Benchmade 551 noise

It's fairly common, especially with new Griptilians, but in my experience, it goes away with use after awhile in most cases without you doing anything.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Some AXIS lock knives have screws that hold the stop pin in place and some rely on the liners holding it in place. If it doesn't rotate it won't hurt anything and if you use the knife enough that it wears a flat spot you can just rotate the pin a little. If it is loose it could be because the pivot is loose so that the liners are not pulled as close together as a tighter pivot. If that is not the case it is not hard to stop the pin from moving. As has been mentioned loc tite, super glue, a wrap of teflon plumbers tape, and even some grease should stop any movement and rattle. The aftermarket scales on the 930 above could possibly contribute to a loose stop pin if they somehow don't touch the stop pin (although I haven't taken apart that particular model so that is only a guess. Still should be an easy fix).
It is my opinion that the AXIS lock is the best designed knife lock out there right now and I have got to the point that I don't really like using other types of locks. There are plenty of Benchmade designs that I do not like but there are a couple that I love which keep me coming back. I would not let a little rattle that is easily fixable stop me from owning and using a great lock, but to each his own.
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I had to take the knife apart to make the scales you see on it, and it's interesting to know that the stop pin on my 930 is a single piece, it fits between the liners and is held in place by the screws that hold the liners together. In other words it's free floating. It is not loose, beyond the looseness that was obviously intended. It does not rattle. (In any case, if someone has a problem with that rattling, it's worth noting that a little dab of vaseline or silicone grease will stop it immediately.) The issue is not rattling. It's that the back of the blade which butts into the stop pin is not a close enough fit. That may well be the nature of the beast with these knives, as they are not Sebenzas. But I digress... The blade play that I get at the tip of the knife when it is opened is approximately 0.050" or about 1/20". It's enough to annoy me. I've tried wrapping duct tape around the stop pin, and that worked just fine. It made the lockup tight but not too tight, just right. Only problem is that after a couple of days it came off. While ' don't spend my time constantly flipping that knife (I have plenty of others to help me with that!) but even so, it became weakened, whether because of heat (it ain't exactly late autumn where I am at the moment!) or maybe a tad bit of oil, whatever.

I'm almost at the point where I'm simply resigned to this. I forgot to mention, to get this 1/20" movement, I don't need to put any pressure or twisting to the blade. It's a 1/20" wiggle. How's that...

Perhaps I'm spoiled by the Tri-Ad locks in my Cold Steel knives... or the titanium framelocks in my ZT 0300, and BM 755 MPR. None of my knives with liner locks have this issue.

Folderguy
 
marthinus said:
I always assumed it is part of the design, for the same reason Emerson does the same to his new folders stop pins. It eliminates excessive wear on one part of the stop pin. Dont really care as long as the knife functions correctly as it does.

Folderguy
As to your movement up and down, how hard do you push at the tip for that 0.050? One mans bladeplay can be another ones flexing of the blade...I had a friend stating he had bladeplay, when he showed me what he did to see the bladeplay I thought the steel liners are going to pop out so much force he was applying. Not saying you are doing the same, but still something to consider. It might also have something to do with you scales?
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It's a wiggle, simply a wiggle of the tip up and down. No pressure necessary, and the pivot is properly adjusted. Perhaps a bit more snug than when it came new. Not the scales either. Please see my response number 24 in this thread.
 
It I had the means to weld a bit of metal to the back of the blade where it butts against the stop pin and then take it down to "just right" that would be great. However, I don't have the skill to do the welding nor the tools. Hence, I've not tried that. I did try super glueing a thin strip of leather there, and it worked great, but only for a few days, for the pressure of the blade against it over and over simply cut it in half. Then I tried some plastic superglued there (superglue gel) and after a few days it too came off.


Sheesh.............

Next? Perhaps a bit of a rubber band. I'm going to try that.
 
Folderguy said:
It I had the means to weld a bit of metal to the back of the blade where it butts against the stop pin and then take it down to "just right" that would be great. However, I don't have the skill to do the welding nor the tools. Hence, I've not tried that. I did try super glueing a thin strip of leather there, and it worked great, but only for a few days, for the pressure of the blade against it over and over simply cut it in half. Then I tried some plastic superglued there (superglue gel) and after a few days it too came off.


Sheesh.............

Next? Perhaps a bit of a rubber band. I'm going to try that.
Click to expand...

Since you're not averse to a little experimentation, let me suggest taking the pin out and taping the two ends off. Next, clean the pin with rubbing alcohol and scuff it lightly with some steel wool. Now it's prepped. Last, mix a little blob of JB Weld for metal. This stuff realy works as advertizes, I've repaired many metal to metal and metal to polymer, under-the-hood car engine related repairs. I'd try spinning it in my mixture with needle nose plier or painting it on (whatever works for you). It will bond permanently after curing and will offer you an increased diameter. Also, tiny finishing nails, snipped to size might be another way to find one with an increased diameter over the pin you have.

