A Mostly Good Experience with Benchmade LifeSharp

[OrangeDrink]

I bought a Mini AFCK back in the late 1990s, which had been collecting dust for years. The blade was dull with many small chips, and the last millimeter or two of the tip was broken off.

I recently sent it off to Benchmade to see if their LifeSharp program could restore the blade to working condition. I am pretty happy with the results....

• Total time out including shipping was 13 calendar days
• The blade has clearly been reprofiled
• There is no evidence of the chipping
• They put a new needle-sharp tip on the blade
• It cuts paper pretty well, although it could probably use some final stropping
• The knife was always a smooth and fast opener, but the lube they use has made it a very fast flicker

I think it was worth the $10 in shipping both ways. I certainly am not competent to fully reprofile a knife and put a tip back on it.

My only real criticism is that there is a bit of side-to-side blade play, but I can't readily tweak it out because the LifeSharp people loctited the pivot screw. In my experience, I could get rid of the play and still have a pretty fast opener. Haven't decided if I'm going to break the loctite sooner or later.

Verdict: If you have no sharpening skills and your Benchmade blade needs a major overhaul, let LifeSharp do it.



Here are some poorly shot, low-resolution pics of the blade as it came back from LifeSharp...

 

[RevDevil]

Use a blow dryer on the pivot for about 15-30 seconds and that will break the loctite. You then tighten up the pivot to your desired tension and the problem of side to side play is resolved. That pivot might be too loose, which is why your knife is flying open now.

 

[OrangeDrink]

Thanks, I think you're right. The looseness of the pivot screw is problematic. The blade swings freely when I fully disengage the liner lock.