Clip bent on 550

Daniel Moore

Daniel Moore

Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
2,790
I was walking by a gas grill yesterday and I felt my Griptilian hit up against part of it. I was carrying something heavy and was walking pretty fast. After I dropped the load I took it out, looked at it, there was a scuff on one of the zytel scales where it rides out of the pocket, but after a few seconds of finger-nail scraping away the raised plastic you can't tell it was there. So I figured no harm, no foul. But later I was watching a movie (Event Horizon, don't recommend it :barf: ). So anyway, I decided to play with my Griptilian for lack of any other amusement, and I was looking for any other damage. I noticed the clip was raised off the scale (it should be flush with it) and when I applied a fair amount of torque to the end of the clip the clip swiveled a little bit (not easily, though). So the clip must have snagged, bent itself, and loosened the screws. I can't find out until tomorrow if the inner threading is stripped, I can only hope it's not. My dad is going to bring a micro-torx home from work and I'm going to take it off and try to bend it back. I was thinking of putting an old shirt around the screw-end of the clip and putting it into a vise and bending it back, anyone have any better tips? And, if the threading is stripped, is there anyway Benchmade could repair it for a fee, or would I have to live with it?
 
I dont have any idea whether benchmade would fix it for you or not, but if it is indeed stripped out and they wont fix it, then you could drill and tap it for the next screw size up, and then find the appropriate screws to fit the new holes. I have never done that on a knife but I have done it at work on tools and such, and I am quite sure that it would work fine and look fine as well. However you would have to be very careful not to drill too deep, or to take too much metal off, etc. If it were me i would only do that as a last resort, but in case it comes down to it you may want to give it a shot.( you will need a drill press and a tap set)
 
you could always just flip the clip to the other side if you stripped out the holes on one side.
 
I've bent clips on more knives than I care to remember. Just take it off and bend it a little and it will tighten it up. I doubt if your screws are stripped. Usually if they aren't pretty snug you will get a little play in the clip. I think that is because the diameter of the threaded part of the screw is enough smaller than the holes in the clip that it gives it a little play if they are not tight. Just be careful not to overtighten them when you reassemble it. :)
 
i'm with JTC, it should be a snap to bend back. i bought a mini-Grip from ol' Ren (TDTB), and the clip rode a little loose, so i just took it off, bent it to my liking, and screwed it back on. easy.

as for it being stripped, i'd be surprised if that was the case. when yer Pop brings home the Torx, just tighten it down some more, and hopefully you should be good to go.

oh, and for the record, Event Horizon is an excellent, jump-outta-yer-skin kinda SCI-FI flick (IMHO, of course). :eek: :)


abe m.
 
The clip on my Grip bent too. I removed it with my Husky Torx driver and bent it back by hand.

I hope your threads aren't stripped. I believe they are anchored not only in plastic, but also brass nuts embedded in the plastic.
 
I caught mine on the striker plate of my front door, not once but twice. Both times I was walking fast. It bent out pretty far (both the clip and the striker plate), but with two pairs of pliers it was no problem to bend the clip back. A vice would work great.

The screws should anchor into the liner. I did not notice any brass nuts in the plastic.
 
Thanks for your help, guys. I should have my hands on the Torx driver tonight by 6. I'll hope for the best :)
 
Don M said:
The screws should anchor into the liner. I did not notice any brass nuts in the plastic.
Click to expand...

I think that's the case with the Mini-Grip,which has full steel liners. I'll double check on the brass nuts in the regular Grip tonight.

. . . .
Checked and FWIW the regular grip does have brass nuts embedded in the plastic for the clip screws.
 
Keith - You're probably right, I was thinking of the mini. The liner on the full size may not extend all the way to the clip screw holes, so the brass nuts would make sense.
 
It is done :D

No stripped threads, I bent it back to normal (actually, it's a little tight because I bent it just a tad too much, but it will probably loosen up eventually). The only damage was that one of my clip screw heads is getting sort of stripped and I have to push down with the driver, but I'm glad no real damage was done.

Thanks for all of your help. :)
 
I inquired to Benchmade about clip screw replacements and they offered a clip too, I think I'll decline on the clip, I got a replacement in January and this one is back to working fine, I'd hate to bankrupt them :eek: :D
 
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