I bought a Benchmade Mini-Barrage last month while on a business trip. After i get home and play with it for a while i noticed a small amount of vertical blade play. I posted here looking for some advice and someone mentioned it might actually be horizontal play that just seems like vertical and to tighten the pivot. that didn't fix it and i ended up breaking a screw.
I sent it back to benchmade with a note talking about the vertical play and asking them to check the stop pin because it seemed like a likely cause of the vertical play to me. I got the knife back a week later. According to the note in the box they replaced the stop pin and sharpened the blade for me. I opened the grey box containing the knife and the first thing i notice is blade is dripping with oil. Not just a thin coating to protect it it's absolutely sopping. i shrug and wipe a good portion of the oil from the blade.
I sit there wondering why they sharpened it because it was 2 days old when i sent it to them. I look at the blade and notice they didn't do a very consistent job sharpening it. the angle is not very good and the blade isn't actually that sharp. It very roughly cut paper. I grumble for a bit about the terrible edge and move on to check the lockup.
What do you know i still have vertical play on the blade. This time i can definitely tell it's the axis lock not engaging properly. If i push the axis lock forward the blade will stop wiggling. I take a deep breath and call benchmade. Benchmade sends UPS with a pre-paid label the next day to pick up my knife.
Today the knife arrives at work for me. The note says they replaced the springs and the blade! I have a factory fresh blade now and it's incredibly sharp just like when i first sent them the knife. I open the box and the knife this time was not swimming in oil. The blade lockup is now perfect.
It took two tries but they got the problem fixed. Overall a good experience with their warranty repair service but a strike and a home run isn't what i would expect. If i were to do it over i would have left my comments on the stop pin off of the original warranty form. I would have asked them not to sharpen the blade. I have my knife back and i'm happy with it so that's all that maters in the end.
I sent it back to benchmade with a note talking about the vertical play and asking them to check the stop pin because it seemed like a likely cause of the vertical play to me. I got the knife back a week later. According to the note in the box they replaced the stop pin and sharpened the blade for me. I opened the grey box containing the knife and the first thing i notice is blade is dripping with oil. Not just a thin coating to protect it it's absolutely sopping. i shrug and wipe a good portion of the oil from the blade.
I sit there wondering why they sharpened it because it was 2 days old when i sent it to them. I look at the blade and notice they didn't do a very consistent job sharpening it. the angle is not very good and the blade isn't actually that sharp. It very roughly cut paper. I grumble for a bit about the terrible edge and move on to check the lockup.
What do you know i still have vertical play on the blade. This time i can definitely tell it's the axis lock not engaging properly. If i push the axis lock forward the blade will stop wiggling. I take a deep breath and call benchmade. Benchmade sends UPS with a pre-paid label the next day to pick up my knife.
Today the knife arrives at work for me. The note says they replaced the springs and the blade! I have a factory fresh blade now and it's incredibly sharp just like when i first sent them the knife. I open the box and the knife this time was not swimming in oil. The blade lockup is now perfect.
It took two tries but they got the problem fixed. Overall a good experience with their warranty repair service but a strike and a home run isn't what i would expect. If i were to do it over i would have left my comments on the stop pin off of the original warranty form. I would have asked them not to sharpen the blade. I have my knife back and i'm happy with it so that's all that maters in the end.
