What Type of Stainless Liners

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kniveslikethese

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Oct 11, 2021
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Hello all, I called Benchmade to ask what kind of steel the liners are made of and the person I spoke with told me that were stainless. But when I asked what the specific steel was, she said that information was proprietary. Searching the forums, I saw RevDevil mention 420j2, Professor mention 420, and harris2 mention 420j. Does anyone how I can find the steel used in the liner of specific knives? Thank you for the information.
 
I don't have an answer for you... but I would think it reasonable that they would use the same steel (Or titanium) in all of their knives.
If they maintain that it's proprietary: that's all the help you'll get from them.
Good luck in your search!
 
Hi Bob, it makes sense that they would use the same steel in all of the liners. I'm wondering how those other users figured out 420 steels were used. Thanks for your reply.
 
kniveslikethese said:
Hi Bob, it makes sense that they would use the same steel in all of the liners. I'm wondering how those other users figured out 420 steels were used. Thanks for your reply.
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Careful sleuthing...
Since they didn't offer up their methodology at the time of their post: I guess you could try sending them a message...
 

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KenHash said:
Any of the 420s are commonly used for liners. I seriously doubt whatever steel BM is using for liners is "proprietary".
Sounds more to me like "i have no F idea"...LOL
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I agree. That's bullcrap from the BM lady. The OP is not asking how the liners are made but what steel they are made of. It's just like asking what steel the 940-1 blade is made of and BM tells you "nah, ain't telling ya cuz it is proprietary."
 
I know some dealer sites mention that the liners in certain product descriptions are 420J, like the Griptilian. Older descriptions said 410, so maybe they changed at some point.
 
Delta-v said:
I know some dealer sites mention that the liners in certain product descriptions are 420J, like the Griptilian. Older descriptions said 410, so maybe they changed at some point.
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Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I did see 410 mentioned in a description for the 710, and it may be safe to assume they are all 420j. But this is a simple question, and I was surprised I couldn't easily get an answer from Benchmade.
 
kniveslikethese said:
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I did see 410 mentioned in a description for the 710, and it may be safe to assume they are all 420j. But this is a simple question, and I was surprised I couldn't easily get an answer from Benchmade.
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I don't think you really can "expect" some lady in customer service to know this. She just read the spec sheet or site to say "stainless".
Most long time members on BF often know more about the knives that a company makes than their customer service.
 
Personally, I’m confused as to why not knowing this very specific piece of information is bothering you so much.

Is it really a surprise that they wouldn’t want to divulge exactly what their simplest, yet extremely integral, and potentially most easily replicated part is made of? A part used across almost their entire line of folding knives?

Just saying, seems to me it wouldn’t exactly be smart from a business perspective to do so. After all, they’re in the business of selling knives, not helping those who might wish to replicate their products, especially as a company highly targeted by counterfeiters.
 
I am interested in comparing knives, and what they are made of affects how they function. And yes, I would be surprised if it was important to Benchmade to try to keep this a secret. I think replicating the design is much more important for making fakes than replicating the material.
 
“Proprietary” doesn’t necessarily mean “trade secret”. More commonly it just means “none of your business”.

I worked in a fabrication shop where a lot of information regarding materials or processes was protected.
And while a competitor or just a curious someone might be able to assume what materials or processes were used based on common sense or by some other means, some of it was “proprietary” as in “trade secret”, and all of it was treated as “none of your business”.

Meaning, if you called our shop and asked a question about our materials you would get the same exact answer you got from Benchmade.
 
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As evidenced by the sprawling counterfeit market, anyone who has an example of any knife (or any product, for that matter) in their possession can copy the design if they are so inclined, but that doesn’t mean Benchmade, or any manufacturer, is just going to make it easier for them to do so by handing over the CAD program to cut/mill it. Same goes for the work they put into researching, selecting, and sourcing the materials they use, for whatever reason they use them. Doing all that takes time and money that they’ve invested in creating their product. Sometimes it behooves them to advertise the use of a latest and greatest material, typically for the purpose of selling more of their product. Sometimes it doesn’t behoove them to give away all of their specifics, because maybe doing so would allow counterfeiters to make better copies, which would absolutely affect their business. They don’t owe you what they don’t want to tell you because you want to do comparisons, or whatever, if they feel you don’t need to know. You don’t like their lack of transparency? There’s a ton of other brands out there, but I assure you they will keep their secrets to safeguard their businesses, too.

