BM 950-1001 Rift
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As of this morning there were only a few left of the 50 piece run.
The Rift is my favorite knife so I am really excited about this one. I have been wanting to check out M4 for awhile since it is supposed to get super scary sharp and hold it pretty good. I also have a desire to strip the coating and put a patina on it. There aren't too many non stainless steel blades and I think a nice patina on a high tech 'tactical' folder would be pretty cool.
I wonder why there were only 50 pieces made? I would have thought they would have made 300 like the 710 that was put out awhile ago. I have one of those as well but I just can't warm up to the 710 and it's skinny blade. I think it might be time to let that one go since the only reason I have kept it was to try out the M4 steel and I now will have the same steel in a knife that I love. I guess they might have made less because the 950 doesn't seem to be as popular as the 710. Anyone want a 710?
Anyways, I'm going to head out to put up the tent at the mailbox. This is going to be a long hard wait.
PS I wonder if I should put the M4 blade on my carbon fiber handle? Does carbon fiber seem to hold up as well as G10? Or scratch easy since it has a pretty shiny finish? Up till now it has just been a back up...
The Rift is my favorite knife so I am really excited about this one. I have been wanting to check out M4 for awhile since it is supposed to get super scary sharp and hold it pretty good. I also have a desire to strip the coating and put a patina on it. There aren't too many non stainless steel blades and I think a nice patina on a high tech 'tactical' folder would be pretty cool.
I wonder why there were only 50 pieces made? I would have thought they would have made 300 like the 710 that was put out awhile ago. I have one of those as well but I just can't warm up to the 710 and it's skinny blade. I think it might be time to let that one go since the only reason I have kept it was to try out the M4 steel and I now will have the same steel in a knife that I love. I guess they might have made less because the 950 doesn't seem to be as popular as the 710. Anyone want a 710?
Anyways, I'm going to head out to put up the tent at the mailbox. This is going to be a long hard wait.
PS I wonder if I should put the M4 blade on my carbon fiber handle? Does carbon fiber seem to hold up as well as G10? Or scratch easy since it has a pretty shiny finish? Up till now it has just been a back up...
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It'll look good in CF. There already was a run of CF/M4 Rift. Limited Edition for dealers outside of US.
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These are going to start shipping tomorrow, so you shouldn't have to wait too long.
Might be easier to swap scales rather than swap blades. I personally prefer the two-tone G10 to either all-black or cf, but that's total YMMV.
My guess on the 50 piece run, and I have not asked Roger about this, is that he's been left with inventory on some prior special runs, wasn't sure how well this would sell, and didn't want to carry inventory at this point. I could be wrong.
Might be easier to swap scales rather than swap blades. I personally prefer the two-tone G10 to either all-black or cf, but that's total YMMV.
My guess on the 50 piece run, and I have not asked Roger about this, is that he's been left with inventory on some prior special runs, wasn't sure how well this would sell, and didn't want to carry inventory at this point. I could be wrong.
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It'll look good in CF. There already was a run of CF/M4 Rift. Limited Edition for dealers outside of US.
I know, I looked everywhere and spent a few hours on the phone trying to track one down. You must have quite the Benchmade hookup as I have seen your pictures. That damascus looks really nice too. Do you use yours or are they more collector pieces? Any thoughts on stripping the M4 and putting a patina on it? Besides removing the blade markings I'm not sure what the downside would be. It can always be cleaned up and maybe even some type of coating put back on if I don't like it.
Anyone know what kind of coating Benchmade uses? Is it a DLC? How does it hold up because I have never had coated blades and I will be using this one. I also don't think blades with the coating wearing off looks good. At all.
Thanks!
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Benchmade usually uses a Gunkote-like finish. It is not DLC and it will show wear. People who really wear into the finish report that it seems to seal the metal even after it's badly worn. The Benchmade coating only works for people who keep the knives on the shelf or who use them and don't care about cosmetics. I would *not* put an artificial "patina" (i.e., induce corrosion) on an M4 blade. You'll get more than you bargained for.
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I guess you can call me dedicated
I did strip coating from one of my M4 710's and it looks pretty good. Coating is not DLC, but a BM's own BK-1 teflon based coating, even if it scratches it's already impregnated into the steel and keeps protecting the blade.
I have enough users to keep most of my collection NIB, golds and LEs stay untouched for the most part, but regular production have a chance to see pocket time at any time
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Mind elaborating? What more will I get? I thought it was common to put a patina on tool steels such as M4?
