Questions about the Benchmade Axis Lock

[Bobchicken1201]

I love the Axis mechanism, but i have had two fail. One after a couple months-Contega, one after years. Benchmark has good customer service so I am not hating about this.

Oh wow, that's pretty scary, I hope you didn't get cut.

 

[Lapedog]

LOL, no problems. I was worrying to much about my mini grip 556, but the 555 might actually have problems, it is squeaky clean with daiwa reel oil but it's still stiff.

Its got an action such that when you tighten it down far enough that there is no bladeplay the action becomes stiff and loses that free swinging quality that makes an axis lock enjoyable?

 

[Bobchicken1201]

What is a 555hg?

It's a benchmade mini griptilian with the sheepsfoot verson. HG stands for hollow ground. I was too lazy to type out the whole thing.

 

[Bobchicken1201]

Its got an action such that when you tighten it down far enough that there is no bladeplay the action becomes stiff and loses that free swinging quality that makes an axis lock enjoyable?

Yup, when there is no blade play, that knife is pretty stiff to open and close one handed. I don't stab my knives in to wood logs to check for play and this one is verrrrrry stiff.

 

[brando555]

I was hesitant about getting a 940 for this very reason, until I realize how easy it is to replace omega springs or even make your own from some 20 gauge wire.

 

[Bobchicken1201]

I was hesitant about getting a 940 for this very reason, until I realize how easy it is to replace omega springs or even make your own from some 20 gauge wire.

I did replace the springs with my homemade springs but then i got scared that the extra tension from my springs would wear the knife out faster so I sent it in to BM.

 

[Lapedog]

Yup, when tshere is no blade play, that knife is pretty stiff to open and close one handed. I don't stab my knives in to wood logs to check for play and this one is verrrrrry stiff.

Do you have some ceramic Spyderco sharpening stones?

My 940 had the same issue. When tight enough that there was no blade play the action was very stiff.

What I did to fix it is without disassembling the whole knife I took the pivot screws out. Then I pulled the blade and washers out of fhe front of the knife. Then I polished the sides of the phosphor bronze washers that touch the sides of the tang, leaving the opposite sides of the washers that face the inside of the scales untouched. (Remember which side is which, maybe put a tiny sharpie dot on the side you won’t polish)

To polish use the finest ceramic stone you have. I used a spyderco ultrafine but a spyderco fine should work too. Just lay flat on the stone the side of the washer you want to polish (the side that faces the blade tang) and rub the washer around in fast circles but don’t push down and apply pressure. Phosphor bronze is MUCH softer than steel so it won’t take long at all to polish them. Just be gentle and don’t go too hard, you don’t want to make things worse. Don’t worry if the face of the washer you are polishing doesn’t become 100% polished and still has some tarnish on it. Just get the majority of that side polished.

Then I cleaned everything off, used a tiny drop of oil to stick the washers to the sides of the tang and pushed everything back into the handle. I had to use a little toothpick to make sure the washers and tang pivot hole were all lined up.

This 100% fixed the action on my 940. I think aside from the polish the tiny bit of metal removed from the washers made them ever so slightly thinner, making them fit better when I tightened the pivot down to the point of no bladeplay.

Now it has that free action where you can pull the axis lock back and swing the blade back and forward.

 

[Lapedog]

I did replace the springs with my homemade springs but then i got scared that the extra tension from my springs would wear the knife out faster so I sent it in to BM.

For future note stronger springs will not cause the axis lock to wear out faster.

 

[Night Rider]

Do you have some ceramic Spyderco sharpening stones?

My 940 had the same issue. When tight enough that there was no blade play the action was very stiff.

What I did to fix it is without disassembling the whole knife I took the pivot screws out. Then I pulled the blade and washers out of fhe front of the knife. Then I polished the sides of the phosphor bronze washers that touch the sides of the tang, leaving the opposite sides of the washers that face the inside of the scales untouched. (Remember which side is which, maybe put a tiny sharpie dot on the sode you won’t polish)

To polish use the finest ceramic stone you have. I used a spyderco ultrafine but a spyderco fine should work too. Just lay flat on the stone the side of the washer you want to polish (the side that faces the blade tang) and rub the washer around in fast circles but don’t push down and apply pressure. Phosphor bronze is MUCH softer than steel so it won’t take long at all to polish them. Just be gentle and’t don’t go too hard, you don’t want to make things worse. Don’t worry if the face of the washer you are polishing doesn’t become 100% polished and still has some tarnish on it. Just get the majority of that side polished.

Then I cleaned everything off, used a tiny drop of oil to stick the washers to the sides of the tang and pushed everything back into the handle. I had to ise a little toothpick to make sure the washers and tang pivot hole were all lined up.

This 100% fixed the action on my 940. I think aside from the polish the tiny bit of metal removed from the washers made them ever so slightly thinner, making them fit better when I tightened the pivot down to the point of no bladeplay.

Now it has that free action where you can pull the axis lock back and swing the blade back and forward.

^I vote Sticky After editing for typos of course

 

[Lapedog]

^I vote Sticky After editing for typos of course

Honestly its not necessarily a good idea. Its easy to go too far and make things worse.

Doing a mod like this should only be done if one is willing to accept the potential of messing up. I’m not taking responsibility if you damage your washers doing this. I also don’t know if Benchmade will replace washers under warranty that have been tampered with like this.

That said it is a pretty easy mod to do as long as one is gentle and doesn’t overdo it.

 

[Bobchicken1201]

Do you have some ceramic Spyderco sharpening stones?

My 940 had the same issue. When tight enough that there was no blade play the action was very stiff.

What I did to fix it is without disassembling the whole knife I took the pivot screws out. Then I pulled the blade and washers out of fhe front of the knife. Then I polished the sides of the phosphor bronze washers that touch the sides of the tang, leaving the opposite sides of the washers that face the inside of the scales untouched. (Remember which side is which, maybe put a tiny sharpie dot on the side you won’t polish)

To polish use the finest ceramic stone you have. I used a spyderco ultrafine but a spyderco fine should work too. Just lay flat on the stone the side of the washer you want to polish (the side that faces the blade tang) and rub the washer around in fast circles but don’t push down and apply pressure. Phosphor bronze is MUCH softer than steel so it won’t take long at all to polish them. Just be gentle and don’t go too hard, you don’t want to make things worse. Don’t worry if the face of the washer you are polishing doesn’t become 100% polished and still has some tarnish on it. Just get the majority of that side polished.

Then I cleaned everything off, used a tiny drop of oil to stick the washers to the sides of the tang and pushed everything back into the handle. I had to use a little toothpick to make sure the washers and tang pivot hole were all lined up.

This 100% fixed the action on my 940. I think aside from the polish the tiny bit of metal removed from the washers made them ever so slightly thinner, making them fit better when I tightened the pivot down to the point of no bladeplay.

Now it has that free action where you can pull the axis lock back and swing the blade back and forward.

Thank you for your reply! I really do appreciate it. I did polish it with 2000 grit sand paper then strop it because I don't have the ceramic stones. The washers have a mirror finish on 1 side of them and the blade has a reflective-ish finish on the washer area. The knife is smoother, but still very stiff. I can open it one handed but can't swing it close. Oh well, I'll have to break it in then.