The problem: the deployment/retraction impact will, ever so slightly, vibrate the blade lock tab out of position to let the blade sneak by. The solution: minimize lock tab movement with some sort of vibration dampener (tiny foam piece next to lock tab spring). Thicker grease on this area achieves the same effect, however grease will wear off
Mine doesn’t always lock on retraction. I purchased it to see if I liked OTF knives or not. Since I purchased a HK/Hogue OTF and it has had zero issues, but it cost a lot more. I didn’t expect much from the lightning OTF and am generally happy with it.
Since finding and fixing the issue with mine, I've not had any issues since. Overall, assuming you get one that works out of the box, I think it is a great first OTF.
Ive been using my lighting elite to pull nails from my semi tires and abusing it while doing my job driving trucks and ive had the poor fire like you had for a bit, sprayed some oil down the front and fixed it had the knife over 2 years now and just had to disassemble it since it was caked with gunk on the inside only issue i had was getting the stops realigned so thats when i came here
Way to solve your problem, I just bought 3 of the lightning elites and one of them has already started to fail, so I will take it apart and polish the metal slide. Thanks
Make sure that you check that the springs behind the blade stops are properly seated. That was the issue with this one, and since I fixed it, it hasn't failed in over a thousand deployments.
My experience has been that a retailer is usually as good as the products they sell. A quick glance at their site puts your experience right where I'd have expected. Edit: I'm sure you've already heard it, but flood it with rem oil then blast it out with an air compressor. If that doesn't work, polish all the interface points. That always fixes my cheap otf issues.
Yeah, not too many reputable dealers sell Chinese junk knives, so I went with who sold them at the lowest price. Later in the video I discover that it was a spring that wasn't seated correctly. Seems to be working now, but I'm sure the spring will work loose again at some point.
guessing theres a metal shaving or debris inside the spring seat. perhaps (if possible) swap the front/rear locks and springs to see if it is indeed the spring itself or if it's the spring seat (which might not be honed out properly too). Find out if the problem is following the springs or if it's in the casing.
@@BellowsBlades did you get it from grindworx? Haven't had to do it myself yet but I hear they will send you another one if something is wrong with a new one. Anyways from what I hear most of them are ok some are really good and a few not so much. I'd say good build quality with poor quality control. I've had probably ten and they were all ok to really good. All that said I had to send a 2500$ custom back for service after only one day once so it happens.....
@@paulbosley6448 , Perry Knife Works. Other than the spring issue, the tolerances on this thing are way better than I expected. Super solid feeling with almost no blade play. So I would agree that it is a QC issue with this specific knife.
@@paulbosley6448 I got mine from grindworx and am happy with it. Maybe I lucked out. It miss-fired once upon closure after a couple thousand fires, and I haven't had it misfire since. Great review.
The screwdriver is from Lowes. It is their store brand (Kobalt). I don't see why it wouldn't work, assuming it is the same issue. There are a few different things that can stop an OTF from firing correctly, but they all seem fairly easy to diagnose. I like to tinker, so I always take something apart to figure it out. If you're not handy with stuff like that, you probably have a friend or relative that is. I'd see if they wouldn't mind giving it a look. The mechanics of an OTF are pretty simple and straightforward.
Any experience with a boker Kalashnikov ak74 ? I have a new one tht doesn't open all the way 100% of the time . The company's been great . Wondering what u think .
I've been considering picking one up for awhile, but haven't done so yet. I don't have any experience with their otf at this point. From my understanding, Cobratec actually makes their otfs for them. How long have you had it? With it being a Boker, I think I'd try reaching out to them directly for resolution if you are not comfortable tearing it apart and tinkering with it yourself. Overall, I've mostly heard good things about them, so it sounds like you might have got a lemon.
I also recently purchased the same knife from the same company, and I have some complaints. Mine bucks like a bronco when firing. The impact is so heavy it feels almost like shooting a gun. It came dull as a butter knife. And it requires a shocking amount of force on the trigger to deploy or retract, although maybe that's something that can be broken in? Thus far, I really can't recommend the knife or Perry at all.
@@BellowsBlades Oddly, they offered me a return shipping label, so I'm slightly less angry. But I think I'm going to save up and grab a Benchmade Shootout instead.
So far, so good. I'm thinking it was just a one off QC issue. Based on the price and the overall quality (soft blade steel excluded), I think it is worth taking a chance. Definitely a good option for a first OTF to see if you like them.
Weird. I’ve got a lightning I bought years ago as a curiosity. I’ve got multiple OTF’s that cost way more than the lightning. I was actually surprised at its reliability. Of course it rattles and twangs when you fire it. But it always seemed to be about the best OTF that everyone could afford. I guess their quality has declined over the years.
Honestly, I'm thinking I might have just got a lemon. Once I determined what was causing the issue and corrected it, it has been reliable since. It actually is really good when it comes to blade play, rattle, and spring twang. Assuming mine was a fluke, I still think it is a great deal at the price.
@@BellowsBlades From my experience the Lightning is a good basic starter for anyone who thinks they might like to edc an OTF. I bought one for myself, one for my son and several to give to his friends as “thank you” gifts for helping me with projects. All of them were the standard models not the Elite.
I believe the definition they use for a switchblade is a knife where the blade is deployed automatically, such as with the push of a button. So yes, an OTF would be a switchblade.
