Benchmade Skirmish small problem

G

Glock&Surefire

Joined
May 22, 2009
Messages
103
I picked up a Small Skirmish a couple of weeks ago, and it sat in my drawer untill yesterday. I looked at the blade and noticed the edge was hitting the pillar spacers. it was causing the edge to be dented in that area. I fixed it by thinning out the edge, (it needed it) and now it has a tiny bit of clearance, and it shaves now, Anyone else have this problem? I love the knife I can't put it down now.:eek:
 
Yes, unfortunately mine came from the distributor that way although I haven't sharpened it yet to get any clearance. May I ask what you used, in particular, to thin out the blade?
 
I used a slack belt sander to thin out the blade, it didn't take much to thin it out.
I can't beleive they are all like this but I guess it's true. Shame on Benchmade!!!
 
Glock&Surefire said:
I used a slack belt sander to thin out the blade, it didn't take much to thin it out.
I can't beleive they are all like this but I guess it's true. Shame on Benchmade!!!
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From all the similar comments, it sounds like a design flaw.
For a $200 knife, I'd send it back and demand a hand-picked replacement without the defect.
If everyone did that maybe Benchmade would get a clue.
 
Under warranty conditions Benchmade would either repair or replace the blade on your knife. Call them at: 800-800-7427 and ask about it. In most cases they'll pay for shipping both to and from them back atcha. The Skirmish is a nice knife, I'd want it to remain that way. Good luck!
 
Actually this is common if not a full production problem. One customer of mine bought the large skirmish and noticed that problem right away, his recourse was the benchmade warranty: the result getting dicked around for two months and finally having to ask us the dealer to talk to them directly for resolution, which in this case was a new blade. He happens to be the mayor of a local city and is quite level headed, so when he returned 2 years later to buy the small skirmish he already knew it would be an issue which of course it was. In two places very deep round chips from the stand offs contacting the edge when closed, this time he had us sharpen them out then go through Benchmade's crap again most of which was accusations that he "bought it used on the internet". For all you BM fans this was certainly not the first time such warranty hassles have been voiced by our customers. Also my skirmish did the same thing, i sharpened it out but on most (%70-80) of the skirmishes its there.
 
I am super ticked-off, I thought I fixed it but it still needs more metal removed. I guess maybe I will try Benchmade and if they start crap I can prove I bough mine at the local mall in a brick and mortar store. But it sounds like I will be better off fixing it myself. Benchmade is about to loose me as a customer if they dick me around!
 
My mini Skirmish had this problem.

I mailed to it Benchmade with a note telling them what the problem was.... I got it back 8 days later fixed with a nice new edge on it.
 
I had the exact same problem with mine. I took it apart to verify that it was indeed hitting the barrel spacers. Then I sent it in to Benchmade. They fixed it and sent it back.

As someone said, it's a design flaw.
 
I have had 3 mini-skirmish's all of which were perfect. Not to say that either they went back to the spa before I got them or I got lucky.
 
Glock&Surefire said:
I am super ticked-off, I thought I fixed it but it still needs more metal removed. I guess maybe I will try Benchmade and if they start crap I can prove I bough mine at the local mall in a brick and mortar store. But it sounds like I will be better off fixing it myself. Benchmade is about to loose me as a customer if they dick me around!
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Glock, it's a design flaw. They might "dick you around", but only IF you ground the blade down without giving them a chance to fix it. Unfortunately, I'd say the problem is now yours. I know that's tough, but I'm fairly sure that's how they'll view it. If they fix it without a whimper, kudos to them and good for you.

When I sent mine back, I wrote in my note that I took the knife apart, and told them why I did it. Normally, once you disassemble a knife, they disclaim the warranty (I know for a fact, besides my Skirmish case, they don;t hold tight to this rule). I told them I wanted to be sure I didn;t nick the blade myself and, although it appeared to be hitting the barrel spacer, I wanted to be sure. SO I took it apart and confirmed my suspicions. They had no problem with that.

Good luck with that knife. Accepting or rejecting a knife with a design flaw is one thing, but modifying the knife and then sending it in for warranty service might be another, indeed.

Good luck!
 
StretchNM said:
Glock, it's a design flaw. They might "dick you around", but only IF you ground the blade down without giving them a chance to fix it. Unfortunately, I'd say the problem is now yours. I know that's tough, but I'm fairly sure that's how they'll view it. If they fix it without a whimper, kudos to them and good for you.

When I sent mine back, I wrote in my note that I took the knife apart, and told them why I did it. Normally, once you disassemble a knife, they disclaim the warranty (I know for a fact, besides my Skirmish case, they don;t hold tight to this rule). I told them I wanted to be sure I didn;t nick the blade myself and, although it appeared to be hitting the barrel spacer, I wanted to be sure. SO I took it apart and confirmed my suspicions. They had no problem with that.

Good luck with that knife. Accepting or rejecting a knife with a design flaw is one thing, but modifying the knife and then sending it in for warranty service might be another, indeed.

Good luck!
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I will just fix the problem myself. I don't see how I voided my warranty though because all I did was sharpen it. I will sharpen it a little more and that should take care of it. I hope they fixed the problem though.
 
Glock&Surefire said:
I will just fix the problem myself. I don't see how I voided my warranty though because all I did was sharpen it. I will sharpen it a little more and that should take care of it. I hope they fixed the problem though.
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I say - send it in. Warranty wasn't voided and you'll get first class service. Benchmade is good people. They stand behind their product.
 
i had this same problem on my ZT 0350. i had to file out some of the g10 to get it to stop hitting.

it's funny the 610 rukus i just got the blade didn't go in far enough and the top of the blade was right at the edge of the bottom.. it's already back at benchmade being fixed

i think these companies need an extra step in quality control. things slip by but out of the 3 knives i have gotten there was 3 problems. all had to be fixed.
 
I have had a full size Skirmish for several years now.
Mine has more than adequate clearance, I checked when I first
started hearing about this problem. Must be one of those hit or miss things.:confused:
 
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Well to be honest, I think benchmade should have never introduced the red class knives. It shows me they are willing to sell cheaply made over seas of a lower quality. They IMHO should have kept to the high quality knives they are (were) a high quality brand and as such should be selling higher quailty knives. They wanted to down grade a line of knives and now everyone has a benchmade, and it's no big deal to own a safe full of them.
 
Had the same problem on a couple of Lone Wolfs. removed barrel spacer and filed small groove and reinstalled with groove facing blade. Only needed small reprofiling to get rid of very small nick.
 
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