Manix 2 blade play question

brendog10

brendog10

Joined
Apr 22, 2006
Messages
351
I just purchased a Manix 2 and have been using it for light cutting, as well as opening and closing it regularly. Yesterday I noticed some side to side blade play. I grabbed a screwdriver and tried to adjust the pivot screw only to find that the screw was fully tightened. I can't figure out if there is anything I can do to fix the blade play or if the Manix just naturally has some small blade play normally. So, has anyone else experienced this problem?
 
It should not have any play. It's a bushing-ed pivot. YMMV but I would NOT eff with it myself - you will totally lose any warranty coverage for this or any related future problems. I would talk to either the dealer and/or Spyderco about getting it fixed under warranty.
 
A bit of side to side play is normal. Every one of my M2 has at least a tiny bit of play, that is if you grab the end of the blade while open and jiggle, there's a noticeable feel of play in the pivot area. That amount of "looseness" has be there due to manufacturing tolerances. It's not a Sebbie. ;)
 
dsmegst said:
A bit of side to side play is normal. Every one of my M2 has at least a tiny bit of play, that is if you grab the end of the blade while open and jiggle, there's a noticeable feel of play in the pivot area. That amount of "looseness" has be there due to manufacturing tolerances. It's not a Sebbie. ;)
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It's not a Sebenza for sure, but I've got five here and none of them have any pivot play. Maybe I'm lucky...maybe not...either way, I would not start modifying the knife before talking to Spyderco's W&R department.
 
JNewell said:
It's not a Sebenza for sure, but I've got five here and none of them have any pivot play. Maybe I'm lucky...maybe not...either way, I would not start modifying the knife before talking to Spyderco's W&R department.
Click to expand...

neither of my manix's have any blade play either. Both are rock solid.
 
dsmegst said:
A bit of side to side play is normal. Every one of my M2 has at least a tiny bit of play, that is if you grab the end of the blade while open and jiggle, there's a noticeable feel of play in the pivot area. That amount of "looseness" has be there due to manufacturing tolerances. It's not a Sebbie. ;)
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I can name lots of knives not made by Chris Reeve, costing $40 or less, with zero blade play.
The Manix should NOT have blade play.
 
Ok, let's define what I mean by "side to side play" before I start contradicting people.

So far, I've not had one single folder that does not have SOME tiny bit of movement when I wiggle the blade while holding the handle and the tip of the blade.

My small Sebbie has it, my almost NIB large Sebbie does also but to a lesser degree. The Mnandi feels the tightest. I guess the blade length is too short for much leverage. I'm not talking about some wobbly pivot. If I hold the blade at the base, near the tang, and wiggle, there's no movement along the pivot. But while holding the tip, there's enough leverage to give it the tiniest bit. It's NOT the same as a fixed blade.

I've just checked all 7 Manix 2 I own. The tightest (close to CRK level) are the 2 pink Sprints. The others, CF, blue and 3 grays all feel a bit looser.

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that there's some sort of problems with the M2 pivots.

What do you guys consider to be "blade play"?
 
dsmegst said:
What do you guys consider to be "blade play"?
Click to expand...

IMHO, blade play is any movement of the blade, in any direction, caused by loose tolerances. That of course, only applies to a fully open and locked blade. Blade play when closed is also caused by loose tolerances. Blade play will not refer to any movement that is within function parameters.

I would also not consider flex as blade play.
 
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dsmegst said:
What do you guys consider to be "blade play"?
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I'd describe any movement at the pivot, in either the vertical or horizontal plane, with the knife locked open as "blade play". But, I only consider it excessive if I can hold the open knife by the handle, shake it like a fever thermometer, and feel movement.

Paul
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dsmegst said:
Ok, let's define what I mean by "side to side play" before I start contradicting people.

So far, I've not had one single folder that does not have SOME tiny bit of movement when I wiggle the blade while holding the handle and the tip of the blade.

My small Sebbie has it, my almost NIB large Sebbie does also but to a lesser degree. The Mnandi feels the tightest. I guess the blade length is too short for much leverage. I'm not talking about some wobbly pivot. If I hold the blade at the base, near the tang, and wiggle, there's no movement along the pivot. But while holding the tip, there's enough leverage to give it the tiniest bit. It's NOT the same as a fixed blade.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Three Sebs I owned had a hint of play, but it wasn't a real concern to me.
 
