Dear Benchmade,

I don't think I've ever owned a benchmade without problems it's gotten to the point where I just have a box of benchmade screws and other parts to fix the knife out of the box. Also some knives I've sent in several times to fix blade play and it comes back just the same as I've sent it In. My 940 has blade play but it ether has blade play or the pivot is so tight that it won't fold and I've sent it if for repairs 3 times and I just gave up and accepted that it will always have blade play.
 
W_cole W_cole I had the pleasant but rare opportunity to visit a brick & mortar knife store today on my way back to town.

They had a 781 Anthem in the case. It was pretty much identical to yours. The blade was noticeably off center. It was easy drop-shut, but bizarrely, at the same time it wasn't smooth. It's hard to explain, but it was kind of like each little ballbearing rolling along, instead of the blade just "gliding." So yeah, I guess the word "gritty" might apply. The pocket clip tip was off the scales too.

palonej palonej , supper glad you got a great one. Some guys have all the luck! I must say, it's a freaking beautiful design. The weight, scales, milling, and blade shape are awesome.


Exactly, the 781 drops shut like a guillotine but is very "Gritty" when opening. I'm starting to think that the pocket clip was designed to be that way. If it was meant to ride off the scale then it was a poor design choice in my opinion. The whole point of a clip is to keep it in your pocket, not just slide around in the pocket and potentially fall out.

I'm coming up on a week of ownership on the 781 Anthem and while I still think Benchmade should fix their QC there is some things I would like to say positive about the 781.

First, is the design. I love it, the blade shape is very functional and came scary sharp. I mean like almost as sharp as my Rockstead or Kirby Lambert Custom. In the first two days I cut myself three times. Rookie mistake, I know but I was totally blown away by the sharpness.

The second is the handle design. It's slim, it's pleasing to look at and is definitely cool being a single piece design. I could have done without the bronze anodizing due to it looking like crap once you touch it. The stonewashing on the blade is nice too. Not the best, but still good.

Two things have stuck out though in terms of things I don't like. The first is the thumb stud and axis lock. They have this Gear pattern on them, while they do look good, they create a very sharp point while manipulating the knife. Gives you "Sebenza" thumb which is not a good thing. The second is the lack of traction, There is none. No blade gimping along with a smooth anodized handle creates a very slippery knife.

After all that though, I am still gonna keep it. I like it that much. Just wish they would have thought it out a little more before releasing it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mo2
Part of a very old conversation concerning QC at Benchmade. Fortunes changed hands, kids grown up, (some become grandparents...) and here we have a story which shouldn't be read so often. It grows old too. Once or twice to the factory for warranty repair isn't a game changer; maybe a few of us got exactly what we wanted right out of the box. But despite what looks like some improvement over this last year or so, it's the first time buyer that gets disappointed, then maybe it's the guy over in Eastern Europe that will never complain by fixing the problem themselves, and so nothing lost.

But just how many of us own multiple Benchmades that Do come out of the box flawed, not centered? With uneven grinds and all of the rest to consider...what would it take to write a new story that included taking the time to make things right the first time? Imagine that, and it Is possible. We have seen better and worse days. Hopefully that will change, I still love my knives made from the Big Butterfly, but have moved along to other makers products that have few problems with QC, and that are made right here in the USA.

C'mon Benchmade, we still have hope. :cool:
Good post Joe. I'm sorry the OP was disappointed. I've been on that end of the deal before. Buying something that cost several hundred dollars only to see that what I had was less than what it should have been. I'm not referring to unrealistic expectations either. I've been pretty lucky as of late. My purchases from Benchmade and other manufacturers have been pretty spot on. I did recently snag a pocket clip on something at work and it bent it into a unusually strange shape. Luckily I can get a replacement for it. As for my Benchmade purchases, the most recent have been a Bedlam, Arvensis, Adamas all came perfect. Even grind lines, sharp, bevels are even and crisp. I''m not a fanboy by any stretch, but I am pretty picky when it comes to certain things. You have to be when buying anything.
 
Even though I haven't received a BM that was bad out of the box, I bought at least 20 new in the last 3 years, this song being played over & over gets really stale.
It amazes me that a higher up from them, no offense meant James, hasn't come here or to their own forum and addressed this. Not once.
I won't compare any company to Spydie Sal, not fair, but can one issue be addressed by someone in power??
I say this as a BM fan. Can't count how many threads I've commented in about my good luck when someone complains......gets old.
Hope Jimmy can express some concerns to someone that can do something about it.
Joe

PS.....great posts from Joe, jkarp & Rev.
 
Most of the 'grit' I've felt in axis locks has more to do with the tang of the blade than anything. Any little striations on the tang snag the axis bar when opening.

If you don't feel the grit when the axis bar is pulled down, this is most likely the cause. You can pull the blade out, polish the tang and have it smooth as silk. Centering is trickier.
 
