Is it just me

J

jvan

Joined
Apr 19, 2006
Messages
863
or do others of you appreciate a company that allows you to disassemble a knife without voiding their warranty?

I mean, I like a Spyderco or Benchmade product but I really like a company like, say, Kershaw that sends you a couple of springs and a tool and lets you have it on your Leek etc.

Sebenza, have at it!

Why is it that certain companies won't let you take aprt your knife and clean it so that you can keep it in tip top shape?
 
It's not that they won't let you take it apart, but when you do you no longer get free repair services.

Can you blame them really though? If you take something apart and do some damage why should they repair or replace for free? In the case of a legitimate parts failure, let the maker fix it.

Most of them will still offer repair services for a fee.

It's your decision to open a knife or not.

Having said all of that, I take apart anything that can be taken apart with reasonable assurance that I can put it back together again. Yesterday I opened up my Benchmade 710 to clean it after using it for cooking.

The whole disassembly and reassembly process went flawlessly and the knife is just as tight as it came out of the factory. It's my workhorse knife and having taken it apart it no longer has Benchmade's warranty, but if something goes wrong that needs their attention, I'll gladly pay.
 
may also depend on the mechanism.

a sebenza is the model of simplicity. bascially three parts. two scales and a blade. bushings and screws are almost incidental.

even an emerson is relatively easy to service at home. but has two additional pieces, normally, ie the liners.
 
Why is it that certain companies won't let you take aprt your knife and clean it so that you can keep it in tip top shape?
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They don't want you fudging up the mechanics and then trying to force them to foot the bill. Others are more trusting. Nearly every gun company voids the warranty if you shoot reloaded ammo, be it homemade or factory. Is it because the ammo is inherintly bad? No. They just don't want you to blame their product if you screw it up.
 
Psychopomp said:
It's not that they won't let you take it apart, but when you do you no longer get free repair services.

Can you blame them really though? If you take something apart and do some damage why should they repair or replace for free? In the case of a legitimate parts failure, let the maker fix it.

Most of them will still offer repair services for a fee.

It's your decision to open a knife or not.

Having said all of that, I take apart anything that can be taken apart with reasonable assurance that I can put it back together again. Yesterday I opened up my Benchmade 710 to clean it after using it for cooking.

The whole disassembly and reassembly process went flawlessly and the knife is just as tight as it came out of the factory. It's my workhorse knife and having taken it apart it no longer has Benchmade's warranty, but if something goes wrong that needs their attention, I'll gladly pay.
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I would rather be able to take apart my knives and do whatever to them and not void the warranty. IMO Benchmade is a lil bit paranoid to void the warranty on a simple cleaning. if one is so dumb as to not know how to clean a knife, especially one like a BM, then they shouldnt have the BM in the first place. i understand why they do it, i just dont like it somewhat
 
offsetlover said:
I would rather be able to take apart my knives and do whatever to them and not void the warranty. IMO Benchmade is a lil bit paranoid to void the warranty on a simple cleaning. if one is so dumb as to not know how to clean a knife, especially one like a BM, then they shouldnt have the BM in the first place. i understand why they do it, i just dont like it somewhat
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Is there any indication that they can tell if you took it apart, assuming you are smart enough to put it together again?

What such a disclaimer prevents is a knuckledragger from taking a knife apart and not being able to put it together again, then sending the company a ziplog back full of parts and requesting a free rebuild.

Seems fair to me. :)
 
zenheretic said:
Is there any indication that they can tell if you took it apart, assuming you are smart enough to put it together again?

What such a disclaimer prevents is a knuckledragger from taking a knife apart and not being able to put it together again, then sending the company a ziplog back full of parts and requesting a free rebuild.

Seems fair to me. :)
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I'm not disagreeing with you about the "preventing knuckledraggers" clause. my point is, why is it that no one trusts the knife knuts who know what they are doing?
 
