Am I just super unlucky with Benchmade?

I have a Benchmade dealer near me that has most of the catalog. I was interested in finding a Benchmade recently and went to that dealer. I handled every folder in his cases-All brand new and being sold as such. I would say 30-40% had blade play (some slight), or had off center blades or both. I am talking about the grips, rifts, barrages, adamas, 940's, 710's, 300's, volli's, MPR. I am sure a little tinkering would have made most of them up to my standards. However, none of the knives called to me enough to make me buy one. Too bad too, I really like the axis lock.
 
I only have two benchmades, one a folder--the 530 and it has no blade play. I have fondled some that do have it, so I guess its hit or miss.
 
Oops double post. Please delete.
 
I have passed on buying several for fit and finish issues, especially blade play. For knives that price its just not worth it for me IMO.
 
I should say that the lock bar wiggle I am talking about isn't a major issue because the lock is still perfectly solid, it just makes it harder to disengage because the bar likes to try and jam sideways. I think it's just a simple issue of tolerances on the length of the axis bar.
 
Please correct me if I'm wrong but the way I see it if your new AXIS lock knife has blade play up and down there is a construction error. (I'm not talking about very slight play when gripping the tip of the blade very tight and putting a lot of force on it. That way you might force the springs to decompress a little and the result will be play)

I took my cheapy Chinese copy apart to take some pictures and explain why I think this is the case.

JHLCoWk.jpg


As you can see on the piece of steel to the right the metal cut out for the lock bar is symmetrical/straight (excuse my English, it is not up to snuff when talking technical)
But, as you can see on the blade the cut out piece for the lock bar is cut with an angle.

The point of this is shown in the next picture.

i3ZbSeq.jpg


As you can see the cut out in the blade makes it so the lock bar can't travel all the way to the left, the space for the lock bar to travel is getting more and more narrow.(there is no maximum decompression of the spring)
This means the lock bar will sit very tight between the blade and the handle piece.

I think there are several reasons for having vertical blade play:

- The lock bar can travel all the way to the left and therefore doesn't sit as tight as it should.
Which could be because the blade cut out isn't made properly.
Or the lock bar is to thin.
Or there is to much space between the blade and the stop pin so the blade rotates up thus making the space for the lock bar less narrow.

This is not just annoying (play is never fun) but effects the longevity of the knife greatly.
One of the best features of the AXIS lock is it is self regulating. When there is some wear in the lock bar or the cut outs, the lock bar just slides a little further to the left until it sits tight again. But when the lock bar is already all the way to the left it can't self regulate and the play will get worse over time. I think this constitutes as a construction error because it defeats one of the best features of the AXIS lock.

- The spring is decompressed to it's maximum to early so it doesn't travel left far enough.
Which could be because they used the wrong or faulty springs.

Also a construction error but one which is easily remedied. As long as you can get the right springs.
 
I have 6 Benchmade knives. Only had an issue with 1, which was quickly resolved by the great folks at Blade HQ.
One thing I have learned in my online knife buying experience is that if you call the seller before ordering, they are usually more than willing to cherry pick a knife for you.
 
I've never had any problems with the dozen plus Benchmades I have. Sorry you're having trouble. I just got a Spyderco Manix2 in translucent blue and they clearly ground the blade wrong so it appears that it isn't centered. I still love the knife though! Great knife. Still works just fine. I guess all manufacturers produce lemons now and again.
 
I had a 300, Contigo, and a grip all with side to side play and the 300 had up and down too. Even after tightening the pivot down where the blade would bind, still had play. My contego had such poor blade centering it as rubbing the finish ooff the blade. I was able to return them as I wasn't about to deal with shipping them and the associated hassel and wait. I'm done with BM.
 
MRaymond said:
I have a Benchmade dealer near me that has most of the catalog. I was interested in finding a Benchmade recently and went to that dealer. I handled every folder in his cases-All brand new and being sold as such. I would say 30-40% had blade play (some slight), or had off center blades or both. I am talking about the grips, rifts, barrages, adamas, 940's, 710's, 300's, volli's, MPR. I am sure a little tinkering would have made most of them up to my standards. However, none of the knives called to me enough to make me buy one. Too bad too, I really like the axis lock.
Click to expand...
lateral blade play is a factor of the pivot pin tightness. The looser it is, the more lateral play there will be. Each knife has a "sweet spot" of smoothness and minimal lateral wiggle. I used to have a tiny bit of lateral play (could not see it, but could feel just a tiny bit when grabbing the tip of the blade and moving it) no matter what lubricant I used. Once I tried Nano-Oil, I was able to tighten the pivot down enough to remove all play and still flick the knife open with the Axis lock.

dkb45 said:
I should say that the lock bar wiggle I am talking about isn't a major issue because the lock is still perfectly solid, it just makes it harder to disengage because the bar likes to try and jam sideways. I think it's just a simple issue of tolerances on the length of the axis bar.
Click to expand...
If you're using your thumb and forefinger on each side of the bar to disengage it, it won't wiggle sideways. This is the proper way to disengage the lock, and I've never had the bar wiggle when doing it this way.

