Disappointed in recent Benchmade QC

Capt. Spaulding said:
All I know is I ordered my first Griptilian and this is what I got for blade centering. I am less than impressed to say the least. I wrote their customer service 3 days ago and have not heard anything from them.

I am wondering about the clip. Is this normal with the Griptilian? The picture actually makes it look like it is touching more than it really is.

I have $30 Kershaws with far superior fit and finish. For just under 4x the price I expect much more than this.




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First off, I would call them and discuss the issues. I've been fortunate over the years, and have gotten quick responses from e-mails, but others have had slow replies.

The blade centering is a hit and miss deal. Some will come dead centered and others will be slightly off, or even off a lot. The issue of your pocket clip not making contact, is something that has been discussed in the new Ritter M390 thread. Some have noted no contact at all with the scale, some are almost or barely touching, and in the case of my new Ritter Mini Grip, I would rate the clip tension as being as close to perfect as a person could expect.
A word of caution if you should decide to bend your clip to improve tension, another member had his snap when trying to bend it.
 
Called today and its going home for some TLC. I just hope I get it back all fixed and ready to rock.

I put in a clip request for a Contego clip and I also ordered a aftermarket blue anodized titanium low ride clip so I will have some options. One might work better than the other. Only time will tell.
 
zombieassassin said:
It's hard to beat their warranty service and sharpening.
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BM's customer service is great. In all honesty though, I've never needed warranty work, and I do my own sharpening...

Re: QC, I just got my new 556-1 Mini Grip a few days ago, and the QC is great. Just like all of my other BM's have been so far :D
 
The higher the price goes, the more nitpicky I become (seems to start at around $150 or so). I have a 710 and 746 that are slightly off-center. I am sure I can resolve both by simply breaking down and reassembling the knife, but why bother if there is no blade play, blade rub, or poor action.

Benchmade has incredible Customer Service, and it's just a USPS label away and a bit of a wait before it comes back right.
 
Treated myself to the 477 Emissary 3.5 for Christmas. Opened it up today and immediately noticed that the blade was not centered. It is so badly centered that the slightest pressure touches the blade to the handle. After having my trusty 710 for over 10 years, I couldn't believe this. Am I being overly critical by returning it? I just think for a knife at this price there should be no issues with centering...or pretty much anything! Thanks.
 
Benchmade's QC is hit or miss. Period. When you and I bought our 710's this was never a problem let alone an expectation. When we open that (expensive) Christmas present and it isn't right, the best warranty repairs they can do are negated because it should've been right the first time. Send it up to them or bring it back to wherever Santa got it from. There's nothing wrong with your disbelief, it's become the new version of business as usual for many of us. Good luck and Merry Christmas!
 
Thanks. Tried adjusting the pivot, etc. Nothing works. It'll be sent back for sure. All of this has me questioning whether I really want an Axis-assist or not. Also, the blade on the 477 is a bit thinner than I'm used to. Looking at the Rift and the 484 as potential replacements. Merry Christmas!
 
jkarp_53 said:
Benchmade's QC is hit or miss. Period. When you and I bought our 710's this was never a problem let alone an expectation. When we open that (expensive) Christmas present and it isn't right, the best warranty repairs they can do are negated because it should've been right the first time. Send it up to them or bring it back to wherever Santa got it from. There's nothing wrong with your disbelief, it's become the new version of business as usual for many of us. Good luck and Merry Christmas!
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This. 100%.

We all have our levels or tolerance regarding QC, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with having whatever expectation you have in terms of quality and value.

Truth be told, I've returned back countless Benchmades to Amazon due to blade centering. Certain knives are better purchased in person or after contacting the seller. Don't be turned off by Benchmades or their axis lock. They are truly exceptional knives, and when you have a good one, you'll appreciate it all the more.
 
I may be in the minority but all the BM products I have are excellent including th HK14716 I just got for $87. Excellent knife for the price. Blade is centered and the D2 blade is a razor.
 
cncpro11 said:
Could you please provide examples of companies with 99.9997% out the door quality and what their price structure and volume is?

I understand that one-half of one percent (.5%) leaves room for improvement but that is a goal most companies only dream of, especially small, local manufacturing companies.
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Small ( mom and pop, under half million $$ sales) should easily exceed the six sigma, because they have the capacity to have every unit inspected 100% should be the goal here... Six sigma is for higher production, where there simply isn't the ability to inspect every single unit. COmpanies with volumes in the thousands and companies with volumes in the tens of millions use this approach.

I work in product design and manufacturing, and whether its a knife (a very simple product) or a car or computer (complex product) Six sigma process control is used with design parameters and tolerances to ensure that 99.9997% of the product produced is within specification. It is applied to each component in the product and to each sub assembly and finally to the product itself. If they aren't meeting that then its clear that there is a problem with either the process or the design at some point. A large part of my job is troubleshooting these manufacturing/design problems finding the root cause and fixing them before they make it to the customer. This is what is needed here.

And yes .5% failure rate is too high in many many many things. Things we expect to happen or receive on a daily basis, without significant individual expense or thought. Things like water treatment, check clearing, it has large and far reaching impact if you're the recipient of the 0.5%... On 100 knives .5% is good as you'll have one reject in 200, on 10,000 its not so easily swallowed. If a company is willing to accept bad ones, remove them from the sales chain, as a loss so the customer didn't get them would be fine, but if they just send them out, that's not fine and costs the company more in reputation than the $$ figure for the knife.
 
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