1st Benchmade DISASTER

When you sent back the 940 that was stiff I think that may have been a mistake. They do break in.
I've never had a broken omega spring. When I hear of multiple broken springs over a short time period I start to wonder if the user contributed to the breakage. Specifically, did you wash or get your knife wet and then not fully dry it?
It sounds to me like some of the problems were of your own creation. And I'm certainly no Benchmade fan boy.
I like some of their designs but they seem to have spotty QC and their knives are overpriced. For both of those reasons I would only buy used.
 
AF said:
When I hear of multiple broken springs over a short time period I start to wonder if the user contributed to the breakage. Specifically, did you wash or get your knife wet and then not fully dry it?
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This is not a troll question. Pure honest inquiry.
What does getting the knife wet have to do with anything?
 
All in all I like my BM folders a lot and recognize how awesome their CS is too.

I've had no omega spring break, the quality, fit and finish is consistently good on all 8 BMs I've had and they are all proving to be solid reliable users, well made from very good materials.

Blade centering is really the only issue I've had with BMs. And it bugs me a bit, mainly because of the price.

It's a shame I can't handle before I buy due to where I live.

My 940-1 came mint in every way except it was well off center.
The smoothness, action, lockup, everything is just right. So I haven't fiddled with it, haven't tried to center it 'cos i just know it will end up in a trade off somewhere.
It's a truly great EDC folder, I carry and use it a fair amount, and I'm kind of waiting for something to prompt me to try and center it, like the pivot screw loosening as it did with my first 940. But so far it's stayed just like it first was - mint except the centering.

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I know how good BM's CS is as I used it once and was very impressed, but it's a long way from NZ to send a knife that for the price should have been right from the get go IMO.

My 950 Rift, Crooked River, 790 Subrosa and original 940 came centered and have stayed that way, my beloved 950 in particular having seen quite a bit of use.

CR
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My 943, 707, 581 and 586 all came off center. The 581 has been to BM for repair, which they did for free despite it being clearly my fault and did a great job too; except it's still off center.

My 484-1, I specifically asked the dealer to pick me out a nicely centered one, and he put a note in the box with the knife saying he had done so, but it was a bit off center. Did that mean none of the 484-1's he had in stock where exactly centered?

I would like to add a few more BMs to the knife drawer over time, so I hope their QA addresses the apparent problem of inconsistent blade centering, particularly for the high prices and premium image BM is putting out there.
 
AF said:
When you sent back the 940 that was stiff I think that may have been a mistake. They do break in.
I've never had a broken omega spring. When I hear of multiple broken springs over a short time period I start to wonder if the user contributed to the breakage. Specifically, did you wash or get your knife wet and then not fully dry it?
It sounds to me like some of the problems were of your own creation. And I'm certainly no Benchmade fan boy.
I like some of their designs but they seem to have spotty QC and their knives are overpriced. For both of those reasons I would only buy used.
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Maybe it was a mistake. And btw these claims are true I wish I had kept all my warranty papers but I just threw them away. And as for your questions, no I never washed them with water. I even oiles the springs to keep them from rusting. And I don't buy the whole " excessive flicking will make your springs break" there's people here who have had a benchmade axis lock for 10 plus years and never broke an omega spring. There is no way in hell I put 10 years worth of wear on those springs in less than 4 months.
 
4mer_FMF said:
This is not a troll question. Pure honest inquiry.
What does getting the knife wet have to do with anything?
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If the springs have rusted it could cause them to break. I've seen folks suggest this when someone has multiple omega springs break.
 
Antonio K. said:
Maybe it was a mistake. And btw these claims are true I wish I had kept all my warranty papers but I just threw them away. And as for your questions, no I never washed them with water. I even oiles the springs to keep them from rusting. And I don't buy the whole " excessive flicking will make your springs break" there's people here who have had a benchmade axis lock for 10 plus years and never broke an omega spring. There is no way in hell I put 10 years worth of wear on those springs in less than 4 months.
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Ok, just wondering. I've done my share of flicking and no breakage. Maybe there are batches of faulty springs and you got a couple from that batch.
My 940 had the same uneven grind on the spine. I fixed it but I think it's a shame that BM doesn't address issues like that. Instead they sell the premium 940-1 with the same problem.
And then there was the Mini Grip notorious for almost always having an off centered blade.
I've got my few BMs and I like them but they get very little of my knife money.
 