Furthermore, I don’t see why knowing whether it’s 420j or 420xyz is going to matter, as, although I’m no metallurgist, I couldn’t imagine any appreciable difference in performance of knife liners of the same thickness in such similar steels, nor does the liner really factor much into “knife performance” unless you are putting stressors on a folding knife that probably really shouldn’t be applied to a folding knife.
 
karnaknives said:
“Proprietary” doesn’t necessarily mean “trade secret”. More commonly it just means “none of your business”.

I worked in a fabrication shop where a lot of information regarding materials or processes was protected.
And while a competitor or just a curious someone might be able to assume what materials or processes were used based on common sense or by some other means, some of it was “proprietary” as in “trade secret”, and all of it was treated as “none of your business”.

Meaning, if you called our shop and asked a question about our materials you would get the same exact answer you got from Benchmade.
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If it's not a trade secret why not share it? What does the difference between trade secret and "none of your businesss" really mean? In my experience with products, companies have been happy to share what materials they use.

Centermass said:
Sometimes it behooves them to advertise the use of a latest and greatest material, typically for the purpose of selling more of their product. Sometimes it doesn’t behoove them to give away all of their specifics, because maybe doing so would allow counterfeiters to make better copies, which would absolutely affect their business.
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I don't think this is one of those areas where much harm would come from sharing specifics. On the flip side, I don't think there would be much benefit to advertising liner material either. How do you think this differs from blade steel? I would like to know what the reasons are, and that's why I asked the Benchmade representative.

Centermass said:
Furthermore, I don’t see why knowing whether it’s 420j or 420xyz is going to matter, as, although I’m no metallurgist, I couldn’t imagine any appreciable difference in performance of knife liners of the same thickness in such similar steels, nor does the liner really factor much into “knife performance” unless you are putting stressors on a folding knife that probably really shouldn’t be applied to a folding knife.
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In the same reply you say that Benchmade does not share liner material because it would allow counterfeiters to make better copies, and you seem to indicate you that think it probably doesn't mater.
 
kniveslikethese said:
If it's not a trade secret why not share it? What does the difference between trade secret and "none of your businesss" really mean? In my experience with products, companies have been happy to share what materials they use.
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I clearly have a different experience with companies and materials they use than you do.

We did electron beam welding. A lot of companies do electron beam welding.
Do you think that if we figured out how to join metals together to achieve a more desirable result that we should "happily" share that information?
We specialized in dis-similar metal joining. None of the materials used are "secret". All of the processes are proprietary.
Do you think if you called and asked that anyone would or should explain the specifics to you?

In any case, HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
 
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kniveslikethese said:
In the same reply you say that Benchmade does not share liner material because it would allow counterfeiters to make better copies, and you seem to indicate you that think it probably doesn't mater.
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I didn’t say that’s why they don’t do it. I don’t work for Benchmade, so I don’t really know, but it’s mere speculation on my part, based on it making much more sense than telling you, random internet person, specifics about their product which they have the interest in protecting. If you came to me asking information about my product that I didn’t overtly advertise and I didn’t want you to know because my product is more important than your so-called “testing and comparisons” of it, I’d tell you to pound sand, too.

I also didn’t say it didn’t matter if they shared the information. I’ve already explained why I think it could be potentially detrimental to them. As has karnaknives karnaknives above. What I DID say was there would probably be little difference if they used one 400 series steel over another because of negligible differences in strength, and how that strength applies to a folding knife liner, so it’s probably a non-issue in real word use.

Having had numerous Benchmades over the years, and using them plenty for tasks reasonably expected of folding knives (and a few that weren’t), I’ve never had a liner fail, not do exactly what it is supposed to, or just randomly explode. But I guess your not-at-all suspicious demand for their product information will never lead you to these same groundbreaking, scientific results I learned by using them if you don’t ever find out exactly which 400 series steel they use.

I tried. Enjoy your quest. Toodles.
 
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