Broken omega springs

I broke an omega spring on a BM940 after about a month. I was doing lots of fidgeting trying to break it in, often only using one side to unlock. Cause & effect? Who knows?

I sent it to Benchmade and it’s been fine for the ensuing 3+ years (though I fidget less and use both sides for unlocking).
 
Now that is interesting. I always thought that that would put more wear on the springs but then again, isn't that how axis autos work? Pull the lock back and the blade shoots out. That would make sense that pulling back on the lock bar would alleviate stress as I doubt that Benchmade would put a "somewhat" fragile omega spring under undue stress for autos. No one would buy them as we would be inundated with all kinds of posts about broken omega springs on autos.

Now I have more reason to "fiddle" with my knives. Thanks...thanks a lot.

HAHA! Quite welcome ;)

Again I have no idea if that has anything to do with it, just an observation from playing with them over the years. It occurred to me because I noticed that sometimes on the rare occasion when I do flick the knife open with the thumbstud, particularly if it's forcefully, the lock seems to bind just the slightest bit. It's not something that happens on all of the ones I've handled, it's worse on some than others, and it's not to the extent that I would say the lock is sticking; but there's a slight but noticeable difference in how smoothly the lock disengages vs. when I open it with the lock depressed.
 
I've had a really bad run with omega springs; over half my Benchmades have experienced spring failure, usually both springs failing at some point. However, I have a theory that it is likely a *me* problem and not a *Benchmade* problem.

I have fairly caustic sweat. It was evident when I was making copper or brass/bronze jewellery. I'm fairly sure what was happening was I would have a knife in my pocket, I'd sweat while doing work (especially at my old warehouse job, oof), then use my knife throughout the day. I'm thinking that my sweat worked its way to the springs, in however miniscule amounts at a time, and caused incremental weakening of the springs at the greatest point of stress, the top of the springs arc. This wouldn't cause the springs to fail quickly, but usually within a year or two of carrying the knife regularly, one or both springs would fail.

At the same time, I am friends with several people whose EDC is an axis lock knife of some variety, and they've never experienced a spring failure, despite some being habitual flickers.
 
I've never had one break but I haven't carried many BMs over the years. A Rift and Barrage get limited carry time.

I'm also not a knife "fidgeter".
 
Update, Hogue wanted me to send in the knife to them for repairs. That will cost me 33 euro (40 dollars) shipping from Europe. I replied that I can fix the knife myself when they send me the springs. They wanted first to see pictures of my Knife. After seeing the pictures I got a reply that they will send me the springs.
 
Last I heard, Hogue was using Wolff Springs. I’d contact them and order a couple for spares just in case. Not a big deal.
 
Update, Hogue wanted me to send in the knife to them for repairs. That will cost me 33 euro (40 dollars) shipping from Europe. I replied that I can fix the knife myself when they send me the springs. They wanted first to see pictures of my Knife. After seeing the pictures I got a reply that they will send me the springs.
Nice! That’s what they did for me. And you’re overseas. Great customer service at hogue.
 
I've got a half dozen or so axis lock Benchmades, one that I bought in the late 90's others in the early 2000's. I Carried most of them for years and used all of them hard. I've never broken an omega spring so in my view, it's bad luck. Maybe QC of the more recent knives needs some attention or maybe the spring material is inferior than in the past.
 
It may have been said already but you can put a tiny dab of like white lithium grease or something similar inside the scale in the omega spring pocket and that may help out... both with rust and friction. I preach it all over, but the etsy omega springs are awesome... improve the detent and lockup - most if not all my benchmades have them now :)
 
Wolff Wire Forms is the 3rd party manufacturer for Hogue Able Lock springs. I believe I've read somewhere that Hogue springs and Benchmade springs are interchangeable, although the Hogue are a little heavier gauge steel. You might be able to reach out to Wolff directly as a replacement source for broken Omega springs.
 
Hogue did send me two pair (left and right) springs which I received two weeks after I asked for them. It was an easy fix because the one was broken on the show side right under the pivot screw.
I do not use this knife very often beause I have several knives and rotate them.
However, today I noticed that the spring on the other side was broken as well, this repair was a bit harder because I had to remove the pivot and the blade. It was do able, thanks to Nick Shabazz.
I hope the springs I received will last longer then the originals.
 
In mass produced knives there will always be a few that have issues. Some companies have more issues with this than others. I believe Hogue does not manufacture the springs in house but use ones manufactured by Wolff who traditionally is a good company.

With adhd and severe anxiety, I flip/flip etc my knives far more than most people. While its been many years since I owned a Benchmade, I did break an omega spring in about 3 months of ownership. However, I also managed to wear out a Kershaw torsion bar in less than 6 months.

Hogue is a fantastic company and you should have no issues with the warranty, whether you want them to do the work or just send you the spring.

Personally, I don't like the Axis/ABLE lock for this very reason, the springs seem so thin. 7 and a half years of flicking my Manix 2 the CBBL is just fine.
 
I started making my own springs. It's actually kinda fun to do.

OTF Spring-11a.jpg
 
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Hogue did send me two pair (left and right) springs which I received two weeks after I asked for them. It was an easy fix because the one was broken on the show side right under the pivot screw.
I do not use this knife very often beause I have several knives and rotate them.
However, today I noticed that the spring on the other side was broken as well, this repair was a bit harder because I had to remove the pivot and the blade. It was do able, thanks to Nick Shabazz.
I hope the springs I received will last longer then the originals.
Same thing happened to mine, and hogue sent me new ones. One side broke, then shortly after the other side went.
 
Never had a problem with omega springs on my 710, Grippies, Mini-Rukus. I do keep them lubed with a drop of BreakFree CLP occasionally.
 
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