Blade wobble - AXIS VS LL

made2cut

made2cut

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Dec 4, 2001
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While fondling a couple knives last night it occured to me that the AXIS lock on my BM's have more blade wobble than a good liner lock. Okay it's not a whole lot of wobble but as I looked at the 2 mechanisms it seems to me that due to the liner almost acting as a full tang it keeps the blade more secure than the AXIS type design.

Any comments?
 
I think the constant pressure of the liner against the tang acts to "damp" wobble; it's still there to at least the same extent as in an Axis lock, just less noticeable. Additionally, the increased fail-safe character of the Axis means that blade play is less likely to result in lock failure. It doesn't matter if the blade moves back and forth, as the specific geometry of the lock is much less important.
 
I was never questioning the strength of the AXIS lock, I just thought it was interesting that the "best lock ever designed" ;) had more wobble than the "old" liner lock design. I love all the lock types as providing they have been done well. Variety is the spice of life after all! :D
 
I've had great luck with the few linerlocks I've owned, and none of them exhibited more than a tiny bit of blade play, but they do not lock up as positively as the Axis locks that I own/have owned (5 of them).
You should be able to adjust the tension of the pivot so that opening is butter smooth, and there is zero blade play.
You might try tightening the pivot to achieve that balance...and a little lube now and then won't hurt.

btw, welcome to the forum!:)

Derek, just saw your post. You might try the same thing with that CQC7. Mine was solid as a rock, and opened very smooth.
 
There are liner locks with blade "wobble" and some that have none.Both of my Benchmade axis locks have no blade play.The 710 that I've had well over a yr.and the Griptalon(about 6 mon.)show no blade play at all.As with all production knives some will be better than others with the possible exception of CRK.I'm sure if you bought a custom axis lock from Jason Williams it would'nt have any blade play.It would'nt be fair to judge a liner lock made by only one company.(Hint-Benchmade & McHenry and Williams license the axis lock to other manufactures.
 
A lot of factory knives have built in wobble....they are left less than snug so they will open very easily....if you pick up almost any MT you will notice this.....it allows the blade to swing out with relatively no interference...most people go wow.....except the ones that know better! :p
 
I own quite a few BM axis folders and no wobble on any of them, though I've had to adjust some of them. As usual I disassemble my folders so the adjustment is part of assembly anyway :)
 
Someone has to ask the question. "Side to Side" wobble or "Up and Down"?? There's a big difference. The Axis lock should not, by definition, exhibit any up and down wobble, since the mechanism self-adjusts for any movement/wear.

Side to side should be easily adjustable with the pivot screw.
 
Thanks for the welcome!

Maybe I should refine my definition of wobble. I was comparing a BM722 (interestingly enough), a mini-AFCK and a boa. All these knives are adjusted correctly and perform very well. My comparison was if you held the end of the blades with one hand and the handle in the other the AXIS had more movement (not looseness) than the liner locks. As the ultimate goal of a folder seems to be to act like a fixed blade then perhaps the liner lock has an advantage in "side to side movement strength. I like the AXIS lock better but if you only had one design of knife to carry life would be so boring!
 
made2cut,

I wouldn't go so far as to say that a liner lock has an advantage in "side to side" movement strength. It is my opinion (someone please correct me if I am wrong) that an Axis lock isn't as affected by "side to side" wobble as a liner lock. If there is too much "side to side" wobble in a liner lock then your lock can be compromised and that is not good. I don't think that an Axis lock has that problem simply because of the way that the knife locks up.
 
I guess I've been lucky...I have several Axis locks and none have any blade wobble in any direction, opened or closed. I don't use side-to-side stress on my folders, but I would imaging that an Axis lock should be more reliable than a linerlock in side-to-side twisting forces because the whole Axis bar is blocking across the blade tang and less likely to slip off. (To be fair, I only have one linerlock that will start to slip off the tang, and with medium blade spine pressure).

Jim
 
Originally posted by knifenerd
Someone has to ask the question. "Side to Side" wobble or "Up and Down"?? There's a big difference. The Axis lock should not, by definition, exhibit any up and down wobble, since the mechanism self-adjusts for any movement/wear.

Side to side should be easily adjustable with the pivot screw.
Click to expand...

I agree. None of my Axis lock knives have any up/down play, nor should they. Any side play that develops can always be adjusted with the pivot on Benchmade's knives unless there is a defect in manufacturing.
 
My Axis locks came from the factory free of blade play. I keep them that way by being careful about pivot screw adjustment.
 
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