Benchmade's QC Problems.

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thragdar said:
Seriously... there's more whining in this subforum than in any five daycare centers across the country.
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I hope you stick around with more to say that's on topic instead of troll like posts, unlikely.
 
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Every Benchmade I've bought in the last 3 years has blade play and is off-center. I even sent my 480-1 in because the blade could be rocked forward and backward in the locked position. It came back with the same amount of play, if not more. I handled the Gold Class 7505-132 in a shop and was put off by how gritty the mechanism felt, and the rough edge finish. That's a $600 knife!

The rest of my Benchmades are hydraulically smooth, with very little or no play.

Come to think of it, the QC seemed to go downhill when they moved their office and showroom to the other side of the building...
 
It is hit and miss, unfortunately. My first Benchmade knives were superb in fit. Used and abused with no sign of blade play radial or lateral after years on end. Now I find stickier locks with more blade play. Something changed, looser QC, worn out machines, less training... Something.
 
thragdar said:
Seriously... there's more whining in this subforum than in any five daycare centers across the country.
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It's not whining. It's about a knife company that has made high quality products for quite a few years, that many of us enjoyed, and sold them at reasonable prices.
Now it appears the QC has gone downhill, AND they raised the prices 33% for no valid reason.
If it bothers you, there are many other sub-forums that would be glad to have your valuable input...

d0nut said:
If you get a knife that does not meet your standards, no matter how insignificant - send it back. Do it again and again until they get the message.
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I agree, maybe they would finally get the hint, but people are going to grow very tired of doing that. That takes all of the fun out of a new knife.
 
jkarp_53 said:
I would appreciate no more comments like this one in my posts. This is not a day care center. :grumpy:
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Laughing out loud, really. Between us we've been here longer than some people posting in this thread appear to have been alive. :eek: :D
 
JNewell said:
Laughing out loud, really. Between us we've been here longer than some people posting in this thread appear to have been alive. :eek: :D
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Yep :D

We aren't whining here anyway. We are having a rational discussion about real issues. If he wants to see whining, he should spend some time in General :eek:
Whining would be guys buying $4 gas station knives, and complaining because it won't hold an edge, or it isn't finished nicely, or it won't cut, or it's unfair someone else won a free knife, and they didn't. The subjects are endless :D
 
Oh Benchmade , you guys just don't get it . First your knife came blunt . Then your edge was uneven and ugly . Then your your knife came way off center and now you want to charge for quality . The only thing you have going on is the butterfly logo soon to be change for a butter knife logo .
 
I have bought a lot of benchmade over the years was a dealer for a short time and 90% of the blades were off center or the liner locks would engage to much. This is inexcusable they need to step it up. I hope the 2014 knives are better. I have had ZT, Spyderco, Emerson and many other brands and yes some were off center but not as many as benchmade. I still buy benchmade and they have an excellent warranty but you don't buy a knife just to send it back to be made right. Maybe if it were every now and then . I think it's wrong for them to dictate the price a company sells there knives for. Knifeworks use to have coupon codes for benchmades but no more due to benchmades new rules. If benchmade sells a knife for 200.00 dealer's buy them for 50% of that, so if the dealer wants to sell it for 130.00 they darn well should be able too.
 
I wonder if anyone from benchmade has even taken the time to read these threads. I haven't seen any responses to all the questions and issues. I have 4 BMs and love each one of them. But the MAP pricing and QC issue really need to be adressed. Not a peep from the company that I know of at least. Benchmade: your knives and customer service are top notch, please at least make your presence know here.
 
I don't think the price fix has anything to do with QC ,although, it may have gotten worse. The first Benchmade I bought was a 707 Sequel about 3-4 years ago. Paid roughly $109 with shipping and tax. That knife has been plagued with QC issues, I have yet to send it in to Benchmade. The blade has a terrible edge, out of the box I could run my index finger down it without worry. Then there is the blade-play issues. Left and right blade play are constant. I bought locktite to fix it, but I've been warned by others that it may violate the warranty.
I did buy a 470 last summer, that knife has been fantastic.
Either way, I'm 1 for 2 with Benchmade. I can't say the same about their competition, who have yet to disappoint me.

Unless Benchmade puts out a must have blade (ti axis lock 470 :D), they will not be getting my business again. Their new fixed price policy has put their blades out of reach for me. Almost $200 for a 470?? $100 for a mini-grip? Nah.
 
goephoto said:
I wonder if anyone from benchmade has even taken the time to read these threads. I haven't seen any responses to all the questions and issues. I have 4 BMs and love each one of them. But the MAP pricing and QC issue really need to be adressed. Not a peep from the company that I know of at least. Benchmade: your knives and customer service are top notch, please at least make your presence know here.
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I think they made things clear in a pretty unclear way. Their silence (and response of denial) has shown me they are not thinking about us the consumers. Who knows who, who's sleeping with who, etc. that's probably the story behind this nonsensical enforcement.

Oh and Benchmade...if I'm wrong...please, feel free to chime in and put me in my place.
 
It really would be nice to get some input from Benchmade about these issues. When you don't hear anything, it really makes you wonder...

