Bugout CF-Elite, "glued in" pivot?

[TiCKed]

Ok, new to knives and knife maintenance here. Just looking for some guidance.

The story: Picked up a Benchmade Bugout with the CF-Elite scales recently. Initially, it was HORRIBLY "grindy", and the Axis lock would stick more often than not. (Not a great "out of box" experience).

Steeling my resolve, and with more than a few Nick Shabazz YouTube videos to guide me, I took one scale off, and attempted to push the pivot through the other side. Goal being to clean up the pivot, washers, and blade, and HOPEFULLY clean up the action.

But...for the life of me, I could not push the pivot through. I pushed with my fingers, a small screwdriver, and finally with the end of an allen wrench. No dice. That thing ain't going anywhere.

looking closer, I saw what looked like a black substance dried around the entire circumference of the pivot. (I took some pictures, but haven't figured out how to post them here yet....remember...newbie).

So, what is that black substance? Every video I looked at seemed to indicate that, if anything, the only thing holding the pin in should be friction, or maybe a couple of "clicks" as it passes through the liners, washers, and blade.

Loctite? Is some loctite BLACK? Is some heat the answer to my issue? Or is the CF-Elite version somehow...different?


Now, the question is fairly moot at this point. After my failure to get to the blade/washers for cleanup, I buttoned it back up. A couple of days of working the action has cleaned it up immensely, and my little Bugout works GREAT now. No issues.

Of course....someday, I will again want to pull it apart, so getting an answer now would be great.

Thanks for your time and consideration....

 

[TiCKed]

Guess my issue, or at least my description, doesn't ring any bells.

I will note that after thinking about it, and if the pivot collar is REALLY glued into place in the steel liner, then the knife should actually work just fine WITHOUT the pivot screw. Effectively, the pivot screw would only be acting as another scale screw.

And that is nearly the case. I just removed the pivot screw entirely, leaving all other screws in place. The knife worked FINE. Centering was minimally affected...still pretty close to centered. And the action was maybe a LITTLE loose. But it worked. Then, replacing the pivot screw, and tightening much tighter than would obviously be proper....the action became a little tight. Not immobile...but a little tight.

In the end, I'm convinced this is one screwed up knife. The gritty/grindy action it initially had is likely closely related to the "glue" holding the pivot in place. Having worked through that, it's now a functional knife. But it still isn't "right". While I'm fairly new to the knife world, I have some experience with my Mini-Grip, and know how the mechanism is SUPPOSED to work....

When I have time, I'm going back in to clean the entire thing out. I'll use some heat, or alcohol, or something to break the pivot free, and get the thing back in spec. (Then again, maybe I should just return the defective thing, and start over again....)

 

[sickpuppy1]

Some of them are pressed in place. That may be the issue. Done so it won’t come loose.