Dull Benchmade?

Well, I must be experiencing cognitive dissonance or something, because I just checked eight new Benchmades (six of them Grips) and every knife was hair popping sharp with the factory edge. So, I am not doubting anyone, but dull Benchies are not part of my experience. :confused:
 
My Dejavoo also came with an extremely bad edge on it, had to be reprofiled first...very dissapointing I think if you compare it with how sharp their knives used to be.
 
Looking back, my BMs that came sharp were a 760, 710, 635, 630, 615, 426, & 425. Those that needed a 'touch up' were the 610 & 420. These were all, except the 630 - which was an evil-bay b-i-n, bought new this year at a local B&M pusher. I knew the 610 & 420 were slightly off, but bought them anyway because they were the last ones - and that Sharpmaker had instilled a proper amount of confidence within me. Two years ago, I bought a 201 from a mail order supplier - it's dull D2 was nearly a career to re-edge. Six plus years ago, my 551 came - from that same B&M - as the dullest new knife I had ever purchased new - it's 440C edge would prove to eventually be my greatest challenge. So, two very dull, two needed a touch up, and seven were sharp - out of the box. I have bought more Kershaws - and many more Bucks - with only one that wasn't an armhair shaver. That was the first Buck 850 Bravo I bought my son last year - it's single edged Besh wedge blade in CPM154 was crooked and drug on the liner. The replacement from the mail order store was a shaver. That's one Buck I won't own.

So, dull Benchmades make it out the door - if you doubt this, check it out on the Benchmade forum. They are still worth it - great knives - I have the empty bank account to prove it. You can always send it in for sharpening - or get out the Sharpmaker!

Stainz

PS BTW, while you can clean up a slightly dulled Buck 110 of 420HC with twenty or so swipes per stage, D2 or 440C or even S30V will take 100+ swipes. Be sure to clean the ceramic triangle files several times during a premium metal blade re-edge. Maybe buy some Alieve - and a wrist brace, too...
 
Send it back! Cry! It's a travesty!
If it's a user, it's going to be sharpened anyway... don't worry about it.
And... maybe it's the traditionalist in me, but I vastly prefer whatever reprofiled/sharpened edge I put on myself over how any knives come from the factory. So...... they could come completely unsharpened and it would be all the same to me. In fact, I think knives should come without a usable edge from the factory. It would make my end of the job easier, and just might teach some people how to properly maintain their tools.

</snarky>
 
3 Benchmade knives... 2 Skirmish 630 and a H&K Snody 16205. My first Skirmish was dull... Cuts ok as a user but I'm used to the level of sharpness that Spydercos and Kershaws comes with; shaving sharp. I can sharpen but on a new knife I expect them to come razor sharp; it's details like this that has me going back to Spydercos and Kershaws again and again. Still... I think Benchmade makes very fine knives, aesthetics wise and of course the Axis lock. They just have to work on these details a bit more.
 
This is one of the reasons I no longer buy Benchmades, was really into them in the 80's and 90's. Every Buck and Kershaw I've bought of late have been very sharp out of the box. Spyderco's a little less so.

Buck's mostly 110's and Kershaw (Tyrade G10, OD-1, Skyline, Blurs). With Spyderco, my Endura's have all been sharp, as well as the Military, Native and Tenacious. I got one Delica that was sharp and one that wasn't.

Vinny
 
I have owned 3 Benchmades:
921 Switchback was very sharp with nice thin edge.

930 Kulgera had a very obtuse edge and was not very sharp - would not cut paper cleanly. The edge angle was quite a bit over 20 degrees per side - probably closer to 30. Edge was thinned by myself and then Vivi did a good job on it. Now it is still a fairly thick edge due to the grind but the edge angle is probably 15 degrees per side or less and it cuts well and is easy to sharpen.

The other was a mini Dark Star that I think was new-in-box when I bought it from someone on the Benchmade forum - it also had a very thick obtuse edge and was not very sharp, like the Kulgera. A lot of re-beveling and the knife cuts great!

So I'm not really sure what to expect from Benchmade, but that is my experience.
 
