Klesk
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2003
- Messages
- 1,105
I just got a First Production run 630, I haven't had a chance to really use the knife but I wanted to share some of my initial impressions. Please keep in mind that I am a picky bastard, so some of these nits may be non-issues to most people.
General The knife is beautiful, plain and simple. The lines are great, and the grinds (as expected) are perfect. The knife has a very solid feel, it feels "denser" than I thought a framelock would feel. The knife fits comfortably in my slightly small hand, particularly in the forward grip. I am not a huge Blackwood fan, not because he doesn't make good knives, I am just too poor to have the opportunity to appreciate his work. So the 3 or 4 hole thing doesn't mean anything to me, I think it looks fine. The recurved blade was very easy to sharpen on the ceramic sticks, it took a wicked sharp edge, also as expected.
Fit and Finish No complaints here, blade is centered, lockup is perfect, the ball detent drops into the hole in the blade at just the right time. All the surfaces that should be radiused are nicely done, particularly the holes in the blade.
Daily Use This is where I start to have some issues. There are 3 things that concern me, maybe Benchmade can address them in the regular production run.
1. The larger hole in the blade, which I assume would be the one that would be used to open the knife, "sweeps" too close to the end of the handle as the knife is opened. Because of this, my thumb is pushed away from the hole in the middle of the opening stroke. It's not something that can't be overcome, it's just something that you shouldn't have to think about.
2. The knife is extremely sensitive to pivot tension. Maybe one of the worst knives I've seen. You know how you can somehow tighten the pivot on a Sebenza as much as you want, and not affect the knife function? The 630 is exactly the opposite. When I got the knife, I thumbed the lockbar aside to check the pivot tension, as usual. The blade moved side to side a little, so I tightened the pivot until the motion stopped. The blade still rotated easily at this point. Unfortunately, at this point the pivot was not tight enough to stay screwed down by itself, so I screwed it down just a hair more. Now the blade would hardly move at all. So, it's going to be one of those knives that I have to Locktite the pivot in the exact place that I like it.
[Edited to add the following]: I just took apart the 630, and I found that the handle is slightly warped. I'm not the original owner, and I have not taken apart any other 630, so I don't know the cause. It could very well be part of the design, to "load up" or pretension the handle, or maybe it occurred during flame treatment. In any case, this slight warpage made the knife difficult to reassemble, and could very well be the cause of the pivot tension sensitivity.
3. The clip is nice, looks like a custom piece, but the thickness and shape conspire to make the clip very "loose". There is little tension on the clip, partly because of its very narrow (for this size knife anyway) cross-section, and very flat bottom. Because of the shape of the clip, taking it off and bending it will not help very much. I'm worried about the knife falling out of my pocket, since the clip doesn't grab as much as I would like. Also, the end of the clip where it "kicks up" from the handle is very small, as small as I've seen. So, putting the knife in my pocket takes some concentration, as I can't just push down and expect the clip to catch on my pocket.
Overall, Benchmade has a winner. It is a good-looking knife, in a useful size, made of premium materials at a reasonable price. I've already Locktited the pivot down, and the minor difficulty in opening the knife may be attributed to my smaller than average hands. As for the clip, I may have Shawn Thatch just make me another one, in a more useful shape.
General The knife is beautiful, plain and simple. The lines are great, and the grinds (as expected) are perfect. The knife has a very solid feel, it feels "denser" than I thought a framelock would feel. The knife fits comfortably in my slightly small hand, particularly in the forward grip. I am not a huge Blackwood fan, not because he doesn't make good knives, I am just too poor to have the opportunity to appreciate his work. So the 3 or 4 hole thing doesn't mean anything to me, I think it looks fine. The recurved blade was very easy to sharpen on the ceramic sticks, it took a wicked sharp edge, also as expected.
Fit and Finish No complaints here, blade is centered, lockup is perfect, the ball detent drops into the hole in the blade at just the right time. All the surfaces that should be radiused are nicely done, particularly the holes in the blade.
Daily Use This is where I start to have some issues. There are 3 things that concern me, maybe Benchmade can address them in the regular production run.
1. The larger hole in the blade, which I assume would be the one that would be used to open the knife, "sweeps" too close to the end of the handle as the knife is opened. Because of this, my thumb is pushed away from the hole in the middle of the opening stroke. It's not something that can't be overcome, it's just something that you shouldn't have to think about.
2. The knife is extremely sensitive to pivot tension. Maybe one of the worst knives I've seen. You know how you can somehow tighten the pivot on a Sebenza as much as you want, and not affect the knife function? The 630 is exactly the opposite. When I got the knife, I thumbed the lockbar aside to check the pivot tension, as usual. The blade moved side to side a little, so I tightened the pivot until the motion stopped. The blade still rotated easily at this point. Unfortunately, at this point the pivot was not tight enough to stay screwed down by itself, so I screwed it down just a hair more. Now the blade would hardly move at all. So, it's going to be one of those knives that I have to Locktite the pivot in the exact place that I like it.
[Edited to add the following]: I just took apart the 630, and I found that the handle is slightly warped. I'm not the original owner, and I have not taken apart any other 630, so I don't know the cause. It could very well be part of the design, to "load up" or pretension the handle, or maybe it occurred during flame treatment. In any case, this slight warpage made the knife difficult to reassemble, and could very well be the cause of the pivot tension sensitivity.
3. The clip is nice, looks like a custom piece, but the thickness and shape conspire to make the clip very "loose". There is little tension on the clip, partly because of its very narrow (for this size knife anyway) cross-section, and very flat bottom. Because of the shape of the clip, taking it off and bending it will not help very much. I'm worried about the knife falling out of my pocket, since the clip doesn't grab as much as I would like. Also, the end of the clip where it "kicks up" from the handle is very small, as small as I've seen. So, putting the knife in my pocket takes some concentration, as I can't just push down and expect the clip to catch on my pocket.
Overall, Benchmade has a winner. It is a good-looking knife, in a useful size, made of premium materials at a reasonable price. I've already Locktited the pivot down, and the minor difficulty in opening the knife may be attributed to my smaller than average hands. As for the clip, I may have Shawn Thatch just make me another one, in a more useful shape.
