Benchmade QC issues?

If your gonna buy a benchmade don't do it sight unseen. Or get a vendor to inspect it for you before shipping.

This is advice I give because I've got nothing but issues with the qc and so has the majority of buyers. It's overwhelming how many comments there are about this all over the web. For the few of you here that don't think that's right. Your drinking the coolaid.

And it's bullshit that you think I'm lying because I don't provide pictures even tho there is alot of evidence that shows these issues already.

If I'm paying that butterfly tax and get a shit knife you better send it back and hold them accountable for it. And stop being satisfied with non centered blades, messed up tips, lop sided edge grinds, burnt edges, side to side and or up and down blade play, messed up screws, messed up scales, gold class and custom designed configuration knives with these issues, broken axis lock clips and anything else I forgot.

Just because a hand full of people here either don't care about these issues or actually don't have them, doesn't mean it's not very common. I'm telling you, every BM I've had has had one or more of these issues. And it's also fairly common to hear the same thing from others in the knife community online and in real life.

I just got a knife over $400, the Benchmade Anthem .. It has a messed up tip grind and not centered blade. I have yet to see if it's got locktite. It's also gritty pivot action... Should that even happen? No. Until Benchmade show they know how to manufacture with these common problems in mind resolved...

I don't see any reason why I shouldn't recommend people inspect before purchasing unless they want to send them in or deal with these issues.

I have many brands and many models of some of those brands. Never had I had so many issues with them than Benchmade. Zt and there lock geometry issues is indeed an issue too. And yes every manufacturer has some issues. Benchmade clearly have alot of issues they know have issues yet they just fix them if sent in, but they know most people won't. Most people don't want to send things in.

Fanboys will be fanboys and never want to hear or say anything about the truth of the matter. Whatever, I just want to help like minded people and knife nuts... By making them aware and to inspect them.
 
Im at work right now so I decided to go through our stock of Benchmades and check for blade play and off center blades...

Out of 18 folders 2 had significant horizontal play, 2 had minor play that could probably be fixed with some pivot tuning, and 2 had off center blades.

Its worth noting that of the knives I checked, the two North Fork's had the worst play of them all.
 
Mo2 said:
If your gonna buy a benchmade don't do it sight unseen. Or get a vendor to inspect it for you before shipping.

This is advice I give because I've got nothing but issues with the qc and so has the majority of buyers. It's overwhelming how many comments there are about this all over the web. For the few of you here that don't think that's right. Your drinking the coolaid.

And it's bullshit that you think I'm lying because I don't provide pictures even tho there is alot of evidence that shows these issues already.

If I'm paying that butterfly tax and get a shit knife you better send it back and hold them accountable for it. And stop being satisfied with non centered blades, messed up tips, lop sided edge grinds, burnt edges, side to side and or up and down blade play, messed up screws, messed up scales, gold class and custom designed configuration knives with these issues, broken axis lock clips and anything else I forgot.

Just because a hand full of people here either don't care about these issues or actually don't have them, doesn't mean it's not very common. I'm telling you, every BM I've had has had one or more of these issues. And it's also fairly common to hear the same thing from others in the knife community online and in real life.

I just got a knife over $400, the Benchmade Anthem .. It has a messed up tip grind and not centered blade. I have yet to see if it's got locktite. It's also gritty pivot action... Should that even happen? No. Until Benchmade show they know how to manufacture with these common problems in mind resolved...

I don't see any reason why I shouldn't recommend people inspect before purchasing unless they want to send them in or deal with these issues.

I have many brands and many models of some of those brands. Never had I had so many issues with them than Benchmade. Zt and there lock geometry issues is indeed an issue too. And yes every manufacturer has some issues. Benchmade clearly have alot of issues they know have issues yet they just fix them if sent in, but they know most people won't. Most people don't want to send things in.

Fanboys will be fanboys and never want to hear or say anything about the truth of the matter. Whatever, I just want to help like minded people and knife nuts... By making them aware and to inspect them.
Click to expand...
So post your pictures. Let's see these knives!
 
craytab said:
So post your pictures. Let's see these knives!
Click to expand...
Benchmade police.


Here's the 3 i currently have. the rest were given away or sold. no pictures. i kept these because i liked them at one point in time for whatever reason. they are decent as a knife minus the qc issues.

the 484 is centered but has side to side AND up and down blade play. adjusting pivot just makes action difficult to open or close. The edges were burnt and lopsided. i have re-sharpened it on the kme so the lopside was not fixed (i dont use it anymore, so i dont bother sharpening it on the edge pro and fixing that, plus thats alot of material to remove). you can see the retarded pivot screw. its out of round and the torx is not centered.

IMG_20180816_193031.jpg

IMG_20180816_193336.jpg

IMG_20180816_193438.jpg



the 940-1 has been sharpened many times in the past, but needs to be sharpened again on the edge pro. its still lopsided because thats the way it came to me like. it has some side to side play but any more tightening of the pivot will make action suffer. and as you can see its not centered. at all. just a sliver from touching. this is extremely common on most 940-1's.

