Benchmade 581 Barrage...my first dive into an Axis mechanism

[photoman12001]

I picked up a used, de-assisted 581 Barrage from the Exchange and I like it. It makes me wonder why they ever made it assisted in the first place. I like it so much that I'm now regretting selling my 586. I liked everything about that knife except the assisted opening so I traded it towards a small Sebenza, which I don't own anymore either. I have a few others (ZT 0301/0303/0566, Benchmade 913/906) but I'm just not overly fond of assisted openers and automatics. I had never completely disassembled an Axis lock knife at the time and didn't feel confident in attempting a de-assist on it. I got curious with the 581 last night and tore it completely apart to see how it ticks and to re-assist it just for comparison. After tinkering for a while and learning the tricks of messing with the Axis mechanism I found out these aren't so tough to deal with. It's easier than detail stripping my Ruger MKIIs

I was unsuccessful in getting the assist mechanism to be completely functional though. When I got the knife back together enough to adjust the pivot, it was either so tight that the spring couldn't push the blade out or so loose that the blade popped out on its own. I have a feeling that I didn't have the spring oriented correctly but I didn't waste too much time messing with it. My goal was just to tinker inside an Axis knife and I didn't want it re-assisted permanently. I greatly prefer it as a manual Axis knife. It's as smooth and sturdy as any of my factory manual Axis knives. It would have been nice if it was a manual from the factory though. Then they could have eliminated the housing for the spring and reduced some weight. I now wish I still had the 586 so I could de-assist it.

Overall, I consider the experimental tinkering a success. I'm comfortable messing with the Axis mechanism now.

This is also the first M390 blade that I've attempted to sharpen. While attempting to re-assemble the knife the first time the blade took a small spill to the table where its edge got nicked by a Torx bit. I was a little worried that it would be difficult to sharpen out; I just use a SharpMaker. Surprisingly, 20 swipes on each side with the Medium/Fine/Ultra Fine stones resulted in a hair-popping edge with no noticeable defects.

I like this larger Barrage overall. Its handle is comfortable and it's just a fine looking knife with the G10 scales and aluminum bolsters. Functionally I have no complaints with it so far, as a de-assisted knife. I do wish there was a bit of jimping on top of the aluminum bolsters and liners in that area. Also, to my eye, it seems like they might have been able to get a bit more blade into a handle that size but maybe not. Those are nit-picks though. It's a beautiful, functional knife.

 

[palonej]

Sup Photodude??
The 581 was my second BM purchased. Love it! Love how both fill the hand!
Have a 586 also. I like the assist on both and haven't messed with them.
Joe
Pics....
581

Both!

 

[photoman12001]

Well thanks. Now I'm going to be shopping for custom scales. Those look nice.

 

[palonej]

Thanks!!
Steve Ketchen made both sets for me.
Great dude!!

 

[photoman12001]

I've got one of his on a Southard. It's very nice.

 

[palonej]

VERY nice!!!
I had Eric, Shepard CC, do my Domino & Southard. He does really nice work also.

 

[Armadew]

I de-assisted my mini barrage. Made it twice the knife, IMO.

 

[Darkera]

I've never handled a knife with assisted opening and have no reference point, but have read about people de-assisting their knives several times. Why is that? What's the downside to assisted opening?

 

[photoman12001]

I've never handled a knife with assisted opening and have no reference point, but have read about people de-assisting their knives several times. Why is that? What's the downside to assisted opening?

Personally, I just don't see the point of assisted opening knives and don't see an advantage to them. It just introduces extra parts and points of failure. Assisted openers don't open appreciably faster for me and they are more difficult to close. Other assisted openers I own are the ZT 0301/0303/0350/0566. I've tried to de-assist the 0350 & 0556 (SUPER easy) but they don't work well for me. The 0566 required a lot of wrist action to open. I could never get a good balance with the 0350s of eliminating blade and having a workable action. Others have had better success de-assisting those models though. I've tried two of each. Luckily the 581 suffers no loss of mechanics after de-assisting.

I feel the same way about automatic knives with the exception of out-the-front autos.

 

[Skywalker31]

For some reason I prefer my 581 de-assisted but I like my 586 with the assist still in it.

The 581 is really smooth without the assist, and the axis lock still provides its usual detent for keeping it closed - so there's no weird issues like you sometimes get taking torsion bars out of KAI knives. I've actually come to prefer it to the 730 - both ~3.6" axis locks with nice full handles, practical bladeshapes, and great action - but the high flat grind on the 581 cuts noticeably better than the saber grind on the 730.

The 586 is just a fun little rocket. It's also small enough that I'm not sure that I would open it correctly and fully every time if I was trying to do it in a hurry - so as long as I hold on to keep it from jumping out of my hand I do find the assist pretty useful there.