Manix 2 blade play fixed?

RogueBowie

RogueBowie

Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
2,603
So yesterday I bit the bullet on a Manix 2 at my LKS that I'd been eyeing for awhile and so far have been very pleased with it. Since last night though I was noticing some horizontal blade play that really bugs me, it's almost a post-purchase deal breaker on a high to mid end knife like this one. I do like the design and features so much though that I opted to fix it instead of return it. I researched here on BF about it and found many people recommend taking it apart and filing down the bearings. I was hesitant to take it all the way apart so first I decided just for the heck of it to try to tighten the torx screws a little that are at the blade pivot, even though they appear to be mostly for holding the G10 to the liners so I didn't expect this to really fix the issue. However, to my surprise, no more blade play. It now locks up like a bank. There is some sacrifice in deployment ease and speed but that's well worth it to me. Does anyone familiar with the internal workings of this knife know if I really fixed it or just put a band-aid on a broken leg? How deep do these torx screws go?
 
You fixed it. Those screws go into the pivot bushing (it's got female screw holes on either side and is keyed to one of the liners so the blade moves freely around the pivot-bushing, but the pivot-bushing won't spin).

They do a heck of a lot more than hold the G10 there :)

You can try loosening one or both a touch to get that perfect spot between hard-to-deploy and blade-play.
 
I'll probably end up getting around to readjusting them after the stiff deployment starts bugging me more and more. For now I'm just happy to not have a $100 dollar knife I don't want to use anymore. Unless it's a very small edc blade that is just for cutting strings and tape here and there I can't STAND blade play, especially the kind of horizontal play I was getting off of my Manix 2. They must have been rushed to get it in the box while they were adjusting the screws. Otherwise it's a beautiful knife.
 
If everything is tight, just keep flicking it open and closed and it should break in very nicely.......
 
That's what I'm hoping for in the back of my mind, break in the deployment and get it smooth but keep the firm lockup/lack of blade play without having to tediously adjust the torx screws to the 'just right' position. Only problem is, I'm currently sitting on my couch doing just that (opening and closing obsessively) but the little plastic locking studs really hurt your fingers after you keep unlocking them repeatedly! Guess that means they have good grip haha.
 
Hold open your lock for a bit by pushing your lock buttons down and holding them there. That will help loosen up the spring. Just be patient and keep breaking it in. My Manix 2 was very stiff at first. It is now buttery smooth:D
 
It takes a bit of fine tuning. I also use a bit of blue loctite to ensure that the pivot screws stay where I like it. I've noticed that the more recent models that use the pivot bushings, both Manix 2 and Para 2, are able to be tightened further by the end user. I have a few very early examples of the Manix 2 where the pivot bushing was too wide and ended up modifying the shoulders to fit tighter with the understanding that I was voiding my warranty on them.
 
That reminds me, the guy at my knife store told me I can use nail polish instead of loctite with the huge advantage that if you need to unscrew those screws again the nail polish just breaks free while loctite will strip your screws, anyone else heard that?
 
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