Using Loctite on Pivot Pin Voiding Benchmade Warranty?

J

JeffLesniak

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Apr 24, 2005
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Hi, I just got a Cabela's minigriptilian, and I LOVE it! However, the pivot pin comes loose after a bit of flipping it open and a little blade play ensues. I was wondering if putting a little loctite on the pivot screw would void Benchmade's warranty? I really don't feel like sending it back in.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks, Jeff
 
Every knife I've owned with an adjustable pivot I have had to put loctite on the pivot. I seriously doubt that would void the warrenty. In fact I would put large sums of money on the fact that you don't have anything to worry about.

:)
 
Use a small amount of loctite blue #242 on the threads. Shake the tube up good first and let it sit overnight once you set the tension where you want it.

You can pick up some loctite at Lowes or maybe even Wal-Mart. That should fix you up and still make it so you can remove the screw if you need to later on. It will not void your warranty. In fact it should have some tell tale signs of blue on the threads unless someone dropped the ball at the factory and didn't put any on it.
 
Never tried it but it sounds like it would work well just make sure it doesnt void the warranty in case you need it fixed in the future. Any way, good Luck with however you fix it.
 
Disassembly of the knife and adjusting the pivot pin tightness are two entirely different things. When and if a company dictates to me that they will void a warranty because I adjusted the tightness of my blade to take out lateral blade play or put some loctite in it to keep from losing a pivot pin screw that won't stay tight that is the day I stop buying their knives and start telling everyone else I recommend they do the same.
 
STR said:
Disassembly of the knife and adjusting the pivot pin tightness are two entirely different things.
Click to expand...

If you just tighten the screw or loosen it yes, but if you actually take the screw out and put it back it then this can easily be argued as disassembly, of course you can just take it out partially so there is no danger of stripping the threads (or a very small one), but using an adhesive on the knife is also pretty much modifying it. Now as to if the makers would actually invoke these clauses, probably not, but by the written definations they easily could. Benchmade has their own forum, such questions would likely be more productive there. As Owen and others have noted in the past, they are pretty liberal when it comes to fixing or replacing their knives and the written warrenty seems to be more of a guide to reducing the number of owners who damage their knives than actually reducing terms of service.

-Cliff
 
Benchmade has expressly said that loctiting the pivot pin is not a warranty problem, in fact I've had them recomend it on the phone.

So don't sweat it.
 
There are two lines of discussion here. One is more general "what if" or "a manufacturer may" and the other line is about the original question.

Knowing the 2003 catalog and the warranty declaration i really wondered about that question. Benchmade uses pivot screws for their customers to tighten the pivot to a personal fit. To fix it at that point is quite logical. Anything considering pivot tightness is left to the customer and can be done by just loosen or tighten one screw.

Onto the general line, i would like to know if there is a manufacturer arguing that way: Loosing the pivot screw or taking it out for glueing is disassambly or a modification of the whole knife?

In that term: Are scratches modifications too?

So in general:

Never did i have heard about an issue considering loctite and pivot screws between Benchmade and a customer nor about this considering any other manufacturer.

This therad is based on a misunderstanding considering disassembly of a knife.
 
It isn't an issue with pivot pins or using loctite. I've taken my fair share of pocket clips off and pivot pins out on many different brands of knives out there and most all of them have tell tale signs of blue thread locker on the threads from the factory. Since the factory uses it I fail to see how they could fault the owner of the knife for doing so or how they could even know the owner did or if they themselves did.

Most all come with pocket clips these days and not everyone likes them. If you remove the pocket clip I doubt they are going to call foul and accuse you of disassembly. If they do tell the world.

Even still when a manufacturer puts an adjustable pivot on the folder it is made for adjusting. Usually it is also associated with easy cleaning and maintainance of said folder. I do not feel that taking the blade out to clean your knife is really disassembly although some may disagree. It would be best to ask the maker here, but if they claim this is disassembly and voids a warranty I personally want to hear about it and you should let everyone know so that if they get blood in their pivot area that they void the warranty when they take the blade out to clean it. With BenchMades, and in particular the Axis locking ones I think the primary concern with disassembly has to do with the lock and the body of the knife. It seems rather a bit of a stretch to think that by taking the blade or pocket clip out that it voids the warranty on the lock mechanism if you have never accessed it.

Disassembly would be tearing down the whole knife where you have all parts laid out. If the manufacturer is like any I have dealt with they are very forgiving about most of this stuff. I doubt seriously if you will have any problems from any of them about using loctite on the screws but if warranty issues concern you check with them first. Email Vance Collver, product manager over at BM and ask him.
 
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