Benchmade omega springs

[eKretz]

They break due to fatigue. After 'x' amount of cycles the steel gets more and more brittle, like when a steel coat hanger is bent back and forth a bunch of times and finally breaks. I've never had one of mine break...yet. Those who have had them break, where are they broken? My first guess would be right where the sharp bend is that catches in the hole to secure the end of the spring, but that may not be the case, depends on how bent they are when they're installed. My second guess would be right in the middle of the large radius.

 

[353]

They break due to fatigue. After 'x' amount of cycles the steel gets more and more brittle, like when a steel coat hanger is bent back and forth a bunch of times and finally breaks. I've never had one of mine break...yet. Those who have had them break, where are they broken? My first guess would be right where the sharp bend is that catches in the hole to secure the end of the spring, but that may not be the case, depends on how bent they are when they're installed. My second guess would be right in the middle of the large radius.

It breaks right in the midle, in the u-bend.

 

[eKretz]

Is there room to add a complete loop in the center? That would probably keep them from breaking that way. Something like this:

 

[353]

Is there room to add a complete loop in the center? That would probably keep them from breaking that way. Something like this:

That might be a really good idea, only thing that worries me is that the double loop might be too weak for the retention needed.

 

[eKretz]

Use a slightly thicker gauge of wire if necessary. I think it would be fine though, as long as there's enough room for the double thickness where the coil overlaps. I've not had any of my Benchmades apart recently or I would try it myself.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

Is there room to add a complete loop in the center?

Would there be a possibility of coil bind with this, possibly facilitated by dirt? If designing from scratch I wonder how a short mainspring design would work; it would avoid overlapping wires.

 

[eKretz]

I don't think coil binding would be any more of a problem than with the original spring unless there's not enough room for the wire to double up where the coil crosses. The spiral wound spring would probably work fine too and also a flat cross section spring could be used; even more durability. Anything that adds to the length of the steel that is actually flexed will help since it will distribute the flexure along the entire length. I wonder how often this actually happens (the breakage).

 

[Akcir]

After I used my Contego for a while, I pulled it apart to do a little maintenance.
There was a fairly pronounced wear spot on the springs. I noticed that the spring pocket in the G10 had a sharp ledge right where the wear marks were. So I sanded those smooth, and put a thin coating of light grease in the pocket.
Took it apart a couple years later, and everything looked good. I don't know if this is a cause, but I figure an ounce of prevention.....

 

[Salokcin69]

I'm awaiting the return of my beloved 484 right now. My replacement EDC in the meantime is a CRKT LCK and Gerber Ghostrike.. /:

 

[bbflamingo]

Just replaced an omega spring today. I used 14 gauge memory wire in a benchmade 710.

Hi Goat83. Can you tell me where I might look for instructions for replacing my spring in a Kershaw. After 2 returns to factory for repair, they included 3 spare springs with the knife.

 

[scottc3]

bbflamingo, easy peasy-
Kershaw springs called torsion bar, go to utubes n use model name when searching "replacing Kershaw spring" or
"replacing Kershaw torsion bar"
did it twice with a couple different Kershaw Cryo's, after Kershaw sent springs.

 

[kane22]

After I used my Contego for a while, I pulled it apart to do a little maintenance.
There was a fairly pronounced wear spot on the springs. I noticed that the spring pocket in the G10 had a sharp ledge right where the wear marks were. So I sanded those smooth, and put a thin coating of light grease in the pocket.
Took it apart a couple years later, and everything looked good. I don't know if this is a cause, but I figure an ounce of prevention.....

Not to jinx myself, but I've never had on break and I normally carry a BM. I do take mine apart and look for any sharp/unfinished edges that might be an issue. I've seen other say they thought it was the scale rubbing causing the spring to wear.

 

[bbflamingo]

bbflamingo, easy peasy-
Kershaw springs called torsion bar, go to utubes n use model name when searching "replacing Kershaw spring" or
"replacing Kershaw torsion bar"
did it twice with a couple different Kershaw Cryo's, after Kershaw sent springs.

Thanks for the good tip scottc3. I'll check that out today.

 

[Greggy]

Thanks for the info. I may have to replace the omega spring in my SRM. The factory spring is weak and thus the detent is weak. It flicks too easily and an accidental opening is a real risk.

 

[Blade Lab]

A spring broke in one of my Bugouts. Replaced it with a spring purchased off Amazon, and THAT spring broke after about a month.

 

[000Robert]

A spring broke in one of my Bugouts. Replaced it with a spring purchased off Amazon, and THAT spring broke after about a month.

Ever think about making your own springs? It's actually kind of fun. Here's a few photos of me making some springs for an OTF.

In the first photo I'm fixing to start wrapping the coils around a piece of steel bar stock.



In this photo I have the spring wrapped without the ends finished.



Here is a spring that has the ends finished.