Bought 2 more BM's today for a total of 17 I think with no issues. BM has started labeling boxes with whomever worked on them coming out of their manufacturing process as part of discussions in their forum here to better track issues that might come up.

For me, BM is awesome for me being a lefty, the ambi style axis lock makes it easy to use.
 
BEBrewster said:
If the springs have rusted it could cause them to break. I've seen folks suggest this when someone has multiple omega springs break.
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Thanks.
FWIW, I had an omega spring break on a relatively new 940-2. I promise I kept it dry! :)

A Antonio K. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I feel your pain. In retrospective summary, QC on my 940-2 (also my first BM) was :poop: for the price. As a functional tool, however, I still like the knife--it's been in my pocket the last two days.

It's held me back on back on picking up any more Benchmades or I'd have a 555-1 and a 781 by now.

(In case you're interested, my 940-2 experience is here in painful detail--LOL! http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/update-benchmade-940-2-first-impressions-and-a-question.1474118/)
 
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A Antonio K. Sorry to hear about your extreme case(s?) of bad luck! Obviously, it does nothing for your situation, but fwiw, I now own 3 Benchmades including a 940. The only problem I've noticed with any of them was a slightly uncentered blade on my 940 that was easily fixed by me. I'm definitely not done buying benchmades and I'm sad to hear your experience with this one knife (and its replacement) has turned you off of them.

palonej said:
I'm another with many many BMs with no issues.
Sounds like lots of really bad luck.
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ChazzyP said:
I have heard more than a few tales of disconnect between the "front desk" of BMK's CS and the people actually doing the work, so Wowbagger Wowbagger 's point above is well taken. I'd rather have good QC than good CS if I had to choose, but have had little complaint with either on my end with the almost 30 BMKs I've owned.
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I had a 710 I had issues with after modding it pretty extensively (not issues that arose from the mods as I wouldn't have asked for warranty service for anything I caused) but I was upfront in the first few emails about what I had done and how I disassembled the knife and they didn't care in the least I modded it and still wanted to stand behind their product!

So then I send it in and while I was still emailing with the initial CS guy (and no he wasn't a skilled QC / technician) but he was more than helpful and every time there was an update he sent me direct quotes or even screen shots of the notes the techs made on my file (some of which hand scribbled on notebook paper that the CS guy photographed and sent me) and he did know what he was talking about.

While I don't disagree there's gonna be some isolation between the CS guys vs the shop techs [in any industry] I don't at all agree there's a "big disconnect" at BMK.
 
We'll see whenever I get my 940 back how it'll handle. I plan on getting the crooked river with the wood handles using the promo code. And idk if I mentioned this already but they refuse to replace my blade on it because their engineering department says There's no way their machine could've done that and that they think I took it apart and put those chamfers on the tang..... but whatever if they can get the knife working good I can ignore that and just go on with my life lol
 
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Cereal_killer said:
While I don't disagree there's gonna be some isolation between the CS guys vs the shop techs [in any industry] I don't at all agree there's a "big disconnect" at BMK.
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As you've quoted me you'll note I didn't write "big disconnect" nor did I assert there was any, just that I had heard "more than a few tales of disconnect", as in cases in which a knife came back with something other than the repair requested attended to. Perhaps my relaying of second hand information was as careless as a reading of same might indicate.

Again, and firsthand, I've had nothing but great interactions with BMK's CS, and am very pleased with the quality of all my current two dozen Benchmades.
 
