BenchMade Quality

Lol. I also recently sent my "perfect" 860 Bedlam to Benchmade, for a blade replacement, to the very reasonable tune of $30. Paranoid that new satin finish, plain blade, would arrive off-center or with horizontal or vertical blade play, I took great lengths to carefully articulate and point out in the claim form / order sheet, that the blade they were replacing was perfectly centered and lacked any play, whatsoever, in any direction, hoping this would ensure the new blade would arrive with the same degree of perfection as its predecessor. Well, to Benchmade's credit, the grind, sharpness and lockup in connection with the new blade, was, quite simply, perfect. But...............................................it was significantly off-center, unlike its former blade, despite the Tolstoy novel I composed about a centered blade being of paramount importance to me, in the claim form / order sheet. UGHHHH. Not wanting to be without it again for a few weeks, as the case would be if I were to send it back to Benchmade, I took matters into my own hands. Literally. An examination of the proportionality and symmetry of the blade in relation to the liners, revealed that something was amiss. The liners appeared to be wonky. So, as a man of science and reason, I engaged in a loud and boisterous profanity laced tirade and succeeded in "bending" the frame with my hands, the result of which is a perfectly centered blade and perfectly aligned liners. Yay.
 
BrandoSpoke said:
.....I like manual knives better though from what ive tried when I was in the US
Click to expand...

So do I. But something about the dual-coil, head turning, THWACK!!!!!!!!!!!! sound of that slab of D2 slamming into the stop pin, compelled me to supplement my preexisting manual version with the auto version. It was a highly unusual purchase for me, being that I already owned the manual version of the identical knife, coupled with my ordinary avoidance of autos, in general. But, it turned out to be a winner. Not only due to the THWACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! factor. But also because the blade shape was to my surprise and elation, far more bad ass than that of my preexisting manual version, in my opinion.
 
palonej said:
Oh baby!! You are going to LOVE that Crooked River FMJ!!
I have the G10 version, and guess what?? It came out of the box perfectly centered, had a beautifully even & screaming sharp edge and locked up TIGHT!!
Little heavier than I thought, but it balances very well and feels amazing in hand!
Which version did you order??
Good luck & enjoy it!
Joe

Obligatory pic!
c43b5f6da2727d8b73aed4d1aa13efd0.jpg
Click to expand...

Took me a month to decide but I ultimately chose the Dymonwood one. And if I don't like it, i'll have custom scales made by my favorite knife maker, the extraordinary Jay West :)
 
Love the plan!!
I've had scales done by Ryan, DOAT...awesome, Steve Ketchen.....amazing and Eric, Shepard......fantastic!!!
Never heard of J West.......but will definitely check his stuff out!
Enjoy it!! Love mine! Just carried it while walking the dogs and can't stop flicking it! When that blade locks up it feels solid!
Joe
 
If you get a chance try a Bali. It's what they're known for.
850f54c5e74ef75cd8c31ed28586436d.jpg
1a30fa65e8b1358da2f7bfc26f6ece27.jpg
8034d5da23acc57e4c8c1b0c4369caed.jpg
43475bef08edfa32ac03381ee10ed633.jpg
 
Charles_Martel said:
So do I. But something about the dual-coil, head turning, THWACK!!!!!!!!!!!! sound of that slab of D2 slamming into the stop pin, compelled me to supplement my preexisting manual version with the auto version. It was a highly unusual purchase for me, being that I already owned the manual version of the identical knife, coupled with my ordinary avoidance of autos, in general. But, it turned out to be a winner. Not only due to the THWACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! factor. But also because the blade shape was to my surprise and elation, far more bad ass than that of my preexisting manual version, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I see what youre saying. It makes sense but for me is is the exact opposite. I feel much more "at home" opening a classic manual knife than I get with an auto but autos are cool. Its too bad I can only look at them when im in the USA amd not own one cause there are some sweet autos out there
 
Used to own a BM 111 H2o that was just perfect. No flaws at all. The same holds true for my D2 Griptillian 551. Come to think of it, only two out of the six Benchmade's have had any problems at all. The edge of my 162 bushcraft is not ground the greatest but not bad enough to send it in. I figure that I can take care of it myself.

