Cf/s90v 940-1

Thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking of doing that. I have one on pre-order, but I have some time to think it over, whether to get it right away or cancel the pre-order and wait. I appreciate the comments and feedback.
 
I'm going to wait until they are in stock, then head down to BladeHQ and cherry pick out of at least 5. Don't want any centering or grind issues.
 
Pre-ordered the 940-1 yesterday.

Today I stop by a local store to take a look at Spyderco's and unexpectedly came across a 940-121!
Much more than I ever planned on spending but couldn't pass it up.

This is my first Benchmade. I've read about them not being very sharp out of the box. The grind patterns on the edge look rough, but I'm pleased it's hair popping sharp and cuts paper like butter.
Does Benchmade do a better job on gold class blades or did I luck out?
The Axis lock is great!

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The sharpness thing was was a problem from a few years ago and has long since been addressed. I guess the antifans still talk about it quite a bit though.
 
Dukat111 said:
Pre-ordered the 940-1 yesterday.

Today I stop by a local store to take a look at Spyderco's and unexpectedly came across a 940-121!
Much more than I ever planned on spending but couldn't pass it up.

This is my first Benchmade. I've read about them not being very sharp out of the box. The grind patterns on the edge look rough, but I'm pleased it's hair popping sharp and cuts paper like butter.
Does Benchmade do a better job on gold class blades or did I luck out?
The Axis lock is great!

HjsQPEM.jpg


qh4iEwY.jpg
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Nice catch. Well, i don't own any Gold class knives, but i would certainly hope they are better than some of the blue and black class knives considering what some of them cost.

I would not consider myself an antifan, I have had some knives that were not sharpened very well sharpened, but I didn't have any issues with it as I have the equipment and patience to sharpen them up.
 
Is there anyone who knows if a G10 version is actually going to happen.
 
pmek5 said:
Is there anyone who knows if a G10 version is actually going to happen.
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Nothing is planned at the moment. If you check out the Customized Benchmades thread, you will see that deathofallthings is making G10 scales for the 940.
 
deathofallthings said:
The sharpness thing was was a problem from a few years ago and has long since been addressed. I guess the antifans still talk about it quite a bit though.
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with all due respect, they still have a problem with uneven grinds. The 810-1401 I just bought has even bevels, but the 51 Morpho I just bought has uneven bevels. The knives are sharp, but once they need to be sharpened, it's a full reprofile job. That should not happen on knives that cost as much as Benchmades cost. The Spyderco Tenacious my son had (yeah, a $40 knife) had perfectly even bevels and was sharper than any Benchmade I've ever received (most of which have been quite sharp). My son's mini-Grip was sharp, but uneven, and it cost more.

And I'm hardly an anti-fan, as all I own are Benchmades (along with my sons and wife, there are almost a dozen, and that's only because I can't afford more).
 
loonybin said:
with all due respect, they still have a problem with uneven grinds. The 810-1401 I just bought has even bevels, but the 51 Morpho I just bought has uneven bevels. The knives are sharp, but once they need to be sharpened, it's a full reprofile job. That should not happen on knives that cost as much as Benchmades cost. The Spyderco Tenacious my son had (yeah, a $40 knife) had perfectly even bevels and was sharper than any Benchmade I've ever received (most of which have been quite sharp). My son's mini-Grip was sharp, but uneven, and it cost more.

And I'm hardly an anti-fan, as all I own are Benchmades (along with my sons and wife, there are almost a dozen, and that's only because I can't afford more).
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And since most people I know haven't a clue how to sharpen theirs, this becomes a big problem. When the knife does go dull what are their options? Electric sharpening machines are sold by the truckload at Williams Sonoma and Sur La Table, but kitchen knives are one thing, a $200 Benchmade with uneven bevels is something different. At least we have LifeSharp, but the fact of sending a knife used every day to the factory for a two to three week period for some is less than optimal. If the bevels are even on the blade, Sharpie tricks and simple stropping can go much farther between full sharpenings.
 
I was a 943 owner several years ago. I got the 943 because the green 940 with purple back spacer did not work for me. Sold it a couple of years ago because I was babying the thing too much. Did not want that worn black aluminum look. However, I will say that the 940 series is one of the greatest BM ever made IMHO. Size, ergos, weight, and the amazing Axis lock. I have had the urge to get an Axis lock BM for the last year or so, then this came up. I only limit myself to a few knives, but selling one would make this happen. I really would like to wait & see a review with some better pics though.
 
