Initial sharpening from factory edge - help!

G

Golden Goal

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May 15, 2016
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Hi BF,

I received a new a Benchmade 943 with a plain blade from Amazon yesterday and just found a very small imperfection on the cutting edge. I've already spent a good amount of time inspecting and drooling over the knife and it took me over 24 hours to notice:



Sorry for the low-quality image - the nick is pretty much directly above the 4 in the patent number stamped on the blade at the bottom of the photo. It's visible to the naked eye from some angles but quite invisible from most angles, very noticeable to the touch and catches on cloth that touches the blade without enough force to cut. Assuming that normal printer paper is 100 um thick, I'd estimate that the nick is no more than 30 to 50 um in depth from the rest of the edge.

This is my second Benchmade knife (along with a North Fork folder which I've been very pleased with) and while I certainly did not expect to find any manufacturing issues with their products considering the prices, I realize that nobody is perfect and that this seems like a relatively minor flaw. I also recognize that Benchmade may not honor their service warranty in my case because of how I bought the knife. Even before I noticed this, I had planned to sharpen the blade because mirror polishes make me happy :D

Question 1: What stone should I start with? I'm working with DMT coarse, fine and EF stones and 6, 3 and 1 um dia-pastes on leather. Obviously, I want this problem to be fixed and I intend to put a mirror finish on it by the time I'm done, but I don't want to remove any more material than necessary because the bevel and angles all seem be acceptable otherwise, the undamaged parts of the blade are already shaving-sharp, and getting a mirror finish is going to be pretty time-consuming based on my experience with the other S30V blade from Benchmade.

Question 2: Something that I did notice right out of the box is that the moving bar in the axis mechanism has some play along its axis. I can push it back and forth between sides of the knife and see almost half a millimeter of play. Now that I'm investigating, I get the same thing on the North Fork but I don't think I've ever noticed it before. Does anyone know if this is normal or a defect? The lock on the 943 is still pretty hard to disengage from an open, locked position - harder than the North Fork ever was but that cleared up with time and is now buttery smooth so I'm hoping/assuming that the same will hold true with the 943 over time. In any case, lockup on both knives has always been rock-solid.

Question 3 (which doesn't belong in this subforum): Did I shoot myself in the foot when opting to buy a knife from Amazon? It was out of stock at KnifeCenter and it had Prime-eligible shipping from Amazon... I don't know why I didn't check out BladeHQ or something else. Actually, I do know: I'm impatient and impulsive. Oh well. Do these other vendors (KnifeCenter, BladeHQ, etc) count as authorized dealers with respect to warranty service from manufacturers? (I've never seen the need to send any knives in to anyone for service before.)

I apologize if these questions are answered somewhere in a sticky or two somewhere, but I've only visited these forums a few times and find the amount of information available to be slightly overwhelming (in a good way!)

Thanks!
 
I think you are over thinking this a bit. That small nick in the blade is really nothing to worry about or is it a reason to sharpen the edge. If you want to sharpen it because you know you can make the edge sharper then run a full progression of stones. Factory edges are around 120 grit so you will need the Coarse DMT to remove the factory grind and minor edge damage.
 
A Benchmade is a Benchmade regardless of where you bought it . Has nothing to do with their customer service. Personally I agree with Jason that chip is nothing to worry about .

I would at least use it first and get it out with my first sharpening rather than worry about it on a new knife . I have knives with chipped edges bugger than that and they still cut fine , I'll get them out next sharpening .

If you just want to do it just do to do it then more power to you.

Use the knife friend any perceived issues are really non issues . Benchmade has you covered.
 
A little tip though if you do sharpen that out remove the thumbstuds. My 940 is a PITA to sharpen with the thumbstuds in and you can't really get to heel with them on.
 
I have this funny feeling that Mr. Golden Goal is a knife collector that likes every blade to be *exactly* as it should be down to the most perfect bevel he can find/produce/manage. As such, this little chip is not acceptable. This isn't about cutting performance. It's about a collection.

If that's true, I'd agree with Jason's assessment that you start with the DMT C. It's actually nearly the perfect stone for this purpose in fact. It's just coarse enough to remove that chip with probably 10 minutes of slow, careful strokes, checking every few for progress. You'll probably find some other minor imperfections in the bevel at the same time that you can correct. If they are more than minor (big variations in bevel width for example), you'll probably want something more coarse.

Barring finding other issues, the DMT C should handle it quite well. If you want to progress to F, then EF, you'll end up with a hazy bevel that's far more refined than the one in the picture. This hazy bevel will also cut really nicely. It will lack slicing aggression compared to the factory (120 grit) bevel, but should be a nice performer for most everyday tasks.

Good luck with your project.

Brian.
 
Thanks for the help and suggestions!

bgentry said:
I have this funny feeling that Mr. Golden Goal is a knife collector that likes every blade to be *exactly* as it should be down to the most perfect bevel he can find/produce/manage. As such, this little chip is not acceptable. This isn't about cutting performance. It's about a collection.
Click to expand...

I certainly own more knives than I have any real need for and so the objective with a lot of them is just owning and maintaining perfection as absolute as I can muster. In this case though, I want functionality as well as an edge that could double as a compact mirror as I will probably carry this knife more than any other, whether that's for not-quite-everyday-EDC or when I'm camping, and I wouldn't want to be seen in public with a blade that isn't up to snuff ;)
 
For me personally I wouldn't be too upset, especially with a standard factory production model. That said, you certainly do have a new knife warranty from Benchmade and I'm sure they would take care of you if you chose to send it in. That said, I almost immediately sharpen every knife I buy, mainly because I enjoy the "zen" feeling I get from sharpening and because I find that with patience and care I can put a much better edge versus the factory. I have noticed with several Benchmades that they used a shallower angle than the somewhat standard 22 or so degrees. But you could certainly sharpen out that chip with ease. Like others said too, the factory grit is very low. So with some time you could really polish that up and it would look and perform great! And by the way, congrats on your 943...what a great knife! I'm sure it will serve you well!
 
Jason B. said:
I think you are over thinking this a bit. That small nick in the blade is really nothing to worry about or is it a reason to sharpen the edge. If you want to sharpen it because you know you can make the edge sharper then run a full progression of stones. Factory edges are around 120 grit so you will need the Coarse DMT to remove the factory grind and minor edge damage.
Click to expand...
+1
Just use the knife until it is dull then repair that little chip.
 
Regarding your question 2, my benchmades have the same axis bar "play," which I think is normal.
 
I'm a little like the op, I like my edges to be perfect, and even one little chip bugs me. Especially if testing the edge on phone book paper and it snags. But it is a good suggestion to use it a bit first. The edge may just have a minor wire edge, and could come out with a bit of stropping.

If it were mine, and really intended to take the finish to a mirror, I might not start with the most coarse, unless also changing the final bevel angle. That small of a chip will most likely disappear as you are removing the coarse striations of the factory grind with a medium grit.

But I am just spit balling here since I don't have the knife in front of me. Good luck.


________________________________________________________
People Are Strange, When You're a Stranger.
 
One quick note in general about buying from Amazon... They have great customer service, and easy returns within their 30-day return for items fulfilled by them. They provide a UPS shipping label, and all you need to do is drop it off. They immediately acknowledge the return when UPS first receives it. And all you need to do is check off that it is defective online - you don't even need to talk to a human.
 
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