Had a bunch, and had good luck. Apparently there are spells where some of them get out with crappy edges, though, since there have been occasional(and sometimes frequent) complaints about them as long as I've been on Bladeforums. I assume they're sharpened by hand, and it depends on who's doing the sharpening.
Has nothing to do with the quality of the knife, and not something I'd worry over. I've had disappointing edges from lots of manufacturers(even Spyderco, and CRK), while a 710HS had the sharpest out-of-the-box edge I've ever seen, and was never able to duplicate on that knife. It was thicker than I wanted, and was almost immediately reprofiled, anyway:rolleyes:
 
vba,

How many Benchmades did you have in the "80's"? The company wasn't founded until 1988 - and they were pretty scarce those first years. Interestingly, they did change their reference to their 'fine cutlery' to 'just' knives from '04 catalogs to the current '09. I have to admit, 'cutlery' sounded too hotty totty to me... I'm a plain kind of person that likes 'knives'. Yeah, they are keepers - trying new materials, like M4 tool steel (760BK LTi), and well engineered designs keeps them fresh. Still, if Buck, Kershaw, & Spyderco can deliver sharp knives... why not Benchmade?

For the benefit of Puukoman, I enjoy personalizing my S&W revolvers... but they worked 'right out of the box' - I think knives should come sharp - just as handguns should work right out of the box. Just my opinion.

Stainz
 
IF THEY'RE DULL, SEND THEM THEM BACK!

I have bought over 20 Benchmades and have received 2 that I can remember that were sharpened unevenly. I enjoy sharpening, so this isn't a negative for me :). I have sent in about 6 Benchmades for warrenty work (most due to heavy use, never had a Benchmade failure yet). They always come back with perfect edges. I believe the lifesharp program gets special attention above and beyond the standard sharpening job.

I hear a lot of people complain about poor QC with many brands, but I don't think they stop to think about the processes that it takes to manufacture a product. If you want inspection on every part, be prepared to pay a 10 to 20 percent premium on the product. I design in-line inspection equipment and see first hand the time and money investment it takes to inspect the size and location of a hole. A $100,000 Porche only gets 2 hours of active testing/inspection, and they are near the top in quality control. The price you are willing to pay dictates how perfect of a product you receive.
 
Stainz said:
For the benefit of Puukoman, I enjoy personalizing my S&W revolvers... but they worked 'right out of the box' - I think knives should come sharp - just as handguns should work right out of the box. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...
Point taken.
 
I have never experienced a dull Benchmade out of the box, Never. but I have only been through about 5 of them.
 
Everyone has a bad day now and then. With just about every brand, a dull knife occasionally gets through. However, things are much better than they used to be! In the '70's, just about every knife needed to be sahrpened before use.
 
Stainz, point well taken. My times must be off, must be the 90's. Time all runs together for me sometimes and my memory isn't what it used to be.

Anyway, I own(ed) two Benchmade Panthers (401's ?), several AFCK's (mini and full size), a Monarch (501?), a couple of Elishewitz (pretty titanium handles), a Pardue and Emersons (CQC7). There were others but I forget. The problem is I sold them all except for the two Panthers, as I got big into guns. Therfore, I don't know the model numbers of the above mentioned collaborations.

They were all great knives though and when I really got back into blades and handled some Benchmades recently, they just didn't do it for me like the earlier models.

Anyway, I apologize for the confusion.

Vinny
 
I've been lucky with the three I have. So sharp out of the box it almost redefined what sharp is, compared to the knives I use at work every day.
 
My latest 556 Mini Grip was dull also. Must have been a batch of poorly sharpened blades. Unacceptable.:mad:
 
I have close to 400 BMs in my collection, so I guess you can call me a fanboy. Out of those about a dozen or so came to me dull. Not completely, but dull enough not to slice copy paper effortlessly. And some of those came to me from secondary market.
 
Have owned two BM's, a 710 and a 690. Currently just the latter, the 710 was too big for my needs - but I'll tell you; you could split not just molecules but atoms with them. Now both purchases were a while ago, so perhaps QC is slipping a bit.
 
I've got nothing but shaving sharp blades from BM, some edges coarser, some finer.

I reprofile pretty much everything, a dull knife would just mean a few more minutes of work.
 
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