I am not down with off-center blades but all of the talk about evenness of bevels is something I cannot relate to. I sharpen by hand and keep a great useable edge on all of my knives and no knife from any brand has ever been even slightly unworkable. Is the complaint about evenness of bevels a result of the actual usefulness of the knives or, rather, compatibility with aftermarket sharpening systems?
 
What would one do when they chip the blade?I re-profile all my users out the gate and never look back.The bevels should be straight and the DPS should match from the factory. I consider this a QC issue production knife companies need to address if they care about brand image.One should expect a proper knife for their hard earned money..
 
jazub said:
I am not down with off-center blades but all of the talk about evenness of bevels is something I cannot relate to. I sharpen by hand and keep a great useable edge on all of my knives and no knife from any brand has ever been even slightly unworkable. Is the complaint about evenness of bevels a result of the actual usefulness of the knives or, rather, compatibility with aftermarket sharpening systems?
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When one side has a 15º angle and the other side has a 30º angle, it can cause issues when it comes time to sharpen the knife. Most folks don't freehand sharpen (and even fewer do it well/properly) and aren't used to steels that can be harder to sharpen like D2, S90V (which I hear is pretty tough to reprofile without the proper stones), ZDP-189, or even M4, etc. I would argue that the average Benchmade buyer gets a Lansky/Gatco/Smiths sharpening system from their local sporting goods/outdoors store where they bought their Benchmade and will get frustrated very quickly when they can't get their Griptilian with D2 steel they bought at Cabela's/Bass Pro/etc. sharp no matter how hard they think they try because the bevels are uneven and D2 can be a bear to sharpen.

In today's age of modern technology, there is no reason to put the initial bevel on by hand when machines can get perfectly even bevels (and the guys they have sharpening duty can maintain/monitor those machines, so they won't be out of a job). At the very least the company can invest in some kind of jig to help the guys create even bevels.
 
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Yeah, I figured it was an aftermarket sharpening system compatibility issue. If I purchased a system like that, i'd probably feel frustrated, too (those things are pretty expensive). I just didn't know whether people were getting knives with some type of unusable edge I'd never seen. I have never met anybody in person who owns more than freehand sharpening tools or strops -or who doesn't just put their blade to a sander at work, so I disagree that everybody who owns a Benchmade owns a boutique sharpener. But, whatever people are into is cool in my book. A beautiful, clean, perfect edge is nice to have -for cutting into stuff and completely messing up again. :D

As an aside, I wrote above that I'd never received an unworkable edge on any knife. Upon further reflection I take that back. I have received an unusable edge on two Old Hickory butcher knives. There was just a completely blunted blank. One (the smaller) I put an edge on with relentless oil stone sharpening, the other was an 8 or 10" blade that I took to the local chef's cutlery shop for a primary edge. Didn't want to repeat the process on an even longer blade. It was pretty frustrating to have knives with no edge. It would have been cool to have a modern sharpening system at that time. No edge knives are a bummer; I think we can all agree on that. :)
 
jazub said:
Yeah, I figured it was an aftermarket sharpening system compatibility issue. If I purchased a system like that, i'd probably feel frustrated, too (those things are pretty expensive).
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Actually, no they're not, compared to a WE or a EP. They're pretty cheap compared to some high quality Japanese stones, also. They also aren't that great at handling the harder steels, which is what leads to frustration for someone who isn't a sharpening snob (of which I include myself).
 
loonybin said:
Actually, no they're not, compared to a WE or a EP. They're pretty cheap compared to some high quality Japanese stones, also. They also aren't that great at handling the harder steels, which is what leads to frustration for someone who isn't a sharpening snob (of which I include myself).
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Good to know. So it sounds like if somebody has a cheap sharpening system, he can't necessarily expect much from it. Huh. Maybe you should start a thread in Maintenance about it. I would be interested to read more of your thoughts.

Back on the topic of the 940-1, it looks like April is going to be an expensive month if it is released around the same time as the Stryker. Uh oh. Still, good stuff to look forward to. :thumbup:
 
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