed the lock bar stabilizer and bent out the lock bar very slightly. Some people will cringe their teeth after hearing such things. But I thought its a ZT "built like a tank" so it will be strong enough. I didn't bend it much, just past normal and that seemed to do the trick. So I then re-assembled the knife after adding some lithium grease and checked the action. I found the blade to be a lot quicker and smoother but also the lock bar to be much easier to disengage. The only down fall to it is it has a very small amount of up and down blade play. To counter act this I swapped the washer on the lock bar stabilizer to the one from my cryo. The cryo has a black washer which I think looks great on the ZT and it's just a smudge thicker. This allows me to adjust the tension on the lock bar to just get the play out of the blade while still keeping it from rubbing too much.
 
I'm glad your 566 is working to your satisfaction. Just reading about all this disassembling, lubricating, disassembling again, bending of lockbars and buying a Cryo to swap parts with is giving me whiplash!

No product, of any kind, should need that much adjusting to work correctly.

I deassisted my first 566 and did nothing else to it. Now it develops blade play unless I adjust the pivot every few days.

I bought a second 566 to compare my deassisted model with. Out of the box, the stock A/O model makes snap, crackle and pop noises when closing.

My 0770 aluminum makes squeaking noises. A buddy on BF reports so many issues with his 0770CF out of the box that he's sending it to ZT for repair.

ZT makes wonderful designs at good prices, but is it possible that QC is slipping a bit? Several of my new Kershaw models have even worse problems. My Knockout sounds like a baby rattle. My Dimension makes all kinds of groaning noises and one dealer said his entire order had similar issues. I called KAI, which said they had no reports of problems.

KAI can seem pretty thin-skinned -- it employs a marketing chief who goes after those on BF whose complaints he disagrees with.

But customer feedback is important for any business. And BF -- thank you! -- offers a valuable place for both manufacturers and consumers to stay informed.

If KAI does have a QC problem, I hope the company gets it together because there are a bunch of forthcoming 2014 models I'm planning to buy.
 
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gytheran said:
CRKs need to be worn for them to operate properly?

Guns and cars may have a "break in period" where they start to operate SMOOTHER, but they do function properly "out of the box."

If your knives don't function properly out of the box, send them back. They are defective, just like anything else you buy that doesn't work out of the package...
Click to expand...

I've owned 6 Sebbies, One Ti Lock, and one Um..
3 sebbies were new, ti lock was new, and um was bought second hand but was BNIB
None needed break in, all 5 new CRK's0 worked fine out of the box. While the first few days the sebbies were a tad bit harder to open they were not difficult nor lacked in smoothness just a little more force was needed to overcome the detent(not enough to be uncomfortable). The um/ti lock seemed same as day 1 imho although I only had the um for about 2-3 days, and the ti lock for about 4 weeks~.
I've yet to have to break in a knife apart from knives that use coating.
Usually it's just a cleaning/adjustment that is needed.
 
GatorFlash1 said:
What equipment did you use to take those pics? Awesome.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I used a Nikon DSLR (D90), a prime lens (50mm 1.8), and a macro-adapter of 36mm. Plus a flash unit, a tripod, and my white desk as a base. Post processing in Lr and Ps (but not much to do really). Hope this helps. :)
 
I got a 301 and had no problems opening it. is this just something with the 566 ?
 
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Personally I think a lot of you guys are missing the whole point of ZT knives. They are the "pickup trucks" of the knife world, Sebenzas are the "Mercedes". If needed ZT's will handle cutting chores that would damage a Sebenza. Yes ZT's need breaking in as most all products will. Guns, knives, cars all need a break in to some degree, some more than others. If your daily cutting requirement is nothing more than opening mail, cutting up fruit, or sharpening an occasional stick to roast marshmallows then a Sebenza will do just fine, but if you're the kind that uses a knife for light prying, battoning through firewood, cutting through electrical cable, or boring a hole through a piece of wood with the knife's tip, then you are in need of a hard use knife like ZT's are. Price wise I think ZT's are a bargain. When you compare the 0566 to say a Spyderco Tuff, Domino, or Southard, it's priced very well and the biggest plus to me is it's made right here in the USA! That's my opinion of this subject.
 
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Update: I ended up selling it last winter, and since then have a Strider SnG as an EDC, which also needed some break-in, but it was functional from the start...

Overall it is orders of magnitude better in every aspect: lockup, action, blade geometry, materials, tolerance etc. I realize it's a lot more expensive and not really comparable.

My comparison of this particular ZT with the Benchmades I got still stands, which are comparable (price-wise). Overall, my experience with the ZT 566 was disappointing.

However, I am eyeing a ZT 300 BW, I have handled a few and they seem to be a lot smoother / tighter. That recurve is the only thing putting me off...
 
I love my 301 don't let the recurve worry you. I love mine so much I had a custom tritium bead made for it
 
New 566, first ZT. After the first day my thumb was raw from overly stiff lockbar. Very frustrated. Removed pocket clip and all is good. Apparently it was putting too much pressure against lockbar. Anybody else have this issue? It's a easy fix to either relocate the clip or rebend it, but frustrating on my first $100+ blade. I'm hesitant to go with another ZT, but probably will 'cause I love the style. Oh yeah, blade was wicked sharp out of the box.
 
Hi Chuck Fox and welcome to Blade Forums. You may not get too much of a response as this thread was started 3+ years, ago but I'll offer my 2 cents.

Don't be afraid of throwing in with this and future ZTs! They make a great knife have arguably the best service and support in the business.

Your problems with your 0566 may be related to your technique. When opening a flipper, whether assisted or manual, it's critical to not put pressure on the lock bar. Doing so will bind the action of that knife tighter than...well...tighter than "you know what".

My wife's daily carry is a modded 0566 and I just grabbed her knife and tried to open it with pressure on the lockbar and it was impossible. By design, the 0566 clip rests fully on the lockbar rather than sharing space on the stationary back frame and the lockbar. If the knife opened better with the clip removed, that tells me you're putting pressure on the clip and indirectly putting pressure on the lockbar.

The 0566 in stock condition is an assisted open knife, so it shouldn't take a feat of strength to actuate the flipper tab. A slight "light switch" action should be enough to deploy the blade.

Try to back your hand away from the lock bar and relax your grip. Move your grip toward the dorsal perimeter of the frame and make certain you're not applying pressure to the clip or lock bar. Be mindful of how you hold the knife and it may change your perceptions of it.

If none of these ideas help, you may well have a knife in need of factory service. Send it in back to ZT with no fears as they're great at offering service and support. Alternatively, you could reach out to the retailer you purchased from and ask about a return/exchange. I'm not certain where you stand in the return/refund cycle.

Good luck and welcome to the (addictive) world of premium knives! Hopefully this won't be your last!
 
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