Newbie Question Benchmade 940

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Dave22387

Joined
Dec 8, 2020
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15
Hey everyone,

I am an avid firearms guy and a veteran. I have always been really into firearms but never had the blade bug. I've carried a knife every day since I was little and use them pretty hard. Well, I finally handled a quality knife and now I get it. Couldn't stop staring at the thing and playing with the action. So fast forward to now and I ordered my first three "quality" knives to start my collection. A Spyderco PM2, Benchmade 940, and 550 Grip. I am still waiting on the grip but have received the PM2 and Osborne. The Spyderco came crazy sharp out of the box. Passes the shave test, paper test etc. The 940 on the other hand doesn't. Straight out of the box it will grab my fingernail but doesn't shave and half the time will tug the paper rather than slice through. I understand the difference in blade design but is this normal for a brand new Benchmade to not be razor-sharp from the factory? Am I missing something being that I am so new to knives? Thanks in advance for the answers and all of the OG jabs I am probably about to receive.
 
Many new knives don't have an incredibly sharp edge, it's not unusual at all. I don't know if all of Spyderco's knives are sharpened the same way but they use sharpening robots and generally come with pretty good edges.
 
Benchmade has a history of quality control issues. They've been better about it recently but they still have some pretty rough knives slip through the cracks. All you need to do is touch it up on your preferred sharpener and it will glide through paper and shave arm hair easily
 
Some brands are better than others with out-of-the-box sharpness. Spyderco is usually pretty good, and Cold Steel is known to have unusually sharp blades out of the box even on its cheaper models. Benchmade is hit-or-miss.
 
Knives are sharpened with different angles for different reasons. Shaving and cutting paper are tests I like to do but at another angle, the blade might hold a “working edge” longer.

I had the same issue with my Benchmade Barrage in S30v. I sharpened it so many times that I just gave up when I couldn’t get it to pass quickly through newspaper.

I found a basic plastic angle training wedge and decided to try again. It brought the blade to the sharpness I wanted and now the blade is one of my favorites.
 
I have had several 940's over the years and have never had a super sharp one out of the box. Honestly, I've never had a super sharp one period. I love everything about the 940 but have never been able to hang on to one due to the obtuse blade geometry. I'm a mediocre sharpener at best and was never able to get a hair popping eget on the 940. I have realized that I only seem to hang on to knives that have thin stock, high or hollow grinds and are thin behind the edge. In summary, you are not alone Dave22387. You will learn your likes and dislikes as you try new things. The good news is that with a Gold Membership, you should not have much of a problem selling your 940 if you so choose. Great first three knives though!
 
The edge is more obtuse on the 940 (usually about 25 degrees per side) than the PM2 (usually about 17). The PM2 is also a bit thinner just being the edge bevel. That's mainly a consequence of a tall full flat grind over a relatively short saber grind like on the 940.

Quality control aside, it's partially due to the geometry of the designs. You can still get a 940 razor sharp, though.
 
If it’s any consolation, Benchmade will sharpen your knife @ no cost. Might be worth a phone call to them. Sorry that you were a victim of their spotty QC.
 
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I have one of each of those as well. Good picks.
I usually put my own edge on a new knife anyway, so a less than perfect edge isn't a big deal to me. A bad heat treat on the other hand... (Cough, cough, crkt, cough, cough)
 
Like most have stated, a lot of knives can be hit or miss on factory sharpness. I've had great luck on all the benchmades and spydercos i've come across with factory edges. I recently got a LT wright fixed blade that was surprisingly dull (especially with their reputation of factory edges). If you're new to sharpening I think the work sharp precision edge is a great value and it does a really nice job giving you a shaving edge with minimal effort.

The 940 is awesome and I think you will appreciate it if you are one to use your knives a little on the rough side.
 
Sagandavis said:
Like most have stated, a lot of knives can be hit or miss on factory sharpness. I've had great luck on all the benchmades and spydercos i've come across with factory edges. I recently got a LT wright fixed blade that was surprisingly dull (especially with their reputation of factory edges). If you're new to sharpening I think the work sharp precision edge is a great value and it does a really nice job giving you a shaving edge with minimal effort.

The 940 is awesome and I think you will appreciate it if you are one to use your knives a little on the rough side.
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Yes I really love it already. The action is incredible.
 
Sagandavis said:
Like most have stated, a lot of knives can be hit or miss on factory sharpness. I've had great luck on all the benchmades and spydercos i've come across with factory edges. I recently got a LT wright fixed blade that was surprisingly dull (especially with their reputation of factory edges). If you're new to sharpening I think the work sharp precision edge is a great value and it does a really nice job giving you a shaving edge with minimal effort.

The 940 is awesome and I think you will appreciate it if you are one to use your knives a little on the rough side.
Click to expand...
I bought a wet stone and am trying to learn so yes I’m fairly new. I’ll check out what you recommended. Thanks!
 
Yeah.......my Benchmade knives usually have a rough grind edge....... althought they do cut OK for my purposes. Have cut myself on a BM knife so .......
 
Welcome to the club! I think once you start messing with sharpening, you'll quickly find that factory edges just don't cut it (pun fully intended).

It's like with firearms, you're gonna start obsessing over the little things that you can control. It's like lapping a bolt face to the receiver or getting the seating depth of bullet right and even down to the freakin' neck tension on the casing.

You're gonna end up reprofiling everything to 17 degrees per side (DPS). Then be like, "That's not low enough of an edge angle." Go to 10 DPS. See how fat the bevel is and think, "Edge thickness too much." Then have someone regrind the knives so they're all about 0.007" behind the edge (BTE). Then go, "Well, production S30V can't handle this low of BTE." Finally, you'll just end up buying a bunch of CPM 3V, CPM 4V, CPM M4, some Maxamet, some Vanax, and a bunch of other steels and repeat that process all over. Have fun!

What kind of whetstone did you get? For some of the more modern steels like the ones that are used in your PM2, 940 and 550, it's highly recommended to get some diamond stones. Makes the job way easier and faster than natural stone. Plus, you'll get a better result as the diamonds can actually cut the fancy schmancy carbides within that makes modern steels so awesome.
 
My Benchmades have all come with a sharp working edge but my Spydercos have come with a very sharp edge. The Cold Steel knives I've purchased recently have an extremely sharp edge.

For EDC use, they all get the job done! But there sure is something very satisfying about opening a letter with a knife that's so sharp it just glides through the paper almost effortlessly.

Sounds like you're hooked. I bet you'll be giving them all an edge like that soon!
 
I highly recommend learning to sharpen on a MUCH cheaper knife. dull up an el-cheapo and it up and put an edge on it a few times... then try your hand at your 940.
 
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