Their business is selling knives, and customer service. If they don't sell many knives, the customer service becomes a non-issue.
I know there are other manufacturers that have sub-forums here, and they DO pay attention to what's being said. And they will take the time to comment on negative issues.
Understandably they don't spend as much time on here as most of us, but it only takes a couple minutes to try and explain things.
Their business depends on it.
A few minutes time to help keep customers happy, or at least try, seems like a very small price, considering they have millions of dollars invested in their companies...
 
Yes, it's whining. If it's that bad stop buying the things and walk away. But we all know that you won't, because the fact of the matter is that every time I come back to this forum (which I have, very intermittently, under various screen names for about ten years now) it's the same crap. "Benchmade's overpriced!" "Benchmade's QC is bad!" "Benchmade's warranty is terrible!" "Benchmade changed their pricing!"

*EDIT* Actually, longer than ten years. A lot longer. Holy damn this place started in '98... and I was there not long after... o_O

Just search for "Benchmade price change" on Google and click the links to old threads in here. Marvel at how many of you weren't going to buy another Benchmade after they changed to MAP. Behold how many are now posting how they won't buy another Benchmade because of increased pricing. See the comparison in screen names and gaze in wild wonder at how many are the exact same.

In the past year I've been lucky enough to have been able to buy three Benchmade knives. A Mini Grip, a Triage, and a Contego. The Contego's blade centering was off so I took about three minutes and a six dollar tool and did what I do with ALL of my new knives which is adjust the pivot screw to MY specifications. A dab of Loctite later and it's perfectly centered.

This is not out of the realm of reasonable, especially for a group of people that are ostensibly skilled in the basic workings of a folding knife.

Do not worry your pretty little heads. I am hereby abandoning this subforum of weeping angels. If anything actually interesting is ever posted in here again, let me know. Or don't. I don't really care.
 
You can not just blame QC for this problem. It is also the manufacturing aspect that is the primary culprit. Careless, overworked, new and inexperienced personnel on the line are the primary culprits.
Working on a manufacturing line generally means working to a quota and some line supervisor or "team leader"...I mock the phrase...telling the people to work faster which generally means with less time to spend making sure the object is assembled correctly.

Pay level may also play a role...you generally always get what you pay for...paying someone $9 per hour, I have no idea what the assembly people at BM are paid, generally means you get a $9 per hour care...it's just a job, punch in punch out who cares...

Perhaps BM has so many orders to fill that they are having a hard time keeping up thus often quality starts to drop.

Remember QC at it's best only touches a very small handful of product...often far less than ten percent...one in ten...if it passes the entire lot passes...if it fails usually you do a larger percentage as a further check and the problem goes back down the line to the supervisor and/or team leader to check on the specific assembly person that was responsible for the "fail"...The sup/team leader then reviews what is currently under assembly by that person and further action as needed...swift kick in the arse, retraining, etc...are up to them...

Don't just shoot the QC...
 
My opinion is brief. Centered blades should be standard. The actual blade grinds are all that matter to me. The edge grind is inconsequential if you plan to use the knife long term. If you can't sharpen your knife then learn. It will change the hobby completely and I guarantee it will be so much more satisfying.

Secondly, voicing an opinion is great, but if one voices negative opinions, buys more Benchmade's and then again voices more negative opinions it comes back to, "screw me once shame on you; screw me twice shame on me" all in my humble opinion of course.

If you are not being heard then stop buying. It's the only way to be heard. If you can't resist buying more then I guess you get what you get and like it?

Kevin
 
My Bedlam 8600 came with an uneven edge grind. While I didn't pay the full retail of $280 for it, some people do and they deserve a knife that meets the price point. Kinda confusing that a $30 Cryo comes with better fit and finish than certain Benchmade knives. Don't get me wrong, I love my Benchmades but I won't be buying them off of the primary market until they make some changes in their quality control.
 
thragdar said:
Do not worry your pretty little heads. I am hereby abandoning this subforum of weeping angels. If anything actually interesting is ever posted in here again, let me know. Or don't. I don't really care.
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I don't think anyone's worried or weeping. While you have a right to express yourself, that's not the point of my post.

When I was at the REI store and asked to look at a the Volli and G-10 551 in the case, the salesguy just gushed about the quality. I looked at the very badly centered blades on both models and played dumb - and was tempted to say something, but didn't and walked away from the case. Problem is; I fully EXPECTED to find flaws and was not disappointed. The sales guy was thanked for his time and efforts.

And when I told my wife what I saw she said; "What did you expect? They are having problems as you have said, glad you didn't buy one and try to fix it." :p
 
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jkarp_53 said:
I don't think anyone's worried or weeping. While you have a right to express yourself, that's not the point of my post.

When I was at the REI store and asked to look at a the Volli and G-10 551 in the case, the salesguy just gushed about the quality. I looked at the very badly centered blades on both models and played dumb - and was tempted to say something, but didn't and walked away from the case. Problem is; I fully EXPECTED to find flaws and was not disappointed. The sales guy was thanked for his time and efforts.

And when I told my wife what I saw she said; "What did you expect? They are having problems as you have said, glad you didn't buy one and try to fix it." :p
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Why wouldnt you say something? You want to be heard yet you're shy about it when there's an example in front of you.
 
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