*UPDATED WITH PICS* Benchmade 710 M390 Problems...

I don't know about that 60deg angle thing, not even as 60deg inclusive. My 710 came with a blade angle of 15 deg per side.

I can't see anything wrong with the knife in the pictures.
 
I think you people are treating the OP like a bunch of douche bags
Granted the picture the OP posted is useless , but if even half of what the OP is describing is in fact true , he got every reason to be pissed , especially after the lousy service he received when he sent the knife
I mean , I love Benchmade , they are probably my favorite knives, but the OP concerns are legitimate

Benchmade service is usually very good , but they definitely screwed up on this one
 
And OP - next time you order online and get a shitty knife , don't use it , don't sharpen it , don't play with it
Once you get a knife , give it a decent , quick inspection , and if it look like a POS , it's exactly that
Just put the POS back in the box , and send it back directly to the dealer

This is true for all brands , at any price range , but especially for Benchmades , as their quality is very inconsistent this days
 
Benchmade's quality is very inconsistent nowadays.
Click to expand...

Ain't that the truth. For the price they want for their knives they should all be in most excellent shape upon leaving the factory. The excuse of 'maybe someone was having a bad day' just doesnt cut it , not when there are two other wonderful, production knife companies whose products rarely leave the factory with more issues than a + $100 knife should have.

If I were the OP, I would be bummed as hell too. Soon enough I will post my own recent experience with one of Benchmade's more expensive knives , that was less than pleasant , that is until I fixed it myself.

Back on topic. I hope your issues are resolved with a quickness as they should be.

Tostig
 
Sulaco said:
Well, I had asked them to add the barrel spacers and send me an extra clip or two, they didn't do either. I also asked them to please make certain the blade was perfectly centered. It's not. And I asked them to remove the little bit of vertical blade play. They did. Mostly. But I can still move it. It came back absolutely swimming in oil so I'll have to take it apart and clean it.

And instead of replacing the blade, they just ground down another millimeter or two and re-profiled it. Compared to my also re-profiled D2 (which I did myself at 30º), they were a bit more judicious with metal removal than I would have liked.

I suppose it's as good as it's going to get unfortunately. But I'd advise anyone who actually expects getting their money's worth to either personally inspect a Benchmade before purchasing it, or buy it second-hand and know what you are getting. I won't be buying another new one for the foreseeable future because of this experience.
Click to expand...


So I'm a little curious. In this thread you posted yesterday, the day after the above post, you asked about where to get barrel spacers because you want to replace the back spacer on your 710. From your new post yesterday it doesn't really seem like you knew Benchmade would replace the back spacer with barrel spacers which makes your complaining that they didn't switch them out a little suspect. Just seems strange but maybe I'm missing something. I would also like to see some high resolution pictures of the problem areas you mention. I have had wonderful service from Benchmade, much better than almost every company (not just knives) including Spyderco. As I said before people can have a bad day but it just doesn't sound like Benchmade's warranty department.

And just so you know you don't have to disassemble the knife to remove excess oil. Compressed air would blow the excess out, even just a can of compressed air made for electronics. If you don't have that some liquid dish soap worked into the pivot and a q tip to reach the rest of the knife, and then the whole thing flushed with hot water will remove 99.9% of the oil in your knife. It will get it clean enough that you will need to add some lube if you use it. I don't even use lube on worn in knives anymore because they are smooth if adjusted right and most attract dirt and require more frequent cleanings.

I have close to 30 Benchmade knives sitting new in the box that are part of my collection and are in addition to my half dozen users I carry often. The majority of them are hair popping sharp with a few that take a little more effort to shave. I don't think there are any that won't shave at all. I also haven't found anything that I would call a problem. They have even grinds and centered blades. There are a few that are slightly off center but nothing bad. I don't know what angle the edge is ground at but some like my Rifts came close to 30 deg and are quite thin behind the bevel. They give most Spyderco a run and are great cutters. Anyways, I just want to point out that there are a lot of great Benchmade knives that are being made and not all of them have problems like so many people would have you believe. I haven't returned the first Benchmade but I have returned multiple Spydercos for exchange. I'm pretty picky about my knives and haven't had the problems everyone talks about. Anyways, I'm done rambling....
 
Really does such.. ive owned PLENTY of BM knives... and never had a problem with 1.... so maybe just a freak-thing!
 
shunsui said:
60 degrees ? !! :eek:
Click to expand...

Yes, mine dejavoo came with something around 50-60 degrees inclusive. Thanks to heat treat and s30v I reprofile it within 30 minutes on dmt, but not sure about recurve on 710 how much time it can take on "another sharpening system". 3 years old 551S was with the same flaw.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
So I'm a little curious. In this thread you posted yesterday, the day after the above post, you asked about where to get barrel spacers because you want to replace the back spacer on your 710. From your new post yesterday it doesn't really seem like you knew Benchmade would replace the back spacer with barrel spacers which makes your complaining that they didn't switch them out a little suspect. Just seems strange but maybe I'm missing something. I would also like to see some high resolution pictures of the problem areas you mention. I have had wonderful service from Benchmade, much better than almost every company (not just knives) including Spyderco. As I said before people can have a bad day but it just doesn't sound like Benchmade's warranty department.

And just so you know you don't have to disassemble the knife to remove excess oil. Compressed air would blow the excess out, even just a can of compressed air made for electronics. If you don't have that some liquid dish soap worked into the pivot and a q tip to reach the rest of the knife, and then the whole thing flushed with hot water will remove 99.9% of the oil in your knife. It will get it clean enough that you will need to add some lube if you use it. I don't even use lube on worn in knives anymore because they are smooth if adjusted right and most attract dirt and require more frequent cleanings.

