Recommendation? 484-1601 Nakamura - defect?

[Cruzzox]

Hey guys,

I've just received the Benchmade 484-1601 Nakamura Axis folding knife from Knifecenter. It is their exclusive and currently on sale. The looks won me over the moment I saw it advertised so I had to buy it despite the steep price tag.

Upon first inspection the blade has a tiny yet noticeable side-to-side (horizontal?)blade play. Also, The blade is not perfectly centered.
I am new to Benchmade brand and not quite sure what to make of this.
I expected perfection for this type of money and presumably a premium quality as it is stated.
Is it normal occurrence? is it considered to be a defect? Should i ask for a replacement?
I have much cheaper pocket knives with no blade play whatsoever.

Please advise, many thanks!

Cruzo,

 

[Ted Ockels]

I can tell you I ordered the same model from knifecenter. Mine had a scale defect and I just returned it for a full refund. Don't settle for something you are not happy with.

If you are feeling adventurous... I imagine you can fix the blade issues. I have owned over 30 Benchmade knives... sometimes they have blade play or an un-centered blade. You will need a TR6 torx bit to adjust the pivot. Just tighten it by small increments until you are happy. To fix the centering:

1. Open blade to 90 degrees and tighten pivot so that it is really tight.
2. Close the blade and loosen frame screws so they aren't tight, but still holding the frame together.
3. While the blade is still in the closed position, pull blade towards the side you want the blade to move. In my case, I pulled the blade toward the liner/scale.
4. While pulling blade, tighten the frame screws.
5. Loosen the pivot and adjust it to the desired tension.

I've received Benchmade knives through trade and new... sometimes they arrive in less than desired state. Only 1 or two have I not been able to correct using a torx driver.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Side to side play should be fixable by adjusting the pivot.
Up and down play would be concerning to me.

 

[Lapedog]

Hey guys,

I've just received the Benchmade 484-1601 Nakamura Axis folding knife from Knifecenter. It is their exclusive and currently on sale. The looks won me over the moment I saw it advertised so I had to buy it despite the steep price tag.

Upon first inspection the blade has a tiny yet noticeable side-to-side (horizontal?)blade play. Also, The blade is not perfectly centered.
I am new to Benchmade brand and not quite sure what to make of this.
I expected perfection for this type of money and presumably a premium quality as it is stated.
Is it normal occurrence? is it considered to be a defect? Should i ask for a replacement?
I have much cheaper pocket knives with no blade play whatsoever.

Please advise, many thanks!

Cruzo,

Have you tried tightening the pivot abit? Most knives I own have pivots that will sort of unscrew themselves from opening and closing unless there is some loctite preventing it. If you can find a setting on the pivot where you can get an acceptable action with no bladeplay then I recommend a very small ammount of blue or better yet purple loctite in order to keep the pivot at this setting.

If tightening the pivot to thr point of no bladeplay results in an action that is too stiff reply to me and I will give you more suggestions.

 

[Cruzzox]

I can tell you I ordered the same model from knifecenter. Mine had a scale defect and I just returned it for a full refund. Don't settle for something you are not happy with.

If you are feeling adventurous... I imagine you can fix the blade issues. I have owned over 30 Benchmade knives... sometimes they have blade play or an un-centered blade. You will need a TR6 torx bit to adjust the pivot. Just tighten it by small increments until you are happy. To fix the centering:

1. Open blade to 90 degrees and tighten pivot so that it is really tight.
2. Close the blade and loosen frame screws so they aren't tight, but still holding the frame together.
3. While the blade is still in the closed position, pull blade towards the side you want the blade to move. In my case, I pulled the blade toward the liner/scale.
4. While pulling blade, tighten the frame screws.
5. Loosen the pivot and adjust it to the desired tension.

I've received Benchmade knives through trade and new... sometimes they arrive in less than desired state. Only 1 or two have I not been able to correct using a torx driver.

Side to side play should be fixable by adjusting the pivot.
Up and down play would be concerning to me.

Have you tried tightening the pivot abit? Most knives I own have pivots that will sort of unscrew themselves from opening and closing unless there is some loctite preventing it. If you can find a setting on the pivot where you can get an acceptable action with no bladeplay then I recommend a very small ammount of blue or better yet purple loctite in order to keep the pivot at this setting.

If tightening the pivot to thr point of no bladeplay results in an action that is too stiff reply to me and I will give you more suggestions.

Thank you very much guys. I will try tightening the pivot a tiny bit and try adjusting the center as per Ted's instructions and report back.
What a relief! I wasn't sure what to expect from Benchmade and didn't want to mess anything up to void warranty.
I had it shipped to Canada and apparently sending it back to Knifecenter, despite not being my fault, will come at my own expense.
It would be ideal if they inspected what they sell. Apparently, that's a special request type of service.

 

[Cruzzox]

A slight off topic secondary question regarding this particular model: As per numerous videos I watched about this model, reviewers report "glass" type of super smooth opening action. Is that your experience?
Am i getting that old to not notice that type of behavior? How do I tell? (silly question I know) I suppose by tightening the pivot, that behavior may change.

 

[colin.p]

Wait, you are in Canada and had that shipped to you from Knife Center? Now that is indeed encouraging to hear, if that is the case. There may be hope yet from the thieving hands of the bandits at the border.

Back to the subject of the 484. I found that the action of the 484 to be almost too good. It drops shut with alarming smoothness. As a matter of fact, it was so good that it developed an even more irritating (for me at least) issue and that is that the blade would bounce back out after bottoming out. I can take a small amount of lack of blade centering or blade play, but bounce back drives me nuts. So I prefer a tighter pivot on all my BM's that require a slight wrist flick to get the blades to swing shut without bounce back.

 

[Cruzzox]

Update:
I managed to find this quite tiny torx TR6 bit.
Seems like we have success! It took a VERY VERY small amount of twisting (1 degree?) to make it just right.
At first I slightly over did it and the blade wasn't as smooth dropping down. I think I'll have to test it tomorrow as a double check because my extreme OCD tells me there is now a vertical play.

Thank you very much guys for the help which saved me time and money otherwise I would have spent shipping it back, arguing and ruining the experience in general.

 

[Cruzzox]

Wait, you are in Canada and had that shipped to you from Knife Center? Now that is indeed encouraging to hear, if that is the case. There may be hope yet from the thieving hands of the bandits at the border...

Funny these bandits still charged me the "handling fees" on top of the price of the knife and shipping. Too bad Knifecenter doesn't deal with other international carriers but Fedex = bad.

 

[Mo2]

Benchmade don't fix blade play. They think it's acceptable. Either return it for an exchange or get your money back imho.

Mine came with so many defects it's appalling. It's what really turned me off from Benchmade. I have yet to get a good Benchmade example from any model I've tried.