810 CPM-M4 problems

B

bangelo

Joined
Feb 4, 2011
Messages
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I got a Benchmade 810 about 2 months ago. I reprofiled the edge to 15 degrees per side on my wicked edge. Then I put i 40 degree micro bevel on it with my sharpmaker running through the brown stones all the way to the ultra fine. After a quick strop its very very sharp. It pops the hair right off my arms. But after 2 or 3 cuts into a box it wont shave hair anymore. My first thought was it had a wire edge. but I have resharpnened this knife and spend hours working on it and it just wont hold an edge. I dont know if its something im doing or maybe it might be a bad blade. This is my first M4 knife and I have heard that it takes a while to reprofile and sharpen because it is so hard. But it really didnt take long to get it to 15 degrees each side. Maybe like 20 minutes. Any advice?
 
Counterfeit knife?

Low chance of a lemon blade?

Sharpening skills?

If in doubt of quality, call Benchmade they'll look at it and if it's a counterfeit they'll ship it back to you, if it's a lemon blade they'll probably replace it and if it's sharpening skills, they'll send it back sharp.
 
Your best bet is to post this in the maintenance and tinkering subforum.

There are some really great sharpening gurus there.

I haven't sharpened my 810 yet. It's over at Benchmade right now so I can't play with it to try and help. Do you have a magnifying glass to look at the edge? It would help confirm that you don't have the wire edge you mentioned.
 
Mine didn't hold an edge too well out of the box, did much better after a quick touch up on a wicked edge, and is just downright scary after getting a Richard J. convex edge.
 
So i spent some more time on it last night and i got a magnifying glass and i could see the edge was very thing. like a wire edge directly on the cutting edge. I just couldnt get it off. So i took it outside and started cutting a pine tree to get the wire off. finally after like 5 minutes it was off. Went back inside and hit the sharpmaker with the ultrafine. Got it back to hair popping and broke down a small cardboard box. It wasnt popping hair anymore but would still shave and the edge felt clean. I guess it was that wire edge. I had a hell of a time getting it off.
 
A wire edge is simply a Burr on the very cutting edge. If I get one, I usually run the blade edge side to side against something like a piece of cardboard or even my pants. When I say side to side I mean the same direction as if you were feeling the edge with your finger. It will knock some of it off, if not all of it.
 
For a wire edge I cut directly into the wood on the corner of the back of my strop. I do this fairly aggressively. You'll see black from the metal left behind.
 
I will, when finding that wire edge (burr) take my 1200 grit ceramic rod from my Edge Pro kit and run it lightly across the grain of the edge a couple of strokes and then run do the same on my leather strop until I feel it's gone. But as my friend Strigamort does I also use a section of my round clothes hanging rod in the closet, made from wood, and go back and forth for a final smoothing. When all else fails improvise, right?
 
Just don't deburr on a questionable piece of wood near your thumb... I've got a scar to remind me. :) I might agree with the ceramic rod if it's higher grit than the stones you're using, on higher grits.... Well you'd just be polishing the bevel and leaving the edge quite rough at 1,200 grit.
 
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