Anyone have experience with Benchmade's LifeSharp service?

[w]

I am with silverdagger. I sent one off to sharpen many years ago. When I got it back I couldn't believe how much metal they took off. Like was previously mentioned, I could have used it hard and sharpened it for 10 years to have removed that much metal. I got rid of the knife after that, just couldn't stand to look at it. I will send no more back to resharpen.

 

[theonew]

Silverdagger, I'm not a complainer either, but I do like to inform a company that I intend to do business with again, that I was less than happy with their service. If people don't complain, the dolt who did the sharpening on yours and others knives will continue to grind away people's steel in a reckless manner :grumpy:

I appreciated hearing these stories and thank you. If I have to send in my 710D2 for repair work I'm definitely going to tape the blade and write Do Not Sharpen on it. I spent a good deal of time thinning and polishing the edge to 10 degrees per side and would freak if I had to do it all again. I do hope that Benchmade doesn't have some crazy policy such as blades can't be returned if the edge isn't set to factory, if that were the case, I would stop buying their knives

 

[Silverdagger]

I'd probably just use the knife, but if it really bothered me, I'd contact Benchmade. Letting them know in a calm fashion that you are not pleased with the work is not complaining.

Thing is, other than the blade, which of course is arguably the most important part, their service more than exceeded my expectations in every single way. I'm pretty sure, I got an entire new knife, except the blade.

It exceeded my expectations with: appeared to have new liners, new omega springs, it did have a new clip, and it had the new scales. Not only this, but it was tweaked with locktight, I'm almost sure. Also, it came back in maybe a weeks time, no more than two, which is super fast.

But dang it hurts me to look at it opened up. The one thing I wish they hadn't touched, as it was sharp, they did.

Great company. Good warranty. Somebody just sharpened it too hard. I had only had the knife a year. It was an anniversary present. Between it and the others I use, it suffered 10 to 20 years worth of metal removing over one sharpening.

I guess I could send it back a couple more times. The whole thing would be gone.

 

[THG]

I'd learn to sharpen it myself, but it's a bit of a money issue right now. $10 to send it to BM (shipping included) vs. however much a sharpener would cost, which, I assume, would be a lot more than $10.

Besides...if I'm going to learn how to sharpen a knife, I'm not going to use a BM 940 as my test subject >_>

Well either you keep sending $10 to benchmade every time you have to sharpen it, or you learn to sharpen freehand or get a system or something and spend money one time.

I sent a sharp knife to them for a scale replacement. I had dropped my yellow minigrip. I included $10, just to make sure I was being fair. They replaced the scale. To my suprise, the knife came back 1/8 inch shorter. They sharpened the heck out of it, and took off more tip than I would have taken in a decade. It just didn't look right to me anymore. If my knife ever goes back for warranty repair, I will put tape on the blade that says "Don't sharpen".

That happened to my Endura ZDP. I had a guy do it because it was taking me forever, and he had coarser, longer stones than I did. When I got it back, the whole blade profile was changed; the blade lost a lot of belly. But at least the blade wasn't shortened in length. It actually isn't that bad, but it is different. What I'm going to do is get an XXC stone and flat grind it myself now.

But anyway, that's why I won't have anyone else sharpen or service my knives anymore.

 

[skinnydick]

I don't have anything to service yet, but I have couple of questions for the future:
1) What if I don't have a receipt. What if I bought it new from internet, or from another forum member, or bought it used. Will they still service it, sharpen it? What if I need more than sharpening? Maybe omega spring replacement....
2) If I have 10 knives that need sharpening. Can they be send in together along with just $5 M/O, or should I include a M/O for $50 (10 x $5)?

I'm pretty sure that those question can be answered by calling BM support, but I thought maybe somebody already knows the answer.

They will service and sharpen it no matter where or how you got it. and they do not require a $5 cash or check when you send it in. they do it for free new. BM CS is the best in the business

 

[ejames13]

I sent in a Ritter Grip for some warranty work and they returned it with a fresh edge. Looked like they did a pretty nice job, but I didn't have an original to compare how much steel they took off.

If I was sending a knife out to be sharpened I'd sent it to someone here on the forums before sending to a manufacturer. Jason B. is highly recommended by a lot of folks here, and he only charges $4 to sharpen any blade under 8 inches. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1132962-Traditional-Sharpening-Services

 

[oracle_2010]

I have received my knife today for blade replacement service from Benchmade. At first, I thought I would face some problem sending the knive and received it back since it is an OTF (BM 3300 Infidel). But it turns out that all the process was just going smoothly. However, the whole process took almost 2 months (sent the knive on 21 June and received it back on 14 August 2018). I live in Indonesia.
So, if you live outside US and have problem with your BM knife, I would recommend you to use BM Lifesharp service.
However, before you send in your knive, send a question first to BM Customer Service and ask whether you can send your knife in for a repair (that's what I did before I sent my knife).
Hope this would help.

 

[Photovongsa]

I sent my 556-1 Mini-Grip in to BKC for service after buying it used from REI.com (40% off retail!). Like many others on the forums have said before, the actual service doesn't take BKC long to perform. it's waiting for the darn thing to come back that's excruciating.

when purchased my knife from REI it was sharp out of the box but terribly off-centered and no matter how much tinkering I did and I couldn't get the blade to comfortably open (thumb or flick) without a bit of side to side play in the axis lock. I really did try everything in the book that was in my control but the darn thing wouldn't stay centered, that was really the only thing wrong with it, otherwise it was a great folder. I supposed that can be due to BKCs lackluster quality control...but that's a whole other discussion.

so I sent if off for Lifesharp & maintenance and after 4 weeks of not having my knife, I just got it back today.

now, I could chalk it up to just simply missing my knife, but my minigrip feels like a completely different knife. the blade is perfectly centered and the blade is very sharp. grinds on both sides appear symmetrical and the broken tip seems to be sharpened back into new form. opened, it locks up confidently and there is zero blade play now.

the invoice slip attached listed all the service and parts replaced and with exception of the blade and scales, everything is brand new.

I know others have had bad experiences with BKC Lifesharp service but I think they did a wonderful job restoring my knife. I would certainly send it back to them for repair in the future while continuing to maintain the blade myself with my Spyderco Sharpmaker.

 

[Yonose]

I sent a sharp knife to them for a scale replacement. I had dropped my yellow minigrip. I included $10, just to make sure I was being fair. They replaced the scale. To my suprise, the knife came back 1/8 inch shorter. They sharpened the heck out of it, and took off more tip than I would have taken in a decade. It just didn't look right to me anymore. If my knife ever goes back for warranty repair, I will put tape on the blade that says "Don't sharpen".

I know it doesn't hurt it too bad, but I've kind of retired it. They wasted a whole lot of steel when the knife was sharp anyway. I guess they thought they were giving me my money's worth. Some dufus out there who doesn't know how to sharpen a knife probably would never know the difference.

It was a bit upsetting. It sits in the drawer now.

Doesn’t benchmade offer a blade replacement service for a small fee? Instead of retiring it, I’d use the heck out of it then send it for replacement. Or, call them and mention your displeasure, maybe they will replace the blade for reduced cost.

 

[BeyondTheBox]

Don't you have any local place that will sharpen for you? I've got a few, Cabela's being the biggest. They do fine work on all arrangements of blades, but I've not yet tried them for any of the newer upgrades steels. They've only ever done the likes of 440C, 420 variants & 8Cr13MoV for me, as that was all I would do in the past due to being cheap. But they say they can do it all.