Slow the action of a Mel Pardue Griptillian

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william O

Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
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I love my Benchmade Grip, and it's got a VERY quick deployment. I showed it to my brother this weekend, who's a retired NYC cop. He says that since it will open by simply swinging it w/ a wrist flip (ie: no need to open with a flick of the thumb on the hole in the spine of the blade), it would be considered a gravity knife, and deemed as illegal in NY as a switchblade or a pistol. I assume I can just tighten down the little bolt near the blade. Am I right? Where might I find the right tool? Local hardware store? Thanks, William
 
The pivot screw takes a Torx driver - most stores with a tool area have them (e.g. Sears, Lowws).

You can tighten the pivot screw down. You might also consider replacing one or both of the blade spacer washers with nylon washers, as nylon will maintain the tension longer as it can be mildly compressed for more stiction.
 
Also consider using something on the screw to keep it from moving as it might with frequent opening. Plummer's teflon tape works pretty well. Blue loctite is also used by members here.
 
Tighten the pivot and put some loctite on the pivot screw.

Every axis knife I've ever owned can be flick open with wrist action alone. A quarter turn on the pivot should stiff it right up. (:o)
 
Great info, guys....THANKS! I'll definitely have to do this when I get mine.
Yep, it's definitely a gravity knife unless you tighten it up. Have played with a few different ones, and they're all the same.
 
Some A-Hole cop might say it's a gravity knife, but it isn't. You have to do something manual to get the knife to open (you have to use your thumb to pull back at the Axis Lock.) And the knife has a bias toward closure. So legally speaking, it's not a gravity knife, but that won't stop a cop from giving you problems.
 
If you read a few of the definitions for a gravity knife, you'll see that you're incorrect. If the pivot is loosened to a certain point, it uses inertia or gravity (flick of wrist) to open. Additionally, the use of the Axis lock is no different than pushing a button on a switchblade. A cop would take the knife away in a heartbeat if he was in an "acquiring" mood, and if demonstrated in court, a judge or jury would say it's a gravity knife. Then again, if you don't flick it open in front of a cop, but use two hands instead, no problems. It's all in the presentation.
 
Marvin8 said:
If you read a few of the definitions for a gravity knife, you'll see that you're incorrect. If the pivot is loosened to a certain point, it uses inertia or gravity (flick of wrist) to open. Additionally, the use of the Axis lock is no different than pushing a button on a switchblade.
Click to expand...

Well I guess I wasn't paying attention to the state of the OP, but it certainly is different. At least in CA, even if the pivot is loose to the point where inertia can be used to open it, the knife still has a bias toward the closed position and so is not considered a gravity knife. If that were the case, (almost) every folding knife ever conceived would be considered a gravity knife.

And as for the Axis being just like a switchblade, that's totally incorrect by any definition. An automatic knife is biased toward the open position. It wants to be open, always, and when you press the button it does all the opening by itself. An Axis lock is biased toward closure (wants to stay closed) until you end that bias toward closure by overcoming a certain resistance in order to open it. If releasing the lock and manually putting the blade in neutral counted as a switchblade, then all lockbacks and compression locks would be considered switchblades.

I would hope that NY doesn't define a gravity knife or switchblade otherwise.
 
I have my mini-grip tightened just enough to allow it to flick open, but a tad too stiff to have the blade move with just gravity. I prefer it this way, no law reason. There is a sweet spot on the pivot tightness to be between too stiff and too loose. Use a touch of purple or blue loctite (purple 222ms is better) to keep the torx screw locked.
 
In NYC, if you have a folding knife that locks open, it can be considered a gravity knife.
It doesn't matter how much you torque the pivot. There is no way that you can get it tight enough to prevent the cop from swinging it open (as most knives can be opened with the spidey-drop anyways)
 
2.5" limit here in Chicago, and the cops LOVE to take away knives to add to their own collection. Griptilian is just short of 3", so the cops will LOVE to add this one. :)
 
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