Questions about the Benchmade Axis Lock

Does axis locks wear out?

  • Yes, like any other locks

  • Probably not for a long time

  • Don't know

Results are only viewable after voting.
M. Johnwell said:
I think the OP is asking whether the axis bar will have a “later” lockup over time and whether this would be accelerated with his stiffer springs.

I have noticed the bar has gotten closer to the pivot on my Mini Ritter, but it’s also like 4 years old and there’s still plenty of wear left. I wouldn’t worry about it failing in that manner. If you ever end up with vertical blade play from past 100% lockup, you can swap the stop pin for a slightly larger diameter one and the lockup would be early again.
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Yes, that is what I am asking. Thank you for the response. Where would i find a larger diameter stop pin if the lockup goes pass 100%?
 
The Axis lock has been around for over 20 years. I've heard of omega spring failures, but have never heard of a lock bar wearing through to the washers. I would think the blade would disappear from sharpening before that happened. Knives, like everything else, will wear out if you use them -- why worry about something like that?
 
Babyboomer said:
The Axis lock has been around for over 20 years. I've heard of omega spring failures, but have never heard of a lock bar wearing through to the washers. I would think the blade would disappear from sharpening before that happened. Knives, like everything else, will wear out if you use them -- why worry about something like that?
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I wouldn't worry about the lock bar wearing out IF the knife has the original omega springs in it. The stock springs broke, I fixed it with some music wires but the new springs has way more tension than the stock ones. I was worrying that the extra tension would wear out the blade faster, apparently, somebody here said the extra tension would be fine so:). Thanks for the reply:thumbsup:
 
Bobchicken1201 said:
I wouldn't worry about the lock bar wearing out IF the knife has the original omega springs in it. The stock springs broke, I fixed it with some music wires but the new springs has way more tension than the stock ones. I was worrying that the extra tension would wear out the blade faster, apparently, somebody here said the extra tension would be fine so:). Thanks for the reply:thumbsup:
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Your stronger home-made springs will not affect the rate of wear between metal parts, not noticeably.
 
Axis locks wear out by having the bar wear and travel forward in the slots in the liners. I've had one wear out before; the result is that the bar travels as far forward as it can, stops at the end of the slots, then the blade will have a little bit of vertical play. It will still lock, but there will be vertical blade play.

The lock bar should not hit the washers. There should be a small amount of clearance even when the bar is fully extended.

Stiffer springs = more lock contact force = more lock friction = more lock wear. How much more is anyone's guess. Probably not enough to worry about, let alone notice.
 
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As marrenmiller said, you can wear one out. I carried a 770 for a couple of years in the early 2000’s that I constantly flicked. It started to develop a spot on the blade that wouldn’t stay sharp. After a while a realized the blade was contacting the backspacer on closing.

I sent it back to BM and told them to bill me for new liners but they replaced them for free.

I have no idea how many cycles those springs went through without breaking but I’d guess it was many thousand.

Then I had a Kulgera (930?) that broke one spring in less than a week, and the other the day after I got it back. I now make my own springs.

Jim
 
Darth_Blader said:
As marrenmiller said, you can wear one out. I carried a 770 for a couple of years in the early 2000’s that I constantly flicked. It started to develop a spot on the blade that wouldn’t stay sharp. After a while a realized the blade was contacting the backspacer on closing.

I sent it back to BM and told them to bill me for new liners but they replaced them for free.

I have no idea how many cycles those springs went through without breaking but I’d guess it was many thousand.

Then I had a Kulgera (930?) that broke one spring in less than a week, and the other the day after I got it back. I now make my own springs.

Jim
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Yeah, making omega springs is not that hard and sending in the whole knife for 2 little springs is just to much hassle IMO. Thank you for your response:thumbsup:
 
marrenmiller said:
Stiffer springs = more lock contact force = more lock friction = more lock wear. How much more is anyone's guess.
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That what I was afraid of. I'll send my knife in anyways, let see how much BM will charge me for dissassmbling the knife and making my own springs:confused:
 
Bobchicken1201 said:
Yes, that is what I am asking. Thank you for the response. Where would i find a larger diameter stop pin if the lockup goes pass 100%?
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You could probably get a local machine shop to make you one if you could figure out what dimensions you’d need for the pin. Alternatively, you could just get a new knife at that point because you’d likely have gotten your money out of it. I don’t think it’s likely you’d wear it out in normal usage.
 
Bobchicken1201 said:
I fixed it myself by using the wires from hobby lobby. It is way stronger, will this speed up the process of wearing out?
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The stronger springs will not cause the lock to wear out sooner. Linerlocks, framelocks, and compression locks wear out because a tiny bit of metal is transfered from the lockbar lockface to the tang lockface when locking up. This is the little black mark you sometimes see on the tang and what causes lockstick. Even without lockstick sometimes some metal is transfered when the lockbar springs over. Lockbars that do not lockstick and do not leave a buildup on the tang lockface over time are unlikely to wear out in your life time.

The axis lock likely transfers extremely microscopic ammounts from the bar to the tang lock ramp but I have never seen any build up. This means virtually no metal is being worn away. I doubt your axis lock will wear out in your life time. As noted the component of the axis lock that wears out is the replaceable sorings.
 
Lapedog said:
The stronger springs will not cause the lock to wear out sooner. Linerlocks, framelocks, and compression locks wear out because a tiny bit of metal is transfered from the lockbar lockface to the tang lockface when locking up. This is the little black mark you sometimes see on the tang and what causes lockstick. Even without lockstick sometimes some metal is transfered when the lockbar springs over. Lockbars that do not lockstick and do not leave a buildup on the tang lockface over time are unlikely to wear out in your life time.

The axis lock likely transfers extremely microscopic ammounts from the bar to the tang lock ramp but I have never seen any build up. This means virtually no metal is being worn away. I doubt your axis lock will wear out in your life time. As noted the component of the axis lock that wears out is the replaceable sorings.
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Thank you for your reply. It calms me down a bit
 
Enjoyed your little thread here. I think the axis lock is close to being the best possible lock for a heavy duty knife. So much better than a liner lock and also tightens up on engagement. I am working on wearing out this here green g10 griptillian. Wish me luck.
 
Bobchicken1201 said:
Yeah I sent the knife to them. I think my warranty is voided brcause I replaced the springs. We shall see:)
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Well, the worst thing that can happen is they say no.

I'd probably have removed the homemade springs before I sent it to them, though. Maybe they'll understand that it needed to be done so that you had a working knife.
 
Stephen W Huyssoon said:
Enjoyed your little thread here. I think the axis lock is close to being the best possible lock for a heavy duty knife. So much better than a liner lock and also tightens up on engagement. I am working on wearing out this here green g10 griptillian. Wish me luck.
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Please tell the results after you’ve tried wearing it out. I’d love to see real-life results
 
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