IMG_20180816_193000.jpg



you can see the Anthem is not centered and the tip is lopsided. just the tip. the side profile was too hard to photo without professional camera equipment. but its clear as day in person. you can see it in the vertical photo. i figured after all those threads on how shitty the qc was on the Anthem that they would have resolved the issues on it, but i guess not.
anyways, adjusting the pivot just makes it hard to open or close. and there is NO loctite on the pivot screw.

IMG_20180816_192947.jpg

IMG_20180816_193922.jpg

IMG_20180816_200744.jpg

its also funny that its a free spinning pivot on a $400+ knife too.
 
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Just watched this review of the freek.


iirc some of my benchmades came dry and didnt have action issues, maybe a little lock stick. but i dont think that it not being lubed is the issue, probably just too tight a pivot? kinda sucks to either have to adjust and modify or send it in after buying. shouldnt have to do that for so many of these.
 
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Mo2 said:
If your gonna buy a benchmade don't do it sight unseen. Or get a vendor to inspect it for you before shipping.

This is advice I give because I've got nothing but issues with the qc and so has the majority of buyers.
Click to expand...

That's a bold assertion based on nothing but your own opinion of prevalence.
In these threads, it is not the "majority of buyers" having issues.
If the majority of buyers experienced issues, sales would dry up; that's how people buying things works.

A certain percentage of people are unhappy with how the knife they bought was.
People who are unhappy complain far more widely and loudly than people who are happy about something do (I can attest to this, having complained about many things over the years ;)).

You can find plenty of YouTube videos of people being happy about their Benchmade knives as well.
Not that this is data either really (I mean come...YouTube :D), but whatever.
 
But you know what, it doesn't matter if people convince me there is a problem.
Frankly, who gives a damn? It's not like you're giving your money to me (unless you want to, in which case I will gladly take it :thumbsup:).

If you think there's a problem, do your part to convince Benchmade that there's an issue...they're the ones trying to get your money, right?
 
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Mo2 said:
Just watched this review of the freek.


iirc some of my benchmades came dry and didnt have action issues, maybe a little lock stick. but i dont think that it not being lubed is the issue, probably just too tight a pivot? kinda sucks to either have to adjust and modify or send it in after buying. shouldnt have to do that for so many of these.
Click to expand...
Yay! Another video...

stabman said:
That's a bold assertion based on nothing but your own opinion of prevalence.
In these threads, it is not the "majority of buyers" having issues.
If the majority of buyers experienced issues, sales would dry up; that's how people buying things works.

A certain percentage of people are unhappy with how the knife they bought was.
People who are unhappy complain far more widely and loudly than people who are happy about something do (I can attest to this, having complained about many things over the years ;)).

You can find plenty of YouTube videos of people being happy about their Benchmade knives as well.
Not that this is data either really (I mean come...YouTube :D), but whatever.
Click to expand...
It's made up lies. Some people shouldn't be allowed to use the word "most". If one simply uses the word "many" instead, the statement at least has the plausibility to be true. As is, made up bs.
 
stabman said:
That makes sense; dissatisfied customers tend not to buy more of that product.

What baffles me is those who say they're experiencing all these issues, yet keep buying them. :confused:
If I receive a terrible product, I tend to avoid buying more of it.
Click to expand...
And buying over and over and over. Then complaining over and over and over. Doesn't make sense. People that do this must have the worst luck.
 
I've owned own a fair number of Benchmade knives and have seen a few issues. Mostly centering problems due to blade grind. Never had one personally that was bad enough to affect the performance of the knife.

I do own a 943 with two settings, you super stiff action and no side to side play or you can have a lovely fast action and loads of side to side. Granted it hasn't kept me from using the snot out of the knife to the point that it's time for a trip back to Benchmade for some tlc.

I've experienced similar issues with similar frequency with every single brand I've ever bought with a possible exception of victorinox
 
stabman said:
That makes sense; dissatisfied customers tend not to buy more of that product.

What baffles me is those who say they're experiencing all these issues, yet keep buying them. :confused:
If I receive a terrible product, I tend to avoid buying more of it.
Click to expand...

I feel like there is a relationship metaphor in there somewhere.
 
I have ran into QC issues such as blade centering and blade play. I had a manual Stryker that I sent back twice due to up and down blade play. and the other day asked to hold a large Barrage at a local dealer and it had an uncentered blade plus blade play. However, it appears to me that Benchmades quality has gotten much better lately but I still run across a dud from time to time though. I actually pulled away from Benchmade completely for a while but decided to give them another try and have not regretted it.
 
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Mo2 said:
Benchmade police.


Here's the 3 i currently have. the rest were given away or sold. no pictures. i kept these because i liked them at one point in time for whatever reason. they are decent as a knife minus the qc issues.

the 484 is centered but has side to side AND up and down blade play. adjusting pivot just makes action difficult to open or close. The edges were burnt and lopsided. i have re-sharpened it on the kme so the lopside was not fixed (i dont use it anymore, so i dont bother sharpening it on the edge pro and fixing that, plus thats alot of material to remove). you can see the retarded pivot screw. its out of round and the torx is not centered.

