Benchmade edge chipping

mlanghornes

mlanghornes

Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
798
I bought a PE Griptilian with the 154CM blade, and had my first chance to subject it to real cutting, besides opening the odd package. My fiance needed a knife to cut vegetables for a barbeque, so I handed her the Benchmade. She cut the vegetables on a towel laid on a concrete picnic table, and did not use excessive force or in any way, shape, or form abuse the knife. When I examined my knife this morning to touch up the edge, I found a section about an inch long with small but significant chips scarring the edge. WTF? Is this typical of 154CM steel? Did I get a lemon? I thought at first she had gouged the edge on the table, but the towel she was cutting on wasn't cut through.

I may be whining a bit, but when my Buck Bantam can be batonned through inch-thick blackthorn with a rock and have the edge restored with a few swipes on a ceramic hone, and the Grip takes damage (that took 20 minutes to even out) when cutting vegetables, it suggests to me that something is very wrong. Thoughts?
 
How thick was the towel? I mean you can lay a towel down on any hard surface and whatever hits it will still be subjected to damage. If you laid down a rubber mat that would be a different story...
 
It was a doubled-over dish towel. Not terribly thick, but then again she wasn't pushing down that hard. We were slicing bell peppers and onions for shish kabobs. I see what you mean about absorbing the force, though.
 
My co-worker chipped my griptilian on some .16 gauge galvanized steel wire.

Concrete would defiantly chip a benchmade or any other knife. The knife could have easily cut through a towel. Your average person handles a pocket knife in a very different manner than those of us on this forum.

Steel and stone are just two of the many things that can destroy a knife blade.
 
I had copper wire inside a cell phone charger roll the edge on my grippy. It sharpened out and didnt chip, but it's not impervious to damage.
 
Glad to hear this is not unexpected. Guess I'm just being anal about my Grippy...

Has anyone experienced edge chipping on knives with a steel other than 154CM? What did it chip on?
 
I have had chipping on my CRKT M16, it has AUS 8 steel, and ive chipped it mainly on metal. What chips blades more often than not is just them hitting something harder. 154 cm chips where as my AUS 8 blade, although it has chipped, will mostly just dent or get flat. Nothing you can't work out with sharpening. I've never had a knife i couldnt fix whether it was a tip or a blade, and i am by no means a pro at sharpening. I have been using a tri-angle sharpener ever since they included VHS tapes with them!
 
I've had chipping issues on BM 940 series when they came out.
Although, when it did chip that was on copper wiring and not on veggies. Plusthe edge was closer to 30deg. included.
Later I've added secondary bevel @ 40deg and it held up pretty well.
From what you say I figure you still have the stock edge and that is most likely 40deg or even more.
 
She may not have cut through the towel but could have come into contact with something else without even knowing. I gave my dad a ZDP Endura because he distroys every other knife even those of 154cm, most days he can even turn ZDP into a flattened useless butter knife. He says that he only really uses it for opening boxes and cutting some rope but after one day I have seen the edge and it really did look like a butter knife. Its not fun to resharpen as he does that often but its far less damage than with other steels. My point is that most people dont realize what they are cutting or coming into contact with and what affects it will have on the edge. Until you can teach someone how to be "aware of the edge" it will never change.
 
SuzukiGS750EZ said:
I had copper wire inside a cell phone charger roll the edge on my grippy. It sharpened out and didnt chip, but it's not impervious to damage.
Click to expand...

Yeah but this is rolling, not chipping. And IMO, that's what the 154-CM should be doing instead of chipping, since you can re-align most of it with a kitchen steel, and sharpen the rest out.

Chipping is bad!

My guess would be is she was chopping toward the cement table harder than she realized. Try it on a wood cutting board, I wonder if it would chip there.
 
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