DREW78 said:
I had a 300, Contigo, and a grip all with side to side play and the 300 had up and down too. Even after tightening the pivot down where the blade would bind, still had play. My contego had such poor blade centering it as rubbing the finish ooff the blade. I was able to return them as I wasn't about to deal with shipping them and the associated hassel and wait. I'm done with BM.
Click to expand...
So let me get this straight: you weren't happy, but you've written off the company without giving them a chance to make it right? All you had to do was call and ask for a RMA due to warranty work and they would have taken care of you.
 
They had a chance, 3 of them to be exact. I'm not wasting my time sending what could have been 3 brand new knives back. For what should have never feft the factory. Stuff happens, I get it. I just lost a lot of faith in the brand based on my experiences. I didn't hate on BM then and I'm not now. I'm just replying to the OP.
 
You're not the only unlucky one, my 746 came with a broken spring. It caused there to be slight blade play, and eventually the other spring broke too. This was within a month of getting it, luckily benchmade has really good customer service.
 
Wow I must be really lucky I have about 30 benchmades and only one grip had side to side play that's why I traded alot of my other knives away and got benchmades for me they have the most solid lock up of any brand.
 
My Rift and my brother's Dejavoo both came with no issues and the other one's I've handled seem fine too.
 
As far as blade-play, the level of machining tolerances will often be directly proportionate to what you spent on the knife. There's a reason the Presidio costs what it does, and a reason why a knife like the Sebenza costs double that. Of course there's always the possibility of lemons getting past quality control. Or maybe these knives with blade-play didn't slip past QC, maybe the QC department decided that for the price they were being sold for that they were sufficiently within spec. After all, even with a little blade-play I would assume that the average folder will still function as intended.

I would assume that Benchmade, like any other manufacturer of products, conducts cost/benefit analysis, and as a result, they may have come to the conclusion that it is cheaper for the company to deal with the handful of unhappy customers than to replace the expensive machine responsible for producing slightly flawed knife parts. Or that it is cheaper to deal with a handful of unhappy customers than to dump an entire production run of knife parts into the garbage. Now I'm not saying that this is right, but such decisions are common business practice.

For the record, I have owned six BM folders and one Bradley (made by BM) and I haven't had any complaints regarding blade-play.

I can't help but wonder if people have unrealistic expectations when they purchase a mass-produced knife. Like perfect fit and finish, zero blade-play, blades that are perfectly centered down to the micro-meter, etc, etc. While we all want perfection, I wonder if it is realistic to expect perfection. People often expect perfection in the things they buy, and when they don't get it they get very disappointed.

And on a side note- I can't help but picture people tweaking and twisting and torquing their knives, searching for the slightest movement in the blade. And when they find it they declare "This knife is junk and the company that makes it sucks". But I'm not implying that anyone in this thread is doing this.
 
killgar said:
As far as blade-play, the level of machining tolerances will often be directly proportionate to what you spent on the knife. There's a reason the Presidio costs what it does, and a reason why a knife like the Sebenza costs double that. Of course there's always the possibility of lemons getting past quality control. Or maybe these knives with blade-play didn't slip past QC, maybe the QC department decided that for the price they were being sold for that they were sufficiently within spec. After all, even with a little blade-play I would assume that the average folder will still function as intended.

I would assume that Benchmade, like any other manufacturer of products, conducts cost/benefit analysis, and as a result, they may have come to the conclusion that it is cheaper for the company to deal with the handful of unhappy customers than to replace the expensive machine responsible for producing slightly flawed knife parts. Or that it is cheaper to deal with a handful of unhappy customers than to dump an entire production run of knife parts into the garbage. Now I'm not saying that this is right, but such decisions are common business practice.

For the record, I have owned six BM folders and one Bradley (made by BM) and I haven't had any complaints regarding blade-play.

I can't help but wonder if people have unrealistic expectations when they purchase a mass-produced knife. Like perfect fit and finish, zero blade-play, blades that are perfectly centered down to the micro-meter, etc, etc. While we all want perfection, I wonder if it is realistic to expect perfection. People often expect perfection in the things they buy, and when they don't get it they get very disappointed.

And on a side note- I can't help but picture people tweaking and twisting and torquing their knives, searching for the slightest movement in the blade. And when they find it they declare "This knife is junk and the company that makes it sucks". But I'm not implying that anyone in this thread is doing this.
Click to expand...

or maybe beating the heck out of it and not using it for it's intended purpose than declaring it no good. now if i open this knife and put it between two chairs and stand on the knife, lets see how durable it is. :p
 
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