IMG_20180816_193031.jpg

IMG_20180816_193336.jpg

IMG_20180816_193438.jpg



the 940-1 has been sharpened many times in the past, but needs to be sharpened again on the edge pro. its still lopsided because thats the way it came to me like. it has some side to side play but any more tightening of the pivot will make action suffer. and as you can see its not centered. at all. just a sliver from touching. this is extremely common on most 940-1's.

IMG_20180816_193000.jpg



you can see the Anthem is not centered and the tip is lopsided. just the tip. the side profile was too hard to photo without professional camera equipment. but its clear as day in person. you can see it in the vertical photo. i figured after all those threads on how shitty the qc was on the Anthem that they would have resolved the issues on it, but i guess not.
anyways, adjusting the pivot just makes it hard to open or close. and there is NO loctite on the pivot screw.

IMG_20180816_192947.jpg

IMG_20180816_193922.jpg

IMG_20180816_200744.jpg

its also funny that its a free spinning pivot on a $400+ knife too.
Click to expand...
With so many issues, did you send the knives back to the sellers? Sounds like every benchmade you have purchased should have gone back. Am I wrong?
 
Jordan@DLT said:
No discernable difference between them and other comparable brands when it comes to fit and finish issues.
Click to expand...
Exactly. No more or less than other manufacturers. A lot of people jump on the bandwagon knocking companies due to one issue they may or may not experience or read somewhere. I only started the thread to see some pics of peoples knives that have had issues. I see some but nothing that any other manufacturer wouldnt put out. Internet forums get a lot of input from here say. When pictures are posted showing an actual issue it helps people see the problem. Fortunately BF is a small portion of Benchmades market. I own a couple benchmades. Not many. The knives I see at Cabelas all seem to be near perfect.

Thanks for the pictures. Most of everyone's responses were well done. A few are from waking up on the wrong side of the bed.
 
Keyman said:
For the last 10 years I have purchased a lot of Benchmades.
Every single one of them has been online sight unseen.
In those ten years I have sent 2 knives back to BM (but none in the last 4 years).
Here's a list of the models that I have purchased in the last 4 years, all were BNIB.

Anthem - 2 knives
Crooked River - 2 knives
Loco (fullsize) - 3 knives
Loco (mini) - 2 knives
Fact
Bugout
Freek
Presidio II
Rukus II
AFO II
CLA
Phaeton - 3 knives
Vallation
Vector
Proper
710

23(+/-) knives no issues.
Now, I'm not making this stuff up, nor am I saying there are no issues
I'm just trying to keep it real here.
Since we are taking the time to note the number of times/instances where there is some sort of QC issue.
We should also take take the time to note the number times/instances where there are no QC issues.
I'm just sayin'.
Click to expand...
Nicely put and makes sense.
 
marrenmiller said:
Honestly, I'm wary to send them emails because the response I expect is to send back any defective knives back to them for repair. Thing is, then I'm out shipping money and time, and they never even did anything to my knives last time I sent a couple back. In fact, they made them worse.

I just don't know how to politely express my disappointment to them over things like that.
Click to expand...
So now they have poor customer service?
 
Mo2 said:
If your gonna buy a benchmade don't do it sight unseen. Or get a vendor to inspect it for you before shipping.

This is advice I give because I've got nothing but issues with the qc and so has the majority of buyers. It's overwhelming how many comments there are about this all over the web. For the few of you here that don't think that's right. Your drinking the coolaid.

And it's bullshit that you think I'm lying because I don't provide pictures even tho there is alot of evidence that shows these issues already.

If I'm paying that butterfly tax and get a shit knife you better send it back and hold them accountable for it. And stop being satisfied with non centered blades, messed up tips, lop sided edge grinds, burnt edges, side to side and or up and down blade play, messed up screws, messed up scales, gold class and custom designed configuration knives with these issues, broken axis lock clips and anything else I forgot.

Just because a hand full of people here either don't care about these issues or actually don't have them, doesn't mean it's not very common. I'm telling you, every BM I've had has had one or more of these issues. And it's also fairly common to hear the same thing from others in the knife community online and in real life.

I just got a knife over $400, the Benchmade Anthem .. It has a messed up tip grind and not centered blade. I have yet to see if it's got locktite. It's also gritty pivot action... Should that even happen? No. Until Benchmade show they know how to manufacture with these common problems in mind resolved...

I don't see any reason why I shouldn't recommend people inspect before purchasing unless they want to send them in or deal with these issues.

I have many brands and many models of some of those brands. Never had I had so many issues with them than Benchmade. Zt and there lock geometry issues is indeed an issue too. And yes every manufacturer has some issues. Benchmade clearly have alot of issues they know have issues yet they just fix them if sent in, but they know most people won't. Most people don't want to send things in.

Fanboys will be fanboys and never want to hear or say anything about the truth of the matter. Whatever, I just want to help like minded people and knife nuts... By making them aware and to inspect them.
Click to expand...
I'll buy sight unseen. No problem.

I'll order one now and post the order and pics when it arrives.
 
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