Bm 43dm 012/100 Coooooooooooool!!!

I got an email back from Travis at Benchmade:

"Hey there,


The 43DM are all gone.
No other blade styles yet that I am aware of but Holy Moly! They are sweet!
I Missed out on getting one but w/ so much new stuff coming out of us, it's really hard to keep track of them all.
We are making 100 of them @ $350.00.
A bargain if you ask me. Just another knife if you ask my Wife.




Best regards,


Travis Noteboom


Marketing Coordinator"
 
$350 for a Damascus blade with SS handles and the spring latch system. That's definitely a bargain, considering that BM Retails the 4x Ti series at $180. So it's only double the money.
 
Spoke to Travis to clarify the issue. The main cause of the high level of scrapping for the Damascus was that the laser cutting method they use to cut blade blanks was giving them problems. Because laser cutting is a difficult thing to do with dissimilar metals, as is the case of the damascus. While one setting would work for one of the mixed metals, it would either be not hot enough to cut, or too hot and melt the edges. Maybe the next time they do it, they should just go back to the good old bandsaw. :D

There is however, no problem with the CNC portion of the blade grinding. Given the high scrap level, that $350 price is looking awfully good.
 
Tony, interesting information. I hope that means that it will be pretty cost effective for them to come out w/ non-damascus versions w/ the ss handles and spring latch. The damascus is really not that important to me, and if that was a big cost factor, maybe w/ non-damascus they'll be able to get it down to a really decent price point.
 
nybble: Like Edgefinder and I have been discussing, it definitely a feasible proposition. And Chuck is right in that these small batch runs are the right vehicles to work out the kinks of the system. Since BM hardly ever offers damascus as a standard blade steel, and not just in bali's, we can savely assume the fact that this run of 100 serves more to prove the new handle's CNC programing. That's something they can use over and over again. The question now is just a matter of machine time allocation. They still haven't finished their commitment to the 49's (I think it's suppose to run to 49-07, but don't quote me on that), and that project contends with the 43-DM's handles for the same machine. I'm now comfortable to say that the 43-DM's will not be the only bali's those handles will appear on.

Oh yeah: OUCH, no bet.... ;)
 
I've read through alot of this thread and I think one element is missing. Mr. deAsis does what he wants to do and that's that. That's not a negative. In fact, I sort of like the fact he is his own Man even though it has not exactly coincided with me [being a selfish bastard that I am] getting everything I wanted!

When the BM 44, 45 and 48 Models were available, you could buy them all day long at better Dealers for $70.00 and I know because I bought a good number of them in the early to mid-1990s.

I don't remember what the MSRP was on them. Cutlery Shoppe routinely had them for about $110.00 to 115.00 a piece.

The knives were so great that Lynn Thompson had them in his Cold Steel Catalog in the early 1990s. Well, the 45 anyways...

The BM 42/3/7 has been from the start, even counting for inflation, a more expensive knife to the Consumer.

I can understand that, Titanium is harder to finish than steel, milling, drilling, finishing...the material simply EATS whatever you use to produce it with! Amazingly tough metal and hard on tooling, etc.

Now we hear the hints that a steel [303 SS] handle version of the 42/3/7 is going to possibly be more expensive than Ti? Eh?

Two words for you, one begins with "R" and the other with "O." Now, now, you Defenders of The Faith don't get your nose out of joint. SS is much easier to machine than Ti, right on down the line, less time on the machine and everything else that has been discussed in here.

If the knife comes out with SS Handles, it should be less expensive than the current knives. No exceptions everything else being equal to the current line!

They say love is blind, well, there is no need to learn Braille. If the knife comes out in SS and someone says, "Well, you know, it's expensive!" And it is more expensive than what is already out there. That's a bummer. If it is not a bit cheaper than the Ti-handled versions, the same applies...

