The 555 M4 G10

J

jpm2

Joined
Nov 19, 2014
Messages
2,177
It arrived from the custom shop today. Solid lockup, zero blade play, blade swings closed when unlocked, blade centered good, grinds look good.

Factory sharpening was better than expected, ready to use right out of the box. First use was zip open an envelope, pop a couple zip ties, and make some hickory shavings for smoking meat. The sharpening angles were surpisingly close to my natural free hand angles, around 30 degrees inclusive.

I like the continuous slight curved edge, reminds me of another brand I've become fond of.

I've been mostly using a 556-1303 at work the last few years and really like it, except for the thumb studs. I'm very glad to have the hole back.

The M4 just holds up better than most anything else I've used, and I've tried a lot of different steels in the last 3 years.

I chose the vertical g10 pattern because it seems to me will provide the most traction. Kind of rough on the pocket but very secure while clipped.

This might finally be the one to exclusively replace my 812hs after 15 years of carry.

Some pictures.

IMG_4583en.jpg


IMG_4587en.jpg


IMG_4589en.jpg


IMG_4592en.jpg


IMG_4594en.jpg


IMG_4596en.jpg
 
Awesome custom! I'd copy much of what you did with my own(save for a few changes). Really glad to hear they got it to you in near perfect condition.
 
What a beauty! It seems the custom knives get just a little more stinkeye than the regular production stuff. My custom came sharper than any knife I've ever purchased.
 
I think that answers the question of whether or not Benchmade is falling behind, the options they are offering now are just staggering. I didn't realize they'd expanded the range by that much. Its info I kinda wish I didn't have. Although it does mean I now have options if I want a mini-grip, if I'm going to pay through the nose for one here in austalia, it may as well be a custom.
 
I think M4 would be a perfect blade steel on a sheeps mini. Holds such a nice edge at a steep grind angle. It's a Bastid to sharpen and that's when the life-sharp program comes in. I think I could have it sharpened once every year or two and be good to go.

The new custom shop widget/app deal on BM's website has taken up more time than I care to admit. I think I had a few similar designs mocked up at one point but with black, blue, and orange color combinations in the scales. Orange and that baby blue were my alma-mater colors and black and orange were my high school team colors.
 
Nice knife! I love my thumb hole version in 20CV, too! Even more so with DoaT custom scales. :D
 
bikerector said:
I think M4 would be a perfect blade steel on a sheeps mini. Holds such a nice edge at a steep grind angle. It's a Bastid to sharpen .......
Click to expand...

Agree its a great steel! I plan to find out about the steep angle (just put a 15DPS edge on my 810 M4 blade last night). I am not sure why you say it's a bastid to sharpen. I am a relative novice with sharpening, using the Sharpmaker exclusively. I got a nearly mirror polish on the M4 and it is hair splitting sharp. Took me about an hour to profile and sharpen it. Not arguing with you, but just thought I'd throw out a comment about a different experience in case someone comes along and decides to stay away from the M4 steel based on it being hella-difficult to sharpen. I have M4 by several makers and its my favorite because it stays sharp for a looong time, and I can personally achieve a great edge.
 
TRfromMT said:
I am not sure why you say it's a bastid to sharpen. I am a relative novice with sharpening, using the Sharpmaker exclusively. I got a nearly mirror polish on the M4 and it is hair splitting sharp. Took me about an hour to profile and sharpen it. Not arguing with you, but just thought I'd throw out a comment about a different experience in case someone comes along and decides to stay away from the M4 steel based on it being hella-difficult to sharpen.
Click to expand...

My experience has been that it takes a long time to sharpen compared to other steels. If it's already relatively sharp it's not bad to touch up. Compared to other steels that take minutes to sharpen from a dull edge to great working edge on diamond stones, M4 will take 30-60 minutes. I figure it's 2-3x the amount of strokes for the same amount of work. Of course, it's a lot harder to get a dull edge with M4. I haven't had any chip yet but I'm not looking forward to it if/when it happens.

Most of my experience with M4 has been CPM-M4 from custom makers and fixed blades and it's been HT'ed to a high hardness. I visibly wore a SiC "very rough" stone getting a 90 degree spine on my fixed blade and it took a long time. I could have filed a choil on a standard carbon steel or stainless in that amount of time and effort with that stone. It was easier to file in a choil on buck's 154cm than that CPM-M4 by a fair margin, both of about the same thickness. The same thing that makes CPM M4 a great steel in use is also what makes it more time consuming to sharpen.

Sorry to get off the topic of the OP's knife (hopefully not too far off topic).
 
Alright I'm sold. I've been looking to get an M4 mini grip and this makes it look worth the price tag. My dream is for a custom 940 but the mini grip is a great knife too.
 
I think I should mention that many of the custom steel options (although not all) for the sheep's foot have a saber grind versus the 154 version's hollow grind.
 
Scott321 said:
I think I should mention that many of the custom steel options (although not all) for the sheep's foot have a saber grind versus the 154 version's hollow grind.
Click to expand...

That's unfortunate. Just like the 585 Custom comes with the standard 585 blade shape, not the improved 586 blade geometry.
 
Yes, it's saber grind. Blade stock thickness is 0.1".
This knife is a little tank, and feel like it's going to make a great all around working blade, just what I've been after.

Also note, the G10 handle is a little thinner than the nylon, and has no sharp edges on it that need knocking down. :thumbsup:
 
jpm2 said:
It arrived from the custom shop today. Solid lockup, zero blade play, blade swings closed when unlocked, blade centered good, grinds look good.

Factory sharpening was better than expected, ready to use right out of the box. First use was zip open an envelope, pop a couple zip ties, and make some hickory shavings for smoking meat. The sharpening angles were surpisingly close to my natural free hand angles, around 30 degrees inclusive.

I like the continuous slight curved edge, reminds me of another brand I've become fond of.

I've been mostly using a 556-1303 at work the last few years and really like it, except for the thumb studs. I'm very glad to have the hole back.

The M4 just holds up better than most anything else I've used, and I've tried a lot of different steels in the last 3 years.

I chose the vertical g10 pattern because it seems to me will provide the most traction. Kind of rough on the pocket but very secure while clipped.

This might finally be the one to exclusively replace my 812hs after 15 years of carry.

Some pictures.

IMG_4583en.jpg


IMG_4587en.jpg


IMG_4589en.jpg


IMG_4592en.jpg


IMG_4594en.jpg


IMG_4596en.jpg
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top