Axis Lock Fragile?

Camillus72

Camillus72

Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
68
My 940-1 has begun its second trip to Oregon since I bought it two years ago (my knives get to travel more than I do :D), both times because of a broken Omega Spring. Perhaps it's me? I do have a tendency to flick my knives compulsively and use them as fidget toys to keep my hands occupied, and the simplicity of the Axis Lock lends itself well to that. Maybe it's rust? Even disassembling the knife and coating the springs in a thin layer of oil didn't seem to do much in the way of preventing or delaying breakage.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my 940-1, but I can't understand how such an incredible knife and lock design can have such an inherent flaw.

Can anyone else weigh in on this? How long do your springs last before failure? Is mine just a special case? Thanks in advance :)
 
I haven't had a failure of a spring, but I don't play with my knives. They are sharp.
I have never had a blade loosen on a member of the MiniGrip family, but the Sequel and mini Stryker both have had blades that worked a bit loose in a very short period of carry time and little use. My guess is that Benchmade doesn't use Loctite on the pivot screws on some models, but they sure should. At some point, I'll have to apply some myself, but I would rather not deal with this.
 
It is not intended to be used as a figit toy or compulsively flipped. You are creating this problem for yourself.
 
I've had 2 failures on my Volli. I de-assisted it and pinched the spring between the scale and liner which created a kink in the wire leading to failure. Did anything like this happen when you re assembled it. I haven't had any problems since.
 
all springs quality built or not, omega or leaf springs etc ....are not designed for massive repetitive flexing/compression uncompression. it creates heat and makes them work harden over time and fail much earlier than they should. even the best springs will break eventually and early due to what you are doing.

benchmade could make them for this behavior but costs would go up and possibly design to accommodate the space required. better to just stop doing that and only open your knife when you need it to cut and then close it when done. i think youll find they last much longer. now haivng said that, someone will come by and say they dont repeat open and close and their omega failed. sure cause man made things will fail, but repeat behavior of open and closing over and over for no reason will be the main reason a spring fails....not because of a handful of one off normal statistical failures of a product.
 
Edgesnarf said:
I've had 2 failures on my Volli. I de-assisted it and pinched the spring between the scale and liner which created a kink in the wire leading to failure. Did anything like this happen when you re assembled it. I haven't had any problems since.
Click to expand...

I don't remember ever pinching my spring during disassembly or reassembly, but who knows. It's usually a few months after I disassemble to clean and oil that the spring just quits.
 
jc57 and jbmonkey, from what I've read I'm beginning to think you are correct. It's just so dang hard not to flick open and closed Axis lock knives!

Guess I'll have to invest in a Torqbar or something...
 
I am on the original Springs for the 940 with probably 3000+ cycles over the last 5 years. Hopefully your current set will hold out a bit longer for you. I fully get the joy from the 940 when they are adjusted correctly, absent minded fiddling just "sorta" happens from time to time.
 
I bought two 720's back in the day new. Gave one to my electrical buddy (who is a compulsive open and close guy, got him a recon 1 a couple years ago and he prefers the 720) we rotate knives occasionally I give him a sharpened 720 and he gives me the one in need of TLC. Never had a problem with the Omega springs in either one of them.

Side note. I lost mine one night 4 wheeler riding with him and some girls... A year or two later a guy found it while hunting. At one time I had stenciled my name on the back of the handle along with "blitzkrieg" hehe. The guy who found it asked about a "reward". Someone had told him we were friends and had returned it to my buddy.

When I read this post it looks like a four old has gotten into some cough syrup, don't know if anyone can decipher this mess but I will wish everyone a good Sunday
 
My Grip is only 3 years old and is my edc. I do open it and close it a lot. I don't flip it hard but I'm not cautious with it either. To be frankly homest after having the Grip with Axis lock most other type of locking knives have lost my interest.
 
Thank you all for the responses! From what I can figure, it's my fidgeting that's killing my Benchmades...

Still, I find it hard to believe that I'm flicking a knife so much that I can break springs in months, compared to others who have carried and used their knives for years without issue.
 
The three benchmade knives I've had... all had axis locks, and I also did fidget with them a lot... But, never had a failure or any issues with the axis lock.
 
Any chance it has something to do with the opening of the knife and whatever you do to it in the process? In my experience, Benchmades are delivered serviced and do not require deconstruction. Just brainstorming here, though, not pointing fingers.
 
Never had a problem with Omega springs ion my 710, a couple of Grippies, Mini-Rukus, in nearly 10 years. But I don't flip them compulsively, either.
 
jazub said:
Any chance it has something to do with the opening of the knife and whatever you do to it in the process? In my experience, Benchmades are delivered serviced and do not require deconstruction. Just brainstorming here, though, not pointing fingers.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's anything I'm doing during disassembly, but I have been known to be wrong in the past :D I'm a tinkerer, and if the action of my knife still feels sticky after oiling and a break-in, I usually break it down and polish the washers. That's it. Once the knife is running smoothly, I don't have a need to take it apart again. But with my 940-1, usually a few months of use later I'll open the knife and break a spring. This is the only "Axis Lock" knife I can speak of however, because it's the only one I've owned.
 
how much flicking are we talking about in a day average? 20 times all day long or many hundreds of times a day? there should be your answer.
 
I don't remember which one it was, and might be one I've given away, but during disassembly, noticed a shiney flat beginning to form on the side of a spring. The liner on that side also had shine on it. The spring was rubbing the liner for sure. When reassembling, I tweaked the spring where it wouldn't rub. I feel like it would have eventually failed without adjustment, and might still.
Other conditions that might cause failure could be burrs, sharp edges, abrasive grit, improper heat treat, or corrosion.
 
I have had several since the early 2000s and have never had a broken omega spring.
I bought this M2 Ritter Grip in 2007 and have used and carried it quite a bit and have never had a problem.

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