some concerning lock failures.

B

bzzhewt

Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
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A friend of mine ownes a BM Griptillian. Sweet little knife except that the Axis lock only takes a couple of Very Light spine whacks on the palm of the hand to close or one very light tap on a table. the mechanism is clean and in perfect mechanical condition.
So my concern is that although the mechanism's concept seems strong (ala "breakage is the only way to cause failure) could there be some grave inherehnt weaknesses?
Has any other Axis owner out there experienced this?
Also, I have a bias about CRKT locks. I own a Kasper?polkowski companion and it is a pretty good knife, but i will NOT buy a CRKT linerlock. Why?
Because EVERY CRKT folder i've tested, from the low end Mt, ranier to many super expensive m-16's, a total of about 6 knives, have failed with two to five very light spine whacks on a table.
These are just some things i've noticed handling various friends' knives over time, and have kind of hurt the reputation (IMO) of these particular products.
Anyone else have Stories like this??
 
bzzhewt said:
Has any other Axis owner out there experienced this?
Click to expand...
It isn't commonly mentioned on the forums. You might want to contact Benchmade.

Anyone else have Stories like this??
Click to expand...
I just rechecked the Point Guard I have. It is stable under light spine whacks, but the lock will give if I hit it hard enough to indent the corner of a 2x4.This only takes a pop from 2-3" above the surface.

I can also pinch the sides of the folder and not have it knocked out of my hand while the lock collapses from a spine impact. The LAWKS prevents the release of the liner of course.

-Cliff
 
Lil Timmy said:
The blade unlocks with a very light tap... riiiiiight :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
This isn't the first reported instance, others have described being able to unlock it simply by popping the spine off the center of their palm. It just isn't as common as liner lock disengagements.

-Cliff
 
bzzhewt said:
A friend of mine ownes a BM Griptillian. Sweet little knife except that the Axis lock only takes a couple of Very Light spine whacks on the palm of the hand to close or one very light tap on a table. the mechanism is clean and in perfect mechanical condition.
So my concern is that although the mechanism's concept seems strong (ala "breakage is the only way to cause failure) could there be some grave inherehnt weaknesses?
Click to expand...

Reliability is, IMO, one of the strong points of the Axis lock. If what you described is really happening, you should contact Benchmade and send it back.

Joe
 
Cliff, your knife reviews are very intelligent and i respect your opinion and knowledge 100 percent.
Joe, your knife sharpening FAQ helped me tremendously in my neverending quest for better sharpening.
this was my first post and i never would have thought my fisrt replies would be you guys.
Thanx for responding. i thought it was a lemon as well, but i was just curious if anyone else had the same experience, which i the event that there were more than just a feww would likely mean a design flaw of some kind. I have told my friend to send his axis back numerous times, but i think i was more concerned about it than he was!!
 
bzzhewt said:
i think i was more concerned about it than he was!!
Click to expand...
A lot of people don't mind locks failing in that manner, this test is general isn't widely accepted on the forums. It is more so now than a few years ago, but I don't think it is close to majority supported yet.

The problem you mention with the Axis has been reported several times in the past, even noted on the Benchmade forum, their policy is to replace folders with that lock behavior.

-Cliff
 
All of my Axis-lock Benchmades are 100% reliable (I just gave them all the spine-whack-test after reading your post).

So maybe you just got a bad one?

I think Cliff is right about sending it back to Benchmade.
From what I've heard they have a terrific service/warranty department.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
The Axis lock is maybe the strongest lock on any folding knife. If yours really is unlocking with just a tap on the spine of the blade, something is VERY wrong with your knife. There is no way that it is "in perfect mechanical condition". Send it to Benchmade.
 
i've never owned any benchmades but i've handles quite a few & friends of mine have them, none of the axis locks i've tried faild, i also think you should send it back for a checkup.
as for CRKT, i have only one, a cruiser, i've tried any test i could think of to get the liner to slip & it's rock solid... maybe i'm just lucky for getting the freak good one :rolleyes:
i'm still a spyderco guy anyway & i've always liked lockbacks the best so i won't be buying anymore crkt's to test locks further :D
 
I only know that @Wunderbar, myself and another forumite had 520 that failed spinewhacks. I consider this to the different ramp on the tang.

I have never heard of other models with that problem nor did i see one suspected to have it.

Even the 420 (as a new one with an automatic brother like the 520) has a ramp where the axis bar runs its complete thickness over (i expected it to be like the ramp of the 520, where the bar runs half way or just a bit more), so there is no way to push it back by any whacks. It is a new model with "traditional" axis (compared to the 520) (if the blade wouldn´t be so fancy i guess one would make a travel into my pocket).

The 550 is an "traditional" axis too, with the posibility of sticking axis bars. So all together:

I have spinewhacked my 550 as hard as you can see the marks on the beech (wood) plate. That is hard, and nothing more than a step further to a totaly ruined knife.

Most axis are impossible to open with a spine whack by construction.

This special Grippi you have is a poorly made. Sadly it wasn´t found by BMs QC. They should get better with it. I understand that once hurt its hard to trust in it again. But give this great knife a second try.

Send it back to BM with a short description of your problem. I guess only "failed spinewhack is enough for them to know. :)
 
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