Help . . . I need Manix training . . . or training wheels.

[Wowbagger]

I am so smug and happy. I have a brand new Manix 2 CPM-S110V. I find my self wanting to walk up to strangers and tell them all about the knife and the steel. I haven’t yet but I want to. It cuts, I like the color and the whole Manix deal. Big but light in the pocket. Made just up the road from me in, as it says on the blade, Golden, Colorado, USA, Earth.
Sweet !

Here is where I get kind of skinned up from falling over :

I’m a mechanic. I often have tape on my fingers, non knife related USUALLY, for one reason or another. and the other fingers split in the winter so can be painful. So between the tape and the splits I am finding it a challenge to use the axis lock quickly and safely one handed.

I think even if I have no tape and no splits that I am still going to choke occasionally and or cut my self while closing the knife one handed. Here is what I have observed . . .

Note in the photo that my pinky finger is right on the verge of getting into the way of the blade closing. I have to rely strongly on the pinky to grip the knife well enough to close it one handed. Last night it felt like I was starting to pull part of my finger nail off from gripping the edge of the handle. I originally thought I was hooking it on the clip but when I took the photo I discovered it was the handle that was getting under my nail.


I tucked the pinky out of action and you can see how I grip it then to keep my fingers aways from the blade slot. I rely very strongly on bracing my fingers on the clip and it is uncomfortable to open and close the knife a lot with this grip. I probably couldn’t close the knife with this grip if I took the clip off so I am thinking I am doing something wrong here.



It is very easy to work the lock when I wrap my fingers across the blade slot and if I gently flip the blade it gets part way closed and I don’t cut the back of my fingers but in the heat of working I will probably over flip and cut my fingers so this cross slot grip seems off the list of smart things to do.



I read somewhere that the great thing about the axis lock is one’s fingers are safely out of the way when unlocking the blade.
How so ?
As far as I can tell the best way to close the knife for safety is to use two hands as I am in this photo. How did I take that shot ? iTouch camera balanced on my thermos and poke the touch screen button with my tongue. Hey . . . a knife student has got to do what a knife student has got to do ! Am I right ? Ha, ha, ha.
PS: you can see how jacked up my right thumb is here and there so I need some help working this puppy.



As a control example see the photo of my Boker Ti handled 440C. I find it very easy to close one handed even thought the lock is in the middle of the back of the knife. I can operate this guy all day and no problem. I am gripping across the slot but with the thumb stud I can totally control the blade speed and range.


I have lubed the spring in the Manix from inside the blade slot and the blade pivot is lubed and is not too tight. What do you all recommend for closing the Manix; what am I doing wrong ?

I watched a bunch of YouTube before and after I got the Manix. Looks easier for them than I am finding it for me.

 

[nlewman]

It looks to me like you're trying to use it like an axis lock. It isn't. It's a caged ball bearing lock, which is much hard pull than an axis.

Try using your pointer finger on one side and your thumb on the other, not just your thumb

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[BlueSpartan007]

It looks to me like you're trying to use it like an axis lock. It isn't. It's a caged ball bearing lock, which is much hard pull than an axis.

Try using your pointer finger on one side and your thumb on the other, not just your thumb

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Yeah, the clip is really the main reason it's possibly for one handed deployment/release. It truly, although it feels similar, is nothing like the axis lock. Definitely a more solid lockup, but it shows. I just came to this conclusion as well, and just started a thread a couple days ago about this. Some nice input, here's the link: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1388394-Will-my-Manix-2-loosen-up .

 

[BilboBaggins]

Here's how I do it, for what it's worth.

View attachment 631116

Thumb and Index finger disengage the lock and my other 3 fingers are all braced on the clip. These locks take an adjustment period, but after a day or so of playing with it, it just becomes muscle memory.

 

[BilboBaggins]

In case that link above doesn't work...

