Taking apart and cleaning a Benchmade

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Brutus013

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How do I take apart a Benchmade with the Axis lock? A friend of mine has an old McHenry Williams Benchmade, and while the handles are in good shape and the blade is good enough to sharpen back to a good edge, it is very slow to open and I think there's something needing cleaning from the pivot. How do I get access to the pivot, the axis lock seems to be keeping the handle together.
 
You'll need torx drivers. But before you go there be aware that disassembly of a BenchMade voids the warranty. If that is unimportant to you then fine but most folks elect to send it in to BM to have them cleaned up if it needs taken apart to do so.

STR
 
It's a piece of cake. Just watch how the spring on the axis lock is positioned.
 
I'm assuming if I take it apart I can still send it in for sharpening for the $5 it costs?
 
Oh I'm sure they'll still sharpen it for a fee.

Some of the screws can be quite tight on those because they are usually done with loctite so if one is giving you fits you might opt to go to the other side and see if it comes out ok for you. If not you may need to heat it up some with a wood burner or soldering iron for a minute or so by holding the tip in the middle of the screw. Then try to get it to back out while its still hot.

STR
 
Ya know... I'm not sure you actually need to take it apart. If by "slow opening" you mean the action is stiff or gritty, the first thing I'd try is to loosen the pivot screw some to the point where there's a bit of play in the blade at the pivot, then wash the knife good, dry it, and relube it.

Tighten the pivot down to the point where the blade works the way you want it to and see if it'll hold that action for you. If that works, you've saved yourself some trouble. If it doesn't, then you can move on to deciding whether to send it in or DIY. There used to be a thread on BF, I think, that described how to d/a & r/a an AXIS lock. Had some pix, too, IIRC. I used to have a copy but I lost it in a HD crash last year.
 
No problem. I need to send it in anyways, this edge is messed up too bad for my Spyderco medium rods to do much, especially with the 154CM steel it uses. I got it a bit sharper, but it was REALLY dull.
 
I oiled it, opened it a few dozen times, washed it out well with quite hot water, dried it, and then reoiled it, and now it seems to be opening well. I still want to send it with $5 and get a factory edge put back on it, though.
 
Brutus, I think the $5 is for shipping only. It doesn;t need to be under warranty for them to sharpen it. WHat I mean is, you could take it apart, modify it, add some Spyderco screws (that might piss 'em off :) ), or anything else, and they'll still sharpen it for free (+ $5 shipping).
 
StretchNM said:
Brutus, I think the $5 is for shipping only. It doesn;t need to be under warranty for them to sharpen it. WHat I mean is, you could take it apart, modify it, add some Spyderco screws (that might piss 'em off :) ), or anything else, and they'll still sharpen it for free (+ $5 shipping).
Click to expand...

:D I'd love to be a fly on the wall when the tech recieves it.
 
I like to loosen the pivot to the point where you can see through it hot water and soap it rinse it then an alcohol rinse helps prevent rust and cleans out stubborn oils or grease and dirt. Apply your choice of pivot lubrication and slowly tighten tell no blade play is noticeable and you should be good. If you need it sharpened by them that's pretty much on them. :) Cheers.
 
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