Trusting Benchmade to Get It Right This Time: Lifesharp

Shmackey

Shmackey

Joined
May 5, 2000
Messages
1,478
Well, I don't have the time, equipment, or expertise to fix the uneven and dull grind on my BM 710. One edge is about three times as "wide" as the other--to the point that the latter side barely has an edge at all.
I'm contemplating sending it back to Benchmade for their $5 "lifesharp" policy, but I don't know if I trust them to do it right, considering they didn't do mine right the first time and they have a reputation for this.
Does anyone have any experience with the "lifesharp" policy? How about when your BM arrived dull and poorly ground? And can I request that they re-do it a certain way, e.g., at 30- and 40-degree angles to match a Sharpmaker?
Maybe I should just send the thing to Spyderco...
 
Well, I sent my 705 in because I messed it up. Couldn't get it sharp; seemed to micro-chip rather than sharpen. I also sharpened the point off (newbie at sharpening - I'm feeling much better now).

I sent it in for the Lifesharp service. From the time it left my Post Office until I got it back was one month and one day. However, they reground it so it has a point again. Hard to tell it was ever messed up. The sharpening job is adequate - better than it was when I got it NIB.

Dean
 
I'd go to the Benchmade forum, or E mail the Benchmade support team, or even call them (Angie in the warranty department is great!), and see what they can do for you. I agree, they need to work on their sharpening procedures. My new 720 just arrived yesterday, and it is uneven, but very sharp. I will reprofile it with my DMT stones when it becomes dull. I would suggest picking up a DMT coarse stone, and a cheap knife, and practice on it till you are comfy with getting the angle you want, then maintain with what you are using now.
Good luck.

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"ALWAYS respond CODE 3"..
THE fastest way to get there NOW!
 
I've got the same knife and same problem. It's supposed to be a double grinded edge, yet I can barely see the edge on one side!

Don't bother sending it back to Benchmade. I mean what's the point? They'll just let the same incompetents sharpen the knife.

I recently made the same statement about BM's knives at the Knife Testing forum, and "Chang" stated that's the way BM makes their knives.

Well, I find that unacceptable in lieu of the prices they charge for their knives. When you pay for a premium item at premium prices -- be it a Porsche, an Armani suit, or a knife -- you expect premium quality.

I've had cheap Victorinox Swiss Army knives with a better edge than my BM 710. It's too bad too, since the rest of the knife is so good. But regardless of ATS-34 steel, G-10 handles, and new-fangled lock, what good is it if it can't even cut?

I'd sooner look in the Yellow Pages and find a good, professional knifesmith to re-sharpen my BM, than send it back to the company.
 
I hate to say it but I had the same experience with my 710. What the hell are these people doing? as this is a wonderfully concepted knife but poor blade execution. What is so amazng is that much less expensive knives come with much better grinds, maybe they should job it out.
 
I sent an M2 AFCK to them with the request that they make it as sharp as possible. I must say they did a very good job of putting an edge on it, it is simply the sharpest BM I have come across so far. I think it might be worth the $5.00 investment.

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James Segura
San Francisco, CA
 
I sure wish Benchmade would get with the program and fix this quality control problem. One difficulty is their decision to grind very wide angle for the edge bevels. This obviously makes the edge tougher, but is a poor cutter. I received my 710 as a gift from my brother. I probably would have never bought one otherwise. I like the blade shape, handle, and especially the axis lock. I just spent the time to fix what I found to be a very poor edge geometry. It took me a couple of hours to get it the way I like.

In your other thread, you were told by many folks exactly how to fix the problem yourself. There is simply too much time involved doing it by hand for anyone to want to do it for a reasonable price.

So take it to a knife sharpening shop (yellow pages) and tell them Exactly what you want done to the edge bevels.

Or, send it back to Benchmade with a notation about regrinding the edge bevels at a more acute angle. They may not want to do this. I dunno. Try emailing the customer service department and ask. They may even simply exchange you knife for one made a little better. But it will still have what many of us find to be ridiculously blunt edge bevels.

Good luck!
 
I'm a fellow member of the dull 710 club
frown.gif
its even, but ground to thick, I'm going to send it in to get reground. I have sent my AFCK back before and they did a good job. I'm a little concerned now after seeing alot of posts on what seems to be a hit or miss job on Benchmades part. Remember the joke about getting a car that was made on tue. wed., or thur.( workers are to hungover on mon. and to excited about the weekend on fri.) maybe its still like that at Benchmade?
 
IMHO, Lifesharp service at Benchmade is a joke. I sent my poorly ground 710 back because the factory edge was uneven, too thick right down to the shoulder, and it came back a little sharper, but the edge was a long way from satisfactory. Later sold the 710 for $60 and was glad to get it . . . the buyer was also pleased and we discussed the edge problem in detail up front. He was able to redo the edge with diamond stones using a Lansky system and get a satisfactory edge, but I would certainly never pay Benchmade to sharpen a knife for me. Won't ever buy another one either . . .
eek.gif


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ralph
 
Paracelsus said, "So take it to a knife sharpening shop (yellow pages) and tell them Exactly what you want done to the edge bevels."

Will do. I was concerned about taking it to just anyone b/c of the blade shape; I don't want it to return as a non-recurve... But a pro should be able to handle it.
For the record, I think the 710 is a top-notch knife with "10" marks in every other category. It's just a shame that a company would overlook this problem to the point of getting such a reputation. While Italian sports cars are fun and fast but notoriously unreliable, giving them character, knives that show up dull are just annoying.
 