I have close to 30 Benchmade knives sitting new in the box that are part of my collection and are in addition to my half dozen users I carry often. The majority of them are hair popping sharp with a few that take a little more effort to shave. I don't think there are any that won't shave at all. I also haven't found anything that I would call a problem. They have even grinds and centered blades. There are a few that are slightly off center but nothing bad. I don't know what angle the edge is ground at but some like my Rifts came close to 30 deg and are quite thin behind the bevel. They give most Spyderco a run and are great cutters. Anyways, I just want to point out that there are a lot of great Benchmade knives that are being made and not all of them have problems like so many people would have you believe. I haven't returned the first Benchmade but I have returned multiple Spydercos for exchange. I'm pretty picky about my knives and haven't had the problems everyone talks about. Anyways, I'm done rambling....
Click to expand...

In that other thread, I was asking about a SPECIFIC type of barrel spacer, the one used on the custom or "Gold Class" knives which were similar to the Kulgera style. I am fully aware of the standard style which Bm seems to have been willing to use on some 710's. Also, I'd much rather pay for the parts than for return shipping to have them do it, when they didn't do it when I asked! I own more than one 710, by the way.

Also, if you've ever taken a 710 apart, you'll know that there are recesses in the G-10 where the Omega spring rides. It was these recesses where the oil was "swimming". There's no way compressed air or dish soap would have gotten it all out. I am telling you, it was an insanely high amount. So much so, that the outside of the scales had oil on them when I took it out of the box.

I appreciate that you haven't had any problems with over 30 Benchmade knives. Unfortunately, I have.
 
Here's a picture comparing the end of the bevel, at the handle (what I call the plunge, or choil area of the blade) of my M390 and my D2. I re-profiled the D2 (it came with a 50 degree or more obtuse bevel) to 30 degrees on both sides. Benchmade re-profiled the M390 to an even less obtuse angle than 30 degrees when I sent it back. It also had an initial factory bevel of more than 50 degrees.



Here's a close-up of the same area on the M390 showing how most of the void between the bevel and the handle has been removed in re-profiling.



And here's a picture of the same area on my personally re-profiled D2.



I measured the difference and it's almost exactly 3 millimeters difference.

So to recap, I sent the M390 back to have the grinds cleaned up (the obtuse angled bevel was not the problem, it was the wavy grind lines that were the problem, as well as it seeming overly easy to remove metal, making me think there may have been a HT problem) and this is how they sent it back, with a full 3 millimeters ground away to create the new profile. Again, this is a BRAND NEW, never used, right out of the box knife.
 
Last edited:
Sulaco there's no doubt that Benchmade sure made a toothpick out of your M390 blade! :eek:

I've read this whole thread yesterday but forgot if you asked them to reprofile it or not. I wouldn't want that skinny little blade on a 710 myself, they're already slim enough.

Regardless of your backspacer issues, I'd contact them and talk to them about your blade issue again. I'm not sure if the special steel blade falls under the $25 replacement rules but that blade would aggravate me every time I looked at it. I'd buy one if I had to (for $25).

Do the sharpening/re-profiling yourself in the future. That sucks!
 
Last edited:
cziv said:
Sulaco there's no doubt that Benchmade sure made a toothpick out of your M390 blade! :eek:

I've read this whole thread yesterday but forgot if you asked them to reprofile it or not. I wouldn't want that skinny little blade on a 710 myself, they're already slim enough.

Regardless of your backspacer issues, I'd contact them and talk to them about your blade issue again. I'm not sure if the special steel blade falls under the $25 replacement rules but that blade would aggravate me every time I looked at it. I'd buy one if I had to (for $25).

Do the sharpening/re-profiling yourself in the future. That sucks!
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's a learning process I guess. I've now learned to really scrutinize all new knives to make sure they are right and if not, to send them back to the vendor. And also, to make sure and specify that if I do send something back to BM, to not touch the bevels!
 
When I read that last night it seemed off, but I was feeling like crap and on a bunch of pain killers so who knows. I would still do what I said in my earlier post. Maybe even print the above pictures and circle the area around the plunge.

I have bought a lot of knives and there are quite a few areas that can be messed up that you will learn to look at if you buy enough production knives. I have bought knives that came with the edge worse than yours. One was a sprint run Spyderco and I was told there was nothing that could be done. I think you will have better luck with Benchmade getting things sorted out if you give them the chance to make things right. Good luck.
 
Dang, man. They really ground the hell out of that blade to re-profile it! Are you or have contacted Benchmade again? You outta show them the pics!
 
Yes, I am working with them now. And yes, I sent them the pics so they know the deal. I am considering this issue now resolved. Needless to say, Benchmade is making good on their reputation as having some of the best customer service in the knife industry. They are taking very good care of me.
 
I've heard about more issues with the M390 710 over any other version.
I dont get it.
 
jeepin said:
I've heard about more issues with the M390 710 over any other version.
I dont get it.
Click to expand...

Weren't there a bunch of issues with the M390 TSEKs? Also, there were rumors that the M390 AFCKs have been delayed because of problems (but I don't know how true that is).
 
Sulaco said:
Yes, I am working with them now. And yes, I sent them the pics so they know the deal. I am considering this issue now resolved. Needless to say, Benchmade is making good on their reputation as having some of the best customer service in the knife industry. They are taking very good care of me.
Click to expand...

Good to hear!
 
kreole said:
Weren't there a bunch of issues with the M390 TSEKs? Also, there were rumors that the M390 AFCKs have been delayed because of problems (but I don't know how true that is).
Click to expand...

Add the M4 710s and the M4 RSK Mk1s to the list of poorly manufactured limited editions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top