Omega springs

[Lapedog]

I think it's luck of the draw somewhat. My old man has one Benchmade that I bought him years ago. He only carries that knife and has for years with no issue so far (knock on wood).

Yes you are absolutely right. But the longer he does that the more likely he is to see a spring fail.

I also am sort of curious how they break. Do they really break often just from using the lock or was the guy actually messing with the knife, disassembling it and broke one.

 

[evanofcain]

On the three broken springs I have seen, they have looked like this:

Sometimes they break from excessive actuation and sometimes it just seems to be bad luck.

 

[Gurdygurds]

My 940 was delivered to my door this past December on the 28th. Omega spring broke today which is why I popped in here looking for threads about springs. The action had a different feel recently and I noticed the blade retention was extremely weak. I mean it was never strong, but it became veeeeeery light this past week or two. Picked up the knife and noticed a piece of the spring sticking out through the back open area. Spring broke in half. Knife still functions but it has definitely made me a bit more weary of the lock. I really wish the springs were stronger for better blade retention and less chance of breaking.

 

[buckeyejake]

My 940 was delivered to my door this past December on the 28th. Omega spring broke today which is why I popped in here looking for threads about springs. The action had a different feel recently and I noticed the blade retention was extremely weak. I mean it was never strong, but it became veeeeeery light this past week or two. Picked up the knife and noticed a piece of the spring sticking out through the back open area. Spring broke in half. Knife still functions but it has definitely made me a bit more weary of the lock. I really wish the springs were stronger for better blade retention and less chance of breaking.[/QU

Interesting i got mine the first of Dec and it broke in two months. They did a decent job of repairing mine and getting it back to me . I just wish you could buy them .



Jake

 

[Gurdygurds]

Mine broke from using the lock, not from disassembly. Pretty much broke just like the picture above. Snapped in half in about that same spot and the top half is still attached to the thumb stud. I'm going to send it in for repair at some point. As fun as the axis lock is, I'd love to have this same knife in a stout back lock.

 

[colin.p]

Well the show side omega spring just broke on my 943-2 Frankenknife so I went about fixing it. I live in Canada, so sending it back to BM is out of the question at this point. The first attempt was ugly as I was short of time for a Dr appointment, they worked but not as well as I wanted and they were ugly. When I got home, I took my time and made them very close to the originals. Now the action is back to stellar even though the axis lock is a touch stiffer likely because the Beadalon memory wire is thicker than the original stock wire.

I recommend it to anyone, they are easy to make and replace, especially if sending it out of country is a risk (don't want to give a free knife to our canadian border pirates). Time will tell how long they last but if they last as long as the originals (18 months or so), I'll be ready to make a new set. Now I can fix all my Benchmade's.

 

[weech3]

Thanks for the suggestion. I just really don’t think that this should be a problem at the price point of most Benchmade folders. It’s also why I prefer Kershaw/ZT’s with detent even if they have their SpeedSafe equipped.

 

[scottc3]

Question? Who is going to be the first to come out with replacement omega springs .
Seems to me it would work . I might send my 940 in for replacement, but many wouldn't .
Jake.

I just bought 2 sets reported to be made of 304 steel and heat treated (for 940 and 810) from big auction site, but there are 2 selling them, the one I did not buy has no specs other then model fitment. I've never had any omega springs break, and expect at worse, the same wire breakage rates as with equivalent sized piano or throttle springs, etc. Of course Benchmade will fix them under warrantee. I'm planting an extra set inside g10 and cf scales, just in case.