how can you tell if an omega spring is broken???

C

curious2003

Joined
Apr 20, 2003
Messages
220
ok I know that sometimes one or both omega springs "break" in the AXIS knives. Yet I am not quite sure what that means. I assume "break" does not necessarily mean totally snapped off the way some members have experienced. So is it possible for it to get loose or tighten up without and visible exterior signs? A post by another emmber recently suggested that a spring "break" would mean that the AXIS bar is lopsided so that the end that is still in working order will be higher than the side that is not. Or do lopsided bars have nothing to do with this?

What happens when both springs break? Is there a difference between it happening in an open position or closed?

I noticed that my 806 has a tendency to jam up and I thought the problem got better since with my right hand I can unlock it most of the time. However I tried using my left hand yesterday and it is very hard to disengage. When examining the knife it seems the reason for this is that the bar rides up in a lopsided fashion, making it harder to disengage from the left hand side b/c the bar is wedged in a slight diagonal tilt. In order to unlock the knife I have to wiggle it until the bar is straight again. Will this work itself out or do I have a omega spring failure on one side of my knife?

Thanks.
 
I've handled Axis lock knives before and have been tempted to buy them...but I'm only 17 and only have so much money. So I'm going to stick to more realiable designs right now.
-Kevin
P.S.- Sorry no info for you.:(
 
IVE HAD A 710,720, & 730 WHEN IT CAME OUT, AXIS LOCKS ARE THE BEST. I WOULD SEND THE KNIFE TO BENCHMADE & THEY WILL REPAIR OR REPLACE BOTH SPRINGS FOR FREE. DID YOU TRY TO TAKE OFF A HANDLE & SEE IF THE OMEGA SPRING HAS A BREAK OR DISCONNECTED FROM THE HOLE IT IS CLIPPED INTO? SEND IT BACK, & THEY WILL TAKE CARE OF IT. GO TO BENCHMADE.COM & GET THE WARRANTY SECTION,OR CALL THEM TOLL FREE. MIKE........
 
C2003,

I agree with Goldie - send your knife to Benchmade's repair department and they will make it right.

Also, the AXIS lock works best for me if I use both thumb knobs when I pull back on them. Don't know if you are doing this or not, but I thought it worth mentioning.
 
The tilt of the lockbar is not an indication of a broken spring. If your lockbar is able to tilt, a broken spring will cause it to always tilt to one side. But the fact that it can tilt, and may lockup tilted once in a while is not an indication of a broken spring.

The three easiest ways to tell if the spring is broken without taking the knife apart are:
1) You notice a sudden decrease is spring tension on the bar
2) When pulling the bar back evenly with 2 fingers it feels like it wants to tilt to one side.
3) Shake the knife rather hard while looking at the part of the spring you can see through the cutout in the G10, if you can see that part of the spring shift or move while violently shaking the knife, that spring is broken.
 
Yes good info.

But I asked the question b/c I seem to recall some members saying they only realized an omega spring was broken AFTER disassembling their AXIS knives, implying that it was not evident when the knife was intact. The spring gone "bad" was only apparent for some reason only after the handle were taken apart. I'm guessing b/c the problem was on the area of the spring that is covered by the handles/liners?
 
Well my 710 went back to Benchmade last Monday with 2 broken springs.I had no idea that one was broke,and it was only when the axis bar failed totally that I knew I had troubles.

SO for ME I could not tell at all,maybe the first failed so long ago and the fact that I change around edc's I never noticed a differance.We'll see how it feels when it comes back.

I'll say its not a good feeling when a lock lock fails,during the "hard" use of working in some lube....
 
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