Wrist Flick Open, Griptilian 551, "Jams" Lock?

O

OldMarineVet

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Aug 2, 2014
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New Griptilian 551, Plain Drop-Point, Nylon Handle. I push thumb stud just enough to clear blade from handle. From there, I flick my wrist to open completely. The AXIS lock "jams" the blade open about one out of 3 successive opens. I clear the jam by simultaneously working the blade and the lock. I put a little CLP on the lock and blade mechanism. The blade opens smoother but the jam frequency is about the same. So I've stopped opening the knife with a wrist flick. Has anybody else experienced this? Thank you.
 
I've had one Axis lock stick a little during the break in period but it passed with normal use. However, I did not and do not wrist flick folding knives. Smashing metal parts together as forcefully as possible is an easy way to encounter sticking issues and damage. Consider re-tuning your pivot to allow more of a free-swinging blade if the folder isn't opening easily enough. Best of luck; enjoy your Grip.

Edit: My stick happened on a Nakamura with normal Axis flicking open and closed. It went away and I suspect yours will too.
 
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It's brand new OMV!! Give that girl a chance to break in my friend!
I will lube the pivot a tiny bit when new. Let it sit for a while and then flick away till she smooths out and breaks in. The jamming will then stop.
Enjoy it and post a couple pics when you can brother!!
Joe
 
I'm not sure what you mean by "jams the blade open." It almost sounds like you're saying the blade doesn't open fully when you flick it open? If that is the case, just loosen the pivot screw and adjust it to how you like it.

As for flicking open a Benchmade, their own employees do it, and there's plenty of videos of them doing so. Flick away
 
loonybin said:
I'm not sure what you mean by "jams the blade open." It almost sounds like you're saying the blade doesn't open fully when you flick it open? If that is the case, just loosen the pivot screw and adjust it to how you like it.

As for flicking open a Benchmade, their own employees do it, and there's plenty of videos of them doing so. Flick away
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When the failure happens, the blade does open fully and seems locked open. But then trying to manually close the blade, the AXIS Lock knob is "stuck" in the forward position and the blade seems "stuck" in the open position. Then I have to simultaneously work the blade and the lock knob so the lock knob can be pushed backwards and the blade can be manually closed. Thanks
 
jazub said:
I've had one Axis lock stick a little during the break in period but it passed with normal use. However, I did not and do not wrist flick folding knives. Smashing metal parts together as forcefully as possible is an easy way to encounter sticking issues and damage. Consider re-tuning your pivot to allow more of a free-swinging blade if the folder isn't opening easily enough. Best of luck; enjoy your Grip.

Edit: My stick happened on a Nakamura with normal Axis flicking open and closed. It went away and I suspect yours will too.
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Thank you, jazub. The CLP helped the blade swing smoother. But I'm still a bit clumsy manually opening the knife with my thumb pushing the thumb stud (used to spring assisted.) But I'll master that instead of flicking it every time. Definitely don't want to beat up this great knife. Thanks for your help.
 
palonej said:
It's brand new OMV!! Give that girl a chance to break in my friend!
I will lube the pivot a tiny bit when new. Let it sit for a while and then flick away till she smooths out and breaks in. The jamming will then stop.
Enjoy it and post a couple pics when you can brother!!
Joe
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LOL. I will be gentler :) Very helpful. Thank you, palonej.
 
OldMarineVet said:
Thank you, jazub. The CLP helped the blade swing smoother. But I'm still a bit clumsy manually opening the knife with my thumb pushing the thumb stud (used to spring assisted.) But I'll master that instead of flicking it every time. Definitely don't want to beat up this great knife. Thanks for your help.
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No problem, OMV. :thumbup: -To be clear, I flick my knife opened and closed all the time by actuating the lock and letting it swing out. It is putting a bunch or wrist action into it that may be giving you trouble. Anyway, I hope that helps. Best Regards.
 
