Bad heat treatment?

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Bechbum2588

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Oct 27, 2018
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Is there a way to tell if you got a bad blade. I have a BM Contego in M4. Sharpens easy, gets razor sharp and stay's that way forever. I have a BM Grip in M4 that's the complete opposite. Can't seem to get to razor sharpness and dulls fast. It's 2013 Shot Show BM Griptillianm. I heard BM M4 had problems at first on the older one's. Thoughts guys? Thanks
 
You could send it to Josh at Razor Edge Knives (here in the forums) and have him sharpen it.
I bet he could tell by how it feels on the stones whether it was "normal" or not.
At least you would know it was sharpened as well as humanly possible then see how long the edge lasts from there.

Here is a link to one of his posts and you can send him a personal message or click on a link to him from there.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/kme-or-wicked-edge.1629204/#post-18615285
 
I'd research other's experience with sending in BMs for "warranty" work and see if you are willing to send it in two or three time to get some kind of satisfaction.
I have zero experience with this. But I have read enough horror stories. Sure they talk a good line but results can be disappointing.
If it were Spyderco I would say what are you waiting for get the tape and label on that box.
Still . . . I had a similar experience with a Spyderco that was determined to be correctly heat treated and hard enough. The blade sucked and I am glad I let them keep it. S110V . . . wouldn't keep a decent edge for more than a day. Other blades from the same company in S110V I have found to be WAYYYYYYYYY better.
Good luck.
I'd trust Josh as he is an independent third person.
 
Benchmade has a bad reputation, perhaps deservedly, when it comes to how they let their knives go out the door, without adequately inspecting them for sins in fit and finish. When it comes to warranty service though, Benchmade has a rather good reputation. There's no sense in paying a lot of money for sharpening if you're not even sure that your knife is defective or not. Sending your blade to Benchmade is both your most economical option and your quickest option, since all you have to do is pay for shipping one way, and they will determine if your knife is all right. If it's not, they will replace the blade. Either way, they will ship it back to you without charging you.
 
I will watch with abated breath to see how this one turns out.
An M4 Griptillian ! ! ! !
Worth putting some effort and time into in any case ! ! !
 
Bechbum2588 said:
Can't seem to get to razor sharpness and dulls fast.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't this be the first step ?
Before all the test test ?
Find someone who can sharpen it ?
I mean . . . I mean . . . people sharpen everything from spoons to butter knives and shave with them . . . not being able to get it sharp isn't going to be a problem with the heat treat.
Not being able to holding that edge afterward may be. Then send it in after one has some thing concrete to talk about.

I sharpened my S110V to hair whittling four or five times (more if we count the toothy edges) before I sent it in.
 
Benchmade does offer M4 in custom shop Griptilians, so your best bet would be to call and ask Benchmade for sure.
 
Would be interesting to hear what BM say. I have the 154cm version, and it's been a solid knife. I've heard that much about their quality control issues that I'm wary of ordering something else from them. I'm in the UK so not so easy to send back if I'm not happy.
 
I think they prefer softer steel and less broken tips , most of their blades usually on softer side , at least for my taste .
btw I think I have same knife , and yes it doesnt perform as I would expect from M4
 
It would suck to send it to get sharpened as you would wait then have to pay. If it doesnt work. Then to have to send it in to benchmade and they say yup bad blade. Heres a new one on us. Might aswell send it in to benchmade to see if its good or not. Then go from there.
 
How many times have you sharpened it? If it's already been a few times your probably past the bad steel or burnt edge if that's the case. Otherwise try re profiling it again.
Make sure your using diamond, cbn, or sic abrasives.

Otherwise you can get a new blade for like 30$ iirc. I think you'll have to send it in. Just ask to keep your original too. Don't think it will be serialized but if it's a newer blade it's likely to have the newer heat treatment.
 
I’d send it in, it’s pretty well known that BM doesn’t really bother to QC their knives anymore!

I recently bought a 940-1, I had to look at no fewer then 4 examples and 2 different stores before I found one without obvious QC issues.

Also, make sure you’re clear that you think the HT is bad, BM are notorious for their “warranty” service consisting of sharpening it and sending it back, I have even heard of knives being sent in with broken omega springs and being just sharpened and sent back.
 
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John_0917 said:
I’d send it in, it’s pretty well known that BM doesn’t really bother to QC their knives anymore!

I recently bought a 940-1, I had to look at no fewer then 4 examples and 2 different stores before I found one without obvious QC issues.

Also, make sure you’re clear that you think the HT is bad, BM are notorious for their “warranty” service consisting of sharpening it and sending it back, I have even heard of knives being sent in with broken omega springs and being just sharpened and sent back.
Click to expand...
I'm glad you told me that. I thought they might do that. Thanks
 
So what you might be experiencing is a "burnt" edge. The HT on the blade is fine, but the factory sharpening is done with more concern for speed rather than quality, so they usually put an edge on with a belt and/or wheel, coarse then fine. This process stresses the steel on the Apex, which causes worse performance for the first few sharpenings, usually improving marginally until the stressed steel is removed. Supersteel Steve on YouTube has a few videos demonstrating and explaining this, and I've experienced it myself without realizing it until I saw it laid out. Unless you reprofile the edge, each sharpening usually removes a surprisingly small amount of steel, so it can take as many as 7 sharpenings to fully remove the stressed steel.
 
Even with a bad heat treat, you should be able to get it sharp. And if you're starting with a knife that is not sharp, it will become noticeably dull faster.

My first guess is that you're not sharpening it correctly. Obviously, you got another knife in that steel sharp, but sharpening can be tricky, especially if you're using a limited system or don't have the ability or tools to understand what's happening on the edge. For example, on a Sharpmaker, an edge with one geometry will be easy to resharpen, while an edge with a different geometry will be difficult.

The first thing to do is raise a burr along the entire edge of both sides of the blade. Then properly remove the burr. If you're not raising a burr, that's the issue (geometry).
 
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