Got a 43 and disassembled my 42

[BalisongMan]

Well, I did get my 43 today (from American Heritage Sports aka "HERITAGE" on the BM forum, great guy to deal with, no problems, I highly recommend him). It is really sweet but I'm not going to take any pics since my pictures always suck (well, far away they suck, I think the close ups are fairly good). I also disassembled my 42 (not the latch, I don't have something that small) and I cleaned everything and I switched the handles so that it is a manila latch:

The pins only fit 1 way into the handles, as you can see the torx head is on the "Benchmade USA" side instead of the Bali-Song symbol side:

It is pretty cool as a manila, nice weight in the hand, but I know I'll screw up so I'm thinking of just switching it back (I can always change my mind later ). It is really not that hard to disassemble or reassemble.

 

[Blackjack_21]

I guess it's a moot point that you've just violated the 42's warranty, right? That's a lot of little parts to keep track of, though. I personally would keep it in the Batangas style, but I might try a Manilla latch sometime just for a laugh.

 

[batangueno]

Hey Cam, how did you remove the pins and press them back in? I though they were press fitted.

 

[dragon2]

Did anyone else notice that when you open the warranty card
supplied w/ new Benchmades that on the back they sell tools
for disassembling the knife and voiding the warranty. I just
noticed when my new BM 42 arrived last week.

BTW, when you took the BM 42 apart, did you have any trouble
turning the screws. I loosened the screw on mine after the
handle started sticking, and they must put in the 450 degree
XX strength Loctite.

 

[BalisongMan]

I noticed some LockTite but it didn't effect anything. I just unscrewed the pins, and they just come out like a normal screw, than I ground a nail so it was blunt and I tapped the other pins out (not hard whatsoever). I cleaned everything, that hardest part was the washers and getting them aligned, when I put the female part of the screw in it goes in about 4/5 of the way and I just tapped (with a hammer) the pin the rest of the way, then I just screwed the torx head back in. I know I "voided" the warranty and it feels pretty much the same as before, nothing has changed.

 

[toothed]

Isn't it amazing what you can do if you're not aware that you're not supposed to be able to do it?

 

[7Cain]

Oh yes the Benchmade warranty! Is that a full 100,000 mile coverage? I think that if you have received your BM and there is nothing wrong with it, you pretty much have a BM Gaurrantee! My 239 broke recently and before my 42 that was the only balisong I have ever owned (excluding the CC from my childhood). I learned all the crazy stuff on my 239, and it was only the pin that broke, I can't really see too much happening with these pins (hollow and strong) they look like they will last as long as I will. By the way, most of the damage you put on it will come from dropping it which is not covered in the warrantee.

 

[BalisongMan]

Isn't it amazing what you can do if you're not aware that you're not supposed to be able to do it?

LOL, I knew exactly what I was doing, I've had the knife for over a year and I've flipped it every day, if something was going to go wrong it would have happened by now, plus I have a 43 which is better IMO than the 42. I had no qualms taking it apart and putting it back together, I knew that it would void the warranty (but does it look like I care?? ).

 

[pedder2226]

How easy is it to tell you took it apart? If you put it back batangas style do you think they could tell if anything was ever tampered with?

 

[JGardnerA]

I tried earlier today to disassemble it, using a finishing nail with a ground down tip and a hammer. I tapped at it for half an hour, and the pin would not budge. How hard did you have to hit it? I started with some kinda light tapping but then worked my way up to striking it pretty firmly. Did it take a long time?

 

[Dragon1]

Yeah, I was wondering that too. My BM torx set came in today, so I promptly disassembled my 750, then turned on my 42. The screws came out easy enough, but I can't get the pins to budge.

 

[BalisongMan]

I didn't "tap it" but I didn't pound it, I just struck the head of the nail very firmly (not as hard as I would drive a nail into wood though) and after about 2-3 hits it just came out. My 42 is over a year old so that might make a difference (flipped it everyday) plus the pins on my 42 are different than the 42's that are made now.

 

[BalisongMan]

BTW, if I tried now (now that I know exactly what I'm doing) I can have it disassembled totally (latch included as soon as I get some Torx bits) in about a minute. I did change it back to Batangas style latch (though I do like manila a lot more than I thought I would) and it looks the same as before, feels a little bit better though . I am sure that there is a way for BM to notice that it has been disassembled.