 

[Cap’n Smudge]

Index finger and thumb are necessary, as stated above. Notice in bilbos picture how the butt end of the manix is higher in hand than your grip? This is necessary as well. As you pull back on the lock, you wedge the butt end of the knife against the lower palm of your hand. This will greatly reduce the amount of side grip pressure.

 

[BenjaminRush]

Agree with above--once you get it, it will be a breeze to unlock one handed, with or without the clip

 

[BilboBaggins]

Index finger and thumb are necessary, as stated above. Notice in bilbos picture how the butt end of the manix is higher in hand than your grip? This is necessary as well. As you pull back on the lock, you wedge the butt end of the knife against the lower palm of your hand. This will greatly reduce the amount of side grip pressure.

Agreed. It puts the pressure into the palm of the hand rather than on the fingers like you are currently doing. The 3 fingers that aren't disengaging the lock are really just there to hold it in place. The two fingers that disengage the lock put the downward pressure into your hand.

 

[blades&wrenches]

Bilbo has it right. Practice practice and the lock becomes second nature.

On a side note, I'm also a mechanic and totally feel you on the cracked up, jacked up fingers. There are a couple things you can do to help.
1. A good hand cream/lotion like O'Keefe's Working Hands applied nightly will help tremendously.
2. A heavy duty nitrile glove during jobs of high grease/or dirt to lessen the amount of times you have to wash hands.
3. Have 2 different soaps on hand. The abrasive Fast Orange, Cherry Bomb, etc. are great when your hands are really dirty, but continuous use seems to do more harm. I like to have a bottle of dish soap on hand to use 75% of the time. Its does a pretty good job cleaning while being far more gentle and helps moisturize.

 

[Danke42]

I'm going to second the O"Keefe's and the gloves.

I got the same splits on my finger tips here in the winter from working on dirty machinery in the cold. Going that route now has me with maybe one over the season vs. all winter with a couple fingers or thumbs messed up.

 

[darkaether]

Interesting. I use my thumb and middle finger to unlock, then close it with my index finger. It definitely took some time to get used to. I don't like it nearly as much as the compression lock in my right hand, but I definitely like it more for my left so I keep it in my left pocket.

 

[wiredbeans]

Time to get the sage 5 with compression lock if you are struggling with the axis/bolt or similar lock type. I like PM2 over Manix,


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wiredbeans]

Bilbo has it right. Practice practice and the lock becomes second nature.

I feel a well designed knife shouldn't come with learning curve to open and close, the first 5 minute maybe but anything beyond that is in my opinion a design flaw.

Don't get me wrong, I love all my 30 or so Spydercos. About the only thing I had to practice on is finger flick them on some of the blocked hole models and a few FRN back locks. Spyderco makes enough variation of similar blade shape and geometry to meet the consumer preference. For example Manix blade shape is very similar to Caly 3.5, the sage series, and PM2 with straight spine.

 

[BilboBaggins]

I feel a well designed knife shouldn't come with learning curve to open and close, the first 5 minute maybe but anything beyond that is in my opinion a design flaw.

Don't get me wrong, I love all my 30 or so Spydercos. About the only thing I had to practice on is finger flick them on some of the blocked hole models and a few FRN back locks. Spyderco makes enough variation of similar blade shape and geometry to meet the consumer preference. For example Manix blade shape is very similar to Caly 3.5, the sage series, and PM2 with straight spine.

Best part about Spyderco is that there really is something for everybody. I actually prefer the Manix to the PM2. For my hand size/shape, it has the best ergonomics out of any other knife I've used. I didn't really have a learning curve with it. It was more of just getting used to how much force is required to pull down on the lock. I'm still fairly new to the Spyderco universe and am trying to test a little bit of everything in terms of blade size/shape, steel, locks, handle material, etc. My favorite is the southard, but if I had to only use one for the rest of eternity, it would be the Manix. Of course, I might be singing a different tune in fairly short order as my collection steadily increases.

