Smoothing deployment of a Benchmark Rolox

[yogi]

I have a few of the smaller (five inch open) Benchmark Roloxes. Most deploy easily and are fun to play with and carry for admittedly non-tactical purposes. My nicest one, however, gets very tight and close to locking up in the open position, and so much force is required to get it back out of the open position that it can be a dangerous maneuver. I've taken it apart, oiled it and just let it sit for days but have seen little improvement. There seems to be no rust involved.

Any ideas on next steps?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I have a few of the smaller (five inch open) Benchmark Roloxes. Most deploy easily and are fun to play with and carry for admittedly non-tactical purposes. My nicest one, however, gets very tight and close to locking up in the open position, and so much force is required to get it back out of the open position that it can be a dangerous maneuver. I've taken it apart, oiled it and just let it sit for days but have seen little improvement. There seems to be no rust involved.

Any ideas on next steps?

Those Roloxes are some pretty cool knives. :thumbup:

Strange as this may sound, you might have one of the better ones. I collected some of these a few years ago (from Benchmark and Gerber), and most of mine are quite loose, even sloppy, with a noticeable rattle when shaken. Only suggestion I might offer, is to very carefully & gently file/sand the contact surfaces of the locking mechanism. I wouldn't rush this or get too aggressive with it, as you might end up with too much play in the lock-up. Might also look for burrs on the edges/corners of the locking contact surfaces, which may be contributing to the binding up. Again, those would be cleaned up with some very gentle sanding (wet/dry sandpaper, or with a file). I'd use a higher grit of sandpaper, maybe 800-2000, to avoid over-sanding it. If you do sand/file it, make sure to thoroughly clean it up before re-assembly, so you don't have any metal swarf or sanding grit bound up in it.


David

 

[yogi]

Thank you for the reply. I got lucky I think by acting conservatively, just oiling and cleaning the mechanism repeatedly and allowing it to sit in the tightest position. It now has loosened and works quite nicely, although it is quite stiff. I think the stiffness probably comes from lack of use, but that's fine with me. As you pointed out, I do have one that I've carried for years and it is quite loose. This new one is especially nice because it has MOP or faux MOP scales. Again, thank you for your considerate reply.