I was hoping some of you could comment on a problem I'm having with my new Benchmade Stryker 912BK.
As you may already know, the pivot end of the blade is sandwiched between two phosphor-bronze washers, one of which is larger than the other. When I open the knife right-handed, my thumb pushes the blade toward the smaller washer, and the blade actually moves far enough off center that it rubs the liner as it's opening. Since the blade is black, this contact with the liner is eventually going to leave marks on the blade. (Even if this was my "work knife" and the marks didn't matter, it would still bug me that it does this.) When I open the knife left-handed, however, my thumb pushes the blade toward the larger washer, but the blade actually moves very little off center as it's opening and therefore does not rub the liner. It appears that the larger washer provides better sideways support and stabilization for the blade than the smaller washer. I made sure the pivot screw is just tight enough to prevent blade play without binding, but that doesn't fix the problem I described above when opening the knife right-handed.
I can't see any reason why Benchmade couldn't have used two of the larger washers. There doesn't appear to be anything inside the knife near the pivot that requires the use of the smaller washer, but I could be missing something.
At any rate, I was wondering if this blade shifting and liner rubbing is something you've seen in Strykers or in other knives? Is this just a built-in characteristic of the knife? Any comments or suggestions for a fix?
Thanks for your input.
Woody
As you may already know, the pivot end of the blade is sandwiched between two phosphor-bronze washers, one of which is larger than the other. When I open the knife right-handed, my thumb pushes the blade toward the smaller washer, and the blade actually moves far enough off center that it rubs the liner as it's opening. Since the blade is black, this contact with the liner is eventually going to leave marks on the blade. (Even if this was my "work knife" and the marks didn't matter, it would still bug me that it does this.) When I open the knife left-handed, however, my thumb pushes the blade toward the larger washer, but the blade actually moves very little off center as it's opening and therefore does not rub the liner. It appears that the larger washer provides better sideways support and stabilization for the blade than the smaller washer. I made sure the pivot screw is just tight enough to prevent blade play without binding, but that doesn't fix the problem I described above when opening the knife right-handed.
I can't see any reason why Benchmade couldn't have used two of the larger washers. There doesn't appear to be anything inside the knife near the pivot that requires the use of the smaller washer, but I could be missing something.
At any rate, I was wondering if this blade shifting and liner rubbing is something you've seen in Strykers or in other knives? Is this just a built-in characteristic of the knife? Any comments or suggestions for a fix?
Thanks for your input.
Woody