Blade wiggle, should you worry?

B

barsoomian

Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
35
Hey guys,

I just got my BM 940 Osborne today, sweet knife that is going to be my EDC.
I notice that there is wiggle side to side, i tightened up the pivot screw but there is still an amount of play. I notice that there is play in my other knifes as well, my BM Presido 523, my Spydie Delica, my Spydie Stretch, in fact in almost all my folders there is some measure of play even if its really small.

I thinks its just the nature and fundamental design of a folding knife that you will never get a completly solid lock up.

Do you agree with this? and secondly do you think wiggle is somthing to worry about from a safety perspective.

I would think it depends on what you use a folder for and if you want no wiggle get a fixed blade :) I dont use my knifes allot and have them primarily for the odd cutting tasks when they arise and for SD should the need ever arise god forbid.
 
The only knives I own with plade play are my Byrd Cara-Cara and my Sog Flash 1. The blade play in both instances is just an effect of the design. My other knives lock up like bank vaults, assuming they're properly adjusted.
 
All of my folders have a wee bit of side to side play when you grasp the blade from the very tip - can't detect it when you are grasping the base of the blade. I always figured that that play was rather inevitable? Although my brother's small Sebbie is the only knife I've personally gotten my hands on that didn't have any side to side when grabbing the tip.
 
barsoomian said:
Hey guys,

I just got my BM 940 Osborne today, sweet knife that is going to be my EDC.
I notice that there is wiggle side to side, i tightened up the pivot screw but there is still an amount of play.
...
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Can you tighten these knives down to the point you cannot move the blade?

What I consider "minimal" is not neccessarily your "minimal", it is a subjective thing. I accept "minimal" side to side play, but anything above that is too much.
 
I do not agree with it, no.

Buy a Sebenza, and then talk to me about lateral play. Of cousre you'll be ruined for other folders... so you'll save some money. :-)
 
tsiloics said:
I do not agree with it, no.

Buy a Sebenza, and then talk to me about lateral play. Of cousre you'll be ruined for other folders... so you'll save some money. :-)
Click to expand...

I've handled a couple of Sebbies and they have side to side play, just very little.
 
I've got several Benchmades (720S, 551, 975S) and none of them have any detectable play. I'm very particular about bladeplay and I find BM to be one of the best around, never had an issue with lock up. My Spyderco's have always been solid and tight as well (large and small Manix, Delica, Salt, and more). My Sebenza's all locked up like a vault too.
 
I got 7 sebbs and a umnum they have 0 blade play,they are like a fixed blade.....does blade play bother me yep i hate it.
 
Is there an assisted versus manual part fo the equation? My sebbie = no play, BM barrage and zt0350 both have a very small amount, I am assumign so the assisted action is not too sticky?
 
scout72 said:
Is there an assisted versus manual part fo the equation? My sebbie = no play, BM barrage and zt0350 both have a very small amount, I am assumign so the assisted action is not too sticky?
Click to expand...

Is your Sebbie "sticky"?

It is merely a tolerance issue. Lower tolerances, less play.
 
Vertical blade play can be a sign of a very unsafe lockup. Horizontal looseness is usually nothing more than a nuisance. If any particular knife is loose enough that it bothers you see if you can send it in to the maker to get it fixed up, otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Blade play is one of my peeves.
I would rather have my knife not so smooth opening by a tighter pivot than any side to side play.

I think on slipjoints especially older ones is part of the game on framelocks and liners, axis etc I find it unacceptable.

That said my new love Kershaw OD-1 has zero blade play with fully tightened pivot. Pretty cool on a production folder under fifty bones. :)

Tostig
 
I dont have any blade play on my 2 axis lock knives. However, if it is VERY minor, I would not worry much about it. Although, any blade play is annoying.
 
Only two of my folders have lateral blade play, and I think it was caused from hard use. They are my first Spyderco Ladybug (purchased in the mid 90s) and my Dragonfly (a bday gift from my bro-in-law in the late 90s). It's more noticeable in the smaller Ladybug, which saw a lot of use when I worked for a bank as a Field Service Officer for their ATMs. I used it to cut up lots of boxes of deposit envelopes to fill up the stock around the ATMs, lots of bags of cash to reload ATMs, etc. For it's diminutive size, it did a lot of hard work.
I almost bought a SOG Flash I this summer but upon handling it at a local Bass Pro Outlet I found the lateral blade play unnacceptable. It's too bad because I love the small size of that knife.
 
For the people who say there is absolutely no blade play, where are you grasping the blade when you check? I've found that a knife with no detectable blade play while holding the middle or base of the blade can still have a very small amount of side to side play if you hold the blade by the very tip. This is the case on my Mcusta Take, and this is an amount of play I consider OK.
 
I would define "play" as actual movement of the blade in the pivot... not flexing it. Didja ever see that "magic" trick where you bend a spoon??? I honestly believe that a lot of these observations are witnessing a similar optical illusion caused by movement of the hands and fingers as they move... not the pivot. I seriously doubt that there is any blade play in 96.22223% of higher end folders. I also doubt someone is flexing 82.3555% of them as well.

If however, the blade moves like the pivot is a fulcrum and there are voids allowing the movement, that is an unacceptable QC issue. A company like Benchmade should make it right.

And a note on "play" in sebenzas... complete hogwash. I've owned just shy of a dozen and was a dealer for a few years. I probably handled 30+ sebs at that time. I have NEVER seen a Seb with ANY movement of the blade when in the locked open position.
 
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