I know exactly what the OP is talking about. It has happened on some, if not all, of my BM knives when new (710, 746, 940, and currently on my Custom Shop 550; I don't remember if I had this issue with my 520, 943, or 15030). After flipping open and closed a few hundred times from EDC'ing it goes away... at least in my experience.

This usually happens to me when I try to flick it with my thumb, it doesn't open all the way, and I "flick" it the rest of the way. It can also happen if I do the thumb-flick combined with a wrist-flick.

If I were to guess, I would guess that the AXIS barbell is seating slightly off-kilter when flicked in such a manner, and shoves the barbell into position unevenly. I believe that the design of the AXIS lock allows for the "barbell" to move further towards the blade over time, to maintain a strong lockup. However if it seats off kilter, it might allow a portion of the barbell to seat further in, causing a higher level of friction when disengaging the lock. I could be wrong.

I tend to believe that this is not a good thing, but all of my other BM's lost this issue over time. My newest Custom Shop 550 has this issue, but its new. Because of this, I try to limit my "wrist-flick" opening for when I am holding the lock open through the entire opening arc. This is also why I like the 3rd finger flick opening method. It works on smooth opening thumbstud knives too.
 
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I've had it happen with some of mine as well. Like everyone else said, it will break in and get smoother. It might have a burr somewhere that's causing the axis bar to get wedged too tight against the blade.
 
Definitely a break-in issue, OMV. I've had a few BMs with AXIS lock-stick when new. My 550BK got "jammed" like your knife when opened with anything more than minimal force. Coated blades take even longer to break in.

Wrist flicking should not be necessary nor is it desirable in a properly tuned AXIS knife. With the increased acceleration of a wrist-flick there's compressive force exerted on the stop-pin and the AXIS bar slides up the ramp more quickly and just a tiny bit farther than with a lighter thumb flick. That extra nano-distance pinches it tight in there and is your jam. Like Joe said, loosen your pivot to a satisfactory point and thumb-flick repeatedly to break in the AXIS bar tang interface. A little pencil lead applied to the ramp can help smooth out the process. I usually don't re-loctite the pivot until the knife is fully broken in and I've found the sweet spot for easy blade swing without play and the lightest thumb-force to open the knife.

Griptilians are among the smoothest, easiest opening and closing knives made when properly broken in and tuned. Soon enough you'll need nothing but your thumb to easily open and close your knife.

Here's my nicely broken in 550BK sporting its G10 Igorded scales.

29cBac5.jpg
 
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Are you using a finger on each side to unlock? Some people try to get away with unlocking by pulling back on just one side. This doesn't work very well and just making sure you're not trying to only use one side. I've owned many AXIS lock knives and had some stick a bit but never get stuck open where you have to work to get the knife to unlock.

Maybe try rotating the AXIS bar so that a new section of the bar is in contact with the blade. Like everyone else has said, it should break in and stop once the metal pieces smooth out any rough spots.
 
I've had 3 of 5 brand new grip's do this to me, it just takes a little break in time, it'll go away eventually.
 
Just took delivery of a brand new 950-1501 with a coated blade yesterday.....it did the same exact thing for about 2 hours.
I hit the pivot and the lock bar with Ballistol. Flicked it about a gagillion times. Then a bit of blue lube and she's a free dropper now!! It's like a metronome when you hold the lock open!!
What a sweet and seriously smoooooooth action!!
Pics......cause knife porn is good!!!
[emoji16][emoji16][emoji16][emoji16]
Joe
334e0584b129956f50e8bcba1ecaa74c.jpg

An absolutely amazing edge out of the box!!
7bb654d2c18ef0c367110cd0ca718e48.jpg
 
palonej said:
Looooove that color combo Steve!! Gorgeous Grip!!
Joe
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Thanks, Joe. There's another pair just like these in the mail from Igor to fit my black, sheep foot mini-Grip. I'll probably get 'em when I'm get home from VT. I'll post big and little brother to our sadly dormant Pics of Pairs thread.

Think I'll shoot all 5 re-gripped Grips and post those to Ted's Official Collection Thread to give that a little bump too,
 
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