- Joined
- Oct 9, 1998
- Messages
- 1,767
<CENTER>BENCHMADE 940BT (PLAIN, BT2 COATED).</CENTER>
I've had this knife for quite a while as well. It was given to me by Art Sigmon (thanks again).
Blade Grind Lines: This knife actually really amazed me with the grind lines. Everything matched up perfectly. I couldn't spot a single error in these grind lines. Grade: A+.
Blade Shape: This is a very classy looking "reverse tanto" point. It is slightly less pointy feeling than most tantos, and I feel they could have lowered the angle at the tanto corner a little bit to increase pointiness. Maybe the point of the reverse tanto is to look less threatening and more classy (no pun intended). Does a good job of looking nice, though! Grade: A-.
Blade Coating Durability: It's the usual BT2 coating. A decent amount of scratches and little marks after cutting cardboard a lot. Also, it was scratched on the sharpening table on the Edge Pro. Could be more durable, but its about what I'd expect from BT2. Grade: C.
Blade Centering: The centering of the blade in the closed position is very good, but slightly off. At the tip, I would say it leans to the left about 0.1mm or so. When I first got it, it seemed to be perfect, but after hard thumb opening pressure it seems to have become a tiny bit off. Grade: B+.
Blade Play: When at factory tightness, there is no blade play, but the knife gradually loosens itself quickly and develops a little bit of minor blade play. Grade: A.
Blade to Handle Ratio: Some knife designs like to maximize blade length for the space available in the handle. This knife does a fairly good job of it, but I felt they could have squeezed in a little bit more blade into the handle. However, this would require them to be more exact in making sure the blade doesn't tap the blue-violet anodized spacers. Grade: A-.
Opening Smoothness: This is one of the smoothest Benchmades I've handled. Most are above average smoothness, but this knife is above what is above average. Grade: A.
Handle: The hard anodize on the 6061-T6 aluminum handle is very well done. The color is beautiful and shape is very comfortable. Since this is an axis lock, it doesn't have some of the grip issues of the liner lock (strange shape to prevent the fleshy part of the finger from unlocking the liner lock in a tight grip). Traction is aided by nicely done traction notches in the recessed 410 stainless steel liners. Grade: A+.
Spacers: The spacers are made of 410 stainless steel and is anodized with a blue-violet pattern. It really looks very nice on the dark green aircraft aluminum handle. It seals off most of the back of the handle, but doesn't extend to the area over the axis bar. Keeps most of the pocket lint out, but still allows easy cleaning of the axis lock with a small cotton swab. Grade: A+.
Thumb Stud: Some people have said the Benchmade thumb studs don't give enough traction. Personally, I think they are very good thumb studs. They give good traction and don't tear my pants up. To be honest though, I think the thumb studs are just a tiny bit longer than they should be on this knife. I sharpen my knives at a fairly low angle, and the thumb stud actually gets in the way of the stone. As a result, I have scratched the smooth black coating on the thumb studs with the sharpening stones. Other than that, they work great. If you sharpen at the usual 20-degrees or more, then you'll be fine. But if you sharpen at 15-degrees per side like I do, then you might find it obnoxious. Grade: B.
Lock Mechanism: The axis lock is an extremely sturdy lock. I've beat it repeatedly against my knee, like I do to all my folding knives to test the lock (except the Opinel). No sign of failure. Axis bar won't budge. The only sign of wear on the lock and back of the blade is the coating on the back of the blade showing a mark where the axis bar pressed against it. Grade: A+.
Pocket Clip: I've always found Benchmade clips to have just the right amount of tightness and durability. The placement of the clips are usually very good as well. This knife pleased me very much with clip placement allowing the knife to ride lower on the clip in your pocket. Grade: A+.
Fit and Finish: I might offend Microtech fans by saying this, but I think Benchmade did a better job on handle's hard anodize with their 940. Not a single spot was missed in the anodize, whereas my Microtech had a spot in/around the lanyard loop hole where the anodize was not there. The only thing I have to complain about the fit and finish is already mentioned, the centering is only about 95% of perfect (I've already penalized them in the centering section, so I won't penalize them further in this section). Benchmade has done a beautiful job with fit and finish. Grade: A+.
Overall Product Grade: A
For the usual market price of about $100, this is a pretty darn good deal! Would have gotten an A+ if the thumb studs were a tiny bit shorter and the centering was perfect.
