Guts and Glory: Kershaw Natrix copper disassembly and detent issue explanation.

[@stoneblue1795]

Subscribed. Good catch on that detent ball phenomenon. Caused me to pause on this potential purchase, as I am indeed left handed. You-the-man. Thanks on this.

[@BazonBlades]

Welcome to the Baz on Blades family.

[@PartNinja]

I find the detent far too strong on mine. The flipper tab chews up my finger trying to flip it it's so stiff.

[@BazonBlades]

You can take the knife apart and bend the lock bar away from the lock position to releave some of that detent. Just be carefull to go slow and lightly bend. It doesn't take much relief at all.

[@blitzbbffl]

Nice work. I've got two of the Natrix copper knives and the detents on both are strong, and the deployment action is good. My slight disappointment has been that the lock-bar tension prevents a free drop closure. I'm glad I saw your video - because I was about go in to try to reduce the lock-bar tension. Now, I'm not going to touch that lock-bar.

[@BazonBlades]

You should be able to adjust the lock bar tension. Everything seems to come back into alignment as soon as the pocket clip is reinstalled.

[@blitzbbffl]

Thanks Baz!

[@BrianMiller1973]

Well crap. I’m a lefty and have been looking forward to this knife for a long time. I shall wait to see if they fix this issue. Thanks for showing this!

[@BazonBlades]

That's why I'm here.

[@ioanrafaelcodrea7560]

I’m leftie and this knife is wonderful!

[@mjbl3974]

Not being a lefty I'm not overly concerned. I am, however, really glad I watched your video as I was taking apart my knife. I would have freaked out after putting it together before reattaching the clip when the detent disappeared, which is exactly what happened. BTW, a little cleaning and some lube and, voila, not so stiff anymore and the pressure on the lockbar is not enough to screw up the deployment. Yay! I see yours has started that patina, and mine is getting much darker now.

[@BazonBlades]

Mark, I had to laugh thinking about you freaking out over having no detent. Only because the feeling is still very fresh to me from my own disassembly. It's crazy that this knife is having this issue.

[@jroth2nd]

I don't have any detent and I never took mine apart. This happened after using it for about 30 days. Suggestions? I can't push as you did in the video the lock bar to get any detent.

[@BazonBlades]

Check to make sure your detent ball is still there. It's not common for detent balls to fall out but can happen.

[@jroth2nd]

@@BazonBlades I finally took it apart. The detent ball is there. I should note that I have a slightly different knife. I have the Natrix Assisted Flipper Knife, which looks similar. Anyway, I took it apart and a thin piece of metal, about 1.25 in, fell out. It's somewhat "L" shaped and clearly broken. I contacted Kershaw and they sent me some bearings similar to what's in your video. I'm going to install those and see what happens. If not, I'll send it out. Anyway, thank you for the content and quick reply.

[@ScottieG59]

For the left side pocket clip mount, you also do not have the screws mounted in steel. I wonder how reliable the steel screws will be in copper threads. Mine has some rock in the detent, but it seems strong. I noticed my pocket clip is no longer centered in the recessed area on the scale. I have not taken the knife apart, nor have I removed the pocket clip. However, I have experienced some hang up in my jeans 5th pocket that required some force while pulling the knife out. I still like the knife a lot, especially after I fixed the bad sharpening job.

[@BazonBlades]

You are correct. Left hand pocket clip mounting will see the screws being screwed into copper with no steel inserts. Very much a potential problem. Especially considering how much the pocket clip moves around on the right hand side. Even screwing the pocket clip screws into the steel lock bar on the right side does not supply the clamping force needed to hold the clip in place. I will be mentioning this issue in my indepth review. It seems almost like the copper is silicone impregnated and self lubricating. The small T6 screws just can't supply enough clamping force to hold the lock bar or pocket clip. It's weird.

[@jordanelwell8885]

Could you put one of the mounting screws and place it in one of the pocket clips screw hole?

[@BazonBlades]

Without the pocket clip the screws may be too long. But I do not know for sure. I imagine it would work perfectly as long as the screws do not contact the blade in the closed position.

[@jordanelwell8885]

I just ordered one. I'll play around with it and see if its still an occurring issue.

