Axis Lock stick
I recently received my first Benchmade. I own a few dozen knives, mostly Spyderco. It is a Mini Griptilian. The axis lock stick is terrible. If I flick the knife open with any amount of force the blade gets stuck. Usually requiring two hands or an additional tool to disengage the lock. I know I should probably just ship it back but I really don't want to have to pay $20+ to ship my band new knife back to Oregon from FL. Is this a problem I can fix myself? I've found some information but nothing that has fixed my problem. And no, its not breaking in with use. I've been trying for about a week. Thanks
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Hello Krispy & welcome to the forum! Just a quick idea, but have you tried to loosen the pivot screw a little? You really should not need to use that much force to open the blade. Try loosening the pivot screw a little with a torx bit and see what that does. You should be able to adjust the pivot screw to a point where the blade flies open, and there is no blade play.
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Thanks for the response. The pivot came to me very loose. Without some loctite I would have probably lost it by now. It needs to be just barely snug or the action isn't very good. It doesn't stick if I don't flick the blade open but that's kinda boring.
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Sorry Krispy, I am out of ideas. I own a mini grip and it really is a fairly simple little blade. The only other thing I can think of is maybe the liners are slightly out of alignment. If this is the case, loosening the screws that hold the scales on and tightening them down again may help. Perhaps if you post some pics, other members here might have a look and provide you with more insight.
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Welcome to the forum Krispy!
Let me first ask which model of Mini Griptilian you have and has it been customized at all?
As riverrun mentioned pictures might help.
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I’ve had liner locks stick when flicked open with force, never an axis lock. I think force of flick has the axis bar travel along the back of the knife where the axis bar locked in between liners and the back of the knife. I think it’ll wear in over time. If you can’t wait & have skills & tools you could sand the back of the blade down that makes contact with axis bar in open position. Warning sand too much and you’ll have vertical blade play.
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ive had a couple axis lock knives stick when they’re new. try rubbing the blade tang where the axis bar rests when it’s locked open with pencil lead. i usually use a wooden #2 pencil, it seems to work best. you might have to apply it a few times until the knife breaks in but you should be good to go after that.
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I had this happen to only one knife.
Unfortunately is was a recent purchase - 391 folding SOCP.
If I opened it using the AXIS it was fine. If I flicked it open it would be hard to pull the AXIS lock back to release it.
So I removed the pivot bolt completely. A hint on doing that follow through with a screw driver so the blade and washers don’t fall out.
Then I blew it out with computer air. Zero lube came out.
I re-installed the pivot using LocTite 222 which is the best for the pivot (Amazon).
A few drops of Blue Lube where needed and then I started tightening slowly till the side to side movement was gone.
All better or at least 99% better!
I do like the pencil graphite hint above too.
Keep us posted.
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[@mention:589599268366270695] posted:
So I removed the pivot bolt completely. A hint on doing that follow through with a screw driver so the blade and washers don’t fall out.
Then I blew it out with computer air. Zero lube came out.
I re-installed the pivot using LocTite 222 which is the best for the pivot (Amazon).
A few drops of Blue Lube where needed and then I started tightening slowly till the side to side movement was gone.
I do like the pencil graphite hint above too.
Keep us posted.
I agree with mrnobody and BM in the use of graphite on the tang of the blade and the axis bar cylinder. And a dab of Blue Lube. If its still a little stick try adding some candle wax to both locations after cleaning. Then a dab of Blue Lube.
Also try not using so much wrist when flicking your BMK open. There is actually a point where the axis and tang will hit their sweet spot and break-in. In your case its going to take longer than a couple of weeks.
If you can't resolve the problem you can always send it to Benchmade CS for repair. USPS Priority Mail is around $8 from anywhere in the continental US. Their turn around time has been less than a month right now.
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Thank you for all the info. When I got home today I completely disassembled the knife again. I ran some 1200 grit sandpaper over the axis lock track and the locking face of the blade to just barely polish / clean things up. Cleaned all the locking components well to remove oil. Reassembled, making sure all the screw were just snug with a bit of loctite. The lock up is a good bit smoother, less stick. Still room for improvement. I'll continue to carry and use it and I feel like it should continue to improve. Thanks again.
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See how it goes Krispy. If after a few more weeks it still the same hit it again with 1200 grit and then follow up with 2000 grit. I'll venture it will be smooth as silk then.
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You may be over doing it on the solution to this. I've had Axis stuck open in the past but they seem to work loose after some weeks of initial use (and a bit of blue lube) The last was my full size Presidio which was really stuck.
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If it is the axis bar sticking, I have always had good luck by griping each end of the axis bar pinched between my thumb and forefinger and rotate it just a little.
I have had a sticky axis on 4 or 5 Benchmades and this has fixed it every time.
Sounds like you have done a lot more than that, so hopefully it works out.
Good luck!
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