First Benchmade. Have a question

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Bnjf

Joined
Jan 1, 2015
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Hey guys first post! So I bought my first Benchmade being a mini griptilian locally. I love the knife and it works great. When got it home though, I noticed some terrible casting marks or moulding marks on the butt end of the handles. Like two very defined circles. The color is sand so they really stick out. I know this knife is usually good for being an edc but I'm not, it's to be part of a collection that I've started. So I wanted to ask you all if this is normal? I'm assuming there may be some degree of these marks on the knives but these sort of bother me as they really stick out. For over a hundred bucks, I could have done without this. I may call Benchmade and see what they say.
 
Can you post some pictures, or links to pictures?

It doesnt sound normal, but seeing it would certainly help.
 
Same here...I can't picture this without seeing pictures. I've never seen what you're describing.
 
Yes, pictures will help. You can take them with your phone then go to imgur.com to upload them. Then you can link them here.
 
That looks like a casting flaw which shouldn't have left the factory. If you can return your knife to the local store mentioned, ask to see if they have another. If they do make sure you can see the knife before leaving.
 
Bnjf said:
Here is the link if I did it right.
http://imgur.com/PQKxOzG
Click to expand...

Yep, you did it right. You can also use the "insert image" option and the picture's URL to embed it in the thread, like so:

PQKxOzG.jpg


Anyways, I've handled... 6, 7 different Grips maybe? I'm pretty sure all of them have those marks. I no longer have any but my father still has his custom one, I'll check later tonight if I've got a chance to swing by their house.
 
Ahh, now I see what you are saying.

My Ritter griptilian has those same markings, although not quite as pronounced. I would imagine it's just a slight defect from the casting process.
 
My full sized Grip has similar marks in the exact same place. Just not as pronounced and because of the Black color of the handle harder to see.

I'm guessing there marks made during the molding process where a cut or separation is made.

I'm also guessing their probably normal for this model. We'll see as more people who actually own one and can take a quick look for you chine in.
 
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I've been using Mini Grips since they first came out, and have never noticed anything like yours, so I went and checked all of mine.. They range in production from very early to very recent manufacturing.

I have two very early production 440C steel Minis.
Two Ritter Minis, one S30V and one M390.
One from the custom build that is approximately two years old.
One GP exclusive Mini with CPM-M4.

I really had to look to find anything, but upon very close scrutiny, they all have a very slight indentation that resembles a pin hole that doesn't go all the way through. That is as bad as it gets on the ones I have. I would not be happy with the one you bought. Granted it doesn't affect the function of the knife, but it looks very tacky, and looks like it totally missed QC before going out the door. Either that or BM has lowered its QC standards, which I hope is not the case
 
I have two small marks in the same place on my newest M390 Ritter. I never bothered to look that closely.
Between this and the "Axis clicking" thread, some folks are treating a tool like jewelry or something.
Griptilians are "users" so a minor mark or click seems irrelevant to me.
 
billym said:
I have two small marks in the same place on my newest M390 Ritter. I never bothered to look that closely.
Between this and the "Axis clicking" thread, some folks are treating a tool like jewelry or something.
Griptilians are "users" so a minor mark or click seems irrelevant to me.
Click to expand...

I for one have become less tolerant of QC issues since BM changed their pricing structure. I don't look at the clicking as a fault though, I look at it as part of the design.
For those of us that have used BM knives for quite a few years, we still remember when the QC was not an issue. The blades were always sharp, and centered, and a person really had to look to find fault with their knives...

IMNSHO, if things like this become the norm, and are accepted, they will continue to push the envelope on quality, until there is resistance from buyers...
 
My two Grippies have similar indentations. If they were $500 safe queens, that might be a problem. But they're users, so, no problem. You could sand them down.
 
Well, so far they all seem to have some mark of sorts in that spot. What I'm getting from some posts here is if it's small that's ok, but if it's more pronounced then it's a serious lapse in QC?

My take is it's variance in production, due to it being a production knife. Nothing more nothing less.

Too bad the BM mod or company rep can't chime in and amplify on the issue.
 
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