[@peterbalames9815]

thanks Baz I have already forwarded your video to Kershaw:-)

[@BazonBlades]

10-4, thank you.

[@davidh0159]

Nice view and explanation of the issue Baz. I was looking at this as a secondary, left-hand carry. Not anymore. I wonder if, with the clip off, you moved the screw closest to the back of the handle to the hole closest to the back of the handle (effectively leaving two open holes between) if that would be enough to anchor the plate. That would assume that the screws are the same size.

[@BazonBlades]

I believe that would work if the screws are the same and it didn't weaken the lock bar. Either way it would leave open screw holes in the handle scale.

[@misterscience249]

I have one steel washer on the show side and two steel washers on the lock side; how many washers do you have?

[@SliceyDicey]

I'd guess the next run just doesn't have the left side holes.

[@BazonBlades]

That may very well be what they do B. I wouldn't be surprised.

[@Keith_the_knife_freak]

That would be a easy fix unless you wanted to carry it without the clip

[@polton00]

I was able to take the screws out of the lockbar while the knife was together still, set the lockbar where it should be and then tightened everything back and my detent is good as new even without a clip on, still doesn't make up for the lack of a locating pin but everything seems pretty great now

[@BazonBlades]

Good to hear.

[@mikebennett664]

Hi, I bought my Matrix in July '19. I'm left handed and the first thing I did was reverse the pocket clip. I don't know if the problem you address here was corrected by Kershaw or I just got lucky but my knife shows none of the problem you experienced. I hesitate to break mine down knowing of the issue, If it ain't broke and all that but heres an observation, the lock bar looked to be wedged into the copper scale. If that is so, then the idea of a centering pin use of the pocket clip is unnecessary, the bar is, or should be, mechanicaly locked in place due to its position within the copper scale. Now that I've talked about it I guess I'll have to open mine up and have a look, wish me luck!

[@BazonBlades]

Good update. Maybe Kershaw tightened up the tolerences so the lockbar tang fit acts more like retention. As it should have been from the start. I'm glad to hear you can actually carry it left handed.

[@Slking507]

In newer models there are 3 screws in the lock. It now has detent using left or right hand.

[@BazonBlades]

Good to know. And a good improvement from Kershaw.

[@SliceyDicey]

Just for the record... I checked this before I did my Bareknuckle first impressions because the design is similar. Neither of them have this issue at all. They flip and flip with the pocket clip removed.

[@BazonBlades]

Good to know B. Thanks for the info.

[@jcb6713]

...I guess R&D or QC ever tried it out with the clip installed on the other side :-) ...be interesting to see what the larger Natrix looks like inside...have a great weekend...

[@BazonBlades]

That's crazy isn't it. You would think they would have tried it as a lefty.

[@wmranson9311]

Outstanding.

[@tybertimus]

I know this video is old, but...your solution is easy and doesn't require any extra pieces or anything. That lock bar only requires the screws on the ends. If you take the clip off or move it to the other side, take the shorter screw that is NOT on the end and place it on the far end. You'll have two empty screw holes in the middle on that side. I assume that's *exactly* why they put 4 screw holes and two of each size screw to begin with, since with all 4 on the one side the middle two screws are redundant from a functionality standpoint. They are there just as a convenient place to keep the extra screws *in case* somebody wants to swap the clip around.

[@jeffellis662]

Or just tighten up the milled pocket to keep the lateral movement from happening. I guess a home fix would be to bed the clip like you bed a rifle barrel, or like you said add screws to act as the locators when you move the clip to the other side. I was very interested in this knife but I left hand carry all my knives so this is out without some sort of fix.

[@BazonBlades]

Definitely needs some tighter tolerances.

[@rodneypearson6986]

Thanks for the info great review

[@BazonBlades]

Thanks for watching.

[@mridgaf9979]

Wow THANK YOU SO MUCH. I was so pissed too

[@BazonBlades]

Hahaha.... I can imagine.

[@cuchulainn1967]

GREAT CLIP!

[@BazonBlades]

Thanks for watching.

[@Keith_the_knife_freak]

Thanks for the info.. 👍👍👍

[@BazonBlades]

Thanks for watching.

