How do I fix the off-center blade on my brand new Contego?

MaxFactor

MaxFactor

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After quite a bit of anticipation I finally received my Benchmade Contego in the mail this morning. However, I was quite disappointed to find the blade extremely off center. Unfortunately I had to head into work, so I haven't had the chance to disassemble it but it will be the first Axis lock knife I've worked on and I'm always a bit apprehensive about mechanisms with tiny springs.

So is there a trick to disassembling the Axis? And what is the best way to alleviate the off-center blade, assuming a disassembly/reassembly doesn't help?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
grab the handle firmly with knife open and pull the side of the blade the oppiste direction you want it to go do this a few times and it will fix it all five of my contegos are like this for some reason probably because of the thick blade and thick washers anyway try this.No need to take knife apart worked on all my contegos.
 
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Make sure the stop pin and the pivot are the same tightness, if the stop pin is tighter than the pivot the pressure on the washers will be uneven leading to a off center blade or a not so smooth action.
 
If the above things dont work you still dont need to disassemble the knife. You simply loosen the pivot, stop pin and handle screws so that everything has a chance to shift. Then with all these points loosened take a piece of folded paper and wedge it between the blade and the handle slab so that it will push the blade in the direction you want it to go. Then with the blade manually forced over tighten the handle screws from farthest away from the pivot, then the stop pin and then the pivot. dont crank on the pivot. You just want it snug. Then when your sure all the other screws are secure (dont over torque the screws. Especially the stop pin. then remove the paper between the blade and handle slab. You may need to repeat the process a few times till you get the blade where you would like it. If this doesnt work, then I dont think its something that adjustment will take care of.
 
^+1 but first try the pull trick or you might have to do both anyway all five of mine are centred now without taking the knife apart.
 
Neither approach has been effective.

Tried the paper method but once the paper shim was pulled out, the blade simply went back to how it was.

Pulling the blade to the side helps, until I open and close it a few times and it simply returns to being off-center.

I also loosened the pivot, which helped center the blade, but the blade ends up being way too loose.
 
ok loosen the bolts a little then pull the blade pretty hard then tighten the bolts then open and close you may have to do this a couple times mine were pretty easy to center they all were to the right side of the knife when closed.
 
Alright. I'll give that a go.

In the meantime, here's a couple of picture of the off-centeredness.

2013-05-10160420_zpse4047120.jpg


2013-05-10160509_zpsc57cc94c.jpg
 
That had crossed my mind but I'd never heard of that happening so I didn't put too much thought into it.

Here's another angle of the blade.

2013-05-10160356_zps5ffd7029.jpg
 
i would post this on the benchmade subforum. if nothing else the moderator over there should supply with a solution. i own 3 bm's. love em all. its a shame to have to deal with this from a brand new knife.
 
The blade does not look warped, it just looks off center. I have always tried the paper/take apart trick with good results, but never on a blade that far off! That might need to be sent in, that's a shame they let that leave the factory.
 
If you do have to send it in (which would really suck, I know) it will return perfect I think. Just be sure to print out the service form from their website and write exactly what you want done.

You can also use the opportunity to ask for an extra clip and screws and get it laser marked with your name or a logo for not much $.

The last thing I'd suggest is to ask them if they will consider paying for shipping. I've heard of that happening, though I don't have experience with that myself.

I've sent a knife to Benchmade and it came back perfect. The blade was even centered and I had forgotten to ask about that.

It may ease the pain to know that your knife will land in the hands of one tech who will go over it with care and attention. At least that's how I believe it works. I look at it like my knife came back hand assembled by one person who really cared that the knife was perfect before it shipped the second time.

Oh almost forgot, I believe that they sharpen every knife that comes back (regardless of the lifesharp thing) so if you don't want the edge touched up write that on the form as well.

Good luck, and let us know what happens. If you do have to send it in my bet is that you will be very happy. ;)
 
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