Adamas 275 Up & down Play.

P

Panta

Joined
Oct 13, 2012
Messages
144
the knife started developed up & down play lately.
it's not from stress just opening & closing it.

it couldn't be solved by tuning pivot screw or blade stop screws.
i have rotated the blade stop pivot hoping it will help but it didn't.
there's no grit or dirt on the knife.

so
i scissored 2 little strips of papers and stuck 1 on the blade lock face & the other on the blade stop pin,
and with hand pushed the axis lock pivot on to the knife it stop rocking.
(not pushing the axis hinge the knife still head up & down play)

does that mean the blade face to warn & only blade & pivot replacement will fix that issue ?



PS, first when got it i did not liked it, i now LOVE it & hope to fix this issue.
 
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Mine was like that after a week of carry and use. The only thing I can attribute it to is the choice of blade coating. It must have worn down a little where the stop pin hits the blade. Not sure if paper is going to be a way to fix it. I would have rather had this knife with a DLC coating instead of the cerakote.
 
RevDevil said:
Mine was like that after a week of carry and use. The only thing I can attribute it to is the choice of blade coating. It must have worn down a little where the stop pin hits the blade. Not sure if paper is going to be a way to fix it. I would have rather had this knife with a DLC coating instead of the cerakote.
Click to expand...

the paper was to try figure the origin of the play.
the boating on the blade lock face is long warn, and maybe only a blade & stop pin replacement
would fix it, its a shame, i love this knife, but i wouldn't be able to put any sort of stress on it, now
that it has lock rock :\
ill call BM see if they can advise.

PS ive heard other 275 owners with this issue.
 
I don't have an Adamas, but i thought the Axis lock pin would adjust for play and simply seat a little bit deeper thus eliminating the play. Are the springs not strong enough to do that?
 
AmosPaul said:
I don't have an Adamas, but i thought the Axis lock pin would adjust for play and simply seat a little bit deeper thus eliminating the play. Are the springs not strong enough to do that?
Click to expand...

It's been said that the Axis is "self adjusting" and allows for wear over time. The lockbar on mine has no more room to move. THe only thing I can think of is that the ramp on the tang where the lock bar rides was ground with too low an angle, or the knife is just designed to be that way. I have no clue, I can only guess and the angle seems to be one of the more logical explanations as to what could have happened.
 
AmosPaul said:
I don't have an Adamas, but i thought the Axis lock pin would adjust for play and simply seat a little bit deeper thus eliminating the play. Are the springs not strong enough to do that?
Click to expand...

It may not be the springs.
It could be that the axis bar is hanging up in it's slot before ever reaching the full extent of it's intended travel.
There is probably some sort of misalignment which is causing the spring or axis bar to bind on the liner or scale, hindering it's travel.
Loosen all the screws (liner & clip) and then open and examine.
Still up and down play?
Can you push the bar forward and eliminate the play?
If you can push it forward and eliminate the play.... then something is stopping the axis bar and springs from doing that themselves.
Try this again at different stages of disassembly to determine what is amiss.
Have you tried rotating the stop pin?
 
Mine developed the same issue within a couple weeks of use, I tried rotation stop pin, etc, but it didn't fix the issue, the coating wore off the ramp and pin contact face and pin quite quickly, which is where I think the lock play is coming from. I've had mine for almost 2 years now. I'm not sure about other owners, but my axis pin rides almost all the way forward in the axis pin slot. it's much farther forward than all of my other benchmades. If I pull the axis pin back all the way and let it snap forward the lock rock stops, but comes back as soon as side to side pressure is applied to the blade.
 
tacticalgearlover said:
Mine developed the same issue within a couple weeks of use, I tried rotation stop pin, etc, but it didn't fix the issue, the coating wore off the ramp and pin contact face and pin quite quickly, which is where I think the lock play is coming from. I've had mine for almost 2 years now. I'm not sure about other owners, but my axis pin rides almost all the way forward in the axis pin slot. it's much farther forward than all of my other benchmades. If I pull the axis pin back all the way and let it snap forward the lock rock stops, but comes back as soon as side to side pressure is applied to the blade.
Click to expand...

my is working on 1 spring since the other broke some time ago
i'm waiting for new springs, maybe it will improve it a-bit.
if not, that's perhaps the last painted/coated BM ill get, assuming this was the issue as sugested.
 
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Sounds like the issue might be that you're running it on one spring. My Adamas has the same amount of play (with two functioning springs). Someone noted here sometime back that this is a trait not uncharacteristic of larger BM Axis models -- Adamas, Contego, etc. Not sure if that's true, but my Adamas has play that ain't going away.

As far as travel room in the Axis cutouts in the liner, I've noticed BM has shortened the available travel on several models. I think that's because, on a well-functioning Axis folder, once the Axis bar is as far forward as it can be on the blade tang ramp, it actually wants to travel upward at a 45 degree angle rather than farther forward in the slots. If you've got one that has truly "bottomed out" in the slots, it probably needs a trip back to the Motherland for repair/replacement of some parts. Or, you could break out the round files and give it more travel space -- this would require complete disassembly, of course.
 
