Benchmade 556 Mini-Griptilian in M390, S30V, D2, or 154CM

I have two large M2 RSk's and a matching sn set in M4. For carry though I prefer the S30V RSK. . . So much less worry about care. They're all good.
 
I've had Grips/RSKs in 440C, M2HS, 154CM, D2, S30V and CPM-M4. The M2HS knives are the best. The same goes for the 710.

I hope to soon have the M390 knife, but expect it to exhibit the poor standard of blade grinding that is characteristic of current new Benchmades.
 
Steven Andrews said:
I've had Grips/RSKs in 440C, M2HS, 154CM, D2, S30V and CPM-M4. The M2HS knives are the best. The same goes for the 710.

I hope to soon have the M390 knife, but expect it to exhibit the poor standard of blade grinding that is characteristic of current new Benchmades.
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Please be specific?
 
Scratchy grind marks. Uneven bevels. Poor edges. Blunt tips.

I think it may be the way your photo has been resized, but the knife in your post looks "wonky".
 
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Keyman,
Thanks!!
I was so bummed out.
I looked for it for months and still think about that knife.
That is the reason I will no longer carry my favorite.

Does everyone use all the Mini-Grip "Specialty Knives" or more for collecting?

If you use them, does that not devalue the resale value or collector value?

Do you think they will ever bo worth anything?
Like the M390 200 run, M2, M4, Ritters that are no longer made, the S30V 50 run, etc?

Thanks for any info on this, just curious, I have several and wondered if they would ever be collectors or in demand in the future.
 
Steven Andrews said:
Shoddy grinds. Uneven bevels. Poor edges. Blunt tips.

I think it may be the way your photo has been resized, but the knife in your post looks "wonky".
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Indeed the image looks a little wavy, especially in the back ground. The knife is actually well built, centered, and so-so on the sharpness. Typical of the 60 degree angle that Benchmade uses on their knives.
 
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Steven Andrews said:
That's good to hear. I haven't had much luck with my recent Benchmades. Hopefully this one will be ok.
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My biggest disappointment was with one the two 615s that I got a couple months back. While the two knives are solid, the factory edge was horrible. The running joke was that those knives were sharpened at 4:50pm on a Friday.:(
 
Be careful what you wish for - "fair" is not always what it's cracked up to be, LOL!

The question is because of the five Benchmades made in 2010 that I've bought this year, three are seriously off-center, two had funky edge grinds, and all five make the knives my wife puts into the dishwasher every night :( look sharp when they came out of the box.

Nevertheless, I still love the Axis lock in general and small Grips in particular. Let's hope that the new relationship between Doug Ritter and KW brings some interesting new Grips down the road. :thumbup:

waynejitsu said:
You are welcome:)
Just want to be fair, LOL!!

M390- I have 2 and both are centered.
I have had real good luck with my BM knives being good quality.
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I haven't seen these Benchmade quality issue. The M4 Ritter RSK and a BM 940 in D2 both had blades at dead center. The 940 D2 blade was a little grainy like many D2 knives I've seen, but both were quite sharp.

Are you sure you are extrapolating a few bad experiences to the entire line-up?
 
ras said:
I haven't seen these Benchmade quality issue. The M4 Ritter RSK and a BM 940 in D2 both had blades at dead center. The 940 D2 blade was a little grainy like many D2 knives I've seen, but both were quite sharp.

Are you sure you are extrapolating a few bad experiences to the entire line-up?
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Nope, I am quite sure. Blades are indeed centered, except on the 950, apparently several people reported that being one thing in common. However, sharpness is a variable that differs from person to person. Then again, not everyone is used to these kinds of edges:
imag1025.jpg
 
ras said:
I haven't seen these Benchmade quality issue. The M4 Ritter RSK and a BM 940 in D2 both had blades at dead center. The 940 D2 blade was a little grainy like many D2 knives I've seen, but both were quite sharp.

Are you sure you are extrapolating a few bad experiences to the entire line-up?
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I had 3 m4 minis. All three had issues. I sent one back for a replacement, then returned the replacement due to the issues already specified in this thread. On the third one, I just sent it into BM and they fixed the grind and the off center blade. It still wasn't very sharp when it came back so I sent it to Ankerson here and he fixed that for me.:D
 
RevDevil said:
Nope, I am quite sure. Blades are indeed centered, except on the 950, apparently several people reported that being one thing in common. However, sharpness is a variable that differs from person to person. Then again, not everyone is used to these kinds of edges:
imag1025.jpg
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What is the steel on that 710? My only 710 in M2 and a 710 LE in D2. Your 710's edge looks as good as my old 154CM 940.

You are right in sharpness being subjective. The best edges I've gotten were with BM's 154CM blades -- not factory.
 
OMG I saw this thread and immediately ordered an M390 Mini Grip, damnit, I didn't intend to come on BF and immediately drop almost $100. This place is like a leech to my wallet.
 
phobiarg@snet.net said:
OMG I saw this thread and immediately ordered an M390 Mini Grip, damnit, I didn't intend to come on BF and immediately drop almost $100. This place is like a leech to my wallet.
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Get used to it. I have dropped thousands because of the kind souls here. They keep me from spending my money on crazy stuff, like food!:eek:;)

Welcome to the forum!
 
So, back to the original question :D OP, buy the LE Mini Grip in M390. I am not an S30V-hater, but I think Benchmade does better with other steel.

If I were Les Asis, I would have worked on bringing the Ritter blade design in-house as an official Benchmade offering, but with the recent change in distribution that moment may have passed.
 
Agree with that. I much prefer the Ritter wide cord & high flat grind to either the saber or hollow ground BM Grips. It's a great general purpose blade design.
 
The Mastiff said:
Mine came and the blade was aligned correctly, but it had the usual dull factory sharpening job.

It's been a while since I've seen an out of box benchmade that was sharp. The skirmish perhaps?

Heck, the PRC made Pikas come edged better.

Still a nicely built knife.

I'm another one that would have had a complete set if I hadn't gotten rid of my M2 mini grip. Wish I had that one back.
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What do you guys use to sharpen your Mini? Sharpmaker (which I am absolutely terrible at) or Lansky/DMT/Gatco? I need a good easy sharpener. I have a work sharp and it certainly is easier but it wont put a razor sharp edge on...it does very will but just not hair cutting sharp. I do a poor job with the sharpmaker but I am still new to it. The other big battle is finding the angles (what is the angle for a mini? 30?). Oh and not knocking the tip off is another issue with the sharpmaker. That thing is not forgiving if you travel off the triangles.
 
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