I love Balisongs, but I'm in no way connected with BM and I don't think they can justify the price of the Ti-Line and then come back a couple of years later after explaining that to people and then say the same about 303 SS. There is an excuse for the expense of Ti, not for an increase when it comes to SS.
 
Well put Don, you can get 303 rods to mill from a dealer for like $30 for a whole foot or more and around 1" round. Milling machines and drill presses as well as a grinder will eat up 303 with ease. Ti on the other hand is a b**ch to tool. For a piece equal to that of the above mentioned 303 it would cost twice as much. Ofcourse with BM's buying power, they would order huge quantities and more than likely get it for much cheaper than I quoted. Not that BM Bali's are'nt worth the cost, just a lil' bit high. Hey, that's what business is all about though, low investment and, profit...RDT
 
First, I must say I'm pretty sure someone will pop their head in and say they have to buy new equipment or something to use SS instead of Ti.

Second, maybe they're just using the market. They know what we all want (SS), and therefore they increase the price to earn more money.

And third: What's those two words on R and O?
 
Don makes some very valid points. And I'd agree with Ixpfah, the first thing I thought of when reading Don's post was perhaps demand for SS has gone up, and the supply of currently existing SS balis is relatively limited, so perhaps they feel justified in (or feel that they can get away with?) charging more?

I love BM's products, and maybe I'm out of line here. If someone could explain a good reason why there would be a price increase, that made sense, I'd like to hear it. I was also thinking (although I am still learning about all this and don't really know what I'm talking about, I may be completely wrong) that the Ti handles are molded and the 303 SS will be CNC'd, right? Could that be a possible factor?

PS - Ixpfah - each word is 3 letters long...
 
Don:

Wouldn't you expect a price difference between a part milled from a solid billet and a cast part? If the titanium handles were milled from a billet or bar stock then what you are saying about the machining costs, tooling costs, etc... makes perfect sense.

Rick
 
To compare the SS handles of the 43-DM to those of the 45's is a bit unfair. The SS handles on the 44/5/8 were cast and were simply polished with some minor milling to finish it off. Those of the 49's and the 43-DM are CNC milled from solid bar stock. Very similar in concept to the milled SS handles of the Custom line. The price differential between a 45 and a custom then was about $250 for a base SS model. If you subtract the cost of a custom ground blade, it's still significantly more expensive to produce the milled handles. So, if those SS handles on the 43-DM do become available, at say the $250 to $300 range with a regular steel blade, then it'll come out cheaper than those of the Custom's of old, just that we no longer get Samson ground blades. And it'll be way stronger, with better tolerances, than the cast SS handles of the 44/5/8's.
 
Don Rearic,
retail on the 45 and 48, from my dealer catalog of 1994, was $99.99. Couldn't say after that year. Started buying them from a distributor. Got them a little cheaper that way. Go figure!
 
What happend to the pics?
Can someone repost them....

By the way I know someone who has number 49 of 100....That is for sale...but it aint cheap
 
I held this knife today; and its absolutely beautiful.
I am gonna get one.
I have had no experience with other steel benchmades so I don't know their weight. But this thing is a lot heavier then my BM 42. I can't wait to take it home and try some arials. I want to see its momentum.
This will be my second "Real" bali.
I'm only 19 years young...so hopefully there will be other nice balis in the future.

OMG...I can't stop thinking about this knife. The blade is soo nice...and the handles are soo comfortable.

I wasn't allowed to manipulate it cuz it never has been. But when I buy it...I'm gonna go crazy....I can see it now...my wrist is gonna be in pain from all the flipping.

OMG...has anyone else held this knife that doesn't own one?
I think any one of us...if you were to hold it...it would force you to buy one. Thats how nice it is.
 
Dan GSR -- really appreciate your first hand input. I'm sure some of us have them on order, but its good to hear from someone who's handled one and hasn't bled on the seller's countertop!!! :)
 
Originally posted by ixpfah
...and I still can't find out what those r?? o?? words are...
Click to expand...

Me niether...wut the hell u talkin bout?
 
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