Disappointed in Benchmade M4 edge retention

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rocketfistmooga

Joined
Oct 7, 2024
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I have a benchmade freak in m4 and I am really disappointed in the edge retention. I opened a few bags of black mulch yesterday (about 10) and the edge came out dull and rolled in a spot. All it was cutting through was plastic and running against wood mulch. Very surprised how much it degraded after such a simple task. Anyone else have an issue. Possible that I got a soft batch of steel?
 
Unless you got a counterfeit, Benchmade M4 is great stuff. Maybe the edge is a bit burned or had a burr. I would sharpen it up and try again.
 
There's a good chance there was a burr on the edge if it was brand new. I've purchased over a dozen Benchmades and almost all of them had mangled edges. Uneven bevels, recurves on what is supposed to be a flat part, and burs so huge you can snap it off with your fingertips. Reprofiled each and every single one of them, at least the ones I didn't outright RMA. Last time I purchased four 940s, special runs for knifeworks too, three of which were unusable, from mangled edges to failure to lock-up. Gas station knives have better quality control than Benchmade, swore never to buy anything from them again. Wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy.
 
Mulch? That stuff can dull knife edges in no time. This summer I laid about 400 bags of mulch in my yard. First I used my ESEE 6 and it got dull by slicing open only several bags. I then switched to my S35VN Cold Steel Recon 1 tanto. It was better but I still needed to sharpen it three times before I was able to finish all the work.
 
sharp_edge said:
Mulch? That stuff can dull knife edges in no time. This summer I laid about 400 bags of mulch in my yard. First I used my ESEE 6 and it got dull by slicing open only several bags. I then switched to my S35VN Cold Steel Recon 1 tanto. It was better but I still needed to sharpen it three times before I was able to finish all the work.
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Yikes, that's ten times my max of 40 bags. That's all that fit in my truck at the time.
 
DMG said:
Unless you got a counterfeit, Benchmade M4 is great stuff.
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Good counterfeit models of the SF are in high circulation. I got one from a top seller on the big river site when I didn’t know any better.
 
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Kryme said:
There's a good chance there was a burr on the edge if it was brand new. I've purchased over a dozen Benchmades and almost all of them had mangled edges. Uneven bevels, recurves on what is supposed to be a flat part, and burs so huge you can snap it off with your fingertips. Reprofiled each and every single one of them, at least the ones I didn't outright RMA. Last time I purchased four 940s, special runs for knifeworks too, three of which were unusable, from mangled edges to failure to lock-up. Gas station knives have better quality control than Benchmade, swore never to buy anything from them again. Wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy.
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20 degree edge on work sharp precision adjust. Started hair popping sharp
 
sharp_edge said:
Mulch? That stuff can dull knife edges in no time. This summer I laid about 400 bags of mulch in my yard. First I used my ESEE 6 and it got dull by slicing open only several bags. I then switched to my S35VN Cold Steel Recon 1 tanto. It was better but I still needed to sharpen it three times before I was able to finish all the work.
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This gives me a little hope. The more I think about it the more realize all the contaminants in those mulch bags I could have been running the knife across.
 
rocketfistmooga said:
20 degree edge on work sharp precision adjust. Started hair popping sharp
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I assume this is per side, which makes this odd. Then again mulch is mostly just nutritious (for plants) soil, which is abrasive. I've put Spyderco's M4 through a lot including cement bags, PVC door frames, and drywall with very little damage.

Burned edge is one other possibility, I've had it happen with a ZT and Manix 2, it took 3-4 sharpenings before it started performing as they should.

Whenever I'm faced with odd behavior like that, I always assume it's my own skill issue, especially if it's a steel I've never sharpened before. I first make sure I didn't botch the sharpening, I use a KME to set the bevels, but while that removes the human error in keeping the edge consistent, removing the burr can be a bit tricky. Even the tiniest burr can take the apex with it when it rolls/snaps. Resharpening onto the finest abrasive (usually 800 or 1500) and focusing on even passes on each side, then stropping.

Ofc it could also be a botched heat treat. These are mass produced knives, treated in large batches and sh*t happens, even with the best of 'em.
 
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