530 question...

J

jonearlt

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Jul 27, 2013
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I recently picked up a used 530-901. Awesomely light and smooth knife. The one thing that concerns me is when I pull down on the Axis, with the blade closed, the blade pops out. This is not like any other Axis lock knife that I own. Is this normal for this model or is the knife malfunctioning in some way?
 
My brother's 530 does that too. The axis lock seems kind of different in general on the 530, judging by his. I don't know if others are like this or not.
 
its the way the tang of the blade was designed. It has a much smaller notch for the axis to sit in while closed so when you pull down on it, it hits the tang and moves it outward. the 530 isn't the only one to do this either, my 527 presidio ultra also does it but to a lesser extent. Most axis knives have a longer notch in the tang so you don't see this happen.
 
Blade-fiend said:
its the way the tang of the blade was designed. It has a much smaller notch for the axis to sit in while closed so when you pull down on it, it hits the tang and moves it outward. the 530 isn't the only one to do this either, my 527 presidio ultra also does it but to a lesser extent. Most axis knives have a longer notch in the tang so you don't see this happen.
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I noticed that. Is there a reason behind the design?
 
Thanks everyone. I have to say I do like its function. Holding the knife just right, the blade slides right out.
 
ALLHSS said:
I noticed that. Is there a reason behind the design?
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With the 530 I think it has a fair bit to do with the look of the knife while open. The cutting edge comes almost all the way to the handle, leaving very little room for the notch that the axis sits in while closed. They could have made the notch slightly larger but it wouldn't take away the blade movement using the axis. With this knife it seems they wanted as much cutting power in the thinnest, lightest, most compact package possible which resulted in the blade movement. This is all just a guess though since I had no part in its design
 
Normal for the 530, I was actually playing with my 558 the other day and was hoping for this to happen....didn't realize it was the other way around, and thought all BM's had that feature. Haha. 530 was my first knife before moving to frame locks, I am picking up a few odds and ends more recently, a few being Benchmades, and noticed they didn't pop out like my old 530 did.

The 530 really does have an amazingly long cutting edge for its package as well as a super light weight. The recessed thumb studs might be a reason why they have an alternative way to push the blade out, but then again the axis lock is also recessed... so who knows. Maybe they tried to maximize the cutting edge like others have suggested. Either way, I think its a neat feature and don't mind it.
 
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