Well, it finally happened today. After carrying lots and lots of Benchmades, I had an omega spring break today. One of the springs in my 930 Kulgera broke today. It poked through the frame and kept the knife from closing all the way. I had to take the scales off and remove the broken spring pieces. I seem to remember reading on here that Benchmade won't send out omega springs. Is that right? Am I going to have to send the knife back to the factory for just a spring, or will they send me one upon request? Surely someone has been through this. Any input would be appreciated.

Hi Wes, Benchmade's not known for sending replacement springs. Your 930 is covered under warranty, but you will need to send it in for repair.

You know the number of broken springs that are reported seem like a design flaw in the axis system. <--- Just say'n...............

I'm curious, has anyone reported a broken nitrous spring, a broken liner lock spring or a broken frame lock spring?

just sayin'... a broken frame lock spring would be a MAJOR malfuction.

quote:

Originally posted by upstateguy:
You know the number of broken springs that are reported seem like a design flaw in the axis system. <--- Just say'n...............

I'm curious, has anyone reported a broken nitrous spring, a broken liner lock spring or a broken frame lock spring?

What Wes isn't saying is just how many Axis knives he's owned over the years without a broken Axis spring. Things simply happen in mechanical devices.

And I know you're jesting with the second sentence...with those three lock designs there aren't springs to break, true, but all will wear over time...the lock will wear as it crosses the tang.

Good news is, Benchmade will fix any of these under warranty.

Wes, with all the Benchmades I've ever owned, I only had one omega spring break. It was on a 710. They made me send it in and they replaced both omega springs.

Someone on here...seems like it might have been Skimo...said he just makes them out of some kind of wire.

quote:

Things simply happen in mechanical devices.

Words of Wisdom here.

Ive never had a spring break ...... Ive never went to college either

quote:

Originally posted by Carson:
just sayin'... a broken frame lock spring would be a MAJOR malfuction.

It sure would be.... ... as would a broken leaf on a liner lock, (but I've never seen either of those happen.)

I don't think I've ever seen a lock-back fail to lock open either. I've seen the lock wear but never fail to the point where the knife wouldn't open or close.

None of my knives have failed yet, so I guess I'm lucky.... but I still don't like springs that break.

Never had a broken spring in any of my Colts or Smiths in 30 yrs, but I did see a broken trigger return spring in a P7M8. Put that gun out of action fast. (but you could still work it manually in a pinch)

I also saw the tip of the firing pin fall off a Walther P99 ---> talk about unacceptable major malfunction.

I've seen a cheapie linerlock break. It fell about 6 stories on to pavement. I think the shock impact cause it to break if I had to guess. It was open at the time and I only saw the knife after it had fallen. About 1/4" of the lock bar was nowhere to be found.

I had a China lockback (black plastic handles, looked like a Spyderco ripoff) handed to me once to see if I could fix it. You could shut the knife without pressing the lockback button down... put maybe 30 pounds of pressure on it and it would simply fold up. It was rounded instead of square-faced on the slot in the blade and locktab as best I could tell. That was several years ago.

Neither were mine and both were clearly abused.

Springs break.. its just their nature. Everything with moving parts made by humans has a specific number of cycles in it (humans included) before it breaks. In the industry I work in, we have big, stationary engines. It's necessary to pull compressor valve covers off weekly to replace worn plates and broken springs on the compressor valves, but some engines last a couple years between breaking down and some only 2-3 weeks.