Is it just me, or Benchmade knives come from factory almost dull ?

Most of mine have come fairly sharp, a few not so much. Notably a 760 that I got. But then again it's not a big deal to me, there's rarely a factory edge from anyone that is just the way I want it. If it's not as sharp as normal that means it just needs a couple more minutes on the EdgePro.
 
It bothers me when I get a brand new dull knife.Knives are only designed to do one thing...cut stuff.
Benchmade & Queen Cutlery are notorious for this.I think it's a lousy business practice.
Sure I can sharpen it up fairly quick,but WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO SHARPEN A BRAND NEW KNIFE?I should be able to take it out of the box & use it right away.

With that said,one of the sharpest OOTB knives I ever got was a BM710D2.Every other BM I got was as dull as a butter knife.

Every Spydie,Kershaw,Buck & Emerson(especially Emerson!:eek:) had a good,honed edge on it.

This has been going on for years with Benchmade.Somebody should really bring it to their attention.They make good knives.Why send them out dull?
 
I hate it when I get a new knife and go to sharpen it [Sharpmaker].... only to find out that I'm only sharpening one side of the knife because one of the bevels is ground more than 20 degrees on one side.

So then I have to remove more steel than I should on my belt sander to thin out the obtuse bevel. This could be corrected if they left the factory with acceptable edge.

A few minutes on the stones is no problem as long as the bevels are set correctly.
 
I don't mind knives with no edge at all when they come. Getting into the obscure kitchen knife area there are many knives that come and the edge needs to even have initial bevel cut in as the knife is a blank slate leaving complete freedom to make your edge.

benchmade is pretty much inline with most of the other big production companies from my experience as to pocket knives.
 
Nope, many benchmades later and no problem. Only folder I ever received dull was a Spyderco, and they made it right.
 
I certainly understand where you're coming from. You do expect things to be a certain way when you spend the kind of money you spend on a knife. And I know a lot of us are spoiled by Spyderco's edges, so even a decently sharp knife seems like a dull one compared to Spyderco's.

Sometimes I think I have too harsh of a view on people who complain about a new knife being dull because I'm passionate about sharpening knives. For me, the end result being a wickedly sharp knife isn't even the most important thing. I just love the act of sharpening. So I almost look forward to a knife showing up that won't split the very fabric of space and time right out of the box.

I recently got my first Queen and I knew going into the purchase that their edges are sometimes nonexistent. It's taken me about a month (D2 is some hard stuff) to get it sharp, and it is scary sharp now, but it's been a very rewarding process and I look forward to many more Queens partly because the lacking edge lets me do whatever I want (and they're VERY nice knives).
 
I own more BM knives than any other brand. However, about half of the BMs that I have bought in the last year or two have been dull out of the box. The other half were only so so sharp.

In my recent experience, BM quality control is slipping in general, making me reluctant to purchase BM knives sight unseen. Also, BM has not answered a single email message that I've sent them, so I am not favorably impressed by their customer service. Poor quality control and poor customer service often go hand in hand.
 
Its just you. Seriously though, I've never gotten a dull Benchmade. 710, 806D2, 805, Pika II, BM42, and Griptillian were all shaving sharp. The Pika II and 805 would split hair held between my fingers and shave above the skin. The bevels on all of them had to be lowered to fit the 20 degree slots on the Sharpmaker. Of course so did all the Kershaws, Byrds, and half the Spydercos (2 Delicas, 1 lowered, 1 ok). One of my Kershaws came with an edge more obtuse than any quality folder I've owned, between 25 and 30 degrees per side. Same story with my Buck, Old Timer, and Parker Cutlery slip joints. It's no secret that I'm a Benchmade fan, but bevel angles are all over the place for most manufacturers, not just them.
 
gwlee said:
I own more BM knives than any other brand. However, about half of the BMs that I have bought in the last year or two have been dull out of the box. The other half were only so so sharp.