I had no idea that this was a common problem until I read this thread...
The same thing was wrong with mine but I really did not think much of it. I took my Lansky diamonds to it and got the edge pretty thinly ground, much sharper than before. It's still uneven... one side has more "sharpening grind" to it than the other, but it is better than before and is much sharper.

Orion
 
I've owned probably 80% of BM's manual opening line; from the Brend 2, Panther, Tsunami days right up to the current Axis Locks, and back in the olden days, they made a badd-arse knife. Right around the time of the Stryker did things over there go to crap. I haven't had one BM knife come to me with an adequate edge. The blame usually falls on the "the knives are handsharpened by workers who have sharpened thousands of knives..." Well, they better keep practicing, and not releasing the inferior blades into teh marketplace.

--dan
 
Well, it looks like I got lucky with my 705. The bevels are definitely uneven -- the guy/gal doing the sharpening seems to have run a little wide at the curve on one side -- but it appears that for once they erred on the side of grinding thinner than 40 degrees inclusive. Definitely nice and sharp.

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Dave

Let no one ever from henceforth say one word in any way countenancing war. It is dangerous even to speak of how here and there the individual may gain some hardship of soul by it. For war is hell, and those who institute it are criminals. Siegfried Loraine Sassoon
 
I echo the fact that Angie in CS is great. She did a job on an M2 AFCK for me that was wonderful.

With that said, how does BM get away with charging what they do and have such poor quality control? A: Because we let them.

Why does a <$50 Buck 110 have great fit, finish and quality while a $100+ BM has to go to Angie to be made right? Why do you have to wait a month and spend $5 (plus shipping) to have a NEW knife be properly shrpened?

Two tenths of a second after Angie leaves BM, I will sell that AFCK. It is my lone BM. I have had three, but the other two were garbage from a QC standpoint. I really like the AFCK design and wanted M2. Did I mention that Angie did a great job!

[This message has been edited by Nimrod (edited 08-05-2000).]
 
I'll still continue to buy Benchmade knives, despite the sharpening problem. They are high quality knives, bar none, IMHO. However, we BM owners need top complain to someone high up at BM. I think Les DeAsis would be the best place to send e mail to, or even calling him. Maybe if enough of us complain, they'll do something about the way they sharpen the blades. It is the ONLY flaw that I have seen come out of Benchmade.
Les DeAsis' e mail is
ldeasis@benchmade.com
Let's ALL e mail him, and see what he'll do for us unhappy BM owners.

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"ALWAYS respond CODE 3"..
THE fastest way to get there NOW!

[This message has been edited by CODE 3 (edited 08-05-2000).]

[This message has been edited by CODE 3 (edited 08-05-2000).]
 
My email has gone out. Its contents, for those who don't have the time to compose but would like to voice their discontent:

Dear Mr. DeAsis,

I recently bought a Benchmade 710 Axis plain-edge knife. I find the engineering and materials to be first-rate and I think you have a blueprint for the future of knives.
However, the cutting edge on my new knife was astoundingly bad. The edge grind was dramatically uneven and, to put it mildly, the knife is dull. Thanks to some recent conversations, it has come to my attention that this edge problem is not a one-time error--quite the opposite, it would seem. Please see the following website for evidence of the widespread nature of the problem: http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum54/HTML/002209.html
I am interested in buying a number of other Benchmade knives, including the 722, 740, and Stryker. Until I hear that Benchmade has properly addressed their sharpening problem--which I assume to be temporary in nature, as BM is a high-quality knife company--I will certainly hold off on my purchases.

Sincerely,

Greg Feldman
feldmang@hotmail.com
 
Nice job Schmackey.

I can't imagine that Les doesn't know about this problem... but you took the right approach and didn't get nasty, and indicated you'd buy more after they fix their problem.

If I were Les de Asis, I'd be having a serious performance discussion with a supervisor or foreman, and doing some training and incentive work in the QC loop with the sharpening people (i.e., every knife that doesn't pass QC, then this happens to you and your salary/bonus),
and be thinking about some kind of mechanical apparatus / jig for these guys.

Sometimes managers incent people or pressure them for the wrong things... like "you gotta sharpen 400 a day or else...", when what they want is something different than 200 done right and 200 wrong.

Bad basic GRINDS are a problem. I would suggest that if a knife had everything else going right but the final edge, I'd get diamond stones and reprofile it myself. (and I eat my own cooking here).

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rdangerer@home.com
 
Full Tang Clan, Chang says that BM consistently sharpens their knives with the same sort of polishing of the edge and poor cutting performance on most things. Chang did not mean to imply that Benchmade purposely grinds their edges off center. Misunderstanding.
smile.gif
Of course, they often do this, but the side of the overgrinding varies from knife to knife and so it is obviously a problem with inconsistency, which would be a QC error. The sharpness type is not a QC error however, just a preference of their company. The edge grinding errors are however QC. If that makes any sense. It is rather hard to describe.

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Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus
 
Interesting. I posted in a similar manner over on the balisong forum with not nearly as much of a response. Thanks for the insights.
smile.gif

I do agree that QC at BM could use quite a refurbishing.


[This message has been edited by Kwaiken56 (edited 08-05-2000).]
 
Sorry for the misquotation Chang!
smile.gif


Thanks for the clarification.

May I add that I am only slagging Benchmade because their knives are otherwise so good that it's a shame that a thing like poor sharpening downgrades their product.

I think someone to send this thread to BM.
 
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