So I bought another Infidel off the secondary market recently. I've been a fan of the design for a while and personally love carrying it and how it sits in the pocket. However, this new one has not been locking up upon deployment, and will often either half deploy or retract. Is this common in Infidels? Any easy way of fixing this or should I send it off to Benchmade to get it looked at?

Send to Benchmade.... It shouldn't act like this

word of warning.... Unless you have military or law enforcement ID they won't send an auto back to you

Oh and be sure to use a thin oil to lube.... Nothing thick like blue lube

A solution to sending an auto up if not legally able to is to connect with a Benchmade dealer and ask them to ship it up for you.

On the knife itself I wonder why they're so finicky...few of the side opening models have the issues these Infidels seem to have.

A suggestion would be for someone to publish a "how-to" writeup if they've got the knife where they want it and know how to address the details of lube and adjustments, etc.

Just my good idea.

quote:

On the knife itself I wonder why they're so finicky...few of the side opening models have the issues these Infidels seem to have.

A suggestion would be for someone to publish a "how-to" writeup if they've got the knife where they want it and know how to address the details of lube and adjustments, etc.

Just my good idea.

I wonder why people are having problems too, as mine seems to be just fine. And most of the folks reporting problems have run into them shortly after buying, which would suggest that cleaning isn't the issue. Lubing, however, may be worthwhile.

I don't know whether this is the best method but, intuitively, it looks to me to be an effective way to go about it (without disassembling it):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzfWpbs6j3s

Now, I don't own a side-opening Benchmade per se yet, but I do have the BM-made Bradley Alias and I can't imagine it having any problems until it's so old that the spring breaks or fails. The opening action of this knife is so strong that I really have to concentrate on gripping it lest it fly out of my hand. It is sobering to learn that some BM side-openers have a problem.

I recommend cleaning of new Infidels.

I have reasons.

1. Grit, it can be in there, flush with water or strong solvent. (carb/brake cleaner) Solvent will be better, flush that sucker out, cycle blade till it stops working, that means the oil is gone.

2. Use a known thin oil, aerosol oils should be fine for this application. That's right WD-40 etc.

3. It's cheaper to buy a $2 can of degreaser and a $2 can of WD-40 than it is to send your knife in.

4. If it works, it's faster and less hassle than sending your blade out and worrying about theft/lost mail/whatever.

Doc, I'd recommend against opening it up unless the force is strong with you... or you are very very patient.

Joe, I think I did a writeup for the 3550 on tearing it open and putting it back together.

Side opening autos have very basic innards at least push button.

stop pin.
spring.
blade with tang fit for spring.
button/plunger
coil spring behind button/plunger.
handle fitted to receive spring.
washers between blade and liners
sliding lock (optional removal, no damage)
full or partial liners

That's about it, the DA autos look to be a quite bit more difficult.

So I soaked the thing in some brake free and it seems to be locking up well now. I guess you've got to keep Infidels really well lubed up. Mine was ridiculously dry when I got it, so I'm guessing that was the problem.