• Preorders are LIVE for the 2024 BladeForums Traditional Knife

    Traditional Knife Information Thread - make sure you go in there and read up.

    Requirements: Be a Gold or higher member or have been a member of the forums since 6/2023 with at least 100 posts in the Traditional Forum. Preorder is for people who live in the continental US only, international orders will be separate.

    Delivery expected in Q4 2024, hopefully before the holidays.

    User Name
    Serial number request

blade play in Axis

L

longbow

Joined
Jan 9, 1999
Messages
4,315
Greetings all. A quick qestion or two concerning my Axis. The blade has started to close closer towards the liners than it has been. Almost touching on the right liner as the knife is held blade up towards you in the closed position. It isn't touching but is very close.
Next question is the blade play adjustment
torx screw. I have tightened it a couple of times going like 1/8-1/4 turn at a time. Now when I go back with the adjustment the blade will get some wobble. If I go back about a full turn it definetly has side play in it. So much so that with the blade extended you can shake it and feel the blade wobble. It is sharp though! thanks for any and all feedback.
PS am I reading to much into it and should not be concerned
 
Of course you should be concerned, it's a $100 knife. Take the pivot screw out and apply some lock tite to the threads on the screw. Screw it back into the pivot and tighten it until the blade is centered and the action has just the right amount of tension. If this doesn't help, it may need to go back to BM. -AR

------------------
- Intelligent men, unfortunately, learn from fools, more often than fools learn from intelligent men.

 
I realized that blade play would increase as i loosened the pivot pin on my Axis in an effort to "speed" up how fast it opened. I was able to reach a happy compromise between speed and wobble. I have yet to notice that the torx pin has moved (tighten or loosen), but i agree with Jackyl that lock-tite would solve that problem..

longbow's post did prompt me give mine a careful once-over and what I've now just seen is some wear on the inside of the spacer where it appears the belly of the blade is making contact when closed! is it possible that when the blade does that final "snap" close, it is actually bouncing off the spacer? the spacer does seem to have a cut approximately 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch long. I assume this cannot help but wear down the blade edge at this location.

one question: how terrible is this on the edge?

question two: anything I, the ELU, can do to remedy this?

question three: on this particilar knife, what is it that should be holding the blade in its proper position when closed? the thumb studs? the stop pin? the lock pin?

anyone else getting this problem?

cc: benchmade forum

------------------
- J.B.


 
on my axis 710, when i tighten the pivot pin, the whole pivot-thing turns, even the part in the back, under the clip. make sure the part that the screw is being inserted into, is not moving when you tighten it. if it is moving, then you are not actually tightening the pivot. this is exactly what happened to me.

i'm not sure of all the technical mechanical terms here, but just trying to help!
smile.gif


marco
 
JB,

My brother in law showed me his Axis this weekend. His has the same problem -- the edge of the blade near the tip is clearly hitting the spacer. Nice quarter inch line carved into the spacer. Told him to send it back to BenchMade. But he said he would take care the blade himself once it dulls (shrug).

sing
 
sing,

The knife blade is contacting the spacer over a distance of 2.5 inches, not 0.25 inches. I started to dremel the plastic spacer so the blade wouldn't contact and next thing I knew, I have a long trough at the bottom. The blade doesn't hit all all now, but who would have ever thought I would have to remove that much material! My other 710 axis doesn't do this at all (came from a private sale), go figure?! The thumb studs hit the liners now - if I slide a piece of paper between there and tug in it contact the paper. Was I expecting too much from a $100 knife?

I had to switch the clip over for lefty carry and found the G-10 underneath the clip flattened by too much compression. The G-10 didn't line up and there is a little ridge on it now: I guess I could just file it down, but it doesn't bother me enough yet.

Don't get me wrong, I still like the knife, but I am surprised with the lack of fit and
that it left the factory this way. May be I should have sent it back to BM? I had e-mailed them over a month and a half ago, but no one ever responded. How many other 710 owners have encountered this?
 
Thanks for the all of the info. It is much appreciated. I took mine apart last night and for such a seemingly simple knife and the cost of the thing, I am surprised at the relative cheapness of the washers that make the action smooth. They seem to be paper thin nylon washers or something like that.
Still can't get the thing to close down the middle of the handle, but what I did is start tightening the torx screw when the knife is folded closed. Makes a difference but can't figure out why. Got it where I want it and am sure it will stay but can't figure out why the thing adjusts better when closed than when open. Still would like to get the thing to close directly down the middle of the handle. I would also like to put metal type washers in there. Brass if need be. Even thinking of oilite bearings, you know the brass ones. Would need to counter sink the races though. Maybe to much trouble. It is buggin me though. Retail is 150 bucks on the thing although I didn't pay that much for it.
QC could be better for sure. Les if you or anyone is reading these posts, what is the deal on the closing off center of the knives in question. Also the torx screw adjustment? thanks and keep'em sharp.
 
