Benchmade butter knife

Spada

Spada

Joined
Oct 5, 1998
Messages
198
Today I received A new Bm. mini-axis and a Keershaw Blizzard in the mail. The Keershaw was scary sharp,but the Bm. was extremely dull, almost like an old used butter knife. I am not stretching the truth here folks. I tried sharpening it on a 204 edgemaker at the 20 deg. setting ,but i think there is just too much metal to remove. I know I can send the knife back to the factory for my LIFESHARP gaurantee, but I have to pay shipping plus wait a couple of weeks. Doesnt anyone even look at the knives before sealing the bags they are shippedin ???? Any one else have some feedback on Bm. 705 factory edge conditions? thanks Dave S.

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There have been a large number of people complaining (legitamately) about BM's quality control. I have heard their customer service is pretty good, but yes, it is an inconvinience. Perhaps someone local has a sharpening service...you'd probably spend as much as shipping would be, but they could do it right there.

~Mitch
 
My auto stryker came dull as all get out, too. It took forver to get a good edge on it. But my 710 came hair popping sharp. I never could figure out how quality control could let that get by. But what can we do? I mean, othe than the edge, the quality on the stryker was outstanding.

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"...the Law of the Jungle had taught him to keep his temper, for in the jungle life and food depend on keeping your temper..."
-Rudyard Kipling, from The Jungle Book

 
Spada-

I know how you feel, or at least I think I do. It's amazing that for as solid and well made the Benchmades generally are, they can't send them out sharp on a consistent basis. Especially for what we all pay- SHARP- is what I want out of the box.

I've heard some people say they don't mind so much because they can remedy it themselves. Personally, I think that's just fine if you're willing to do that, but why should you have to? Other major manufacturers don't seem to have this issue. Or if they do, you certainly don't hear about it as often as when it concerns BM.

My pre-pro Ares, pre-pro 855 Pardue, 350SBT, Ascent, Nimravus Cub, and Sentinel were all bowling ball sharp. But my AFCK, Pardue 850, and 705BT mini Axis were hair-spitters right out of the boxes. I do like Benchmade, don't get me wrong- but for a company who touts their manufacturing processes in print like BM does, geez, at least make sure they're ALL sharp before you send them out the door.

I imagine a first time buyer deciding to drop the coin on a new 710 after he/she has heard how nice of a knife it is. I wonder what they'd think of it after comparing the edge on that 710 to the edge on just about every Spyderco or Kershaw. Sure, maybe the steel or grinds would be different for specified usage, but hey- who doesn't love a really sharp knife fresh out of the box?

This has always bothered me about Benchmade, but hey- I keep buying 'em. I just don't understand. Anyone else?

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[This message has been edited by clip point (edited 01-30-2000).]
 
Oh!! I thought you wer talking about a blunt practivc ebutterfly knife.. Heheh
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henene
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ne...he.. he..
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anyways
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If yuo talk to someone in Benchmade they will usually take care of your problem for free (minus how much you spend on sending the knife to them... NO need to avail of the lifesharp feature cause it came dull. THen again i understand the hassle.



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<A HREF="http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html
</A> If you play with love you will be heartbroken; if you play with knives you will [bleed]


 
My first BM was a 401 Panther. It was plenty sharp when I bought it. My next BM was a 710 axis lock. I opened the box and found a dull blade. Can't complain about the rest of the workmanship, though.
 
BMs have some of the best knives for dollars, and the worst edges. They're almost always misground-one shoulder is higher than the other and/or the angles of each bevel are not equal. What makes it worse is that the 204 can't correct it, the fixed angles of the stones prevent them from coming in full contact with the bad bevel. You have to grind both bevels evenly first. A real pain. Will BM ever change?

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"Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n"
John Milton
There are only two types of people; those who understand this, and those who think they do.
 
Spada . . . I just went through the same experience with my BM 710 Axis . . . it was dull in comparison to other Benchmades and the amount of metal to be removed prompted me to return it to Benchmade for sharpening. I paid shipping both ways and ended up with a knife that was a little sharper, but still had the excess of metal adjacent to the edge . . . too much to remove with a Sharpmaker, in my opinion. Gonna' take a diamond Lansky to it soon . . . and try to follow Joe Talmadge hints on sharpening a 710 . . . maybe it will be satisfactory then. Shame Benchmade can't get their edge geometry right . . .
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ralph
 
Example of the fore-mentioned...I've bought
several SW 2000B (about 20) knives for resale
at my gun-club; they sell like hot-cakes.
Every knife comes out of the box with a hair-
popping edge and no defects. Recently, I
pulled out one of my BMs (then new) to attempt to explain the virtues of a higher-
end knife. But the guys all aggreed I was
blowing hot air 'cause the BM was actually
flat-out DULL, compared to the S&W. These
guys are "users" and demand a sharp knife.
Forget Ti. liners and ATS 34: they want a
knife that cuts! Since I was addressing a
generally uninformed knife-audience, and the
S&W costs only 1/4 as much as the BM, I had
to shut my mouth.
 
