Search

710 - Vertical blade play

mdsmith

February 04, 2014 17:03

Hey guys, I just got a new 710 and there is some vertical blade play in it. This is the first Benchmade that I have had this issue with. I know that I can send it in for warranty repair, but I'd prefer not to if at all possible. Does anyone have and trick to get rid of the play? Thanks.

Comments

10 comments

mobilefirelord

February 04, 2014 19:23
Over dozens of Benchmade I own, I have never seen any play. They are always rock solid.

Having said that, I take it your blade has play after opened and Axis lock fully engaged, right?

All I can say on 710 is to tighten up a bit on blade pivot. I do highly recommend to get in touch with CS on Benchmade. I recommend calling them and talk to them on this. I wish you would reconsider sending it in if they think that would be the best to fix this.

MFL
0
mdsmith

February 04, 2014 19:35
Thanks for the reply. Yes, the vertical blade play is when the blade is open and the lock in engaged. I have Loctited the pivot and adjusted it. There is no side to side play at all. If they knew they could fix it I'd send it in in a heart beat, but I've been doing some reading, and have read about a lot of instances where a knife was sent in for this and came back the same way. I'd be pretty upset if I spent money to ship a knife to them, and waited however long it takes to get it back, only to have in in the same condition that it was when I sent it.
0
stangcrazy79

February 04, 2014 19:39
I put a note in the package explaining the problem. Any knife I've sent came back repaired. Good luck.
0
axisfan

February 04, 2014 19:40
Looking at how the lock works, it seems vertical play would have to come from either: 1) the lock bar isn't making it far enough forward to wedge between the liner and blade tang, or 2) assembly tolerances or damage allow the lockbar to go all the way forward in the slot while still leaving play. If it's 2), you're going to have to send it back. If it's 1), you might try cleaning it out and see if that helps things. If broken springs or damage to the knife are keeping if from going forward, you're going to have to send it back. I (and I'm sure others here) am interested in know how the issue does get resolved, so please let us know.
0
ryxlyx

February 04, 2014 19:47
I've had a knife sent in 3 times to fix a problem, so it's possible.

This doesn't make much sense, assuming the pivot hole isn't too large (extremely unlikely). As AxisFan says the lockbar isn't wedging properly-- track it to see if it's catching. Could be a burr preventing far-enuf travel forward to wedge. Burr could be tiny.
0
mdsmith

February 04, 2014 19:51
I just got off of the phone with Benchmade CS, and a very nice woman explained to me that this means that either the stop pin, or the axis lock need to be replaced.
0
benchmadepr

February 04, 2014 20:04
quote:

Originally posted by mdsmith:
Thanks for the reply. Yes, the vertical blade play is when the blade is open and the lock in engaged. I have Loctited the pivot and adjusted it. There is no side to side play at all. If they knew they could fix it I'd send it in in a heart beat, but I've been doing some reading, and have read about a lot of instances where a knife was sent in for this and came back the same way. I'd be pretty upset if I spent money to ship a knife to them, and waited however long it takes to get it back, only to have in in the same condition that it was when I sent it.

Hi mdsmith,

As per our customer service rep you spoke with it I would agree it could possibly be the stop pin or the AXIS lock. If you print and fill out the LifeSharp form and detail what you are experiencing on your knife we can get it addressed in our Product Service department. You can find the LifeSharp form here: http://www.benchmade.com/services/lifesharp_service
0
jnewell

February 05, 2014 01:28
Looks like you're set, but just for the record: I have/have had many dozens of Axis knives since the very beginning, and have never owned or handled one with any vertical play. I can see how it could happen, but I have never seen one that had vertical play.
0
fastjan

February 05, 2014 05:24
It would be interesting to take a knife that has vertical blade play and try opening it with an Axis flip. An axis flip lodges the Axis bar with quite a bit more force that any thumb flip.

If you want to try it and don't know how to do an Axis flip, then just try this:

Open the blade just enough that it stays open without closing itself. This might be about 3" open with a 4" blade. Now, with the blade sitting there about 3" out of the handle, open it just by flipping your wrist. It should slam open pretty hard. Now, tell me, does it still exhibit vertical blade play?
0
sharpeye

February 05, 2014 23:02
Last year I purchased a used knife on the" bay" and it had vertical play. I brought it back to BM and it came back nice and tight. In fact I've always had extremely great service from non- centering blades/ bent blades to omega springs. BM will take care of you!
0