Any advice?

B

BigBladeBoy

Joined
Jan 11, 2002
Messages
16
Okay... a few questions. First off, I would like to get my BM reconditioned if this is possible. The blade is scratched up some. Now I don't know if Benchmade does this, if so is there a charge, or if they have some kinda warrenty( the knife is about 13 yrs. old). Second, I'm looking to find a decent, play with me flipper. One that won't fall apart in a few weeks but doesn't cost alot of cash. Any replies would greatly welcomed.




B3
 
Chuck Gollnick should confirm, but I think Benchmade has a lifetime warranty regarding the sharpening of the blade. You'll just have to pay the fright costs. For more than sharpening, you should ask them by email (see www.benchmade.com).

For the flipper, a Jaguar should be what you're looking for.
Have a look to www.knifezilla.com you'll see good knives and be able to compare the price.

Guillaume
 
Benchmade will be happy to clean your knife up for you under their lifetime warranty for just a slight postage and handling charge.
 
This is the email they sent me when I asked how much it is to refurbish a 42. LifeSharp should solve your problems though.

Asher,
Vance's time runs at $60.00 and hour and then parts. We do not have any
specific turn around times it some times can be 6 to 8 months.

WARRANTY DEPT.
BENCHMADE KNIFE CO.
300 BEAVERCREEK RD.
OREGON CITY, OR 97045

THANKS ANGIE
 
Originally posted by Agent-A1:

>>>>This is the email they sent me when I asked how much it is to refurbish a 42. LifeSharp should solve your problems though.

Asher,
Vance's time runs at $60.00 and hour and then parts. We do not have any specific turn around times it some times can be 6 to 8 months.

Sixty bux an hour??!! No damn wonder they're charging 160 for a fairly decent 50 dollar knife!

BBB: I'd seriously consider sending it to Mer. He can likely tighten it up, and if it's one of the cast handle models, replace them with a classy set of SS ones for the price you'd give to BM for a refurbish.

Philthy
 
My 42 is comming back from Mer this week, All re-furbished, with new spacers, and new finishes to the blade and handles. His prices are much more reasonable... But, any work he does will void Benchmades warranty. My 42 was already "customized" by sharpening the swedge, so mine was not going to be covered by BM.

But when you think about it, $60.00 per hour is kinda reasonable for BM factory work.
I'm a tile setter, and charge $40.00 per hour for hourly work, but when I'm actually setting tile, for the square footage I do over the time it takes me, I'm making somewhere between $80.00-$120.00 per hour. I don't usually put in 40 hours per week, because of drive time, estimates, and hunting down the right types of tile, but when I'm setting, I'm making bank.

You don't expect to be the warranty guy for a major knife company making minimum wageX2, do you?
 
I'm sure Blade_420 will let us know what he thinks and hopefully post a picture. If you're interested, email me and we can talk $$$.

Mer
 
Originally posted by blade_420:

>>>>You don't expect to be the warranty guy for a major knife company making minimum wageX2, do you?

No Blade I don't, but I would think about a third of that of that 60 dollars is pretty reasonable.. around 20-25 ph. I wouldn't pay more for service work. It's a damn folding knife, not a Lear Jet.

I'm tickled for you that you can get 120 ph for tile work...if there's people out there that gullable, then by all means, go for it!
But you'd likely have to wait awile to get business down here at those rates.

Take care,

Philthy
 
It's not a gullibility issue, it's knowing what you are doing/time. I usually don't charge by the hour, Just in cases where I can't charge by the square foot. I charge anywhere from $2.00 Per Square foot (for 4X4 wall tile) to 4.00 per sq. ft. (floor grade 12X12). An averave tub is 60 square feet, and I can install that in one hour. Floors pay more, beacuse a wrong installation is a costly fix. I can lay 100-200 square feet of floors in one hour depending on how many and the types of cuts. I'm making a lot more when I lay floors. But I warranty everything I do for one year, at no charge. Usually everything goes smooth, but sometimes I keep having to go back to make it right. That's when I loose money.

Check the prices around FL., I actually work pretty cheep...And I'm not the fastest tile setter by any means...or the cheapest...well, close.

