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I fall under the thought that we can't damage a liner lock knife in two days. While you might play with the pivot to adjust the tension, a simple graphite pencil used to coat where the tang meets the lock can help a lot. Remember the 970 is approaching 16 years or so. A hot bath in soapy water followed by careful cleaning with a soft brush, and either a pipe cleaner or Q-tip to remove any accumulated gunk from the years of its life (...and with a hair dryer set to low) to remove any excess water. A drop or two of your favorite gun oil on both sides of the pivot can also smooth things out.

The other thing to say is Benchmade's warranty service will honor your knife with cleaning and sharpening, if needed, even if you did buy it last week and you're not the original owner.

Good luck...that's a good knife, I've owned a couple of 'em and they were overbuilt for the day, so it shouldn't take a lot to make it right one way or another.

...also to Mr. 'Bender's statement above about the Sebenza...they're nice knives, but fact is they're not Benchmades. Yes I am loyal and for good reason. :cool:
 
The one I bought was NOS and was unused out of the box.

As I mentioned before I made sure the contact area was free of any gunk, debris, oil or grease. I also had cleaned the knife beforehand even though it was NIB.

Smoothness isn't an issue, the blade falls under its own weight and I am very impressed with that.

Neither am I concerned about the lock strength or security as there is no flex or play.

I also didn't think it possible for a liner to wear that much in two days, but it has happened and I am wondering if this was an issue that others have had on their 970.
 
I've never had this issue with two 970 and three 975 (larger) models over the years. Always smooth as glass. I'd suggest sending it to Benchmade.
 
Update: I disassembled the knife and overextended the lockbar to relieve some of the tension. The lock's still sticky, but not as much, and has moved to an earlier locking position.
 
Sounds good. In your spare (flick) time (flick) keep (flick) cycling the lock. Most Walker Liner locks just need breaking in. :)
 
I have a 970 in my rotation, great knife. Congrats on finding a NOS.

Glad to read that yours is mostly sorted out. The issue w/ the sticky lock, to whatever degree, is due to the Ti to steel interface. If it's more of a bother than you can live w/ or the pencil trick can't fix, you can always carbonize, tungsten coat, the lock surfaces.
 
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