I've been considering Oilite bearings for a while, but I think that these are for high-speed applications where centrifugal force can draw the lubricant out of the bearing structure. Doesn't seem like it would be any help in a knife. Has anyone tried these? Care to comment?

------------------

-Corduroy
(Why else would a bear want a pocket?)
 
I say go with phosphor bronze and see what happens...
smile.gif


------------------
One with the Force you must be...

WISH NOT TO BE A JEDI!!
NO PENSION YOU SAY!!

Hmph! a Jedi desires not these things.


 
My blade touches the spacer too.I've been able to prevent blade wobble on mine.My other problem is play between the lock and the stop pin.I found it by sticking the point in wood and applying force towards the open and closed position(not side to side)The play is slight and It may never cause it to fail but it seems like it should'nt be there.Anyone else find this with theirs?
scott w
 
sdw,

I have notice this play in my daily use 710 axis. No matter how hard I press, the blade has not closed yet. I'm not engineer, so I can't tell you if there is suppose to be this little amount of play (no the side to side of course).

Come one you other axis owners - let us compare.

Now, the REKAT Pioneer (rolling lock), I have, is so solid, you would think it is a fixed blade (no movement/play - it seems like it is built like a tank).
 
MD,

When did you get the REKAT Pioneer? I was thinking about getting the small Axis but am going to order the Pioneer instead just because of the "blade play" issue with the Axis. I have not heard anyone yet say the same about the REKAT yet. Plus, I spoke to Bob Taylor over the just after Memorial Day weekend. He was busting his chop to get REKATs out. Said he would stand by his RL and fix it if there's a problem.

I think you should have sent your Axis in right after you noticed the problem. You likely voided the warranty with all the dremeling.
frown.gif


sing
 
My first Axis Lock had a threading problem. When I attempted to switch the clip for lefthanded carry, the holes were so tight, I almost couldn't get the screw in. When I did, just one or two turns and the screw head broke off. The dealer was kind enough to swap out. Well, the replacement has been excellent. Strangely enough, after hundreds of openings and a hard weekend canoeing and kayaking (stayed submerged/wet for 2 days), the action is still buttery smooth and the blade centers perfectly. The spacers appear to be quite thick, maybe G10? They look like the same ones on my pre-prod 705S, which has survived many more openings and also remains centered.

If the spacers I have are that much better than some of your knives, maybe BM needs to standardize on these, even if they are more expensive.

P.S. I have a mini AFCK whose blade floats around all the time.
 
I was very happy with my Axis for the first three weeks or so until I discovered the "wiggle" in the blade. I tried tightening the torx screw but it just made the knife impossible to open. I sent it back immediately and haven't received it back yet. It didn't do this when I first got it, so it must have loosened up over a few weeks time. My Boguszeski Spike closes very close to one side of the handle, but not enough to hit the liner. My Spyderco Military, also a linerlock is solid and perfectly centered in the handle. No wonder I keep coming back to Spyderco. I think the Axis is my last Benchmade. Not worth the $120 I paid.
 
HEY!!! THIS IS MY 100th POST !!!!!

Anyway, I was wondering if it would be alright to put 2 clips at once onto the axis...would that make it uncomfortable?
Sometimes I carry mine in my left front pocket and sometimes in my right front...when it is in the left front, it is just swimming around in the bottom of my pocket.

------------------
"All of our knives open with one hand, in case you're busy with the other"
<OVAL OFFICE JOKE>
 
sing,

I just got the older model Pioneer the other day - it has the little lever on the side near the thumb stud. It is a chunky little sucker, but man it is SOLID and BEEFY. I see that the new Pioneer II's have improvments where the lock has moved positions (from what I can tell from a photo).

My older Pioneer is very thick, but fits nicely in my hands. This baby is a keeper - I wish I purchased two of them at the price I got this one at. I will have to show it to you (remind me or else I will forget!).

Yeah, I am sure I voided the warrantee on my 710 Axis because of the dremel work: big deal - I could make my own spacer out of some plastic and I know it would fit better than the one BM made. Hey, I just use it and don't care what it looks like. I would love a mini Axis, but I would be sure everything was ok before I decide to keep it.

MD
 
I checked out a new 710 this weekend; very smooth opening and what a great lock! Now with all these problems popping up I'm a little put off at jumping in and ordering another BM. I also handled a Microtech SOCOM that felt great and had lockup almost as solid as my large Sebenza. I would like to find a nice "user" knife and I thought the 710 was the one. Now maybe the SOCOM is a better choice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top