I've had mine apart several times since the issue began, and so far both omega springs are intact, it could be weakened springs. I'm wondering if it's just inherent to the design due to the increased axis component size as well as the coating (side note, my 4 month old contego is developing lock rock as well) . I still trust mine, but at the same time I would love for it to have rock solid lockup to match the knife size. If only I didn't live in Canada so sending it back would be more appealing... As for the travel room, my black class knives (contego, triage, adamas) have less available travel room than my blue class knives (581 barrage and 940-1). Not sure if it's a trend, but definitely an observation.
 
I had this problem with a Volli some time ago. I, like Keyman, concluded that the axis bar was hanging up in it's tracks somewhere. I remedied this by taking a rat-tail diamond file and working it over all the edges in the slot/track that the Axis bar slides back and forth in. This solved the problem for me...

Jay
 
Sounds like mine's coming apart this weekend to try what keyman suggested, probably going to do the same thing on my 581 barrage, it's developing rock too. Will post reply with results.
 
Mine has a little play but I beat the fool out of it and it still works so meh.
 
Update:
so ive ordered new omega springs from BM,
and this time again the customer service experience was incredibly good.
(wish other companies has such level of service!)

yesterday i replaced the single remaining very week spring,

and then what happened was MAGIC
it took the hole play right out.. fixed it 100%.
so happy, couldn't believe it will worked so well :)

cloudnine.png
 
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Panta said:
Update:
so ive ordered new omega springs from BM,
and this time again the customer service experience was incredibly good.
(wish other companies has such level of service!)

yesterday i replaced the single remaining very week spring,

and then what happened was MAGIC
it took the hole play right out.. fixed it 100%.
so happy, couldn't believe it will worked so well :)

cloudnine.png
Click to expand...

That is good to hear, I might try and order me some springs. I'm not sure that will fix mine, I always attributed it to the coating. I'm leery about sending my knife in.
 
Just wanted to post another 'fix' for the lock rock/vertical play issue that seems to be effecting the Axis locks with bigger springs. It may very well be due to the fact that 'larger' omega-type springs (ie larger diameter curve) generate less spring force compared to smaller ones.

Anyways, I had the same problem on both my satin and BK Serum models. There would be vertical blade play after using the automatic action, which would progressively disappear as you 'wiggled' the blade up and down, or if you pushed the axis bar forwards with your fingers. Both seemed to indicate that the omega springs weren't pushing the axis bar forward hard enough for the 'self adjustment' to occur.

Haven't been able to get a reply from BM about shipping omega springs, so I cooked up a couple myself from music/piano wire. The 'native' omega springs use 0.60mm thickness wire. I had a go with 0.80mm thickness piano wire, which gave it a *much* stronger spring force. Axis bar now engages much more consistently, and blade play is just about gone. As an added bonus, I've learned to make my own omega springs! Might give it a try with titanium wire down the track, just for fun...
 
I have used this knife in combat for years and my main go to is the 8600. They all rock and I've never had an auto or OTF that wouldn't some. Either back and forth or side to side or both. If you deploy the knife, then pull the axis lock back, and let it hit the blade hard, it should seat and no rocking will happen. You should notice that the axis locking mechanism is even slightly crocked after normal deployment. I have used these knives hard, they have saved my life and the lives of my team mates. I have never had an Adams or Bedlam fail me at any task. I switch back and forth on which knife I EDC as a civilian or defense contractor. Try my method after deployment and it won't be there, most likely. However, the true purpose of these knives are in a combative role and they do that in spades. I pry, baton, wack, beat, drop, submerge, stab, slice, and whatever I need to do with these tools. I also want to sing some praise to these knives for not rusting. If I get them too muddy, wet, and or contaminated - I just use Sea Foam spray lubricant (I keep it handy for this and my guns) to flush it and then dry it off.
 
HST said:
I have used this knife in combat for years and my main go to is the 8600. They all rock and I've never had an auto or OTF that wouldn't some. Either back and forth or side to side or both. If you deploy the knife, then pull the axis lock back, and let it hit the blade hard, it should seat and no rocking will happen. You should notice that the axis locking mechanism is even slightly crocked after normal deployment. I have used these knives hard, they have saved my life and the lives of my team mates. I have never had an Adams or Bedlam fail me at any task. I switch back and forth on which knife I EDC as a civilian or defense contractor. Try my method after deployment and it won't be there, most likely. However, the true purpose of these knives are in a combative role and they do that in spades. I pry, baton, wack, beat, drop, submerge, stab, slice, and whatever I need to do with these tools. I also want to sing some praise to these knives for not rusting. If I get them too muddy, wet, and or contaminated - I just use Sea Foam spray lubricant (I keep it handy for this and my guns) to flush it and then dry it off.
Click to expand...

Was just tinkering with my Serum again to try and tweak the 'lock rock', and did notice the axis bar being a bit slanted after blade deployment. Near as I can tell after examining the lock contact surface, the tang of the blade is a bit uneven left-to-right, resulting in uneven contact. I have a feeling it's more to do with how the blanks are cut, rather than intentionally being that way. Sanded down what I believe is the higher side of the left-to-right 'ramp', and the axis contacts much more evenly now.
 
Panta said:
Update:
so ive ordered new omega springs from BM,
and this time again the customer service experience was incredibly good.
(wish other companies has such level of service!)

yesterday i replaced the single remaining very week spring,

and then what happened was MAGIC
it took the hole play right out.. fixed it 100%.
so happy, couldn't believe it will worked so well :)

cloudnine.png
Click to expand...

How did you order omega springs? I didn't think benchmade would send them out.
 
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