Most of the 'grit' I've felt in axis locks has more to do with the tang of the blade than anything. Any little striations on the tang snag the axis bar when opening.

If you don't feel the grit when the axis bar is pulled down, this is most likely the cause. You can pull the blade out, polish the tang and have it smooth as silk. Centering is trickier.

This can be true but the tang should be polished from the factory.
 
I have never seen a blade tang that I would consider to be polished in any way. Often they do have a rough gritty feel when moving along the axis bar just like T.L.E. Sharp said. Some are worse than others and they do get a little better but I have often wished they would polish the tang. Shouldn't be to much effort.
 
Most of the 'grit' I've felt in axis locks has more to do with the tang of the blade than anything. Any little striations on the tang snag the axis bar when opening.

If you don't feel the grit when the axis bar is pulled down, this is most likely the cause. You can pull the blade out, polish the tang and have it smooth as silk. Centering is trickier.


The "Gritty-ness" I felt and still feel on the 781 is with me taking all tension off the tang of the blade. I pull the Axis bar all the way back to where it is making Zero contact with the blade and it feels horrible. Which leaves me to believe it is the bearings/design causing the Gritty action.

I've taken it apart and totally cleaned out the pivot area. I reassembled using Nano Oil which helped a little bit with the action; but not enough to write home about.
 
W_cole W_cole just curious, did the bearing races have milling marks on either the blade or the scale?
 
W_cole W_cole just curious, did the bearing races have milling marks on either the blade or the scale?

I'm trying to remember if they did or not. If they did they were very faint. I honestly don't remember to be honest. The bearings were different though. Like none I've ever seen before, they had a clear plastic housing and what seemed like very few bearings. I don't know, they just looked odd for some reason.
 
If a knife company is going to venture out and make a uni-body type super high end knife, they need to have a few areas in check.

- tolerances of the handle need to be bang on, on par with a perfect example of a Sebenza 21.
- blade grind and tang need to be perfect for centering since you cannot adjust a uni-body handle by manipulating screws/tension orders.
- bearing housing and balls need to be perfect also

Here's a tip knife companies - how about spending more $ on good quality cut, LARGE washers and get them properly polished with perfect sizing? When done right they're as smooth as bearings, more stable, less parts to dick about with, less things to go wrong. If anyone has taken apart a Shiro you'll see one of the STUPIDEST bearing designs ever. The bearing housing is not even closed, it's open, with the tiniest micro ball bearings you could ever imagine arranged in some silly pretty pattern. Soon as you take the knife apart they fall to bits if tilted or knocked, you need to then spend forever popping every little bearing back in it's recess hole in the bearing cage, that's if one doesn't bounce off and fall on the floor lost in the abyss forever. Get over the bearings and put more R&D into calibrating better tolerances on the machinery that cut these knife blades, the washers that support them and machining of the handles. Oh, and use stepped standoffs and better screws. That's my rant over.
 
The "Gritty-ness" I felt and still feel on the 781 is with me taking all tension off the tang of the blade. I pull the Axis bar all the way back to where it is making Zero contact with the blade and it feels horrible. Which leaves me to believe it is the bearings/design causing the Gritty action.

I've taken it apart and totally cleaned out the pivot area. I reassembled using Nano Oil which helped a little bit with the action; but not enough to write home about.

Same experience with mine. I have the same grittiness that is not coming from the axis bar. I think its just the bearing rolling on either the ti or the blade itself. One of the other wasn't polished enough I guess. I'm betting its the same on all of them.
Definitely don't know why you would want to put out a bearing knife that isn't smooth. Makes no sense. My 940 on washers are MUCH smoother. Sure it free drops but it feels like crap.
I actually have some phosphor bronze washers on the way I'm going to try to replace the bearings with.
 
Last edited:
Most of the 'grit' I've felt in axis locks has more to do with the tang of the blade than anything. Any little striations on the tang snag the axis bar when opening.

If you don't feel the grit when the axis bar is pulled down, this is most likely the cause. You can pull the blade out, polish the tang and have it smooth as silk. Centering is trickier.

Interesting. Should one be concerned that doing so will likely result in up and down blade play?
 
Interesting. Should one be concerned that doing so will likely result in up and down blade play?
No, don't polish that bit of the tang. Just the round section that the axis bar travels over when opening and closing. The flat face upon which it sits when locked shouldn't be modified.
 
Just want to add, I very much like everything about my AFO II. However the clip and the replacements that were sent to me all needed a bit of extra bend. I like a tight clip because i'm an active guy. The clips all come with about a millimeter gap between it and the handle. Hope that helps
 
Just want to add, I very much like everything about my AFO II. However the clip and the replacements that were sent to me all needed a bit of extra bend. I like a tight clip because i'm an active guy. The clips all come with about a millimeter gap between it and the handle. Hope that helps
My Freek was the same way when I put a deep carry clip on it. Needed an extra bend to close the 1mm gap.
 
Back
Top