Benchmade dealers and a quest

B

Belly

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May 21, 2000
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I have been traveling in the Philadelphia area and the northern Delaware area over the past few days - visiting family for the holidays. I decided to look up Benchmade dealers and try to find the new 275 and a 581 for myself. I visited 6 different Benchmade dealers and had lots of fun searching around, but I ran into some frustrating times too. 3 of the dealers had the 275 - one had the black/black, another had the black serrated/ tan, and another had 2 black/blacks and one of the black serrated/tan ones. Sounds good but, the first one I tried had vertical blade play, the second was the partial serrated which I do not prefer, And the third had the 2 black/black models, but one had off center blade, and fortunately the other was good - centered blade and no blade play. Picked that one and got it for less then MSRP. In addition,I was looking for a 581. Only 2 dealers had them, and both did not meet my criteria for fit and finish or quality. Both 581's had vertical blade play and one was also way off center so I had to pass on them. Sadly, both were way under MSRP.

These quality issues do not surprise me. I love Benchmade but I really need to inspect the knife before I buy because the issues above are not new to me. I have been buying Benchmades for over 10 years, and I see these issues frequently. My last stop will be it the Lancaster area to go to Country Knives tomorrow morning. I have been there many times but they are just so expensive. A 581 will be full retail instead the literally $50 to $70 less that you could get online or at dealers that offer discounts. Frustrating! I am sure they will have a 581, but I hate to spend the extra $50. If it were say $20 or so, I would do it in a second. $50 to $70 is a bit past my comfort level.

Do you guys ever feel ok paying full MSRP? Because I am ultra picky about blade play, centered blades, and fit/finish, I rarely buy off the Internet sight unseen. That's a shame because of the savings. However, I have really bad luck with Benchmade but I love them anyway.

Can anyone give me a good reason to pay full retail? I am sitting here trying to persuade myself and come up with something that will ease my mind. :D

Thanks!
 
Can anyone give me a good reason to pay full retail?
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Because I am ultra picky about blade play, centered blades, and fit/finish, I rarely buy off the Internet sight unseen.
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You have answered your own question. If you are pocket jewelry picky and want a "perfect" production knife, then you will need to buy from a brick and mortar store so you can pick out exactly what you want. The costs associated with operating a brick and mortar store get passed along to the buyer in the form of paying MSRP.
 
Several of the issues you mention are very simple at home fixes. All you need is a torx set, and neither issue mentioned would have required a complete disassembly. I realize though that some folks do not want to have to do this on such a high dollar knife brand such as BM, and really shouldn't have to in a perfect world. But when we talk about production, sometimes little things like this happen.

Btw, I am the exact same way about centered blades and bladeplay!
 
cutter17, could you elaborate on what you do when you run into those issues? I am familiar with loosening/tightening the screws in an attempt to center a blade but I have had only limited luck. Also, I have never been able to fix any vertical blade play by making any adjustments to the stop pins or the pivot screw. Thanks.
 
Most online dealers will happily check for bladeplay or any other defect before shipping it out. I usually call the guys at knifeworks, knifecenter, gpknives, and others and they'll check it right there on the phone before taking my credit card.

I definitely emphasize the vertical play though since I know I can just tighten the pivot to fix side to side. You're right in that typically you can't fix vertical play at home.
 
Glad too Belly. With the blade open I will loosen the pivot screw 1/4 to 1/2 of q turn. Then I either place the flat of the blade on a table, or do it with my hand, and that is to put pressure on the blade and push the blade towards the side of the handle that is coming the closet to the blade touching. Sorta sounds backwards as you would think to push the blade away from the side it is closest too. After I do this I check to see how much it has moved, and if centered I will tighten the pivot back to my desired tightness.

The vertical bladeplay was most likely something that a break in period would take care of and that can be sped up by opening and closing as you sit around watching TV or something similar. Sometimes a few slam openings will cure the lockup.

If the vertical play is on a linerlock/framelock then I disassemble the knife and put a bit more bend into the spring. Of course I do this to all my LL/FL knives to get a stiffer spring so that I don't have to worry about an accidental closing. Another way to cure vertical play is with a larger diameter stop pin, but I do not have the means to do this one.

Hope this helps you!:thumbup::)
 
Thanks cutter. I'll have to try some of these techniques. I have done some of the blade centering stuff you mention. I'll have to try more.

Most of the vertical blade play problems are with the axis lock.
 
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