Good luck! :)
 
Folderguy said:
I had to take the knife apart to make the scales you see on it, and it's interesting to know that the stop pin on my 930 is a single piece, it fits between the liners and is held in place by the screws that hold the liners together. In other words it's free floating. It is not loose, beyond the looseness that was obviously intended. It does not rattle. (In any case, if someone has a problem with that rattling, it's worth noting that a little dab of vaseline or silicone grease will stop it immediately.) The issue is not rattling. It's that the back of the blade which butts into the stop pin is not a close enough fit. That may well be the nature of the beast with these knives, as they are not Sebenzas. But I digress... The blade play that I get at the tip of the knife when it is opened is approximately 0.050" or about 1/20". It's enough to annoy me. I've tried wrapping duct tape around the stop pin, and that worked just fine. It made the lockup tight but not too tight, just right. Only problem is that after a couple of days it came off. While ' don't spend my time constantly flipping that knife (I have plenty of others to help me with that!) but even so, it became weakened, whether because of heat (it ain't exactly late autumn where I am at the moment!) or maybe a tad bit of oil, whatever.

I'm almost at the point where I'm simply resigned to this. I forgot to mention, to get this 1/20" movement, I don't need to put any pressure or twisting to the blade. It's a 1/20" wiggle. How's that...

Perhaps I'm spoiled by the Tri-Ad locks in my Cold Steel knives... or the titanium framelocks in my ZT 0300, and BM 755 MPR. None of my knives with liner locks have this issue.

Folderguy
Click to expand...

That is not right and I have never heard of that occurring. I have had probably 30 AXIS lock knives over the years and never had that problem. Never read about it either in my years on the forums.

The lock is supposed to adjust to take out any slack so that a gap doesn't form and cause that wiggle. If you send your knife to Benchmade I'm sure they would fix it. If you happen to have a lathe you can turn a slightly bigger one. If you could take measurements of the stop pin I will make you a new one. Should only take a couple minutes. Shoot me an email if interested.
 
Steven Andrews said:
Try sending it to Benchmade.
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I've modified the knife. Sanded off the finish on the blade, removed all markings, gave it a rubbed finish and polished it. They won't want to do it, at least not for free. I'm going to try the rubber band spacer idea from above and if that's not satisfactory, go the JB (or whatever it's called) plastic weld route first before sending it off.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
That is not right and I have never heard of that occurring. I have had probably 30 AXIS lock knives over the years and never had that problem. Never read about it either in my years on the forums.

The lock is supposed to adjust to take out any slack so that a gap doesn't form and cause that wiggle. If you send your knife to Benchmade I'm sure they would fix it. If you happen to have a lathe you can turn a slightly bigger one. If you could take measurements of the stop pin I will make you a new one. Should only take a couple minutes. Shoot me an email if interested.
Click to expand...

Thanks!!! That'll definitely work. When I get home I'll take the measurements and shoot you an email. Most appreciated!
 
Just an FYI, Benchmade won't warranty anything to do with what you have modified. But as long as the problem is not related to the work done, they should take care of you. The lock up has nothing to do with the blade finish or the scales and Benchmade has a great warranty department so I am almost certain they would fix it for free.

When you take measurements I will need your best guess at the diameter of the stop pin so that it is big enough to make contact with the blade, plus a little extra so that the lock bar doesn't travel all the way forward when opened so as to give you some adjustment room for wear. I would think the diameter that will just make contact with the blade plus 0.020" added to the diameter would be about right.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Just an FYI, Benchmade won't warranty anything to do with what you have modified. But as long as the problem is not related to the work done, they should take care of you. The lock up has nothing to do with the blade finish or the scales and Benchmade has a great warranty department so I am almost certain they would fix it for free.

When you take measurements I will need your best guess at the diameter of the stop pin so that it is big enough to make contact with the blade, plus a little extra so that the lock bar doesn't travel all the way forward when opened so as to give you some adjustment room for wear. I would think the diameter that will just make contact with the blade plus 0.020" added to the diameter would be about right.
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I have a digital caliper and will be able to give you exact measurements of all the dimensions of the stop pin. Thanks again.
 
None of those problems with my Ritter Grip, which is in my pocket at the moment, at least thus far.
 
Thanks for all the feed back. Now that I know what it is I can deal with it... for now. Maybe later I might sent it back to BM.. But for know It's ok..

Steve
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Just an FYI, Benchmade won't warranty anything to do with what you have modified. But as long as the problem is not related to the work done, they should take care of you. The lock up has nothing to do with the blade finish or the scales and Benchmade has a great warranty department so I am almost certain they would fix it for free.

When you take measurements I will need your best guess at the diameter of the stop pin so that it is big enough to make contact with the blade, plus a little extra so that the lock bar doesn't travel all the way forward when opened so as to give you some adjustment room for wear. I would think the diameter that will just make contact with the blade plus 0.020" added to the diameter would be about right.
Click to expand...

A little while ago I took the knife apart to measure the stop pin, and am very happy to report that the source of the problem was discovered. Some dirt got in the lock and it was interfering with its proper functioning.

Hmmmm... some dirt... I don't know how it got in there. Perhaps it was in my pocket and somehow lodged in it, but in any case, after getting it out of there, I reassembled it and now it works just fine.

And yes, I'm one happy guy right now.

So, thank you very much for offering to make another stop pin, but it won't be necessary.

I had read that dirt or lint and so on can get inside this lock, but didn't imagine it would have the effect it did.

A word to the wise.

Folderguy
 
Glad to hear it worked out for you. I can't picture how dirt would do that and cause a gap between the blade tang and stop pin resulting in vertical wiggle. But its good to know that is a possibility.
 
I doubt the dirt was effecting the lock-up. Taking the knife apart and reassembling probably had more to do with fixing it.
 
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