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I ordered one early on. I already liked the Rift, and having the Osborne design paired with M4 made this a must-have knife for me.
I think Roger at Knifeworks should be commended for offering some unique limited run knives, especially with M4 blades. :thumbup:
I have also ordered from Roger one of the Spyderco Militaries with the M4 blade. It has a framelock using G-10 for one scale, and titanium for the locking side, like some Striders. But Roger won't get these in until about May 2010. It's going to be hard to wait but I'm sure it will be worth it!
What I wonder is whether manufacturers will ever offer M4 as part of their regular line, or whether it will continue to be a limited-edition steel. Benchmade ended up discontinuing the use of M2 in their regular line, but I'm not sure if it was for lack of interest or some other reason. Anyone know the story on that?
I think Roger at Knifeworks should be commended for offering some unique limited run knives, especially with M4 blades. :thumbup:
I have also ordered from Roger one of the Spyderco Militaries with the M4 blade. It has a framelock using G-10 for one scale, and titanium for the locking side, like some Striders. But Roger won't get these in until about May 2010. It's going to be hard to wait but I'm sure it will be worth it!
What I wonder is whether manufacturers will ever offer M4 as part of their regular line, or whether it will continue to be a limited-edition steel. Benchmade ended up discontinuing the use of M2 in their regular line, but I'm not sure if it was for lack of interest or some other reason. Anyone know the story on that?
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Benchmade does have the 760 folder that is in regular production and uses M4. It seems like they are toying with the idea of putting it into some regular production knives and I'm sure will be looking at how well that model sells. Which is a little unfortunate because I don't think that is the best knife they have ever put out and they should have done it on a more popular design.
I wonder why they have not tried some of the other steels like ZDP or S90V. I can see the ZDP being a problem if they don't produce any knives in Japan, but S90V is an American steel and could be great for them to experiment with. I think if they started to follow Spyderco's lead and put out limited runs in multiple super steels, they would start to get some of us steel junkies drooling on themselves with credit card in hand.
I wonder why they have not tried some of the other steels like ZDP or S90V. I can see the ZDP being a problem if they don't produce any knives in Japan, but S90V is an American steel and could be great for them to experiment with. I think if they started to follow Spyderco's lead and put out limited runs in multiple super steels, they would start to get some of us steel junkies drooling on themselves with credit card in hand.
gunmike1
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I ordered mine first thing yesterday morning and can't wait for it. My 154CM Rift has a nice and thin .014" edge and the 154CM was tested at 61 RC, and it has been an excellent performer. I like the two tone G-10 on my 154CM Rift, we'll see if I'm too lazy to swap scales on my M4 version or not. I just hope my M4 version has similarly great geometry to my standard version.
Mike
Mike
As of this morning there were only a few left of the 50 piece run.
The Rift is my favorite knife so I am really excited about this one. I have been wanting to check out M4 for awhile since it is supposed to get super scary sharp and hold it pretty good. I also have a desire to strip the coating and put a patina on it. There aren't too many non stainless steel blades and I think a nice patina on a high tech 'tactical' folder would be pretty cool.
I wonder why there were only 50 pieces made? I would have thought they would have made 300 like the 710 that was put out awhile ago. I have one of those as well but I just can't warm up to the 710 and it's skinny blade. I think it might be time to let that one go since the only reason I have kept it was to try out the M4 steel and I now will have the same steel in a knife that I love. I guess they might have made less because the 950 doesn't seem to be as popular as the 710. Anyone want a 710?
Anyways, I'm going to head out to put up the tent at the mailbox. This is going to be a long hard wait.
PS I wonder if I should put the M4 blade on my carbon fiber handle? Does carbon fiber seem to hold up as well as G10? Or scratch easy since it has a pretty shiny finish? Up till now it has just been a back up...
You were the first one I thought of when I posted this info.
:thumbup: I'm thinking about sending an email to have Ashley put me back a second one and give it to my son at Christmas.
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For me, the lack of the ambi stud (contra the catalog) killed it.
gunmike1
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RxEnergy, thanks for the heads up BTW. How hard is stripping the blade? I am considering trying to talk Phil Wilson into making my M4 Rift 64-65 RC, but stripping it is required for that. I also wonder if the coating Benchmade uses would cause an error with Rockwell testing.
Mike
Mike
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Mike,
If its not too much trouble, would you please share the result of any Rockwell testing you do on the M4 Rift?