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Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
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Feed back on the 710 axis lock?
- Thread starter bcurran3
- Start date
I have a 710 plain edge ATS-34. The lock is really great and the overall feel of the knife is one of very very high quality. No blade wobble and the entire knive seems rock solid.
HOWEVER: When I first bought it, via the internet, the edge simply was not sharp. I had to spend a decent amount of time sharpening it and now it is great. I was very annoyed however that it wasn't sharp to begin with.
HOWEVER: When I first bought it, via the internet, the edge simply was not sharp. I had to spend a decent amount of time sharpening it and now it is great. I was very annoyed however that it wasn't sharp to begin with.
My first Axis lock was my 710S, in satin-finished ATS-34. IMO it's one of the best-designed knives out there. Mine came out of the box razor-sharp and the fit and finish close to perfection. So far it's still my favorite of the Axis line, and I've gotten others since, although I am VERY curious about the 550.
Jim
Jim
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2000
- Messages
- 3,625
misque you have great taste! Now I know another who has a pre-prod model!
Whats to bet most of them went to Formites?
Whats to bet most of them went to Formites?
- Joined
- May 26, 2000
- Messages
- 1,922
I'm with Schmackey on this. Especially if you add "under $120 street price". I think the Microtech LCC is pretty damned fine for a production knife also.
I have qty=3 710's. Two of them had a sort of flat spot on the tang that kind of lightly hung up near the closed position when closing hte knife. It wasn't quite worth sending back to me, since I smoothed them out with sandpaper and polished up the tangs. With that in mind, and some good lube, they are indeed very smooth.
James Y
My recently-acquired 550 has the smoothest action of any of the Axis locks I own. It is a gem! The 440C steel is also a step up for BM, especially for this price point.
The handles of the 550 are injection-molded, so do not have the "feel" we have been used to, but, for the price, the knife is remarkable.
My recently-acquired 550 has the smoothest action of any of the Axis locks I own. It is a gem! The 440C steel is also a step up for BM, especially for this price point.
The handles of the 550 are injection-molded, so do not have the "feel" we have been used to, but, for the price, the knife is remarkable.
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2001
- Messages
- 1,639
What's the trick?
Mike
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2001
- Messages
- 1,639
What's the deal with the alum handles? Was the a KotM?
Mike
Mike
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2001
- Messages
- 1,639
Personally, I'm more drawn to the BM705. The 710 just looks too big to me.
If they offered the BM705 in M2, with alum handles, I'd order one right now!
Mike
If they offered the BM705 in M2, with alum handles, I'd order one right now!
Mike
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2000
- Messages
- 4,492
I would love an M2 version with the aluminum handles 
As is, it is a tough decision on whether to opt for the aluminum handles or the M2. Does anyone know where I can find a pic of an aluminum handled version and who carries them? I guess I could follow Steve's lead and simply buy them both and switch the blades out.
As is, it is a tough decision on whether to opt for the aluminum handles or the M2. Does anyone know where I can find a pic of an aluminum handled version and who carries them? I guess I could follow Steve's lead and simply buy them both and switch the blades out.
I just got a 710. Was never attracted to one prior because the pictures in the catalogs never did the knife justice. In person, I was immediately sold. I can't figure how they got a sharp edge with a such a shallow bevel. Blade started out centered but is now leaning over a little. I can't stop playing with it. New to knives, now I have:
2 Spyderco Natives, 1 serrated
1 BM Acent
1 Emerson CQC-7 wave
Love them all
2 Spyderco Natives, 1 serrated
1 BM Acent
1 Emerson CQC-7 wave
Love them all
- Joined
- Sep 8, 1999
- Messages
- 460
Mike,
There are several ways that I accomplish this.
One way is to reverse sharpen my 710. By this, I mean I place the very tip of the knife on the top of the Sharpmaker stone and then push the knife down the stone so that when I am finished with the sharpening stroke the start of the blade is as close as it can get to the stone. When I use the flat side of the Sharpmaker stone's I use a normal sharpening stroke and go very very slowly and carefully when I get to the tip. I haven't used this method in about a year.
Some times if I have to really do a lot of work on my 710 I will use the Sharpmaker to sharpen most of the blade. I don't even try to sharpen the last inch or so. Then I put one of my bench stones on the Sharpmaker standing on end so that the stone of the Sharpmaker supports it. Then I sharpen the end of my 710. I find that this is a very easy way to quickly sharpen the tip of my 710.
One thing that I have been experimenting with lately is using only my bench stones to sharpen my 710. I start sharpening the recurve portion of the 710 using the edge of my bench stone and as I slice down the length of the stone I rotate the knife so that I finish my slice on the flat portion of the stone. If you are going to try and do this I recommend that you practice with another knife first and that you rough up the edge of your bench stone first. I am finding that this is the way to go. I can use my bench stones (8 inch coarse and fine) to very quickly restore the edge.
I also strop my knives on an old belt using some metal polish rouge and Flitz.
I hope that this has made sense to you. Please E-mail me or post here if you have any questions.
Shawn
- Joined
- May 5, 2000
- Messages
- 1,478
You can get the 710 tip needle-sharp if you approach it as its own job. That is, sharpen the knife as you normally would, and then just work on the tip.
I posted recently about using the right kind of sandpaper and the right technique to turn your Sharpmaker into an agressive cutter. It's very doable.
I posted recently about using the right kind of sandpaper and the right technique to turn your Sharpmaker into an agressive cutter. It's very doable.
- Joined
- Oct 3, 1998
- Messages
- 4,842
It's late in the thread, but I'll agree with teh above sentiments. The 710 is a tour de force, the best production 4"-bladed utililty folder out there bar none. The ergonomics are secure and astoundingly comfortable even in extended hard uses. The blade shape is useful across a broad range of applications and performs superbly, and is especially impressive in slicing jobs due to the recurve.
The only complaint I might have is that the older versions of the 710 came with edges that were IMO unacceptably obtuse -- something like 25 degrees per side. I spent at least an hour re-profiling mine. As you can read in my "How to make the Benchmade Axis perform" article, by re-sharpening my axis I got a 700% performance increase for slicing hard rope -- no exaggeration. I tried this against a newer production axis at our last bay area get-together, and straight from Benchmade the new 710 performed much better than mine had. At most, my hand-tuned 710 doubled the performance of the factory-sharpened 710, which means they've improved a ton.
Joe
The only complaint I might have is that the older versions of the 710 came with edges that were IMO unacceptably obtuse -- something like 25 degrees per side. I spent at least an hour re-profiling mine. As you can read in my "How to make the Benchmade Axis perform" article, by re-sharpening my axis I got a 700% performance increase for slicing hard rope -- no exaggeration. I tried this against a newer production axis at our last bay area get-together, and straight from Benchmade the new 710 performed much better than mine had. At most, my hand-tuned 710 doubled the performance of the factory-sharpened 710, which means they've improved a ton.
Joe
- Joined
- Sep 8, 1999
- Messages
- 460
Joe,
I agree with you about the obtuse bevels. I spent much more then an hour reprofiling mine. All I had at the time that would handle the recurve was the Sharpmaker. But once I got it where I wanted it it's the Energizer Bunny of folding knives.
Shawn
I agree with you about the obtuse bevels. I spent much more then an hour reprofiling mine. All I had at the time that would handle the recurve was the Sharpmaker. But once I got it where I wanted it it's the Energizer Bunny of folding knives.
Shawn
