A Few Benchmade Questions

J

JNieporte

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Nov 1, 2004
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I have a few questions about Benchmades. Hopefully you guys can help me out.

1. What is included in the LifeSharp program? I know that I can send my knife in along with $5 and they'll sharpen it, clean it, and perform any warrantied repairs. When they clean it, do they take it apart? And what exactly are warrantied repairs? If I send them a knife that's missing a pocket clip screw, will they put a new one on for me? Has anybody here used the LifeSharp service?

2. How sturdy is the blade stop pin? I would imagine that after using the AXIS Lock to open a Griptilian all the time, all of that slamming of the blade against the blade stop pin would do some damage. Has anybody experienced bending, chipping, or breaking of the pin or the blade from this? Is it covered under the warranty?
 
Don't have answers to all of your questions but...

I believe warrantied repairs is any normal wear not caused by abuse. This would involve replacing missing or broken clip screws. If a screw is missing (doesn't need to be drilled out or the like) they will send you one for free without having to send it in.

I've had no problems with the stop pin on my Axis folders. After a while the pin develops a bit of a flat spot. If the flat started causing blade play issues you can rotate the pin, but I haven't had to do that. Damage would be warrantied, unless you broke the pin while cutting truck axles in half or something.
 
kjbenner said:
Damage would be warrantied, unless you broke the pin while cutting truck axles in half or something.
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Well dammit, that's why I buy AXIS Lock knives. Oh wait, bus axles and truck axles are different, aren't they? Thanks for the help KJBenner. Anybody else have any experience with the LifeSharp service?
 
I send my 710d2 in to the LifeSharp shop. I took a few weeks for it to come back but when I got my knife back it was razor sharp and had brand pocket clip, and there wasn't really anything wrong with old pocket except for some chipped paint.

As for the stop pin I have a 530,551, and a 710 I flipped them open and closed thousands of times. The action is so smooth and there is no blade wobble. Benchmades are trusty. If don't have one hurry and get one
 
I just want to add that according to the official description of the lifesharp service in BM literature, any serrated portion of the blade would not be covered by the service. I have no idea what that means in actual practice. I wouldn't be surprised if they did some minimal honing of the serrations, but want an "out" in case the serrations are really messed up when they receive the knife.

My BM came with a very good factory edge and I would not hesitate to use the Lifesharp service (but I sharpen at home).
 
the axis lock is amazing. with wear the lock will become even more secure. the more you use it the better it gets
 
army4ever said:
the axis lock is amazing. with wear the lock will become even more secure. the more you use it the better it gets
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Really? That's interesting. Just got my first Mini Grip and the action&finish is highly impressive:thumbup:
 
I sent mine in with a note on it that said "please do not sharpen" lol.

I wonder where they draw the line with "tampering". I've taken my 710 apparent-ish to clean it. Meaning I didn't touch the omega springs, just the liners to clean in between them.
 
One of the most ingenious things about the axis lock is that force and pressure is distributed fairly evenly between the stop pin, the lock bar and the pivot.

I would think the stop pin would be one of the last things that would break on an axis knife. I doubt even with a fair amount of wear causing a flat spot that you would get much if any wobble. Like I said, it's a three pronged system.

Really makes me rethink my perception of "hicks." As I understand it, a couple of bearded dudes from the Appalachians designed a lock that NASA would be proud of.
 
JNieporte said:
I have a few questions about Benchmades. Hopefully you guys can help me out.

1. What is included in the LifeSharp program?
Click to expand...

More than you'd think. You'd be surprised what most good knife manufacturers, including Benchmade, will do to keep their customers happy.

For instance, I took my 211 Activator to a local dealer to have it sharpened. When I got it back, the grind was "wavy"--uneven between to two sides. It had obviously been sharpened by an amateur on an out-of-control belt sander.

I complained about it when I picked the knife up, but the dealer wasn't willing to do anything about the sharpening mishap.

I e-mailed Benchmade about it, asked them if I could send the knife in to be re-sharpened by them so they could fix the grind.

Benchmade ended up just replacing the blade entirely, and re-attaching the handle slabs from my knife. I sent it in without the sheath, and they provided a brand new sheath as well.

JNieporte said:
2. How sturdy is the blade stop pin? I would imagine that after using the AXIS Lock to open a Griptilian all the time, all of that slamming of the blade against the blade stop pin would do some damage. Has anybody experienced bending, chipping, or breaking of the pin or the blade from this? Is it covered under the warranty?
Click to expand...

Surprisingly sturdy. After a good six months of slamming my 556 open and shut, stripping and cutting wire with it, and all sorts of other "questionable" uses, it still locks up nice and solid.

The stop pin is arranged in such a way that the blade can't hit anything inside the handle of the knife. In my opinion, no modern folding knife should be designed so that the blade ever touch any part of the inside handle when it's closed, no matter how worn the stop pin gets.
 
To those who have sent them in to BM:

Did you need to send a copy of the receipt? I know they say to on their web site, but most of the Benchmades I've purchased were second hand, or traded.
 
I have nothing to offer the thread.

However, I have a Benchmade 710d2 headed this way, so all this info is good to hear, lol.
 
Benchmade's CS is top great. You do NOT have to send in a receipt with a knife that you send them. I know that the lifesharp at least takes off the scales to clean the knife, but I think they take of more then just the scales but I do not know for a fact. If you knife develops any kind of blade play, they will fix it for free. If a BM knife have any problem that is not the result of abuse then will fix it.
 
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