 

[blades&wrenches]

I feel a well designed knife shouldn't come with learning curve to open and close, the first 5 minute maybe but anything beyond that is in my opinion a design flaw.

Ill have to disagree here. Becoming efficient, quick, and reliable at one handing some knives takes somewhat of a learning curve. Familiarizing yourself with something never experienced before. Some designs come more naturally to others as well. But to say you should be as fast and proficient as you ever will be within five miutes is false, IMHO.

 

[bearfacedkiller]

Please don't call it an Axis lock, it is a caged ball bearing lock. Similar in a way but also very different. Each company respectively designed and patented their own lock in this case.

I much prefer the interface of the compression lock myself and this is why. For me the Manix2 is a two finger closing knife. I pull the lock buttons down with my thumb and index finger and with a little flick of the wrist the blade is closed. From my experience the CBBL will be harder to disengage than the Axis lock.

 

[Wowbagger]

nlewman

. . . axis lock. It isn't. It's a caged ball bearing lock, which is much hard pull than an axis.

Ball bearing lock. Got it. Thanks. I hate it when people use the wrong terms. Now I'm doing it. Lets chock it up to the excitement of being in the presence of the S110V. This time

Try using your pointer finger on one side and your thumb on the other, not just your thumb

Yep for sure. I have no illusion of using just my thumb. Been using two fingers from the start.
thanks

BlueSpartan007
So it's not just me.
Thanks for the link

BilboBaggins
How's the Shire ? Say hi to Gandalf (I bet HE doesn't have these sorts of problems when he's working).

These locks take an adjustment period, but after a day or so of playing with it, it just becomes muscle memory.

For me or the lock . . . ha, ha, ha, ? I guess you mean me. So I have to get smarter and more coordinated again ? I hate when that's the case. I been jacking the lock back and forth through its full range and left the knife over night a couple of times with the blade just open enough to compress the spring as far as possible. Of course I knew from mechanical physics FACTS that this would make absolutely no difference in the spring rate but I have read such things here and I had hoped that in the presence of the brethren there might be an Eddie in the space time continuum.
No soap.
I love the knife but she fights me.
Story of my life come to think about it . . .
hmmmmm
anyway . . .
Wow an attachment . . . just for me ? ? ? THANKS (I'll watch it here in a jiff).

Odog27
BengiminRush

. Notice in bilbos picture how the butt end of the manix is higher in hand than your grip?

Oh Hell ! ! !
That clinches it.
I don't have fingers long enough to work my Manix. I have weeny fingers ! I'll never be able to do this. It is a birth defect !
Although . . .
I am going into the dentist tomorrow for major work. Could be months of mouth wrenching. I got the Manix just to help get me through it all . . .
I wonder . . . ?
Maybe he could do some finger tip IMPLANTS.
That's IT ! Finger Faultsies !
There's hope after all !

Blades&wrenches
Bro :
Good advice !
The tape is covering a freekin' wart. I got shards of chrome in my finger; no time to stop to dig it out; then dirt and mud and got the wort. I read keeping it covered with a dot of duct tape kills it. I keep the bandage tape on to keep the duct tape in place. Months like this. The duct tape thing is TOTAL BS! No change.
Ha, ha, I haven't had a wart since my first job as a dish washer in high school and I'm an old dude now. I put glue like stuff on it back then and IT WORKED. I tried Elmer's and finger crack glue under the tape. Guess I will look for the wart stuff now. Chaps me to pay the price of a REAL knife (probably talking Sebenza here) just to have my finger froze by a doc. Nah dude, nah.

Danke42

Split finger

Fun Huh ?
I live at high altitude. ~7000 feet plus here.
The keys for me is more oxygen; in the summer no problem; in the spring no problem after the trees leaf out and start making oxygen locally (else we have to get it by wind blowing off the oceans and we can't hardly get further from the ocean.
The other thing that helps is totally stay away from eating : beans, whole grain anything, nuts with the brown skin on you know like the stuff that sluffs off shelled peanuts (a legume (bean) by the way). I think this chaff/outer layer has a toxin in it that helps protect the plant to some small degree against insects etc.

