Mini Crooked River Locking Mechanism
I recently purchased a Mini Crooked River (MCR) as a birthday gift for my son (and I liked it so much that I bought myself one too!). While checking the fit and finish on them I noticed what seems to be a slight design flaw. I say it's a design flaw because it occurs on both knives I received. When I partially open the blade with my thumb and 'flick or snap' the knife to the fully open position, a bind occurs which makes it very difficult to unlock and close the blade.
To eliminate the bind, it appears that a slight modification is needed to either 1) the pivot area of the butt of the blade, or 2) the slot where the lock button slides. The photo below shows where the lock button thru-pin is pinched just shy of the fully seated position. This is where the bind occurs and at times it is almost impossible to unlock with the thumb and forefinger.
I plan to contact Benchmade to see if they would consider modifying mine and maybe considering this issue on future MCR's.
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I have two (and a full-sized one as well) and while I understand what you are saying, the way to alleviate the issue is to not "hard snap" the knife open. Sometimes they will lock up a bit if I open them too energetically. Slightly loosen the pivot screw so the blade is a bit smoother on release and don't hard snap your wrist while deploying. The trick is to get the pivot a bit looser without making the blade too loose. Very small increments.
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Yea, I get it re: don't snap it open. But with a high quality tool like this, if I were Benchmade I would want to eliminate the problem so owners can use the knife without worrying about how they open it. Sometimes you only have one hand free and flicking it open is the only option. I have seven other Benchmade knives and none of them have this problem.
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Again, a really hard flick can make it stick. You don't need to do a really hard flick to open it.
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Welcome to the forum Catchalot!
I'll add that they'll need some breakin. Since your MCRs are new a bit of wear on the Axis bar and the tang of the blade usually helps quite a bit. This due to the close tolerances all BMKs have. Break them in and they should both smooth out nicely. After a couple of months add a little Blue Lube to the pivot/washer and Axis bar/tang areas and the action should be perfect.
Most of all, enjoy your knives!
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Thanks for the welcome Tim. While I agree with your point on a breaking in period, I believe the amount of wear needed to correct the locking slide slot would take many years, if ever. As the picture illustrates, there is a bind that was created by what may be a 1/32" adjustment in the upper area on the CNC template that cuts that part.
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/|\ Welcome Catchalot to the Forum.
So it’s your knife & if you want to stress the lock with hard snaps to open it - have at it.The Dude gave you some good advice. You can also take out the blade & washers and polish the area around the blade’s pivot hole & the washers so it opens smoother ( warning this does void the Benchmade warranty). Most of us open & close our new Benchmade’s with axis locks 100 times as they break-in & get smoother over time.
Lastly, if you ever go to a custom knife show
1) ask permission to pick up a makers knife on the table
2) don’t hard snap their knife open. If you do you’ll likely be admonished by the make & the crowd around the table will recognize you as an amateur.
PS you may want to get a Benchmade balisong as their fun to flip open ( built for it)
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I'll add a theory. One of the bottlenecks in BMK's supply chain this summer was liners. They were looking for additional vendors. Maybe those are from a new vendor and are slightly out of spec. Just a theory, I don't know for sure obviously.
I'm sure that CS will tune those up for you.
I've thought many times about taking the liners and putting a slight chamfer on the axis slot. Not modifying it just breaking the hard edge. (disclaimer, this would void you're warranty).
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I get the feeling this forum is not the place to recommend constructive feedback on workmanship issues. The photo I attached on my original post clearly shows that the lock slide is not seated fully, indicating a clearance/tolerance issue. A slight modification to the parts assembly would not only eliminate this problem but also the need for 'kid glove' handling.
I'm a Benchmade Knife lover and have now purchased nine of them and my post was intended to improve quality, not bash the product in any way.
I also don't profess to be a professional knife enthusiast, just an average knife collector. I don't abuse any of my knives (or guns or fishing equipment, etc. for that matter) because I DO spend the extra money to buy quality products and take care of them accordingly.
Bottom line, in my opinion the MCR should take a flick of the wrist (that equates to the force fired from one of Benchmade's automatic knives) without locking up too tight to easily unlock and close it.
Just my opinion
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Catchalot, don't take offense. Everyone is just giving you advice based on their experience. Our members have varying degrees of social skills
The AXIS lock is a mature and proven design, but little changes can effect it. Like when they tried titanium on steel. The Ti wore the steel down. You probably have a "tolerance stacking" issue that didn't show up in normal QC checks. Nothing made by humans is 100 percent perfect 100 percent of the time. You'd think that spending $80,000 on a SUV would get you a perfect vehicle. But recalls are a common thing in the auto world.
PS, I flick all my knives
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No offense taken but I got the feeling someone else may have. I'm kinda glad I had the concern because I found this forum as a result.
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Catchalot there is absolutely no problem when it comes to recommending constructive feedback especially on real workmanship issues. Most of us do it quite frequently actually. While some of us can get a bit snarky most of us always try to help out when it comes to issues. That said...
Here is a picture albeit not a great one of one of my MCRs. You'll notice that the Axis bar does not contact the "round" within the liners similar to yours.
Not all models have Axis bars that do make contact with the round in the liners. That is actually not a problem. The contact area alone on the top of the tang and the Axis bar itself prevent the blade from closing.
If you're not afraid to tear down your MCRs. I would recommend putting a slight chamfer on the axis slot as Scott mentioned. While you're there polish the washers, washer contact area on the liners and the tang of the blade as Bill mentioned. Before you reassemble the MCRs add a little candle wax to the Axis bar. After putting them back together over tighten the pivot so that the blade is hard to open. With a decent terry cloth towel wrap the blade, pull back the Axis and open and close the blade as much as you can about 100 times. Then loosen the pivot some and do it again. Doing this a couple of times is usually enough to mate the contact surfaces. Next adjust the pivot so that the blade drops freely when holding the knife horizontally. Check for any side to side play and tighten as necessary. Now break them in. You will find that they won't lock up after proper breakin. And yes I flick most of my BMKs open because I'm frickin lazy! Just don't do it so hard that you hear a "pop". The sound should be less than that of an Auto.
I am also aware of the fact that there was an issue with BMK's supply chain this summer related to liners as well as other components. There is always the possibility that the ones used in yours are slightly out of tolerance. It rarely happens, but it does happen. Sending them into CS is not a bad idea. They may be able to fix the problem. I'll normally offer suggestions here so that you get to learn more about your knives and continue to be able to use them. You'll find that most members feel the same and only send in a knife when we've tried everything. Note that CS's turn around right now is roughly 2 to 3 weeks.
Hope this helps!
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Update: I loosened the pivot screw which allowed me to open with my thumb and this eliminated the need to flick it open. Problem solved. Thanks for the feedback and help!
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Well Catchalot you got some great info from the most knowledgeable members here and I agree with all they said.
I had a SOCP that was doing what you say. First time ever and I have a few BMK’s.
I played around with it, adjusted the pivot, rotated the AXIS bar, blue lube etc and kept flicking it to test and then it went away.
Now that you have loosened the pivot and it works better do you have any side to side play?
There is a sweet spot that you want. The more broken in the sweeter the spot gets.
By the way, purple loctite 222 is the best for forever adjusting but still staying in place.
Welcome to the forum
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Thank you BM.
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I've had to adjust the pivot on every BMK I've gotten. No biggie. It just smooths out the action. The only trick is to balance the smooth with blade wobble/centering.
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