- Joined
- Oct 11, 1998
- Messages
- 707
I just received a new 705 Axis, plain blade and satin finish. I have been waiting for a long time for one. I like my 710 a lot and was looking forward to a 3 blade Axis. I feel they have more useful weight to use ratio and are more socially accepted. I got the knife from Bayou Lafourche Knife Works, http://www.knifeworks.com/. The price was right and their service is great. I could have got a 705BT earlier but I dont like coatings. I would put up with the coating for an M2 blade but at least the coating is useful then.
The blade opens smoothly and has no play. Thats the good side. The bevels on the blade edge are as bad as I have ever seen. Quite different uneven from one side to the other. The G-10 scales are rough at the edges and protrude a little past the steel liners on the back side. They do on my 710 too but not are not this rough. I will have to even them off with fine sand paper and or the buffing wheel. I will probably round the corners off scales some too. As far as bevels on blade goes, that is an easy fix. I usually rebevel new knives anyway. Right now the blade is sharp so I will put that off for a few days. Its sharper than the 710 out of the box but that in it self does not say much.
From other reviews I have read, I expected the knife to be thick. It is. Its nearly as thick as the 710. The blade is thinner. I am struck by how thick the washers / spacers are. Not that they are any thicker than the 710 but its more obvious on the 705. The blade closes dead center. In the hand and just looking at the knife it seems small even for a 3 incher. The handle measures 3 11/16. The blade seems small too, even for the handle. Its 2 7/8, but its not that wide, ¾ at its widest. The clip is only slightly smaller than the 710s clip. Due to the 705 being smaller the clip is far more noticeable. I like the relatively small size of the clip on the 710. I removed the clip on the 705. I can see having the clip on the 710 because its bigger than a pocket knife. Not so for the 705. Except for the thickness, the whole thing seems smaller than its dimensions would indicate.
The grip is good and its comfortable but not a good as with the 710 to be sure. I think the thickness helps here. It opens easy. It is effortless to flick it open. The blade does not have the heft to open it by wrist action with the button held back like you can on the 710 but I dont like to open these in that way. It may be a little tighter still than the 710. The thumbs studs are same as on the 710
Well these are initial impressions. The knife will go into daily service and I will have a better feel for it in week or two. It would have been nice if it was thinner but this probably is a compromise that too some extent has to expected to have the Axis lock. Benchmade may have been able to use thinner liners and thinner spacers. The G-10 scales could not be much thinner do the lock springs. Its not as good a design as the 710 but who knows. Some knives I have grown into. Overall, I am impressed. The flaws are correctable with out sending it back to Benchmade.
More later, perhaps.
-roger blake aka "beam" on the forum
The blade opens smoothly and has no play. Thats the good side. The bevels on the blade edge are as bad as I have ever seen. Quite different uneven from one side to the other. The G-10 scales are rough at the edges and protrude a little past the steel liners on the back side. They do on my 710 too but not are not this rough. I will have to even them off with fine sand paper and or the buffing wheel. I will probably round the corners off scales some too. As far as bevels on blade goes, that is an easy fix. I usually rebevel new knives anyway. Right now the blade is sharp so I will put that off for a few days. Its sharper than the 710 out of the box but that in it self does not say much.
From other reviews I have read, I expected the knife to be thick. It is. Its nearly as thick as the 710. The blade is thinner. I am struck by how thick the washers / spacers are. Not that they are any thicker than the 710 but its more obvious on the 705. The blade closes dead center. In the hand and just looking at the knife it seems small even for a 3 incher. The handle measures 3 11/16. The blade seems small too, even for the handle. Its 2 7/8, but its not that wide, ¾ at its widest. The clip is only slightly smaller than the 710s clip. Due to the 705 being smaller the clip is far more noticeable. I like the relatively small size of the clip on the 710. I removed the clip on the 705. I can see having the clip on the 710 because its bigger than a pocket knife. Not so for the 705. Except for the thickness, the whole thing seems smaller than its dimensions would indicate.
The grip is good and its comfortable but not a good as with the 710 to be sure. I think the thickness helps here. It opens easy. It is effortless to flick it open. The blade does not have the heft to open it by wrist action with the button held back like you can on the 710 but I dont like to open these in that way. It may be a little tighter still than the 710. The thumbs studs are same as on the 710
Well these are initial impressions. The knife will go into daily service and I will have a better feel for it in week or two. It would have been nice if it was thinner but this probably is a compromise that too some extent has to expected to have the Axis lock. Benchmade may have been able to use thinner liners and thinner spacers. The G-10 scales could not be much thinner do the lock springs. Its not as good a design as the 710 but who knows. Some knives I have grown into. Overall, I am impressed. The flaws are correctable with out sending it back to Benchmade.
More later, perhaps.
-roger blake aka "beam" on the forum