Its to give you bragging rights. Your supposed to tell everyone your so good at sharpening that you can put a factory edge on your benchmades by simply hacking the edge into a peice of 2X4 a couple times
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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
I don't own a BM, and from what I've heard about them here I don't want one. I really don't understand why you guys keep buying from a company that can't get the basics right, like having a decent edge on the knife out of the box. Then to send it back for re-sharpening and still they don't get it right. I'm sorry this is a company that needs to get it's act together. Who cares if the CS is great if the QC stinks? It's the old story, "There's never time to do things right, but always time to do things over!" I don't think so, too many other choices out there. Sounds like if you can't handle and check the edge on a BM personally, it's a crap shoot...NEXT!
 
FWIW, both my AFCKs came pretty sharp - if I wanted them for general utility tasks, it'd be more than enough. Still, I chose to reprofile the edges, using a Lansky with diamond stones. Now, it's easy to keep'em sharp with a couple passes on a 203.

Regards,

Leo Daher
 
Dull blades.
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This is precisely why I don't like buying knive's thru the mail. Thank God for storefronts!

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If it's stupid but works, then it isn't stupid!
 
people keep buying these knives because they are a fair priced quality knife 90% of the time, if you get one with a dull blade sharpen the darn thing! if you get a lemon with other problems by all means send it back and they will get it right. they have an extensive line of knives and people like that in a co. fortunately i have had no problems with any of my 5 bm's other than a dull edge, all are perfect.
 
A really sharp knife is:
1) Too expensive to produce.
2) Too dangerous to handle by unskilled people.
Therefore all knives come somewhat dull.

When I buy a handgun, I buy it unloaded and
load it myself, when time has come to do so.

When I buy a knife, it comes dull and I sharpen it, to my liking. Very simple.
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Kind regards

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D.T. UTZINGER

On second thought:
I was not speaking of BM knives but knives "in general". Furthermore a knife is a tool, so, with time, the edge deteriorates. You have to sharpen it anyway...


[This message has been edited by ZUT&ZUT (edited 01-31-2000).]
 
I still think you shouldn't have to sharpen it yourself- at least not the first time, fresh outta the box!

Too dangerous or expensive to produce? They are knives, they do cut things.(plus, a dull knife can be more dangerous than a sharp one) And I can name lots of other similarily priced or even less expensive knives that come sharper. Ever run your finger down the edge of a Spyderco in CPM-440V? That's sharp.

If you don't mind the extra effort to regrind the edge, that's cool- but not all of us think you should have to. For me, it's the principal of the thing. Make sure that you tack on an extra "$$$" for your own labor to the price tag of your next Benchmade- so you can make it as sharp as the other knives you bought.

For all the performance and beauty I see in a lot of their knives, I'm always a little disappointed when it's a butter knife. I think Shivey nailed it on the head with his post. Why, for the love of Pete can't BM send them out sharp!?!? Seems like a nice finely honed sharp edge would complement their designs and engineering, not to mention their advertisements.

I don't buy the "sharp knives are too dangerous" thing. Well, yeah, it's a knife-it cuts things. Plus Benchmade has a little booklet that comes w/ the knives that says dull knives are potentially more dangerous than sharp ones, always keep your knife sharp.

So I've come to accept periodically shoddy QC from Benchmade. But I'm not sure why. Guess I'll just keep doing the final inspection myself before I buy one.

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[This message has been edited by clip point (edited 01-30-2000).]
 
Even though i heard all kind of bad things about benchmades QC, i still buy them with great results. So far all mine have come sharp. Better luck next time!
Andrew
 
It's not only BMs. I received a Kersaw Random Task for Christmas that was so dull I could run my thumb down the edge with no danger of being cut. I bought a Boker Brend at a gun show that was equally dull, but the price was very good and made the sharpening worth it.
 
zut & zut; i take issue with your anology. do you have to modify your firearm in order to make it loadable?? that's what we are complaining about here. we should not have to modify the knife in order to make it cut! best wishes, russ aka bladezealot
 
I bought a 705 at a knife show not long ago and it is what I carry every day.It came razor sharp with an even grind and good fit and finish.It is my first BM.I am left handed and I love the axis lock.I would like to get more BM knives but from reading this thread and others on BM quality control problems,I would be uncomfortable buying one sight unseen.
 
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