Because, quite simply, a qualification would have to be created for what it means to 'know what you're doing.' Does it mean a member of Bladeforums with a certain amount of posts (lots of very clueless people can rack up a high post count), or a knifemaker (lots of knifemakers who have never made a folder), or perhaps a written test you have to take? It's not a case of them saying they think a particular knife knut doesn't have the expertise to do it, but that they're not going to guarantee a flawless mechanism when that machanism has been assembled by someone other than themselves. I'm not giving a like it or not like it vote, in terms of that policy, but do have to say that they'd have to be pretty dumb to try and differentiate who they do and don't trust, as there is no way in hell to do that without insulting somebody. Rather than listen to five hundred different stories on why 500 people feel they're qualified to correctly reassemble their knife, just make an all-encompassing rule and tell people about it beforehand, which they do. Somewhere along the line, somebody made a judgement call at these companies and that's all there is to it.

Put it another way, if I go to a restaurant that has a dress code that is above what I'm currently wearing, I don't make an effort to be affronted by it and say, "Do they think I'm not GOOD ENOUGH to eat here?!" No, it's just that they have a policy I can either conform to or choose another restaurant. Just life.
 
The fact is there are too many people in the world that take things apart and CAN'T put them back together, if you can put the knife back together yourself you shouldn't have a problem because you are more likely to break something that wouldn't be under warranty anyways..
 
zenheretic said:
Is there any indication that they can tell if you took it apart, assuming you are smart enough to put it together again?

What such a disclaimer prevents is a knuckledragger from taking a knife apart and not being able to put it together again, then sending the company a ziplog back full of parts and requesting a free rebuild.

Seems fair to me. :)
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What he said :thumbup: :)
 
t1mpani said:
(lots of very clueless people can rack up a high post count)
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Grrr ... :grumpy:
:p​

* ******* **** ****** *​

I'm not familiar with Benchmade's policy on omega springs. If one breaks, will they send you a replacement? I know they sell that little blue box set of bits to disassemble their knives.



I doubt they worry about voiding the warranty unless you really damage the knife or simply can't reassemble it properly.
B[SIZE=-1]REATHES[/SIZE] there the man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
'This is my own, my EDC!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd
As when his driver he hath turn'd
From wondering how to fix his knife?​
 
I can vouch from experience for BM's W&R. I sent a mini-Grip in for a blade centering issue where the NIB knife had a blade laying aginst the left liner (the clip side). I tried adjusting it myself by removing the clip, loosening all of the screws to the point where the scales and liners had some visible space between them and would move a bit, and removing the blade & washers before putting everything back together and tightening it up.

No luck. The blade was somewhat better, but still noticably off-center. I called BM, explained the problem, told them that I had d/a & r/a the knife to try to square everything up and still had the problem. I told them that I knew I had voided the warranty and asked them to fix the problem and charge me their regular non-warranty charge.

They fixed it (100% perfect) under warranty and never charged me anything. Postage to their "hospital" was all I ever paid. The "voided warranty" clauses may be mostly a back door for companies that gives them the right to refuse to fix something at their cost that has obviously been mishandled by the user, but their W&R people will also have a lot of discretion in determining which issues are real QC issues, and which ones are ID-10-T issues.
 
dalefuller said:
I can vouch from experience for BM's W&R. I sent a mini-Grip in for a blade centering issue where the NIB knife had a blade laying aginst the left liner (the clip side). I tried adjusting it myself by removing the clip, loosening all of the screws to the point where the scales and liners had some visible space between them and would move a bit, and removing the blade & washers before putting everything back together and tightening it up.

No luck. The blade was somewhat better, but still noticably off-center. I called BM, explained the problem, told them that I had d/a & r/a the knife to try to square everything up and still had the problem. I told them that I knew I had voided the warranty and asked them to fix the problem and charge me their regular non-warranty charge.

They fixed it (100% perfect) under warranty and never charged me anything. Postage to their "hospital" was all I ever paid. The "voided warranty" clauses may be mostly a back door for companies that gives them the right to refuse to fix something at their cost that has obviously been mishandled by the user, but their W&R people will also have a lot of discretion in determining which issues are real QC issues, and which ones are ID-10-T issues.
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that explains everything. we should be "professional" about any warranty issues.
 
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