Benchmade QC issues?

I only have one (860 Bedlam) , horrible centering (can't get it centered, tried dozens of times with various methods) , somewhat uneven grinds, other than that it's a decent enough knife. But those two issues coupled with my general lack of love for the axis lock means I held off buying any others despite some interest in a few (Vector, Fact, Crooked River, Contego).
 
Never an issue in my experience.

And if I ever have one, I suspect they'll address it to my satisfaction.
 
Makael said:
I keep reading about these issues Benchmade keeps having. But no pictures, just references like some rumor going around. Does anyone have some pics of these issues Benchmade is having?

I think Benchmade makes a great product. Personally I havent seen anything that would be abnormal for any manufacturer. Experienced nothing myself.
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If you can't find pictures or videos, you're not seriously looking. They're absolutely everywhere.

I've personally seen some of the kinds of nasty QC people are talking about. Benchmade is capable of making a nearly perfect production folder, but it occurs too infrequently from my experience to make purchasing a Benchmade nowadays a solid bet. Out of my 6 or 7 knives from them, a few have had issues including a touch of vertical blade play from undersized pivot barrels, horizontal play that can't be fixed without making the blade too tight to open, seriously uneven edges that were difficult and annoying to fix, and completely unfinished blade tangs that grind on the Axis lock bar and make opening and closing rough and difficult (this last one was on a custom built knife, incredibly enough). I've heard their recently made knives are getting better, but that hasn't quite been my experience so I'll reserve judgment until I see the state in which my new Presidio 2 arrives.

Regardless of what the actual rate of issues is, it sure seems a lot higher than with Spyderco or other high-end makers.
 
PWatkins said:
It came with a blemish in the g10 near the axis lock.
It can be seen here.
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Sorry to see that blemish. I have a mini AFCK from the 90's that has an absolutely horrible looking set of G-10 scales. I guess they were just getting a feel for the stuff back then but I thought they had it figured out by now.

I bought one of the last 710's in D2 a little while back, and had to send it back due to the blade being off-center. They took care of it so no big deal, and other than that I can't say I've had any issues with their quality control. I have about eight BM's, and the fit, finish and overall construction of the knives is pretty impressive. I'd say they're worth the price you pay, but would be happier if they'd quit raising the prices ;). I also think that they hit the mark better with some models than others, but that goes for any company.
 
The only problem I had with Benchmade was I got a customized griptillian that came WAY off center. I fiddled with the pin that holds the hinge it rotates on until I was satisfied. I ended up not keeping it, though. The handle just felt too cheap to me
 
Trevor_Phillips said:
The only problem I had with Benchmade was I got a customized griptillian that came WAY off center. I fiddled with the pin that holds the hinge it rotates on until I was satisfied. I ended up not keeping it, though. The handle just felt too cheap to me
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To clarify, if was off center when closed. I didn't notice it being off center when open
 
It seems the issues of off centering and uneven edge grinds happen more frequently with Benchmade than ZT and Spyderco, based on my reading of posts on this from written by the owners. Most of these posts did have pictures.

I have bought only three BMs from dealers. One of them (940-1501) had horrible uneven edge grinds, which KW replaced promptly. The other two are perfect. All four other BMs I bought here are free of issues.
 
It's most likely one of those cases where there are more problems than BM fans admit there are and less problems than there appear to be in the grand scheme. The thing is, the knife community is a small (but vocal) minority of BM buyers. I suspect they have a slightly higher percentage of problems in large part because they produce considerably more knives than a couple of their competitors at least.
 
Ive had a few issues with them. Posted about them (with pictures) on the benchmade forum here. However to benchmade's credit, all issues were resolved by their customer service department.
 
My experience is as follows:

Contego 810. 100% perfect in all respects.

Proper 318. Uneven edge bevel.

Osbourne 940-1. Side to side blade play.

Grip 550-1. 100% perfect in all respects.


So 50-50. The edge grind on the 318 was livable in my book, but just so obvious visually. The blade flex/wiggle on the 940 is maybe the 1 thing that's a hard no for me.
 
I've gotten two that had issues over the past couple years. One was a North Fork and the omega springs went bad after a month. They just wore out and it had no blade retention. The other was a mini grip that had blade play no matter what I did. Even with the pivot cranked down it was still there. I sent them in and they were returned pretty much perfect. It didn't take very long so it wasn't a big deal to me....
 
Haven't experienced any problems, apart from on my Mini Crooked River, where the pivot screw came loose during the "breaking in". I just put some loctite on it, so it's good now.
 
I have had 2 problems with my BM knife. Fixed both issues myself and never had a problem since.

#1 The distance between the liners where the stop pin sits is longer than where the blade and washers sits. So either the blade and washers are to thin combined or the stop pin is simply to long. This caused side to side bladeplay which was impossible to dial out with the pivot screw.

I fixed this by disassembly and VERY carefully grinding down the edges on the pin where it rests against the liners. Not recommended as this is REALLY easy to screw up.. Guess I was lucky.

#2 After a couple of months one of the springs broke. I admit I played A LOT with it at the time, but it still should not happen IMO. I disassembled and put in new springs made out of stainless memory wire, never had a problem since.
 
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jill jackson said:
Only thing I see is the blades tend to come a bit off centered. Other than that the ones I've bought lately have been great.
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Pretty well what I've seen, even though I can usually center them myself (if I care to take the time to do). Or, as in the case of my 940-2, magically, the darn thing centered itself after 6 months of somewhat spotty fidgeting. Drops pretty darn good too.

However, I buy them from a B&M and have never bought one sight unseen, but they have all looked just fine (well except my slightly off centered bugout but it's so darn pretty I accept it the way it is).
 
I look at a ton of Benchmade's daily, for the most part the fit and finish is on par with other brands at their price point. Being slightly off center and slightly uneven grinds are the most typical issues, but they are not significantly more common than in other brands in my experience.
 
I just sent back a 940. The blade was so far off-center that it was one human hair’s breadth away from being in direct contact with one of the scales. It was painfully obvious that nobody at BM ever even glanced at that one--unless horrendously off-center blades pass muster at BM. That experience causes me to see the phrase “Benchmark quality control” as a contradiction in terms.
 
Mo2 said:
Every Benchmade I have or had has a qc defect. Including the new Anthem I got.

Also if no one holds them accountable for this shit they just gonna keep doing it.
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Let's see some pictures. That is what this thread is about.

I've been fine with any benchmade I've had.
 
Makael said:
I keep reading about these issues Benchmade keeps having. But no pictures, just references like some rumor going around. Does anyone have some pics of these issues Benchmade is having?

I think Benchmade makes a great product. Personally I havent seen anything that would be abnormal for any manufacturer. Experienced nothing myself.
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I don't own that many Benchmades but have 4 or 5 on my short list. As soon as I free up the cash, they're mine.

I ordered a Benchmade Barrage from the Custom Shop in M4 and there are no problems with the knife.
 
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