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Mini Grip, missing washer

esskay

September 07, 2015 22:52

Hi,

First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Steven and I have an unhealthy obsession with knives. I have only been collecting for a few years now, but have managed to collect a few nice knives. I am a big fan of Benchmade and love every one of them that I have so far. I don't post often in online forums, but I do lurk quite a bit. I did attempt a search for the following issue, but did not find a lot of info.

Here is my question: has anyone discovered their knife to be missing a washer?

I have had this mini grip for a couple years now and while it doesn't see as much pocket time as my other knives, I love it. The first Benchmade I ever bought was a mini grip tanto for my girlfriend. After that, I knew I had to have one too. It is a 555BKHGSN. I decided to pull it apart today to clean and lube it for the first time ever and realized quickly that I was missing a washer. I looked everywhere, thinking I was crazy and must have dropped it somehow. These things happen, you know? After spending a great deal of time inspecting and searching I have come to the conclusion that I didn't lose one of the washers, but rather, it only ever had one from the start. The knife was bought in person at Blade HQ and I am the only one to ever own or use this knife. After looking at the blade for a minute I noticed that one side near the pivot had some uncommon wear indicating that the blade had been rubbing on the handle material. I'm not crazy after all.

Has anyone else discovered this with their knife? I will contact Benchmade tomorrow to see about getting a replacement washer or sending my knife in for repair.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Comments

13 comments

billhammer

September 07, 2015 23:23
It would seem that if the knife had only one washer there would be a lot of side to side blade play (wobble) that would be noticeable. In fact so much you'd have likly notice, the blade likely would not have been centered in the closed position. Any chance it is stuck to the side of the liner?
Maybe quicker to take the washer to hardware store. I just got a 942 back from Benchmade greT job of refurbishing a really hard used knife, but between service & shipping your knife will be away 2 - 3 weeks. Best of luck, Bill
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esskay

September 07, 2015 23:37
It wasn't stuck in the liner. I made sure to check a bunch of times. The knife has had a little blade play when it was adjusted enough to open easily, but never has been a very smooth knife. As far as being centered, it really is hard to tell with the mini grip with how close the plastic handles sit to the sheepsfoot blade. It is off just a little, but not enough to have ever bothered me or to rub near the this part of the spine.

There is some abnormal wear near the pivot part of the blade on the side that is missing the washer though. Since it is a black coated blade, that much is easy enough to see. It makes sense, now that I think of it. It always had a little rubbing sound to it, not like my GFs grip, and I was never able to find that fine balance between being smooth and having no side to side blade play.

If I can take the time to get a photo and figure out how to post it here, I will show what the wear on the blade looks like.

I don't mind sending it in since I have other knives I carry more often, and the blade could use a sharpening anyway.

Thanks for the reply, Bill!
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esskay

September 08, 2015 00:25
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esskay

September 08, 2015 00:29
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agony

September 08, 2015 00:42
That's strange for sure.

Funny, every Griptilian I've ever owned had one washer stuck to the liner. I've only seen this with the grips and never with any other knife.

I'd definitely call Benchmade.
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esskay

September 08, 2015 01:19
Thanks for your feedback, Agony.

Can I just add that it was because of you and your collection displayed on another forum that first got me into Benchmade in the first place.
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dj

September 08, 2015 01:28
Yes , he,s definitely a bad influence ............lol
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agony

September 08, 2015 01:34
I try to be a subtle enabler.
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joep

September 08, 2015 13:40
Subtle?????
I think NOT!!!
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esskay

September 08, 2015 18:50
I just got off the phone with customer service. I will send the knife in for warranty work. Might as well take advantage of the lifesharp service while it's there.
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esskay

September 29, 2015 15:59
Just a quick update: I had this knife shipped off on Sep. 17 for warranty. It made it to the Oregon Post Office on the 19th but business was closed. USPS has yet to deliver the knife to BKC. I have contacted them today for an explanation about the delay in shipping. I'm hoping this knife does not get lost. At least its not one of the expensive ones.
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esskay

October 01, 2015 23:22
Good news! The Postal Service did not lose my knife after all, they just neglected to update the tracking. I received the knife back from Benchmade today. Yay! It now has both washers and is very smooth. It appears they sharpened it, but they left a very noticeable bur on the edge. That's a little disappointing considering I did request the Lifesharp service, but it is not a big deal. I will touch it up and put it back in service.

Thanks for being such a great company, Benchmade! Andy thanks to all of your for your feedback and responses.

-sk
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billhammer

October 02, 2015 00:50
PTL
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