Benchmade 520 Presidio lock fail

D

D154

Joined
Jul 29, 2010
Messages
95
Ok,It happens about every other time i TAP the back of the spine on my desk. Has anyone else had any lock failure issues with the presidio?...its supposed to be one of the best lock ups in their black class. on top of that I have contacted BM andthey havent responded to me the last three times that i asked them about it! what is going on!i cleaned the lock of any debree and dust extrememly thouroughly. anyone have any advice?
 
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it seems to me that the lock is doing fine, its just slipping becouse the back of the blade is ground at too steep of a slope to stay secured.
 
I got a BM Presidio 520 last week, and the lockup is rock-solid. It definitely sounds like the failure on yours is due to a manufacturing defect -- either a poorly cut/ground blade tang (as you noted) or a poorly machined handle/lock area that's resulting in the lock bar not getting positioned quite where it should be. Either one of those possibilities would put it squarely in the realm of a warranty issue (defect in workmanship), so your best bet is to continue trying to get in touch with Benchmade. They'll probably replace the blade (if that's where the problem is) or the whole knife (if the problem is with the handle).

I happened to make my first ever call to their customer service department earlier today -- not with a warranty issue, just an inquiry about the serial numbering and availability of one of their models -- and the woman I spoke to was very friendly and knowledgeable. If you've been trying to get in touch with them via email, I'd suggest a phone call instead.
 
I've always thought that some of the axis or axis like locks i've seen and bought have too extreme of a ''wear adjustment'' angle of the tang and lockbit.
 
IIRC, the older Presidios had a tendency to do that. How old is your knife? And why are you spinetapping the knife? Last time I checked the edge is on the other side of the spine.
 
I have seen a couple other examples of this happening with Presidios.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le2xewZ2ueo

I didn't have a problem with mine failing a spine whack test, but then again I never put it through the spine whack test in the first place so I'm not sure whether mine would have failed or not. My only gripe about the lockup was that mine has lots of up-and-down blade play that couldn't be fixed.
 
I have trouble understanding how you haven't been able to contact Benchmade... I called them just this morning, was on hold for maybe 15 seconds, and was immediately connected to a real person.

I got a bad knife from a Benchmade dealer who wanted me to ship the knife back on my own dime. I called Benchmade to complain, and they not only expressed a knife to me, they also gave me their UPS number to return the defective knife... which I didn't even need to ship first to get the replacement, due to my situation.

The lady I spoke with said she would personally grab a replacement and walk it over to the shipping department for me.

I got a tracking number notification within one hour of talking to the CSR.

Frankly, it's some of the best customer service I've ever had.
 
I have had one of the earlier models, when they came out in 2004 or 2005.

Mine did fail the spine whack too. I have inspected the lock area and compared, what i saw to a 550 and a 806. The main difference on the 520 was, that the lock bar didn´t travelled that far up on the tang as they did on the 550 and 806.

If i was looking on the lock from the spineside and turned the knife slowly tip down, i could see on the 806 and 550 the end of the tang protuding for 2 or 3 mm.

On the 520 the lock bar sat near to the end of the tang.

I believed and still do, Benchmade tried to modify the lock, so the axis bar won´t stick anymore, as it was often reported by ppl. who have had their new axis. My 806 and 550 were sticking too, if opened fast or with a wrist flick. The 520 didn´t, but failed the spine whack.

As i was looking on the 525 three years ago at a show, the tang was protuding goog enough. So in general, the 520 should be a very safe knife.

That one, told about here, in any case is a defective one.

Keep on trying to contact BM or contact your dealer.
 
John E Woven said:
don't bother emailing benchmade. You'll never get anywhere. call them.
Click to expand...

+1 :thumbup:

When I emailed them, it took them well over a month to bother sending me a response. In that time, I had already called them up and received all the info I needed. ;)
 
Mine also failed. But I cleaned the area where the lock bar meets with blade tang, it works fine now. You might want to re-clean it again with high-pressure water. There could be dirt / lint in the lock area that you can't see. Good luck.
 
I've never had any problem emailing them. I even emailed them over thanksgiving last year and got an email within 2 days. However I make it a point to have a short but relevant subject to let them know what my email is pertaining. Also it could be possible they reply but it goes to your spam folder.
 
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