In my recent experience, BM quality control is slipping in general, making me reluctant to purchase BM knives sight unseen. Also, BM has not answered a single email message that I've sent them, so I am not favorably impressed by their customer service. Poor quality control and poor customer service often go hand in hand.
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Agreed! I have yet to see a Benchmade shaving sharp out of the box. Like somebody else said Spyderco has gotten me spoiled. I've said this over and over but a $30 something knife (Tenacious) should not be sharpened 100 times better than a $125 knife (BM 940)

As for the emails I have the same experience. I've sent several and NO replies. I thought it was just me. An email I sent to Spyderco last weekend was answered by 9:00am on Monday. As much as I like BM and the Axis lock I'm going to be giving them less of my business.
 
I had few BM "not very sharp" out of box , few without tread locker on pivot pin , but I am not buying BM any more , kinda got spoiled with Spyderco and CRK
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my favorite knife right now.
 
chipdouglas said:
I'm also comparing price point. For the same money in say ZT, you get a heck of a knife as opposed to most BM, but then they're different types of knives so I'm not sure this analogy is relevant.

For those who have ZT knives, how sharp do they come out of the box ?
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I have a 0301. It's sharp enough and I've had Benchmade's that were just as sharp.

BM's are more likely to suffer from off center blades, loose pivots, and uneven grinds. Any ZT getting problems with that will probably end up as a blem.

My fullsize Benchmade Rukus came with a loose pivot/off center blade and dented the edge against a backspacer when I closed it.
 
My 520 came with a well ground edge, no flat spots or uneven grinds, but the angle was really obtuse and had a really coarse scratch pattern. Definitely not on par with Kershaw or Spyderco in my mind, but still respectable.

Sharp enough to shave hair off the arm I'd say, but that's really not a stringent test, imho.
 
Relying on a factory edge for your judgement of sharpness is not really a good idea. Factory edges being sharp is also a hit or miss game, out of the hundreds or maybe thousands of knives I have seen in my life only a few were what I would call sharp.

When you learn enough about sharpening and knives in general you begin to look at factory edges as a grinding process you didn't have to start and sometimes you even wish the factory never even touched it.
 
I feel like BM edges are a total crapshoot. I've had maybe 1 or 2 blades that were razor sharp, a couple more that just cut paper, and even a few others that were about as dull as a butter knife. That being said, thanks to me theyre all razor or hair poping sharp now so the initial condition didnt bother me too much.
 
Generally my Benchmades (USA made) have been pretty sharp out of the box. As for the overseas stuff, I don't really have much experience with them.
 
Hmm - my only BM is a Chinese Nagara, and it came absolutely blisteringly sharp. I have a 755 on order and hopefully that will come reasonably sharp.
 
I just got my 1st Nagara a couple of days ago and it would cut a box open I suppose, but it wasn't hair shaving sharp. The steel on it was easy to work with though, 10 passes on all of the SharpMaker Rods at 40 degrees and it shaves now.

I've been trying to reprofile a BM710 D2 to 30 degrees for several days with very limited sucess. Today I spent 3 hours on it (about my 4th session) and it's starting to treetop cut some hairs.

On both the 710 D2 and my 940 S30V the blade's grind or geometry was off.

Using a Sharpmaker - one side of the blade shows a wide grind developing at 15* and the other hardly any difference from the factory edge.

Looks kind of strange. This tells me that one side of the blade is not profiled evenly with the other, from the factory.
 
gwlee said:
about half of the BMs that I have bought in the last year or two have been dull out of the box. In my recent experience, BM quality control is slipping
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Sad to hear. Years back I enjoyed selling Griptilians and watching customers check the edge by running it across their thumb or across their palm. I took quite a few to the security office to get patched up.:p

I never did get around to asking these people why they saw into their hands to check for sharpness, and did they test bowie knives the same way?:confused:

"Hey Cleetus, it's sharp, I got arterial spray !"
"Good job Jim-bob !":thumbup:
 
Funny you mention that gak,

The 1st Benchmade I ever got was a Griptilian, still new, though older stock.

I recall being fascinated by the way an Axis lock worked. I held it up looking at the blade and pulled back on the lugs. The weight of that thin Pardue blade falling, was enough to open my finger to what felt like the bone!

I cussed and squeezed that finger (a bloody mess) all the way to the bathroom. I couldn't do anything with it for about 5 minutes until the pressure finally got it to stop bleeding long enough to wrap it in a couble of bandages.

That murderous little Grip is still in my collection. I have no complaints on that one's sharpness! :eek:
 
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