[@solelyedc]

You sir are amazing !! 🍻

[@LEO-rc3tq]

What are the screw heads called

[@SteveKluver]

I thought this was coming in tomorrow? Ok, starting the video up again . . .

[@BazonBlades]

I decided to go ahead and put it up. Get the info out.

[@SteveKluver]

Yes @@BazonBlades, good idea, and we were ready. At least I was! : - ) This is plain to see now. I also see, something else I was wondering about. The screws, can be the same length. I thought there was a chance, that they messed that up too. But I see the copper is thicker, at the clip mounting point, on the left side, than it is on the right. But on the right side, it has to go through the copper, and into the lock-bar. So screw length, can be equal. I hope too, that people don't over-tighten their lefty clips. Since it's only anchoring into copper, on that side. It's a good thing the lefties, are only about 10% of the population. This won't hurt Kershaw/KAI much. They just need to get ahead of it, and get the 2-screw packages ready, to be sent out. We'll now call this, the #natrixcopper2018thanksgivingincident : - )

[@SteveKluver]

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving , Baz!

[@BazonBlades]

@@SteveKluver, thank you. And the same to you.

[@nottoosuckyreviews5211]

Wow! It's like they had two guys designing the functional aspects of the knife and they didn't talk to each other at all... Why didn't they simply make it right-hand carry only? Or make built-in locating protrusions as you said, which is the only really fool-proof fix. I'm shocked to see such a safety oversight in a high-profile knife, honestly.

[@BazonBlades]

I can only assume they counted on the milled pocket to locate the lock bar. But at this price point you know that isn't going to be a perfect fit. If they intended the clip screws to locate the lock bar that was a bad design decision.

[@nottoosuckyreviews5211]

Good point, they may have overestimated the precision they could achieve matching the milled pocket in the copper to the profile of the whole tail end of the lockbar, and the clip screws serving as locators was just a happy accident, and they found none of this out till the end of the first run of production. It's mostly forgivable in this scenario... But I would wager that they know the sh*t's about to hit the fan!

[@tybertimus]

Think about it...why have two of each size screw on the same side as the clip? There's a reason. If you want to swap the clip to the other side (or just take it off completely) simply move the shorter screw in the middle to the far end of the four holes. You'll now have two shorter screws, one on each end, with two empty holes. The locking bar stays solid. The two longer screws stay with the clip. Everybody is knocking on Kershaw here, when in reality their design was brilliant. What better way to store the screws needed to swap the clip to a lefty position then *on the knife*?

[@PkwyDrive13]

Left side carry...steel screws going right into soft copper...ridiculously bad idea and will strip out without a doubt. They should have put steel hex nuts inset and pressed in the copper like the skyline body screws

[@BazonBlades]

I agree 110%.

[@timbo4374]

Wow..thank goodness I'm not a lefty. Apparently, Kershaw has no lefties working for them when they were testing the design. Pretty disappointing for a maker who has so many designs..kind of a rookie mistake.

[@BazonBlades]

As long as it took to release this knife Kershaw should have supplied beta test units. It only took me one day to discover this problem. There is also an issue with the pocket clip moving around. Almost like the copper is self lubricating and the small T6 screws can't supply enough clamping force to overcome it.

[@timbo4374]

@@BazonBlades Pretty sad. So far I've had no issues with mine, but I haven't taken it apart..haven't found a need to. I only take a knife apart if it needs maintenance, and so far no need, but I'm sure eventually it will get dirt in the pivot and bearings or something. Very disappointing. It's not like this is the first knife Kershaw has ever made..you would think they would have figured this kind of thing out already. It's not really even a new design..just a shrunk down version of a design already in production, with a new blade steel and scale material.

[@Orochi_001]

Truly bizarre. Any word from Kershaw?

[@alanaugust8853]

So basically, the solution is to simply add at least one fastener installed to replace the fasteners that are used to fasten the clip when installed for lefties. Holy shit, a 22 minute video to come up with an additional fastener or two. Well gall darn it.

[@Cannibal_Actual]

Found it

[@BazonBlades]

Thanks for watching.