But then there are people who think they can do a job and screw it all up... That's when It's worth it to pay a little more for someone who will do it right the first time, Re-do's are more costly than original installation.

I"m sure you could find cheaper or faster tile setters, but, as they say, You get what you pay for...Watch out!!

Isn't that why you buy a Benchmade over a Jaguar, or CCC?
 
I bet that's the first time a tile floor was the subject of a picture posted to the forums! ;) At least put a balisong somewhere in the middle. Heh.
 
Points well taken -- the tile shots were great -- any discount for work in NM if we supply the good chili ?? How about returning the knife to BM for an estimate prior to having the work done ?? I'm not slamming MER or anyone else here --- why not give the mfr a chance ? I plan to have MER do a SS re-handle of a BM-31 with inserts when it shows up !!! If there's a problem with the knife, return it -- all of my experiences with BM's service have been great.
 
I will travel and work for balis and 3 alarm chili!

Actually I was in Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Espanola at Thanksgiving, I know some good hardwood guys down there, too.:)

(sorry for the Off Topic content, but I have to defend my profession...:cool: )
 
Blade,

That is certainly artful, and obviously good work you've done there. And as you explain it, I can better understand how the 120 ph comes together for you. No slam meant to you personally, but I guess that's the reason an average home costs about twice what it should, and a Chevie is way overpriced, and (on topic) a decent 50-60 dollar bali will list price at 160. I just wonder where the the top-line is in all this, and if anything will ever get back to normal again.

Uncle Philthy is well known down here for his world famous home-made-chili, (me n' Carrol Shelby's secret recipe)....should you get around my area, come by for a bowl or two.

Best Wishes,

Philthy
 
No offense taken..:)

I know what you mean about a descent $50 knife listing at $160, but if you hark back 10-15 years ago, Titanium handles was a $1000 option.
True, they were hand milled from bar stock, instead of sinter forged, In fact the only one I've ever seen pictures of is now in Dawkind's collection.

I remember when VCR movies first came out, Any title available was yours for only $80.00, and the player was $300-500. Now you can buy movies for $5.00 in the grocery store.

As the technology improves, things get cheaper, but the quality usually goes down.

I am constantly hearing about BM4X series having production problems, where the older balis both BM and Japanese production had a higher quality standard.

The more you pump out, the harder it is to keep quality control. With the recent flood of new bali makers, maybe the prices will go down a bit to allow for competitive pricing...but, don't hold your breath.

If you had invested $5000.00 in balis back in 1983, the return now would be better than investing in a descent stock...especially Enron..:confused: :barf:
 
Well Blade..., I don't know anything about laying tile.., but if you need a helper and Ouch will take us to a few of those local restaurants, I'm in for the chili :) I use to drive all the way there just to have the red chili at Duran's Drug Store.., and go to Garcia's.., Monroe's.., and a couple of other places....YUMMMMM!

On a serious note..., BigBladeBoy: For really re-conditioning a knife, I think you'd be better off going with Eric. Vance is great and does very nice work.., but that full re-conditioning stuff he does is not the "Bread-and-Butter" of Benchmade.., hence it's pretty pricey. You also have to remember.., that if what you are looking for is a true overhaul.., that "Life Sharp" is a sharpening service supplied as a "perk" by BM.., but not for major work.

Most people that have dealt with Benchmade lots have certainly had them throw in a few favors.., and do a little extra here and there to fix a knife...., but they have to charge something pretty steep for Lance to work on a knife extensively, simply because it takes time away from what he does in day-to-day production for the company.


"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
Originally posted by blade_420
If you had invested $5000.00 in balis back in 1983, the return now would be better than investing in a descent stock...especially Enron.
Click to expand...
I doubt it. If you bought $5000 worth of Microsoft stock in 1983, the return would be way way way way better than those bali's. And most of the custom PC/BM bali's only doubled, if not a little better, than what they were retailed at.

But the secret is always when you sell. If you had bought $5000 worth of Enron stock in 1983, and sold them around Januanry last year, you'd make enough to buy that batch of 1983 $5000 bali's and still sit pretty.
 
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