BM 943 Broken Omega Spring

Cynic2701

Cynic2701

Joined
Mar 31, 2009
Messages
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I have my Benchmade Osbourne 943 sitting in front of me disassembled. I had been playing with it when suddenly the Axis lock became very gritty and no longer snapped forward into the back of the blade. Concerned, I took it apart and discovered that the omega spring on the right side had broken.

I think I remember reading in a thread (here or possibly somewhere else) about somebody replacing broken omega springs with piano or guitar strings, and was wondering if anybody had any advice. I'm pretty sure that my warranty is void with Benchmade because I took it apart.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
 
I've never sent a knife back to Benchmade, but people say they dont care if you take it apart.

IIRC they wont just send anyone Omega springs either. Just call/email and ask them about your situation.
 
I agree with rmc85. You should definitely give Benchmade a call (or email) and see what can be done with them prior to trying to fix it yourself. I've heard good things about Benchmade's customer service.
 
diassembling the knife voided the warranty and BM will not send out parts and in particualr the Omega Springs.
 
Make sure you put a note in with what you want done. you might end up with a new edge, blade or knife
 
Personally, I'd just reassemble and send it back to Benchmade.

Another example of the need for Benchmade to simply offer these to the public.
 
I have had a few Warranty issues with BM but not many. I have taken all my knives apart and no problems with Warranty. Calling works better and quicker than email. Just don't send it back in parts in a bag and you will be fine.
 
It's sad that BM hasn't caught on with their customer service "Take it apart, you void warranty and owe $20 some plus shipping" nor will they mail out the springs.

I personally would install it with the broken spring and send it back to them.

beluga said:
In another thread, one of our forumites replaced his broken spring with guitar string. If you don't feel like sending it back to BM, you might want to try his method.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=684618
Click to expand...
good advice :thumbup:
 
Contact them and get the warranty repair form sent to you. then send it to them.
 
If you put the knife back together with the broken spring in place they will never know you took it apart. I'm sure they say that to keep people who don't know what they are doing from taking the knife apart and sending in a bag of parts when they can't get it back together.

I have made replacement omega springs that are still working fine. I used .024" mig welding wire because it was the only thing I could find in the right diameter. I have since noticed that ACE hardware sells piano wire in a bunch of different sizes.

I had to make 2 replacement springs as the original was stronger than the one I made and loaded the AXIS bar unevenly. However, with 2 new springs it works perfect. Took about 10 minutes with a pair of needle nose pliers to make 2 acceptable springs.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for all the advice.

I think I'm going to try and repair it myself (so that I never have to worry about being without a knife while it is in the mail/worry about it getting lost) and failing that I'm going to send it in.
 
Put it back together and send it in, BM really doesn't care if you've taken it apart or not. That rule is just there to hinder people that don't know what they're doing from taking a knife apart, which is actually pretty common. Hell even Strider doesn't want you taking their knives apart. Either way they'll still warranty the knife, just don't send it in in pieces. ;)
 
I've made my own replacement Omega springs with .025 piano wire purchaced at a local hobby store. I got a lifetime supply of wire for a few bucks. It was easy to do -- just use the remaining good spring as a template. Mine have been holding up fine for several months.

The one time I sent my 710 to BM for a new spring, it took about a month and of course I had to pay shipping.
 
Sorry this is sort of off topic,

but does anyone know if they will replace/repair older knives that have messed up factory grind lines? i would like to get my 350 fixed but whenever i send them an email they dont respond back...its getting annoying...

-Alex
 
They are VERY slow to answering emails, if they answer them at all. I'm sure they get overwhelmed with them and they probably have a pretty good spam filter that might be a little too good.

Give them a call and you will have instant gratification. They will answer your questions on the spot and let you know what you need to do to get it fixed. If your warranty has nothing to do with the blade then I would think they probably don't care the blade has been modified. However, if you tell them you think the heat treat is bad then they probably won't do anything because they don't know if the temper was ruined in the grind.

Good luck!

Ryan
 
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