So I recently I decided I wanted to try my first axis lock. I've played with them before at knife stores and they were always really easy to flick and use but I've been wanting to try CPM M4 lately so I decided to go for the GPknives exclusive and get a mini-grip in it.
So the knife gets here today and I'm pretty happy with it, but it has a few small niggles, most noticeably some side-to-side blade play. I tried to fix that by adjusting the pivot and the body screws but to no avail. I can either set it so it has no play but is all but impossible to open and close one-handed or get it flickable but you can shake the blade side-to-side, neither of which are appealing to me. So I email GPknives asking what I should do, but realize its after 5 so I won't receive a reply til tomorrow at the earliest. And then I decide what the heck, I can take it apart. It's not like I was planning to take apart the lock, I just wanted to get the blade and washers out, smooth them out a bit and oil them up and see if that helps the problem, maybe add in another washer if I can find one the right size. So I search the forum for info on disassembling axis locks and find
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/581554-Benchmade-Griptilian-Strip-and-Reassembly. Now the GPknives exclusive is a bit different in that it has dual liners but it was close enough for my purposes. So anyways, I get the pivot screw out and then try to take out the pivot using a Q-tip with one end cut off. Well as I tried to push the pivot out, the Qtip just bent. I figured it was a weak Qtip so I cut the end off another one to try again. Same thing happened. Now this should have been my first cue that I shouldn't disassemble the mini grip but I ignored it. I ended up just sticking my T-10 into the pivot and tapping it out, and it took a few taps to get it all out. So now I have the blade and washers, open up a few of my other knives (Spyderco Cat and Endura Trainer) to see if they would be able to donate some washers. Neither of them were the same size though so those knives closed back up easily and went back into storage. So at this point I'm thinking I'll just smooth out the pivot and washers a tad, lube them up and put it back together. I do the first part of that and then try to put the blade and pivot back in. Blade goes in fine, I pull the axis lock back and try to slide the pivot in. And... it doesn't fit. I've put D shaped pivots in before so I do my usual swirl it around until the D lines up and it slides in and it just doesn't fit. I must've been trying for at least an hour before I just give up and go over the pivot with my 30x loupe. I found a small burr that I guess was put there when it was made thatI am assuming is what was keeping the pivot being taken out and put back in. I removed the burr with a coarse rod for my Sharpmaker and beveled the edge of it just a litte, and after that the pivot went in with no trouble at all, took me one try. The play in the pivot is still there though so I just tightened it up and resigned myself to not being able to flick it open and closed.
I don't want to end my post on a bad note though, because despite all this I really like the knife and plan to carry it exclusively for a week or so just to get a feel for it. Might pick up another BM this week too, my aunt passed away last night from complications arising from cancer so I've been looking for Cancer Awareness knives and BM has a few that I like. Pink and an M4 blade seems like a nice combo
Also, it came very sharp right out of the box. In my attempts to put the pivot back in the blade fell out of the handle, fell maybe 5 inches and got my ankle pretty good. Bled a lot, which further cements this knife as mine and means I can't get rid of it since we're now bonded.
Pictures here if you want to see an ankle with a small hole in it (linked because I'm not gonna be hosting these just in case someone gets queasy easy).
So in short, disappointed but I realize I probably got one that slipped through the cracks which happens to every company. Hopefully my next one can wow me!
So the knife gets here today and I'm pretty happy with it, but it has a few small niggles, most noticeably some side-to-side blade play. I tried to fix that by adjusting the pivot and the body screws but to no avail. I can either set it so it has no play but is all but impossible to open and close one-handed or get it flickable but you can shake the blade side-to-side, neither of which are appealing to me. So I email GPknives asking what I should do, but realize its after 5 so I won't receive a reply til tomorrow at the earliest. And then I decide what the heck, I can take it apart. It's not like I was planning to take apart the lock, I just wanted to get the blade and washers out, smooth them out a bit and oil them up and see if that helps the problem, maybe add in another washer if I can find one the right size. So I search the forum for info on disassembling axis locks and find
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/581554-Benchmade-Griptilian-Strip-and-Reassembly. Now the GPknives exclusive is a bit different in that it has dual liners but it was close enough for my purposes. So anyways, I get the pivot screw out and then try to take out the pivot using a Q-tip with one end cut off. Well as I tried to push the pivot out, the Qtip just bent. I figured it was a weak Qtip so I cut the end off another one to try again. Same thing happened. Now this should have been my first cue that I shouldn't disassemble the mini grip but I ignored it. I ended up just sticking my T-10 into the pivot and tapping it out, and it took a few taps to get it all out. So now I have the blade and washers, open up a few of my other knives (Spyderco Cat and Endura Trainer) to see if they would be able to donate some washers. Neither of them were the same size though so those knives closed back up easily and went back into storage. So at this point I'm thinking I'll just smooth out the pivot and washers a tad, lube them up and put it back together. I do the first part of that and then try to put the blade and pivot back in. Blade goes in fine, I pull the axis lock back and try to slide the pivot in. And... it doesn't fit. I've put D shaped pivots in before so I do my usual swirl it around until the D lines up and it slides in and it just doesn't fit. I must've been trying for at least an hour before I just give up and go over the pivot with my 30x loupe. I found a small burr that I guess was put there when it was made thatI am assuming is what was keeping the pivot being taken out and put back in. I removed the burr with a coarse rod for my Sharpmaker and beveled the edge of it just a litte, and after that the pivot went in with no trouble at all, took me one try. The play in the pivot is still there though so I just tightened it up and resigned myself to not being able to flick it open and closed.
I don't want to end my post on a bad note though, because despite all this I really like the knife and plan to carry it exclusively for a week or so just to get a feel for it. Might pick up another BM this week too, my aunt passed away last night from complications arising from cancer so I've been looking for Cancer Awareness knives and BM has a few that I like. Pink and an M4 blade seems like a nice combo
Also, it came very sharp right out of the box. In my attempts to put the pivot back in the blade fell out of the handle, fell maybe 5 inches and got my ankle pretty good. Bled a lot, which further cements this knife as mine and means I can't get rid of it since we're now bonded.
Pictures here if you want to see an ankle with a small hole in it (linked because I'm not gonna be hosting these just in case someone gets queasy easy).
So in short, disappointed but I realize I probably got one that slipped through the cracks which happens to every company. Hopefully my next one can wow me!