- Chang
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-19-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-19-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-19-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-19-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-20-2001).]
I've had this knife for quite a while as well. It was given to me by Art Sigmon (thanks again).
Blade Grind Lines: This knife actually really amazed me with the grind lines. Everything matched up perfectly. I couldn't spot a single error in these grind lines. Grade: A+.
Blade Shape: This is a very classy looking "reverse tanto" point. It is slightly less pointy feeling than most tantos, and I feel they could have lowered the angle at the tanto corner a little bit to increase pointiness. Maybe the point of the reverse tanto is to look less threatening and more classy (no pun intended). Does a good job of looking nice, though! Grade: A-.
Blade Coating Durability: It's the usual BT2 coating. A decent amount of scratches and little marks after cutting cardboard a lot. Also, it was scratched on the sharpening table on the Edge Pro. Could be more durable, but its about what I'd expect from BT2. Grade: C.
Blade Centering: The centering of the blade in the closed position is very good, but slightly off. At the tip, I would say it leans to the left about 0.1mm or so. When I first got it, it seemed to be perfect, but after hard thumb opening pressure it seems to have become a tiny bit off. Grade: B+.
Blade Play: When at factory tightness, there is no blade play, but the knife gradually loosens itself quickly and develops a little bit of minor blade play. Grade: A.
Blade to Handle Ratio: Some knife designs like to maximize blade length for the space available in the handle. This knife does a fairly good job of it, but I felt they could have squeezed in a little bit more blade into the handle. However, this would require them to be more exact in making sure the blade doesn't tap the blue-violet anodized spacers. Grade: A-.
Opening Smoothness: This is one of the smoothest Benchmades I've handled. Most are above average smoothness, but this knife is above what is above average. Grade: A.
Handle: The hard anodize on the 6061-T6 aluminum handle is very well done. The color is beautiful and shape is very comfortable. Since this is an axis lock, it doesn't have some of the grip issues of the liner lock (strange shape to prevent the fleshy part of the finger from unlocking the liner lock in a tight grip). Traction is aided by nicely done traction notches in the recessed 410 stainless steel liners. Grade: A+.
Spacers: The spacers are made of 410 stainless steel and is anodized with a blue-violet pattern. It really looks very nice on the dark green aircraft aluminum handle. It seals off most of the back of the handle, but doesn't extend to the area over the axis bar. Keeps most of the pocket lint out, but still allows easy cleaning of the axis lock with a small cotton swab. Grade: A+.
Thumb Stud: Some people have said the Benchmade thumb studs don't give enough traction. Personally, I think they are very good thumb studs. They give good traction and don't tear my pants up. To be honest though, I think the thumb studs are just a tiny bit longer than they should be on this knife. I sharpen my knives at a fairly low angle, and the thumb stud actually gets in the way of the stone. As a result, I have scratched the smooth black coating on the thumb studs with the sharpening stones. Other than that, they work great. If you sharpen at the usual 20-degrees or more, then you'll be fine. But if you sharpen at 15-degrees per side like I do, then you might find it obnoxious. Grade: B.
Lock Mechanism: The axis lock is an extremely sturdy lock. I've beat it repeatedly against my knee, like I do to all my folding knives to test the lock (except the Opinel). No sign of failure. Axis bar won't budge. The only sign of wear on the lock and back of the blade is the coating on the back of the blade showing a mark where the axis bar pressed against it. Grade: A+.
Pocket Clip: I've always found Benchmade clips to have just the right amount of tightness and durability. The placement of the clips are usually very good as well. This knife pleased me very much with clip placement allowing the knife to ride lower on the clip in your pocket. Grade: A+.
Fit and Finish: I might offend Microtech fans by saying this, but I think Benchmade did a better job on handle's hard anodize with their 940. Not a single spot was missed in the anodize, whereas my Microtech had a spot in/around the lanyard loop hole where the anodize was not there. The only thing I have to complain about the fit and finish is already mentioned, the centering is only about 95% of perfect (I've already penalized them in the centering section, so I won't penalize them further in this section). Benchmade has done a beautiful job with fit and finish. Grade: A+.
Overall Product Grade: A
For the usual market price of about $100, this is a pretty darn good deal! Would have gotten an A+ if the thumb studs were a tiny bit shorter and the centering was perfect.
- Chang
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-19-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-19-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-19-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-19-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 02-20-2001).]
