Recent Benchmade Quality?

GKM said:
I generally love my Benchmades. Looking back, I had an old 3500 from 10 years ago where the scales didn't line up. It wasn't simply a loosen / re-tighten deal. I sent it back and they fixed it (I'm not sure how), but it was good to go when they returned it. So, Benchmade made it right.

Yesterday I just received my CF Proper (318-2). It is absolutely perfect, EXCEPT one screw is not totally black. It's more of a worn black/copper color. I don't want to return it, but thought I'd just ask Benchmade for about screw. I doubt they'll send one though and require me to send in the knife for warranty. I'll probably just live with the discolored screw.

Other than that, things have been good.
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they’ve sent he out full sets of body screws for both my 320 & 890, no questions asked.

give them a call, i’m sure they’ll take care of you.
 
Benchmade will send you out the screw, but you'll almost certainly receive a whole screw kit. I'm pretty sure they have screw sets already bagged, so it will be easier than sending you a solitary screw.

My last Benchmade's were a 575 and 417 I bought early 2019. The only issue was the 417 pivot screw was not thread locked.
 
I wouldnt call their QC "bad" exactly, but definitely sub par. Ive never had a bad knife from them, but i have had a bunch of average ones. Its just ridiculous that the american made knives with the added (butterfly) tax cant be as perfect as the other american made companies, or even the cheap chinese companies. I've rarely seen a bad review or QC complaint from Kizer or Civivi knives.

I dont know if Benchmade has become just big enough to not care about these issues, or if they genuinely plan on ignoring them forever. It doesnt seem extremely common, but you definitely hear about more Benchmade issues that most other companies of similar size.
 
I`ve bought around 10+ BMs last couple years. Most are OK.

Contego has been problematic in terms of action/play, also snapped the spring in just a year of light use (although im kinda glad it had - made me learn creating my own omegas).

Mini Loco limited in micarta acts strange - when wet it becomes stupidly tight. Probably a design flaw rather than quality issue.

Had myself a north fork for the new year and it came with completely uneven & uncentered tip grind, had to send it back and got myself a 556-1 which is great.

Some knives came without locktite.

So yeah, the issues are certainly there still. With those price tags..
 
Dtuluu said:
I`ve bought around 10+ BMs last couple years. Most are OK.

Contego has been problematic in terms of action/play, also snapped the spring in just a year of light use (although im kinda glad it had - made me learn creating my own omegas).

Mini Loco limited in micarta acts strange - when wet it becomes stupidly tight. Probably a design flaw rather than quality issue.

Had myself a north fork for the new year and it came with completely uneven & uncentered tip grind, had to send it back and got myself a 556-1 which is great.

Some knives came without locktite.

So yeah, the issues are certainly there still. With those price tags..
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That is concerning. Benchmade has become complacent and that butterfly tax should be going towards hiring an employee check every knife that leaves the factory. I am sure you could get Benchmade to send you an extra omega spring.
 
Thanks for all the replies keep em coming! I will try to keep this thread near the top because I want to give people as large a sample size as possible so they can be better informed about Benchmade QC
 
Brooks2 said:
I am sure you could get Benchmade to send you an extra omega spring.
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From what I've read over the years, benchmade does not send out internal parts. Perhaps this has changed but I doubt it.

Brooks2 said:
Thanks for all the replies keep em coming! I will try to keep this thread near the top because I want to give people as large a sample size as possible so they can be better informed about Benchmade QC
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Responses here in no way will ever represent an accurate sample in the discussion of benchmade qc for many reasons. It's fun to discuss but to take this as any sort of serious quantitative data is not correct.
 
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As a person who usually orders only LE benchmades' online since Mapp, I get them to check the centering before they ship it out.There is obviously no problems at all and all is rosy smelling.

On the other, if you're purchasing your next BM from a brick and mortar store as I have done recently the opposite is true. Where quality control issue can be a night and day.
 
Out of the few Benchmade knives I bought last year only one, model 490, is close to hitting the scale. The rest are really close to center.
 
While I admit to not having a single BM there are only a few select models that really interest me however when I hear about their QC issues that some people have many of them are issues that just should not be making it past any type of QC.
 
I got my North Fork today, the blade centering was poor- way off to one side. The blade pivot was also over tightened so rather than that the drop shut action that we expect from the axis lock, it took a bit of flick to close. But I fixed the pivot so it now functions as expected. The date stamp on the box is 5/19. Also how did you contact Benchmade when you got the pocket clip, did you call or email?
 
I have always emailed them & have never had a problem. Others will tell you Benchmade never reply to their emails and you will need to call them instead.
 
Whitedog said:
Over the years I have had a lot of Benchmade knives. Never had a bad one yet. Nothing I could not adjust and no really bad grinds.

There will always be those who will piss and moan about every little thing, Key Board Experts!
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This "keyboard expert" has posted numerous pictures of bad Benchmade stuff. By saying "nothing I could not adjust" you've essentially admitted that their QC is flawed and all it took was minor adjustment (that they didn't do) to correct a problem.
 
Cypress said:
This "keyboard expert" has posted numerous pictures of bad Benchmade stuff. By saying "nothing I could not adjust" you've essentially admitted that their QC is flawed and all it took was minor adjustment (that they didn't do) to correct a problem.
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I didn't say I fixed the blade alignment, I only adjusted the tightness of the pivot. The blade is still way out of alignment. I will probably post photos today of the knife.
 
Brooks2 said:
I didn't say I fixed the blade alignment, I only adjusted the tightness of the pivot. The blade is still way out of alignment. I will probably post photos today of the knife.
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He's not talking to you. Notice who he is quoting.
 
Brooks2 said:
I got my North Fork today, the blade centering was poor- way off to one side. The blade pivot was also over tightened so rather than that the drop shut action that we expect from the axis lock, it took a bit of flick to close. But I fixed the pivot so it now functions as expected. The date stamp on the box is 5/19. Also how did you contact Benchmade when you got the pocket clip, did you call or email?
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I've emailed and gotten clips several times. I believe there are clear instructions on the website.
 
How loose does everyone keep the pivot on their axis lock? Do you keep them drop shut loose, or just loose enough to flick them open? I am wondering if the reason for all my horizontal blade play is that I have my pivot loose enough that my knife can fall shut by the force of gravity.
 
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