Brendog10,I have the same issue with my Manix 2.Didn't notice that there was any horizontal blade play when new until recently,it's most noticeable when the blade is in the handle and about to touch the liners.What I thought would fix it was to simply tighten the blade pivot but unfortunately I tighten it until it would go no further and head of the screw broke from the thread.:mad: Fortunately,I didn't have a problem getting the part from Spyderco but there still the issue of horizontal blade play.Even though I explained how the blade pivot screw broke. So I took it apart and noticed the distance between the blade pivot shoulders were wider than the blade which is rather odd. :confused: and the cause. I really don't like the idea of filing it down but having it machining down sounds better.
 
dsmegst said:
Ok, let's define what I mean by "side to side play" before I start contradicting people.

So far, I've not had one single folder that does not have SOME tiny bit of movement when I wiggle the blade while holding the handle and the tip of the blade.

My small Sebbie has it, my almost NIB large Sebbie does also but to a lesser degree. The Mnandi feels the tightest. I guess the blade length is too short for much leverage. I'm not talking about some wobbly pivot. If I hold the blade at the base, near the tang, and wiggle, there's no movement along the pivot. But while holding the tip, there's enough leverage to give it the tiniest bit. It's NOT the same as a fixed blade.

I've just checked all 7 Manix 2 I own. The tightest (close to CRK level) are the 2 pink Sprints. The others, CF, blue and 3 grays all feel a bit looser.

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that there's some sort of problems with the M2 pivots.

What do you guys consider to be "blade play"?
Click to expand...

I agree with you as far as a little expected play in most knives, and at first I was going to just deal with it. But there is enough blade play for it to be noticeable when I wiggle the blade close to the base. Really it's just enough to were I feel that there is a problem, but also little enough for me to question if there is a Warranty issue.
 
I see it like this.

Most folders are designed so that completely tightening down the pivot screw will pretty much eliminate any side to side movement but also lock it in the open position. There's too much friction on the sides of the tang to allow it to close. So you necessarily have to loosen the pivot to allow for reasonable movement while introducing the smallest amount of side play needed. The better manufactured (in both material and tolerances) folders can do this quite well.

The M2 uses a pivot that's designed to be tight with a certain amount of looseness designed into it. If the pivot bushing/sleeve (not sure what it's really called?) thickness you get happens to be at the low (thin) end of manufacturing tolerances while your blade happens to be on the high (thick) end of tolerances, you may end up with a tighter pivot. And the opposite is true if things are reversed.

So with this in mind, would it be fair to say that the M2 (or the new Para 2), by design, can have more "looseness" than a well adjusted conventional pivot from a quality manufacturer?
 
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brendog10 said:
I agree with you as far as a little expected play in most knives, and at first I was going to just deal with it. But there is enough blade play for it to be noticeable when I wiggle the blade close to the base. Really it's just enough to were I feel that there is a problem, but also little enough for me to question if there is a Warranty issue.
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Yeah, I hear you. That's tough to determine because we don't know what is acceptable or not or how they measure it. In fact, even if we knew the exact dimensions and tolerance ranges, taking it apart and measuring it ourselves will effect warranty. And that's probably the only precise and correct way of measuring it. :( If it bothers you, I would send it in. I never carry a knife that I have any doubts on.
 
I just checked my M2s. No blade play whatsoever. At least it's not detectable, no matter how soft or how hard I try. Also checked the half a dozen folders on my desk. None has any blade play that I can detect, all lock very solidly. I guess that's good, because I would never buy a knife with detectable blade play, no matter how small...
 
None of my other few folders have any side to side blade play except my manix 2. I don't find that it affects function but it does bother me. That's why i won't buy any other folder with a bushing pivot or whatever their called. I'd rather have a rougher opening folder without play than an absolutely smooth opening one with detectable play.
 
Cisco Kid said:
I just checked my M2s. No blade play whatsoever. At least it's not detectable, no matter how soft or how hard I try. Also checked the half a dozen folders on my desk. None has any blade play that I can detect, all lock very solidly. I guess that's good, because I would never buy a knife with detectable blade play, no matter how small...
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I think you ended up with some exceptional ones. I think I have a pretty wide selection of M2s and a bit of looseness (as Singularity has also said) is the norm for them.

I see the tiny amount of play as a necessary part of the design and I'm not about to start mucking with them to try and take that out. I guess I just don't mind that as much. There's just so much good going for the M2 design for me.

BTW, check out STR's Para 2 review. The things he states regarding the pivot bushing is spot on and applies to the M2 as well.

Thanks all,

Dan
 
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