The other is my 531. The blade is very slightly off center but so slight that I really have to look for it. I mean REALLY look for it. Also, the blade tip is slightly different on mine. I bought the knife used so that could have been done by the PO. Don't know if it was factory or not. Overall, it is an amazing knife. It gets more carry time than any other knife I own. Including my US made Zing, one of the best 3 inch folders Kershaw has ever produced.
 
The only issue I have had with benchmade is that the blades grinds on the secondary bevels are uneven other then that the action was smooth and there was no side to side play
However I will say that three of mine were sent back to benchmade to replace the blades because the blade grinds were really of poor quality.
 
gdog363 said:
Some good, some bad. The Infidel is definitely not their brightest moment but they have to appeal to a more booming customer base.
Click to expand...

The infidel is one of the best otf's around 300$ what are you talking about. Benchmades knives usually have great QC but if you get a lemon their warranty is some of the best around. :thumbup:
 
I take some of these comments with a grain of salt. not all, but some. only because not everyone has problems with the fit and finish they have or might not even know what fit and finish issues are. I've seen decent benchmades, but I've seen more with issues. as said in other thread's from collector's, they have seen many issues but didn't bother sending them all in to resolve as they were fine with the problems (there's several threads discussing f&f of benchmades). they have described that not all of them had f&f issues but a majority did.

if it bothers you, goto a store and inspect. don't buy sight unseen as the Nick says. or don't pay MAP pricing, buy used.
 
Last edited:
I own a lot of Benchmade knives and I've had great luck with quality of fit and finish. They're often dull when they arrive, and their pivot setup is an annoying dance of tightening just the perfect spot between ease of motion and objectionable blade play (with a drop of weak thread locker or you'll be redoing the dance shortly) and they're a bit overpriced these days. That said, they make my favorite lock (IMO the axis lock > all other locks when you consider the combination of strength and ease of operation) and some of my all time favorite knife models. If I hadn't fallen in love with flippers I'd still be carrying the 707, 940, 710 combo as my small/medium/large set.

Now I do have a bone to pick with them on the 484-1601. What an amazingly great knife that would be if it didn't have the world's worst thumb studs? It would be in my carry rotation for sure, but as it stands it's consigned to a drawer because the brain-damaged thumb studs pull it half open every time I try to take it out of my pocket.
 
And guess who just showed up this morning!

She's as tall as her dad, and she got the nose of her mom :)

Lovely beast, love at first sight.

Q3kjFpZ.jpg
 
Meh nothing some loctite won't fix :)

How the (insert something with F here) did you do that? Prying or batoning?
 
I can't speak for everyone else, but my experience with Benchmade has been disappointing lately. The last several I purchased have had qc issues. Like I said this is my experience. I sent my Stryker back twice because of up and down blade play and I am going to let everyone know if the issue was resolved when I get it back. At this point, I just can't recommend their knives anymore because their level of quality lately doesn't justify the price of their knives.
 
Forget the loctite.......bust out the duct tape!!!
Come on Aus!!! Fess up and tell the story brother!! You had to work HARD to snap that blade!!!
[emoji51][emoji51][emoji51]
Joe
 
palonej said:
Forget the loctite.......bust out the duct tape!!!
Come on Aus!!! Fess up and tell the story brother!! You had to work HARD to snap that blade!!!
[emoji51][emoji51][emoji51]
Joe
Click to expand...

Haha. I'm at work, but I let a friend borrow it and he was cutting a chain link fence. I made the mistake of telling him it's a super strong knife and he figured he'd test it out. Surprisingly he cut through several links before applying too much pressure in the wrong direction. He paid me the $35 so I can send it in but I haven't got around to it. This happened a while ago, but I don't let people borrow knives ever since that happened.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top