ChazzyP said:
I'd rather have good QC than good CS if I had to choose, but have had little complaint with either on my end with the almost 30 BMKs I've owned.
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Thank you. That was my point. Which is: "nice but still broke doesn't cut it". (sorry unintentional pun . . . hahaha).

However "Take this dam good knife and get lost kid; I got work to do" That 'll work for me every time.

PS: my next knife will most likely be a Benchmade. I got it all picked out.
Doesn't mean I don't like to bang the table and argue though.
PPS: a little blade play doesn't bother me. Just now I did an experiment :
Opened the following three knives
Para 2
Benchmade 710
Benchmade Ritter Grip

Then I squeezed the scales not all that hard between index finger and thumb of one hand and released the lock with the other hand.
The Para2 dropped right quick
The other two would not drop at all until I stopped squeezing the scales together.
Soooooo I hear people say
So . . . due to the way I have to hold/grip a knife with an axis lock to close it with one hand. If I grip it too tight the blade won't drop until I relax my grip and this is more so if it is a hot day, my hand is sweaty (fingers slipping on the axis post) and the knife has been in my pocket where it is extra warm.
I confirmed this long ago by putting the 710 in the refrigerator for a while and I couldn't grip it one handed hard enough to keep it from dropping once cold.
Interesting ?
There is some design/quality dif here.
 
Antonio K. said:
We'll see whenever I get my 940 back how it'll handle. I plan on getting the crooked river with the wood handles using the promo code. And idk if I mentioned this already but they refuse to replace my blade on it because their engineering department says There's no way their machine could've done that and that they think I took it apart and put those chamfers on the tang..... but whatever if they can get the knife working good I can ignore that and just go on with my life lol
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This may seem far fetched but maybe your knife was owned by someone else, returned to the seller, put back on the shelf and then sold to you and . . . this is a big giant fanciful maybe . . . the original purchaser screwed around and caused the tang damage/mod.

I say this because I have received supposedly "brand new in the box" knives from amazon (I buy as much as possible from real knife vendors now) . . . anyway one or two were obviously handled and probably carried for at least a few days. I could tell this by the freekin' smell of cologne and the dull spots on the edge. They were both minor knives, I think both Cold Steel, and they otherwise were well made and worked for me so I kept them but felt sure I was paying new prices for knives that were CERTAINLY not mint out of the box.
 
This is benchmade for you. I won't own another one. Tho I do want an anthem, just really don't want to spend that much and still have blade grind issues.

In any case they are known for these issues for the most part. Some people have no issues with it and compromise or just enjoy it for cutting as is or think it's normal.

All my benchmades have had some issues on each one that I've had. Just not worth the cost they cost. Bummer too cause the designs are good and the heat treatment is very decent for production knives.

I don't think they see a problem in the way there knives are made. Only recently did they get convinced there was some sort of problem.

Anyways most people don't complain about these issues. That's why it's not an issue to them.
 
Mo2 said:
This is benchmade for you. I won't own another one. Tho I do want an anthem, just really don't want to spend that much and still have blade grind issues.

In any case they are known for these issues for the most part. Some people have no issues with it and compromise or just enjoy it for cutting as is or think it's normal.

All my benchmades have had some issues on each one that I've had. Just not worth the cost they cost. Bummer too cause the designs are good and the heat treatment is very decent for production knives.

I don't think they see a problem in the way there knives are made. Only recently did they get convinced there was some sort of problem.

Anyways most people don't complain about these issues. That's why it's not an issue to them.
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I'm supposed to be getting a call back Monday or Tuesday and I'm gonna mention what you said about how most people don't care or notice these little details. As I for one do notice these things, they stick out to me and can't stop thinking about it until it's fixed
 
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Antonio K. said:
I'm supposed to be getting a call back Monday or Tuesday and I'm gonna mention what you said about how most people don't care or notice these little details. As I got one do notice these things, they stick out to me and can't stop thinking about it until it's fixed
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They matter to me too. Especially for the price. But let's be honest the price is inflated because of map pricing. These knives without map pricing may be more worth it with these issues. Tho... That's debatable.
 
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