You Guys Better Be Right!!!!

Great choice Buzz!

If you can't make a 710 cut, well...I wouldn't tell it to anyone.

Mine cuts like de jesus! ;)

The 806 Axis AFCK was a great cutter right out of the box for me. The difference between the two is actually pretty small, just the choice between the straight edge or the recurved edge, that's really the major difference. I think the 710 is the better design of the two myself, and Benchmade M2 is great steel. Wears very well, and very tough.

My guess is, after a couple of weeks with the 710, the Sebenza will be the back up! Ha! :D
 
The size was the reason that I hadn't picked up a 710 before. It seems that this model comes in a size small or extra-large. To make matters worse, the standard 705 doesn't seem to be available in M2. If I could have gotten a 705 in M2 or D2, I might have gone that direction.

Oh well. If I ever need to skin a dinosaur, I'll have a large enough knife. :D
 
Originally posted by Buzzbait
As far as the 730 goes, I'd love to hear people's comments on it. I reprofiled the edge to 30 degrees, and the knife still cuts horribly.
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You should've seen my 735 when I got it, I tried to cut a piece of typing paper and it just ripped and tore it, I couldn't even get a cut started unless I held the paper under tension. Strangely enough it would shave, but barely. And so I went ahead and reprofiled the whole edge and made it as thin as I could without scraping up the thumbstuds too much and smoothed out the edge bevel grind transition as mentioned by Jerry Hossom somewhere. Now it could make clean cuts in paper but nowhere near as nice as my 710, and as I mentioned it sucked at cutting cardboard but it shaves real well though. I kinda have the same problem you do, I don't really know what to do with my 735 but the handle is so nice that I can't quite part with it.

Also, why did you rule out the Kershaw Boa? It's 440V which isn't as tough as M2, but that stuff real wear resistant as long as you're careful and don't chip it out. I found that when I cut up pop cans, my 440V Ricochet would keep an edge longer than anything else I had with the possible exception of M2 (I ran out of pop cans). I found that my Boa also takes a really nice edge, it seems to have more "bite" than M2, and sharpnesswise I think they're about the same, both are noticeably better than say ats-34 in sharpness. The downside is that if you hit a large metal packing staple while cutting cardboard boxes, it'll literally rip the edge out and you'll need to spend an hour regrinding it unless you have a belt sander. Did I mention that it has a really fun spring assist opening gizmo and a flipper thing too?
 
Aerius – I really did consider the Boa. It has a lot going for it. The blade shape is sexy as heck, and looks like it would cut like crazy. And that whole torsion bar and flipper thing it has going… Wow!!! I tried a Boa out at a local gun shop and almost peed my pants with excitement. The looks are also very sheeple friendly, if a large knife can possibly have that quality.

The killer was the 440V. I really dislike this steel. My Military, which has 440V, is a real nightmare to sharpen. I’m also not so big on a knife that might chip easily. I much prefer a steel that rolls over when it hits something unusually hard. I do a lot of box cutting, so staples are a reality for me. I haven’t tried M2 yet, but people say that it won’t chip easily as 440V.

If only the 710 looked as good as the Boa…..

I agree about the Ares. Everything is great, except for the blade. Something is very wrong when the cutting part of the knife is its weakest quality.
 
I know that folks really love the 710 but you MUST get the SERE! Don't miss out on owning one of the best working folders ever made. A great knife that truly cannot be hyped enough.
 
You will really like the 710 M2HS, Buzzbait. Also, for what it's worth, I picked up the new Ares in M2 (the one with the CF scales) and it cuts like crazy. Also the edge grinds were perfect, and as sharp as anything I've taken out of the box.

There was a time that edge grinds were an issue with BM, but it looks like they really have worked through the problem.

BTW, the edge on my 710 M2 was also first rate.

Let us know what you think of the 710, when you get it.:)
 
Want to enchance your 710's cutting abilities?
Flip through the archives on this forum for "How to Make the Benchmade Axis Perform" written by Joe Talmadge, it's impressive stuff.
 
Originally posted by Buzzbait
The killer was the 440V. I really dislike this steel. My Military, which has 440V, is a real nightmare to sharpen. I’m also not so big on a knife that might chip easily. I much prefer a steel that rolls over when it hits something unusually hard. I do a lot of box cutting, so staples are a reality for me. I haven’t tried M2 yet, but people say that it won’t chip easily as 440V.
Click to expand...


I have to admit that there's a learning curve or something when it comes to sharpening 440V, and from reading about people's experiences on these forums some folks have a heck of a time trying to sharpen it. I remember the first few times I tried to sharpen my 440V Ricochet, I sharpened, and I sharpened, but it wouldn't get sharper and I couldn't figure out why. The edge would cut fine but I couldn't get it to shave. After a few more sharpening sessions I ended up with an edge that cuts great and that also shaves, and later on an edge that was just absolutely great. I still can't figure out what I changed in my sharpening technique to make all those improvement, but I'm happy that everything worked out.

As for chipping out edges, that is a rather nasty problem. 440V does not like staples, especially the large metal ones they use on cardboard bike boxes. Those staples have messed up all the steels I have (M2, ats-34, 440V) that have had the misfortune of running into them. My M2 710 suffered the least damage, then my ats-34 710, and my 440V Ricochet which got killed. The thing with me is I thinned out all my edges to the point where the thumbstuds scraped on the stone while sharpening so they'll take more damage than usual, but on the other hand they cut way better than the factory edges.

As it was all the edges suffered chips in the "staple test", the M2 710 got a few small chips and a nicely rolled edge, the ats-34 one got more and slightly larger chips and a rolled edge as well. As mentioned before the 440V knife got part of the edge torn off, it didn't roll at all, part of the edge about an inch long was torn right off so that you could see the damage from reading distance. Let's just say that sharpening it back was NOT fun.

Oh yes, enjoy the M2 710, it's a really nice knife.
 
I've been experiencing a 440V nightmare lately. After a bunch of knife testing on cardboard, and relatively low performance from my Military, I decided to pretty much reprofile the blade. Here's the weird thing. I got the edge to roll over on each side with a coarse SharpMaker hone. But now, on the fine hone, it takes one stroke on one side to roll the edge, and three strokes on the other. This is over and over. What gives?

I'm used to just rolling the edge of a blade with each stroke, but not this time. I can go back to the coarse hone and roll the edge a second time, before proceeding to the fine hone. The edge will magically change, requiring two stokes on the side that used to require a single stroke, and a single stroke on the side that required three strokes.

I’m losing my mind….. and obviously my sharpening abilities. :barf:
 
That happens to me all the time, if it makes you feel any better:)
Have never been sure why.

Can't say whether it's related or not, but 420V gave me alot of problems the first few times I sharpened it for some reason. Steeling the blade to make sure the edge was properly aligned prior to sharpening seemed to help...maybe it was slightly rolled to one side to begin with(?), as that knife was seeing alot of use, and the edge was pretty thin.
I do know that since I started using a steel, I don't sharpen as often. Mine is a grooved Henckel's steel, that I really bought to use on larger fixed blades, but now use on smaller ones and folders, as well.
 
Lordy, I love my BM 710 in M2, for me it might be the perfect large folding knife. I had the 710 in ATS-34 originally and the edge it came with was crap and that is being generous. Even after re-profiling the edge, it still stunk, but I loved the design of the knife so much I bought it in M2 and the grind was perfect and you will love the steel, it's tough and holds an edge in my opinion better than the ats-34,vg 10, and compares with D2. I bet you will be glad you sent the sebenz in.;)
 
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