Dumb BM42 question

U

Uranium

Joined
May 3, 1999
Messages
84
I just got a BM42s today, my first balisong :)
It's lots of fun so far, seems like the yo-yo of the knife world, only it has a purpose!
One question though, when the handles are not locked the blade has a reasonable amount of side to side play, when I move the unsafe handle away and leave the blade in the safe handle, there is enough play for it to slap relatively hard side to side in the safe handle. Is it supposed to be like that? :) It doesn't seem to be scraping or causing damage to the side of the blade and it has no problems closing in either direction.

thanks!
Adam
 
Sounds like you need to give the torx a little adjustment. Tightening it should reduce the handle offset. Just be careful not to overtighten it, or else you'll find the handles a little too tight. The Torx Kit from BM is a good investment for $10. You local Sears or Home Depot would also have the Torx bits in question if you don't already have them.
 
Some folks prefer a looser feel for manipulation, but that sounds a little too loose. The easiest test for alignment is to hold the bali upside down, open and unlatched, and push the handles in the opposite direction as far as they go. If the latch can go around the other handle your alignment is retarded. Fear not, with a simple torx head screwdriver or the benchmade torx head kit available at most knife stores, you can tighten that baby back up and get back to rearranging your extremities.
 
AAAAAAAAARGH!!! Beat me to it again tony! For that I curse you, may your children be born NAKED and TOOTHLESS!!! AHAHAHAHA!
 
the handles aren't even close to loose enough when fully open to push the one above or below the latch. try this:
leave the blade "in" the safe handle, open the unsafe handle 90 degrees. push the blade perpendicular to the direction of the spine (i'm not good at describing three dimensional vectors, especially when i'm not familiar with what i'm describing!!) does the blade touch the sides of the handle? by the sides of the handle I mean the insides of the cutout in the handle.

Adam
 
Uranium,

The answer to your question should be no. There shouldn't be that much play in the blade for it to "slap" the handle. We're not talking that much gap in the design. SOmething is amiss.

Want to meet to settle this? I'm in Whitestone. We'll tweak that puppy yet.
 
So Tony, are you saying that when you do the test that Uranium describes your blade doesn't touch the insides of the handles?
 
Originally posted by McMahan
So Tony, are you saying that when you do the test that Uranium describes your blade doesn't touch the insides of the handles?
Click to expand...
On some yes, it touches the side. On others, no. But it doesn't "slap" the side of the handle. I think there's more blade play involeved here, and he's only 10 minutes from me to get a hands on evaluation.
 
Interesting...
I would definitely say that mine slaps the sides of the handles, and I have my torx screws locked to the point where any more tightening would result in the blade binding to the handles.
 
Originally posted by McMahan
Interesting...
I would definitely say that mine slaps the sides of the handles, and I have my torx screws locked to the point where any more tightening would result in the blade binding to the handles.
Click to expand...
That disturbs me. It means you're experiencing the same issue we have with the steel handles, where the fork that mates to the tang gets widened with use. I had hoped that the new titanium handles would be immuned from this.

How long have you had the balis? Usage?
 
I've had the BM 42 in question since about a month after they became available. As for usage, countless hours, and the type of manipulation style I have tends to be very tough on knives. I have taken my knife apart a few times, but the blade slapping against the handle had started before the first disassembly. I honestly don't recall if the blade slapped against the handles when I first got it or not.
I have also had the same problem you mentioned with the steel handles, a 45 that I spent a lot of time with is forked out even worse than my 42.
 
Which brings us back to Uranium. Not sure if his was bought new. If it is, I'll want to find out the cause. Never happy to hear about poorly put together Bali's.
 
Tony,

I've never met another knife nut before, thanks for the offer :) Where would you like to meet? Since you stayed up till 4am our hours might overlap in a strange way, I work from 3-11pm :\

Adam
 
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