Axis lock

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BladeManiac10913

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Jun 8, 2014
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How safe is bm's axis lock? I just got a custom griptilian, and there's the slightest amount of side to side play and was wondering if it's normal & safe.
 
Side to side play, while annoying, usually has no effect on the safety of any lock style. The Axis lock is a very secure and strong mechanism. I'd suggest you tighten your pivot screw to remove the side to side play.
 
As Silvanus said, side-to-side play will not affect the locking mechanism. You can try to tighten it out, but Benchmades can be tricky, they have a very small sweet spot where the blade is easy to open without being overly loose.

My mini-grip has side-to-side play that I cannot adjust out without making it a 2-hand opener, so I just deal with it. If you can't fix your blade play and it bothers you, Benchmade might be able fix it if you send it in for warranty service.
 
The Axis is a good lock, one of the best.

If the knife has blade play out of the box I'd send it back. Blade play on a custom-anything isn't acceptable.

You can try tweaking it out but many times it's just a sign of problems down the road.
 
What you need to know is that Benchmade has been selling Axis knives for 15 years. I have one of the very first and it is still in regular use. It is a very reliable and strong lock. Side to side play is not a safety issue. If it annoys you (and it would annoy me), a little blue Loctite and a Torx driver (probably T10) will take care of everything, or Benchmade will fix it if you send it back for warranty service.
 
The axis lock is solid and easy to use one handed. There are videos showing it's breaking strength and it's pretty impressive. One of my Benchmades had a slight wobble when I got it. It took a few minutes of careful adjustment to find the sweet spot but it's no problem now.
 
Takes a beating. A little work and you will have no blade play and rock solid lock up. They are just good and durable all day.
Top three for me . Frame, axis, triad.
Side to side is easy to work out. Thats what the screw is for. Just find that sweet spot.
 
Another thing is to keep lock area clean of dust and lint as the build up of such will cause the axis lock to suddenly fail.
 
I would telephone Benchmade, first, and see what they say, then send it back. I have a lot of BM knives that span 2 1/2 decades of collecting and I have never had one that had any blade play. I did have one that had no loctite, or something, so the blade was always coming loose. BM fixed it quickly. That is the only issue I have ever had.
 
BladeManiac10913 said:
How safe is bm's axis lock? I just got a custom griptilian, and there's the slightest amount of side to side play and was wondering if it's normal & safe.
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Side-side play is a factor of how tight the pivot screw and frame screws are. On my Rift, I have all of the side-side play removed, partly by tightening the scale/liner screws securing the stop pin. This enables me to keep the pivot a little looser and still have a solid blade. Just use a T6 torx driver for the small screws and a T8 for the pivot screw.

EChoil said:
The Axis is a good lock, one of the best.

If the knife has blade play out of the box I'd send it back. Blade play on a custom-anything isn't acceptable.

You can try tweaking it out but many times it's just a sign of problems down the road.
Click to expand...
The Custom Griptilian is just a regular production Grip that you get to choose handle color and blade steel. It's not "custom" like you're thinking of a custom knife maker, or even a Gold Class Benchmade. The "custom" is because it's a bit of a build-your-knife process. Other than that, it's still a production knife. Side-side play in an Axis lock is nothing to sweat about. Just adjust the pivot screw and frame screws.
 
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