In a day or two of cutting ALL that stuff out of my diet the cracks go form super painful and bleeding while working to manageable and no big deal but just there and split. Cold has some effect but very minor. I work indoors on room temp stuff exclusively. So mine is almost entirely diet and atmosphere (oxygen) related. How can I be so sure ? Thirty plus years of battling this bastard and watching his movements and patterns. :grumpy:
I keep telling The Chef that I need to retire to The Islands but she just gives me a dope slap and tells me to go to work.
Thanks

darkather

thumb and middle finger to unlock, then close it with my index finger.

yep that's what I am finding (since I am deformed from birth (short fingers or small hands or some such)).
I just tried it once again and both times it flew shut hitting the back of my fingers.
Whoa !
once pointing up so I tilted the blade toward the floor and it still flew closed. Ha, ha I guess the pivot is at least freeing up nice now. That was unlocking with longest finger and thumb while pressing on blade with index.
I just discovered that since it is freer I can unlock THEN press the blade rather than pressing while unlocking.
Probably what you meant.
Knowing plastic I bet the knife will be less free when it is hot weather and then play in cold weather.
Anybody find this true or is the glass fiber more stable than I think ?

wiredbeans

Time to get the sage 5 with compression lock if you are struggling with the axis/bolt or similar lock type. I like PM2 over Manix,

Time to buy another knife !
OR TWO !
Spoken like a true cutlery connoisseur.
Now why couldn't you other guys tell me that ?

The battle continues . . .

 

[Cap’n Smudge]

Despite your birth defects, you can do this! You have your fingers all curled. You are pressing the spine off the knife against your palm. Extend your index finger and thumb. This should result in the spine coming off of your palm. I don't really need the other three fingers on the side to operate the lock.

 

[Wowbagger]

from the Benchmade 940-1 posts and vids I knew before I clicked on "Buy" that the ball bearing lock (thank you) on the Manix was going to be very significantly more firm than the axis lock,
So
I made the conscious decision to put up with it to get a knife with a blade made of CPM-S110V that was reliably heat treated and that meant Spyderco for my budget.
Sorry Phil Wilson . . . someday man, someday.

I understand with anything good it takes some learning and practice and a brain that is functional.
It is the rare knife that is just naturally useful in the hand. I must say my Dragonfly 2 is that knife. Especially for a little knife. I pick up my Cold Steel Mini Tuff Lite after not using if for a month and I got to make a flight plan and hold my tongue just right to one hand open it. The Dragonfly I could open and close one handed after a year of non use while my house was on fire and I was converting fahrenheit to Centigrade in my head. It is just perfection.

I am bound and determined to buy some knives that first of all do not have round holes cut in the handles (so many of my knives have round holes in the handles )(though I kind of liked that Ti urban trapper I made my self not buy for that reason)
and
I am bound and determined to buy some knives with locks other than back locks which I am not all that partial to but have a boat load of them for some reason.

Again I bought the Manix over the 940-1 because of the CPM-S110V STEEL;
also very important to me in this case is that this Manix is a USA made knife made here in Colorado. I wish Western was still made here. I lost Western I don't intend to loose Spyderco made in USA due to lack of support from me.

 

[Wowbagger]

Despite your birth defects, you can do this!

NO
I can't
I can't
I can't
I can't
hahaha

please note I have the "Light Weight" wit the fiberglass-reinforced copolymer (FRCP) Bi-Directional Texturing pattern, not the skeletonized metal handle with G-10 scales.

apparently this and normal size hands like yourn allow the cool three point grip.

Nah dude, nah
the end of my wimpy plastic handle just pops right cross my palm; can't get traction. No way I can reach the slide at the same time.
I'm a failure.