who knows Benchmade edges?

JediKnight86

JediKnight86

Joined
Jul 9, 2003
Messages
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Got a new 551 orange and the edge will not strop to the level of sharpness on my regular 551 also 154cm. Did edge geometry change at the factory? My older one seems to have a thinner grind.
 
BM knives are ground by hand so the angles from knife to knife are highly variable, and sometimes uneven.
 
by comparison does spyderco hand grind? Those blades are generally razor sharp. My new. Barong is a great example.
 
Most of my Benchmade's come at either a 40 or 30 degree total edge.. The last two.. a 14205 came with a 30 edge and the alias is just about 36-40..
I don't think it has anything to do with the age of the knife.. But I prefer a thinner grind.. I like to bring my EDC to a 30 and the micro-bevel it to 40.. Sorry for over-answering your question..
Matt
 
All of my Benchmades, about a dozen of them all told, came from the factory razor sharp, but with very steep grinds, in the 40-45 degree range. :thumbdn:

Since I like a 30, or even 25 degree straight grind, depending on the steel, I've had to re-bevel every one of them. But that's really no big deal in order to have a knife of the overall quality of a BM. :thumbup:
 
I feel sorry for you Ben Dover..
Maybe you should let me order your benchmade knives from now on.. I usually get a nice thin edge on mine...:D
I would say.. Steepest I have gotten have been from spyderco..
But that said..
I think the big 3 all get random angles sometimes...
 
JediKnight86 said:
by comparison does spyderco hand grind? Those blades are generally razor sharp. My new. Barong is a great example.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that the Spyderco's made in Golden have hand-finished edges.

Not sure about their knives made elsewhere.
 
Kind of annoying the severe differences. I have this great new orange Griptilian but it just isn't as sharp as it should be and it ruins the whole experience. I'm contacting Benchmade.
 
JediKnight86 said:
Kind of annoying the severe differences. I have this great new orange Griptilian but it just isn't as sharp as it should be and it ruins the whole experience. I'm contacting Benchmade.
Click to expand...

Is it not something you can fix by sharpening?
Or is it the simple fact that it is way too steep of an angle...?
Just curious... I can usually remove about 10 degrees in a matter of a few sharpening's.. I know it sucks.. but?
Are you contacting them to get it fixed or to make them aware of the situation?
 
Im just curious if your talking about the sharpened edge.. Or the geometry of the blade itself...
 
I did send Benchmade an email.

I mean the edge. It just seems a wider angle grind than my other 551. Im sure my options are going to be send it in to Lifesharp or continue trying myself. I may have to start with the 1000 grit stone to thin out the bevel and then put on a new edge to get what I want. I guess Benchmade is like German kitchen knives, they prefer a wider tougher edge for utility to a razor thin edge.
 
That's just how production knives come. Unless you don't know how to rebevel it yourself, I say sharpen it to your liking and be done with it.
 
My BM 556 came laser sharp.....

But when i got my Centofante III it didnt cut like a laser :( not even like butter :(. Shoot.... even after 1hr on the Sharpmaker (on the 30 degree side), it wasnt like the BM 556.

To me it seems like BM's edge is around the high 20's.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: BM ;)
 
Maybe I'll just use the crap out of it and then use the water stones to do a new bevel and edge after it dulls.
 
Re-bevelling is the reason I bought my DMT xx coarse stone. It brings a ZDP 189 knife to it's knees, re-bevelling from about 15 to 10 degrees per side in a couple minutes. It also changed a VG-10 Endura into a scadi grind in about 7 minutes on one side. It does leave scratches that a DMT coarse takes care of (that stone does small re-bevelling jobs real quick), but I don't mind some scratches on my blade as long as it cuts good.

Back to the original question, both Benchmade and Spyderco hand grind their edges, so you will get varying angles and sharpness, though Spyderco has been pretty consistently thin and sharp for me. Factory edges really shouldn't be a huge part of the knife buying process, as you will have to re-sharpen your knife a lot anyway so the factory edge only lasts a couple cuts before it is dulled. A little work on the stones is part of owning a knife, so a little extra time to set the edge to your preferred angle and finish is not a big deal in the whole scheme of things, but I can definately appreciate a thin and acute factory edge to save a little time.

Mike
 
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