BM 710 - what a great knife

theonew

theonew

Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
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I recently bought a used BM 710D2 from someone here on the forums and was pleasantly surprised when it arrived. The edge needed to be touched up, which I did using a crock stick, and it wasn't nearly as hard as some people led me to believe. I really love the quality, feel and design of this knife and its locking mechanism.

Yesterday I took it along on a little day hike and pulled it out to cut the shell off of a walnut that nearly fell on my head. When I opened the knife I was shocked to notice a good deal of horizontal play in the blade. I then noticed that the T10 pivot screw was finger loose (someone must have forgotten the Loctite). I backed the screw all the way out and noticed that even without the pivot screw there was only a small amount of play in the blade, an unacceptable amount but small nevertheless. When I got home I tightened the pivot screw but just couldn't quite hit the sweet spot in terms of tightness and ease of opening. Considering that this is a second hand knife, strictly speaking I'm not covered by the Benchmade warranty, so I decided to take it apart. It was so darn easy and straightforward, I'm shocked by some peoples' complaint that the axis lock is complicated. I cleaned everything, polished the washers, oiled and reassembled it and it now works perfectly, silky smooth opening and rock solid blade.

I'm so happy with everything about this knife. If for some reason an omega spring breaks I will gladly send it to Benchmade and pay for the repair.
 
It's an excellent knife, nice meaty tip with good penetration power, great geometry. And if anyone ever tells you the axis lock is complicate tell them to take one apart, its a spring a bar of metal and a pin.

Could you post some pics of yours taken apart though, I wanna know if you got the lockbar out of the liners or if the liners stay stuck together, I know the stud is held on with a pin horizontally. congrats on the great knife. Spydcero Cearmic sharpeners give the best edge, imho.
 
65535 said:
Could you post some pics of yours taken apart though, I wanna know if you got the lockbar out of the liners or if the liners stay stuck together, I know the stud is held on with a pin horizontally.
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On mine I was able to unscrew the stud on the side of the lockbar that first becomes accessible. It wasn't very tight, I did it with my fingers, but it does have a narrow hole in it, into which you could insert a pin to get leverage to unscrew it. Is that what you mean?
 
That's it, ok, I always assume that was for a pin to keep it in place but I see it's for a spanner wrench type device.
 
Here's a very poor quality picture I took a few days ago of my 710 in pieces. The flash really picked up the scratches in the blade, which aren't that bad to the naked eye. But all the pieces are there and the Omega springs aren't connected to the liner (though they're still attached to the Axis bar).

IMG_0166.jpg


Interestingly enough, and I've only taken it apart twice, I didn't need any Locktite in the pivot after reassembly. Both times I've worked it pretty hard just after reassembly to get everything seated properly and the pivot has never loosened.

It went back together as tight and smooth as it came from the factory.
 
Psychopomp said:
Interestingly enough, and I've only taken it apart twice, I didn't need any Locktite in the pivot after reassembly. Both times I've worked it pretty hard just after reassembly to get everything seated properly and the pivot has never loosened.
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I didn't use any Loctite either and so far so good. By design, repeated openings and closings shouldn't have any impact on the pivot screw, as far as I can tell, but given my recent experience I'm not against using a drop to avoid any surprises.
 
Definitely a simple knife design, for those scratchs you should get yourself a sponge and some Mother's mag polish and just go at it rubbing down the blade all over, it gives a great shine that dulls out the scratches unless they are really deep. Did it on both my 710 and 940 and it was excellent.


Could you post one more pictures of the scales upside down?

Great pics BTW.
 
65535 said:
Could you post one more pictures of the scales upside down?
Click to expand...

I'll assume by upside down you mean the inside part of the scale? If so, I'll take one of them off sometime tomorrow afternoon and get a picture for you. It's pretty simple on the inside, all flat except for a cut out where the Omega springs live.

Older 710s have oval shaped cut outs in the liners, but were switched to round holes for more weight reduction at some point. Mine is one of the last 154cm versions made. I got it in new in January 2006 and I think the D2s came out in March (February?).

The scratches in the blade really aren't that bad at all and not very deep. I was surprised how much they stood out because of the flash. Of course, scratches are what you get from about 18 months of constant EDC.

Great knife.

EDIT: While we're at it, and not to hijack the thread... if anyone's interested, here's a picture of how the Omega spring attaches to the liner. The bent end of the spring fits into the small hole under the Axis channel. As has been said, it's a very very simple design.

IMG_0169.jpg
 
Ya wouldn't want to hijack the 710 is the best ever thread, but I think the pics help show just how great the 710 really is. I love my D2 version to death, excellent geometry, and using spyderco fine ceramic stones I get a superb edge.
 
As promised, here's the inside of one of the scales. The G-10 is finished very smoothly all the way around. Fit and finish are superb.

IMG_0200.jpg


And did someone mention a Buck 110? :D

IMG_0201.jpg


Without a doubt my two favorite knife designs of all time. Probably my two favorite knives in my collection as well... the 710 and Cabela's S30V 110.
 
the 710 is my favorite as well. I have two d2 versions. One with the bk coating (my user) and then the regular which i keep in reserve in case i ever have to replace my user.
 
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